MEADOW RIVER W.Va. (WVDN) – When I was a young man, I hunted a lot by myself. This particular day there was 6 inches of fresh snow. I decided this would be the perfect day to go deer hunting. I was going to one of my favorite spots, it was called the Bend of Meadow River. It was a long walk, with no houses for miles; normally, you would never see another person all day.
I hunted for several hours. I was just slipping and looking for the big one.
All of a sudden, I looked over my shoulder, and there was someone following me. I couldn’t remember telling anyone where I was going. I hadn’t seen a human, or an animal track, all morning.
I saw him, but he did not see me. He was looking straight down, watching my tracts. I wasn’t sure what to do. I got a little spooked, because this was a wild area, and I was always hearing tales about this place. Most people I knew, hunted closer to civilization.
I had no idea why he was tracking me. Could it be that he lived in these woods, like an old hermit? It’s possible he was a moonshiner. Back in those days, moonshine was illegal. Maybe I was getting too close to his still.
Could it be an angry landowner, my brother and I were hunting on our family property, I drove a buck out to my brother, and bang, he had it lying on the ground.
Out of nowhere, a man showed up and kept us at gunpoint. I had never looked down at a barrel before. He gave us the worst tongue lashing, told us to leave and to leave the deer, it was his. We tried to explain but nothing doing. Finally, after after some intense discussion. We come to find out, he was a rouge hunter, and he was hunting on our land! Needless to say, we kept our deer! I don’t want to go through that again!
I will have to say, I was getting a little excited. I was miles from anywhere, if this guy was up to no good, no one would even find me down here.
I could shout at him, but what if he wanted to do me harm? All I would be doing is saying, here I am.
If I shoot in the air, as a warning, he might think I am shooting at him. That won’t end well.
The person just kept getting closer and closer, you can’t shake someone walking in the snow.
Finally, I realized I had to do something.
I looked out ahead of me and there was a big oak tree. I walked straight toward the tree and when I got to it, I stopped, my footprints were right against the base of the tree. I looked back over my shoulder and there was a big pine tree about 50 feet back. I started backtracking, stepping backward in my exact footprints. When I was beside the big pine, I jumped from my footprints over and under the tree. I hid under the green limbs, out of sight.
The guy kept coming and he walked right by where I was hiding. He walked until his face came right up against the tree. He looked all around and saw no more footprints. Finally, he looked straight up the tree, like I had walked up the tree. Even though I was scared, I could hardly keep from laughing.
I had no idea how he would handle being outwitted. To make matters worse, I noticed he was carrying a gun.
When he started backtracking, to find me, he looked straight at me, under that tree.
Then, I was so relieved! I recognized him, it was one of my old friends. Evidently, someone had told him, I was going hunting there. He was tracking me down, to hunt with me.
Little did he know, he scared the begibbies out of me. I was so happy it was him.
I couldn’t let him know I was scared. He wouldn’t let me live it down. He had gotten me good and hadn’t even realized it.
When I came out from under the tree, I burst out laughing and said, “I got you so good.”
“Did you see anything interesting up that tree?”
I thought to myself, “ I am just glad to be alive.”
Best of all, just thinking what his facial expression must of been when he looked up the tree and nothing was there, was worth it all.
