There was a spot I knew some bucks were hanging out about 50 yards from the top of a little plateau. I'd spotted them from way too far away to get a shot, at least 5 bucks - including a couple of 4X4's. So I hoofed it up to the top of the plateau, got back far enough I knew they wouldn't hear me coming, and got to a spot above them as quickly as I could.
The plateau had a little false top on it that I couldn't really see from where I spotted the deer. And I discovered I'd have to crawl probably 25-30 yards keeping my head down to make sure I wasn't spotted before I got to a place I could see more than antlers and the tops of their heads - which would be no shot.
So I'm very carefully easing my way through the dried and noisy shrubs, weeds, and grass. I'll bet it took me 45 minutes to an hour crab-walking on my backside down this thing and picking a way through it all trying to get to where I could see the bucks over the hump of the hill.
I'm probably 5 yards from what looks like the edge, and I hear the deer scatter below me. I jumped up just in time to see tails disappearing into the quakies. My first thought was that maybe they sniffed me - but the wind was my direction, so maybe it was swirling? As I'm standing there, I see an old dude with what must've been his grandson come cruising along a trail that was probably 20-30 feet below where the deer had been. They were still probably 100 yards from reaching where the deer had been when I saw them - heads down and marching like they were in a hurry to get somewhere. I'm sure they never even saw the deer. The way they were moving, I'd be surprised if they ever saw deer.
I was probably 5-10 minutes from popping up on those bucks within 25 yards of them. So frustrating.