This young buck still doesn't know the danger of humans.
Most hunters will agree that a 1.5-year-old buck is probably the dumbest animal in the woods. Bucks of this age simply don't have enough life experience to recognize most dangers. Especially during the rut when they are otherwise distracted. As a result, in states with few restrictions, they are often some of the first deer shot unless the hunter decides to hold off and give them another year.
Case in point of how these young deer are usually quite inexperienced to danger is this video from YouTuber Anthony Olivetti. He's got a GoPro Hero Session attached to the underside of his gun while he's out hunting.
A young spike buck soon happens by, and in a clear case of being naïve, walks right up the hunter and takes several big sniffs of the end of his gun barrel!
We get the feeling this buck has not seen many humans at the time this video was taken. That little guy has no idea how close to danger he really was and how quickly his life could have ended right there. It seems the hunter was content to just let this little guy go by and it resulted in a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. After all, when was the last time you had a buck at zero yards?
It's a good thing he had the GoPro running through this encounter. We doubt his hunting buddies would have believed it had they not been able to see the footage for themselves. That young buck got a good whiff of the both the camera and the gun before he slinked away.
We don't think this buck knew quite what he was looking at, but we are sure he'll learn quickly that humans mean danger. Who knows? This experience may even help him live to an older age than other deer in the forest. In any case, it's a super memorable encounter. Thanks for sharing it with the world Anthony!
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For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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