You never know what you will see from a deer stand. Friday morning I was settled in my climbing tree stand before daylight, waiting on a deer to wander by. For the next couple of hours I got a show I did not expect.

At about 7:15 two squirrels came out of a hollow tree near me and went through their morning stretches then headed to the ground to look for breakfast. Every time I watch gray squirrels I am amazed at how they can climb down a tree upside down. And I remember being told there is not a gray hair on them, and searching the next one I shot. They have white, black and brown hair but no gray hair, although from a distance they look gray.

Then I saw movement to my right and eased my rifle up. A gray coyote came into sight about 60 yards away, easing along looking for his breakfast, too. I got my scope on him for a few seconds and probably should have pulled the trigger, but he was moving, I didn’t want to spook any deer that might be nearby, and he just looked too pretty to shoot.

After the coyote went out of sight I settled down again and checked my watch. It was almost 8:00. Immediately I caught a flicker of movement to my left, the direction the coyote had gone and I assumed it was him coming back. I was wrong and was amazed when a bobcat came up the ridge.

I have been in the woods a lot in the past 55 years and this is just the second bobcat I have ever seen. The first one came out onto a pipeline I was watching for deer, sitting on a stand my Uncle Adron had put me on at daylight. I was about 16 years old so it was at least 45 years ago, but I still remember thinking how big the cat looked. It was about 100 yards from me and I did not have a scope on my rifle back then, so I could not get a real good look at it.

The one Friday was about 30 yards away and I got a close look at it through my scope. It looked like it was about three feet long from the tip of its nose to the end of its stubby, short tail. The legs were long and the cat seemed to be built for speed. I thought it was about two feet high at the shoulder. The tawny brown fur had dark splotches all over it, with dark stripes on its legs.

The cat crossed the logging road I was watching then headed through the thick pines. I was still thinking about how pretty it was, and how it and the coyotes had probably killed all the rabbits I had seen on the farm over the summer when I heard a deer blow down the hill from where the bobcat had disappeared. I guess it was spooked by the cat but I got my gun ready.

A few minutes later a yearling came up the trail and crossed the road. I got a good look at it through my scope but decided it was just too small to shoot. I like killing a yearling each year and cutting it up into roasts, but I have some in the freezer so I didn’t shoot, hoping a bigger deer with more meat on its bones was following it. No such luck.

Then, about 30 minutes later, another flicker of movement to my left drew my attention. A beautiful red fox came slinking through the woods, going the opposite way the coyote had traveled earlier. I had seen the same fox a few days earlier right at dark but the red color really stood out in the brighter daylight. I watched it through my scope for a minute or so until it went out of sight.

Around 9:30 the two squirrels were back near the hollow tree. I was surprised they were still around after all the predators that like to eat them came by. Another squirrel chattered its warning cry about 100 yards down the hill and the two near me froze, hugging the tree they were in.

A red tail hawk sailed in and lit nearby. I watched its head swivel around looking for something to swoop down on. It stayed put for a couple of minutes then flew on to another hunting spot. After a few minutes the two squirrels near me started moving around again.

I love watching wildlife even if I don’t get to kill any deer while hunting. Seeing a bobcat made my year since they are nocturnal. They are not real rare around here but they mostly move and hunt at night so it is unusual to see one. I am told trappers catch them regularly.

Coyotes are not native here and are a problem. They kill a lot of wildlife, including deer fawns. A pack of them can kill a grown deer and a bobcat can kill a deer too. Foxes kill a lot of song and game birds as well as squirrels and rabbits. Bobcat, hawks and coyotes also take small game and song birds.

But all these animals, predator and prey, are part of nature, just as I am. I think they have their place and have a hard time killing them just to kill them. I would rather share the game animals and enjoy watching the other predators hunting for food, just like I am.