Stone Circle Only eyes for you

Hunter Trade: Deerstalker

Valette kept her eyes on the deer herd. It had moved from the open plains to their forest. With the lack of grass under the snow the deer often moved on to the bark of their trees. Valette was skilled at watching the herd. However, she had to be more careful with deer as they would spook easily. The bison on the other hand she could almost sit next to without them wanting to move.

Valette was hoping to study the herd if any of them was sick or limping. Then they could later hunt that one instead of making their life hard and hunt a healthy one. She kept her distance but perhaps she would sooner of later spook them on purpose to see who was the slowest.

Steph had slept in that morning, but that was only because she up later the previous night. She had been curled up under a a log, snoozing a bit. She opened her eyes and caught movement. Moving her head, she saw Valette was in hunt mode. She knew to be quiet, or else she'd screw up what Valette was doing. Slowly, she turned her head more, and caught sight of the deer herd.

She wanted to join in, but she knew she had to do so carefully. She watched the deer, and when she felt none were looking her way, she slowly straightened her body out. Freeze. Move a little more. Freeze. Move a little more. Freeze. She repeated this process until she was standing. Valette would have likely seen her by now, but Steph knew if she didn't, she couldn't alert her to her presence, or else the deer might know they were there, too.

Valette watched every individual. The female kept a watchful eye to the ones that showed any sign of weakness. She noticed a flicker of moment. Her ear twitched, before turning her head. She instantly recognized her daughter. Valette relaxed. Steph knew about hunting, so the mother wasn't worried about the female disturbing them.

Valette stayed put until Steph caught up with her. She dipped her head and then licked over her cheek in greeting. Valette then looked at the herd before looking back at Steph. "Let's make then run. Watch for the one who is limping," she instructed softly. Valette grinned and then jumped up, letting out a yowl.

King was also watching the herd, mostly because Valette was doing so. He and his parents and siblings had occasionally hunted larger game like deer and moose, but their diet had consisted mainly of the bighorn sheep that inhabited their mountain, with ample pheasant and turkey available to supplement. He was intrigued by the gathering of large mammals - and would likely be blown away when he found out what other large game inhabited the area. 

As he watched, Valette and her young twin burst forth with a lot of noise, startling King somewhat. They were giving chase, it seemed, and the male didn't want to be left out. He sprang out of his hiding place and hurried to catch up, tongue lolling gaily out of his mouth as he trailed close behind his superiors - not quite crowding them, but keeping within earshot.

Her mother noticed her and she returned the licks in greeting. Her tail began to sway when Valette told her of the plan to chase, and Steph could already feel the excitement coursing through her veins. This was her favorite part. She nodded her understanding of the instructions given, her eyes already searching for any weaknesses in the deer ahead of them.

Valette stepped off, and Steph launched from her own position. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth, a happy expression on her face as she barked and yelped to get the herd moving. They were quick to oblige the wolves, and at first scattered in all directions that were away from the wolves. Pawsteps behind her had her head swiveling to see who was following them, and she was happy to see the newly-joined King behind them. She barked excitedly at him, her way of inviting him to join fully into the chase.

It was a delicate balance of making the deer herd run. Valette didn't want them to scatter in all different directions which would make it tough to scout for weaknesses. The female jumped to the side and snarled to make a few deer change direction and return to the herd. Valette watched Steph as she looked so excited to be chasing the herd. She was really her daughter.

Then the female noticed that King was there was well. They could use his help! She was glad that he was already helping out. She also woofed at him in greeting before returning to her task. Her green hazel eyes were focussed on which one was limping or not so quick. Most of them seemed to get along fine. Sometimes there was no weak deer. It was not always the case that one was injured. She looked at the others if they were seeing something.

He was glad to see that Steph welcomed him to the chase, and Valette soon after that. It seemed that they were not just chasing for the joy of it, but neither did they seem to be hunting. That was odd to King, who'd never quite had the luxury of testing out herds before taking his pick.

Still, he could see that there was a method to the Matriarch's maddness - she wanted them kept together. When he realized this, King sprang into action, spreading to the side to help keep the herd in line. He didn't go too close, but kept at them in order to keep them in a tight herd.

The trio worked as a team to get the deer back into formation and running as a group. It helped the wolves spot any that might be showing a weakness. That was when Steph noticed one deer in particular whose strides didn't seem to match the others. She wasn't limping, per say, but it looked like she had to work twice as hard to keep up with her counterparts. Steph glanced to Valette. Did she see it?

Valette noticed that King was quick to pick up on their mission. She was pleasantly surprised. Valette did see that one deer was panting quiet harshly. The rest of the herd seemed to run pretty well. Valette started to slow down herself as she had seen enough. "One of the does didn't feel fit. I will keep an eye on it the next coming week," She spoke after she slowed down to a stop.

Valette then turned to King and smiled. "Thanks for helping. You did a good job keeping the deer with the herd!," she complimented him. She was pretty sure that Steph was probably also pleased with him. "Anything you have seen?"

The male was panting happily, tail wagging as he fell back to join his packmates - only to balk as he realized he might've interrupted real work! They'd been testing the herd for weaknesses (apparently!) and he hadn't had a clue.

"I thought we were just chasing them for fun, so I wasn't paying attention," he admitted. "But now that I know, I'll keep an eye open. My family didn't hunt deer very often."

Hopefully, this would be a good enough excuse.

The wolves fell back as the deer continued to run, until Steph could no longer see them. She was panting as she turned to Valette, nodding in agreement. Yeah, I noticed her strides weren't as long as the others, and she was struggling to keep up, she confirmed. If the doe didn't heal quickly, it was likely that she would be the pack's next big meal.

Steph turned to King, who admitted he hadn't known they were testing the herd. It's alright, she assured him. Sometimes I chase them for fun, she said with a grin, hoping he didn't feel bad.

Valette offered him a smile as well. Then Steph assured him that they did chase them for fun. "True. I am the head gamekeeper of the pack. I'd like to be master deerstalker one day. We usually hunt big game in this pack. I found that if we scout of a victim hunts are often more successful," she smiled.

But chasing them for fun was also nice to do. "Thank you for helping though! You did well," she complimented the male with a nod. "Then you already know who we are going to hunt the next time during a pack hunt," she grinned.

King nodded thoughtfully - it seemed like a good idea, now that they explained it to him. He wondered why his family had never employed this tactic, but then decided that they'd done well enough for themselves with smaller game and scavenging that it hadn't really been necessary.

"Well, I'm glad I could be of help either way," he said to the pair, tail wagging idly. "Will you call on me the next time you hunt?"

Steph nodded quickly when King requested an invitation the next time they went scouting the deer herd. Sure thing, she promised. It was good he was already showing initivitve, and the Beta was sure he would fit in nicely in Easthollow. I think I'll go scout a bit, she announced. You're welcome to join me if you want, she offered. If he came, great, if not, she was content doing it on her own.

Valette agreed with her daughter. This male could definitely help out during their next hunt! She was certain he would be an asset. "Yes, of course! Everyone is welcome to join," she smiled at the male. She was getting more curious about this newcomer. She knew that he had to make room for his younger siblings and that he wanted to hunt, but Valette was getting more curious about him as his work ethic showed. She would ask more about him the next time they would meet.

- end -