HORTONVILLE, Wis. – A Hortonville hunter says he will never forget the 2016 gun deer season in Wisconsin.
And not because he took home a trophy buck.
It’s because of his unexpected encounter in the woods.
On the day after Thanksgiving, Brian Powers grabbed his rifle and headed for some land east of Wausau.
If not for his cellphone, Powers doubts anyone would believe what happened next.
“All of a sudden here comes a deer and he has an orange scarf on, and he just kept walking and I said, ‘Oh my, he must be somebody’s pet or being fed by someone or being taken care of by somebody,’” says Powers.
It wouldn’t be long before Powers discovered he had a new friend.
“Right when he got parallel on the logging road to where I was off the road, he stopped and turned and looked right at me and I said, ‘Wow this is unbelievable,’ so then I called him over and he walked right in,” recalls Powers.
With one hand recording the unlikely encounter, Powers gave the young buck a head rub.
After about 10 minutes, the deer wandered off, but that afternoon as Powers was walking out of the woods, he returned — just in time to receive some friendly advice.
“Keep your head low man, make sure people see that orange alright,” Powers can be heard saying in the cell phone video.
Powers says he didn’t even think about pulling the trigger.
“I don’t know how anyone could have possibly shot that deer,” says Powers.
Since posting his video on YouTube, Powers story has spread all over the country.
He says in his mind, that little buck scores bigger than any trophy buck he’s ever seen.
“Yeah, I was the luckiest hunter in the woods that day for sure,” says Powers with a smile.
Powers is hoping they’ll meet again next year in the woods.