I 've only observed one deer that I was certain had picked up my scent trail. I had just set up a ladder stand, and climbed into it to watch for a bit (this was some weeks before the season). A decent (for Adams County, PA) buck came in on the same path I'd followed, and he clearly was nosing the ground where I walked. Far from being alarmed, he proceeded to do a little bush chewing right in front of me. I'm pretty sure he was the same deer I killed there on opening day. There's a big difference, I think, in the way deer react to scent and noise under ordinary circumstances and when hunters are tromping the woods. A deer that's been bumped around a bit is going to react more than one that's undisturbed.

That same afternoon there was a squirrel futzing around in front of me on the ground. A barred owl landed on a straight dead branch overlooking the squirrel, and he picked me up immediately. He'd look at me, then the squirrel, then back at me, all the while walking back and forth on that branch just like a parrot on a perch. He finally decided on discretion and left. Pretty sure the squirrel never saw a thing. Stuff like this is usually missed by nature lovers that stay on the move and never sit down (and still) long enough for the woods around them to settle down.

What fresh Hell is this?