This is my first post, but i had to share the story. Hope you enjoy, and yes I'm a die-hard hunter but still have a soft side for these beautiful animals and their survival!
A few summers ago, during our annual summer scouting trips up north (7W) my wife and I witnessed a beautiful story. We saw a fawn that had been dropped very recently, following slowly behind its mother. The fawn was trying to get through a ditch, and couldn't make it. A group of onlookers, seeing the elk, immediately raced up to see them in their car, and spooked off the mother. With one bark, the mother ran off leaving the fawn alone on the other side of the ditch. The car left, and we watched the calf from a distance for a few minutes to make sure it was ok. The calf immediately laid down in some tall grass and concealed itself. We left, and spent the day fishing.
At lunch time, we headed back out and noticed the fawn had moved, and once again curled up on the side of the ditch, this time not as concealed and closer to the road. We wanted to make sure fawn was ok, so we slowly moved in and checked. We took this photo, and prayed the mother would return. It was amazing the elk instinctually laid in the same area, waiting for mom. The fawn would not move, blink, or even acknowlege we were near.
On our way home at dinner time, we turned the corner towards our place and saw an amazing site. The mother had returned, to the exact spot the fawn had laid early morning, and was feeding her baby. Wow....we were speechless to see such an amazing story have a great ending 10 hours later. Seeing the fawn stumble down the road, learning to walk.....and then milking off mom was just incredible. The wapiti are such a majestic and beautiful animal and to see the cycle of life, love, and survival was amazing. Proof in fact that instincts are something these animals are born with!
PS - we were concerend about the fawn because there was a lion and many coyotes running the area, and i had already seen the lion within half mile!
