The following morning Mallick was intent on helping Armen and I bag our deer. We had chosen another area, so we hiked  in pairs, parallel to each other. First pair was Mallick and his niece Nicole, second was John and  John Czech, 3rd was Armen and I. The pairs were a quarter mile apart traveling slowly in the same direction. Mallick figured he would drive the deer toward us. We covered a half a mile before Armen and I found our positions. We had chosen a ground blind and decided to stay from morning till dusk. 
 

The Friday before the 1st day of the hunt the deer were all over the place, in and out of the woods. Hunting day, they were no where to be found!

The woods were still and silent. I could hear the constant humming of the mosquitoes. These unexpected visitors from the swampy ground were getting on my nerves. Relentless little vampires that would not go away and continued to whine and pester.

Pretty soon, after hearing the mosquitoes’ tilting sound, I could practically put words to their humming. "You are the uninvited guest, go away, go away, or else we will eat you for dinner" Those imaginary words repeatedly came into my mind and kept in tune with the mosquitoes’! 

I was not prepared for this, and a net over my head would have at least protected me from the hungry bites of these zealous bloodsuckers. I covered  my entire body, pulling the sleeves of my loose hunting jacket over my hands, cinching the strings of my hooded sweat shirt underneath my hunting clothes closer to my face until only my eyes, nose and lips peered out. 

I used my hands as a fan to help drive these stubborn little creatures away! I tried to be methodical, fanning my face. I fanned my face just at the exact interval when the mosquitoes where about to land on my face. Soon as they regrouped for the next attack and were about to land, I repeated this fan ceremony again like clockwork saving me from attack, for 13 hours! Then, just when I was about to give up and call it a day, a big doe suddenly appeared, 15 yards away!

A tree covered my silhouette so I was able to lift my bow and draw. “It's a piece of cake, at this short distance" I thought, "There is no way I can miss.”
 

Nicole (15), me, and John Czech (15).

John Czeck (L) with his brother Mike Czech (Olympic shooter, recurve.)

Drawing my bow made the mosquitoes stampede in all directions, but they quickly regrouped and found me a stationary target. The tiny vultures landed on my face, finding their target before I found mine. The hoard made a group attack. The tiny punctures distracted me as I punched my release. What was to be a perfect heart lung shot become a neck shot.  I was beside myself as I watched helplessly as the animal disappeared into the woods. Next time I vowed to be more careful and wear something to eliminate the mosquitoes.

Fortunately, there was a blood trail and we began tracking. Night quickly fell and as much as I wanted to find the doe, tracking became impossible and we decided to wait until the morning. That night, in camp, I felt apprehensive. Nothing seemed to help even though the other hunters tried hard to comfort me.

The following morning we mounted a team effort to find my doe, and did find her, but not before the coyotes had taken advantage of their free meal. I know this is part of nature but no matter what I think, I can't get that sick feeling out of my stomach.

There were more campfires and many more empty nights that followed until the end of hunting season, during which John, Mallick and Nicole all succeeded in harvesting does.

As hard as I tried I could never forgot the experience of my doe. I wanted to end this tale of mine with the success I had in mind, but the time has not yet come for me to reap that reward.

Nature and my own human frailties are teaching me well. I have a way to go to become a seasoned hunter but I am coming to understand more about what is out there in the wilderness. With this thought hovering in my mind I bid you “adieu”, “sayonara”, ”dosveidanya”, “arrivadechi”,  “paalam”,  & “goodbye” till we meet again.