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Plenty of bears await hunters for archery, rifle seasons

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DJ Eberle’s Flavor of the Week column: How the Dak Prescott-Tony Romo quandary affects fantasy owners

<p>It had all the makings of a classic encounter with the king of the fall woods.</p><p>Several hundred yards before I crested the top of a steep hill, I paused beside an oak tree. I was hunting turkeys but the crisp, dry leaves coating the forest floor made walking difficult. It forced me to take several steps and stop to let things quiet down. The process was repeated over and over as I slowly climbed the steep hillside.</p><p>Above me the light from the morning sun began to blanket the woods, slowly spreading down the hillside. Tree trunks glowed in the warm, orange sunlight and around me a few gray squirrels noisily scurried in the crunchy leaves.</p><p>And then I heard it.</p><p>The footsteps were deliberate and the creature behind them wasn&#8217;t worried about hiding the noise. The approaching sound grew louder as the steps traversed climbed the opposite side of the hill. This wasn&#8217;t the frenzied sound of a squirrel diving into the leaves or the swoosh of turkeys scratching the forest floor.</p><p>Whatever was making the sound was wasting no time, and it was determined to crest the hilltop and head right to me.</p><p>I pressed against the tree and waited.</p><p>Soon, the polished tips of antlers appeared above the hilltop, slightly bouncing as the buck walked parallel to the ridge. A few more steps and more of the rack appeared, beaming in the morning sunlight.</p><p>Thoughts of turkeys took a backseat for the time being. With the rut in full swing and a big buck unknowingly headed my way, I knew I as in for a memorable encounter.</p><p>Before the deer appeared over the hilltop it paused, leaving only the top half of its rack in view. I counted six tines - three on each antler, and assumed it had brow points to make it an even eight-point rack.</p><p>I watched as the rack turned back and forth. The buck was either surveying its surroundings or looking for a receptive doe. Regardless, I knew it had no clue I was waiting for its arrival.</p><p>And then it started taking deliberate steps again, and within seconds the entire deer was in plain view above me. It was a beautiful buck - polished antlers, swollen neck and a light brown hide covering its muscular frame.</p><p>The buck confidently marched over the top of the hill and proceeded directly to me. I gently eased behind the tree to hide, hoping the rutting buck would be oblivious to my presence.</p><p>But it wasn&#8217;t.</p><p>As I slid against the tree the buck stopped and shot me a glare that left no doubt it wasn&#8217;t happy that I intruded into its domain.</p><p>Now, rather than focusing on the rut the buck had to contend with a human, and the deer begrudgingly made a wide loop around my position. But it didn&#8217;t run.</p><p>Instead, the buck came back below me, it&#8217;s breath shooting into the cold morning air. The deer checked a scrape and forcefully flung dirt across the dry leaves. It never looked my way again, but the buck seemed to be uneasy yet not alarmed. It wanted to find a doe, and the buck set off haphazardly down the hillside that I just climbed to carry on its quest.</p><p>The heavy steps in the leaf litter slowly dissipated and I watched the set of antlers bounce away as the deer vanished.</p><p>I hadn&#8217;t noticed at the time, but when the buck was near the squirrels had ceased their activity. The songbirds that flitted in the trees were silent.</p><p>It was as if the smaller creatures of the woods were respectfully giving the king of the fall forest its space as it passed through. Once the buck was gone, the routine sounds of the woods could be heard again. The coast was clear.</p><p>Like the gobbler that rules the woods in the spring, a dominant buck is clearly the champion in the fall.</p><p>And a chance encounter with the king of the November woods always leaves me with a gratifying, and appreciative feeling just to be in its presence.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Venesky </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_Venesky-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Venesky </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Outdoors with Tom Venesky: An encounter with the boss of the fall woods