Deer are vulnerable, prey, the hunted, and one of the weaker links in their food chain. Constantly roaming around thick timber and frolicking through open fields, accompanying one another, ensuring they are never alone. Still being hunted. Understanding predators from all around are after them, seeking another meal. They cannot escape the presence of the coyotes lurking, or the swarm of hunters that take them on during the late autumn season. They cannot fight back as that would be senseless, they would never win. Yet the deer survive, they stand up to the predators in sophisticated ways. Working never to allow harm within striking distance. Deer never let their weaknesses slow them down. Instead, they use them to propel their strengths to even higher magnitudes.

 

Deer spend their days in protection, avoiding predators seemingly their main priority. While in the dense cover of the forest, their grey-brown coats perfectly blend in with the changing colors of the fall season. The woodsy hughes of the now empty trees surrounding them. Other times, sneaking their way through the temporary protection provided to them within the farmer's corn stalks. Cautious yet calm and mindful of reality. Structuring their patterns to go unseen by their hunters, never letting their vulnerabilities stop them. Knowing they must stay behind cover, only leaving protection when they absolutely must.

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Late October rolls around, the time in which the white-tailed deer begin to face a new type of adversity. The fawns of spring have grown to a new, respectable size. Still graceful and slender, the tiny white spots covering their bodies have finally faded into the caramel-brown fur they will keep for the winter. The fawns are no longer quite so vulnerable to the coyotes who had terrorized them and their mothers for the past few months. Conveniently, there is a new problem at hand for the deer, a brand new type of predator—the hunter. Extra caution is a must. A vast portion of their cover is gone due to the annual crop harvest. Now all they have left are the blank, lifeless trees once covered in thick, protective leaves. They will find ways to take advantage of their new environment. They always focus on what they can do, without getting hung up on their inabilities. If they focused on what they couldn’t do, their strengths would never be able to shine.

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A fifteen-minute walk from my small farmhouse up a long, hard, and inclined gravel road was all it took to get to my treestand. The place where I anxiously awaited deer. The smooth, rolling hills of farmland surrounded the small bunches of bare trees scattered throughout the area. The dark, blank trees no longer protected what the deer had grown accustomed to during the summer months. The deer were no longer gifted with high-rising corn stalks to keep them concealed. All that was left to cover them at this time were the small treelines that naturally grew around creeks and along fence lines. Thin protection compared to the luscious corn fields they were provided with just a month ago. 

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A cluster of fully grown trees along a rusted barbed wire fence line that separated two fields provided me with what I believed to be the perfect spot for a deer to stumble across my path. The deer had no other option than to remain tucked in the puny tree line, it was the only cover they had left for miles. They understood their weakness; it was too risky to display themselves out in the wide open. They have to utilize their strongest traits, they cannot afford to do otherwise.

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My excited anticipation suppressed my struggle to settle into the dirty, cold, and unforgiving treestand. The late October air seemed dangerously cold despite a typically tolerable 40 degrees. My lack of acclimation to the new season's temperature was apparent. The bitter wind nipped at the back of my exposed ears. I shivered in place. I would be grateful for these temperatures in a few months. I blankly stared at my camouflage boots in misery, still shivering, numbness tingling throughout my toes and fingertips. I finally brought my head up, almost plummeting from my seat. There they were, three deer slowly trotting my way. Their smooth black hooves crunched the withering yellow corn stalks as they moved in my direction.  

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My muscles tensed up instantly. A wave of nervous excitement rushed throughout my body as my still-numb fingers fumbled around to grab my binoculars. When I saw the tall, thick, rugged tines of the buck following the alert doe and her partially grown fawn through my now foggy binocular lenses, I grinned. Outsmarted. I knew they would follow this path, they had no other choice. 

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The earthy smell of the cool autumn air seeped into my nose, I enjoyed the scent. I enjoyed hearing the gentle crunch of the stalks under the hooves of the deer as they slowly drew nearer, proceeding with immense caution. I was impressed by the fluid motion. Their lean, slender legs moved effortlessly, carrying them closer and closer. I noticed how the doe in the middle constantly licked her nose, moistening the scaly black tip of her snout.

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One hundred yards was the distance that separated me and the curious fawn still protected and cared for by her mother. I felt a wave of excitement as they drew nearer, preparing for the deer to come within range. I had succeeded—I outsmarted the deer. The nerves seeped through my body, just waiting for them to get close enough. All I needed was another eighty yards of them staying on the same path.

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They were finally a mere fifty yards from me, and I already felt the triumph of success. Then in an instant, the crunch of the stalks beneath their hooves stopped and the doe whipped her head toward me. The abrupt end to her movement seemed to startle the buck behind her, forcing him to posture up and display the magnificence of his antlers. She licked her snout again, sticking her now moistened nose in the air. I felt the chilly wind brush across the back of my neck, blowing straight at her. Before I had time to process my mistake she stomped her foot on the ground and bolted away. So swiftly and with unbelievable speed they all ran, floating magnificently through the air once they got to the fence separating property lines. 

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I was in shock, completely dumbfounded by their ability to detect me. I hadn’t moved a muscle, yet I was still busted. I questioned my understanding of the deer. How smart were they? Moments before I believed they were foolish and predictable. I now realized the deer knew what they were doing. Walking with the wind in their face, blowing the scent of any predator to them. Embracing their weakness, understanding that their strong suits can shine if they just allow them to. They accepted that they couldn’t fight back. Their only hope was to avoid contact with predators, never letting them get close enough to harm them. 

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The deer weren’t getting distracted by what they couldn’t do. They accepted their faults, using them to propel their strengths and allowing their best abilities to shine. In the face of so much adversity and danger, deer seem so calm. How are they so relaxed? They don’t panic. They avoid things they will struggle with, freeing themselves to do the things they are best at.