This year, the hunting season in my area has been a brutal one. I've come across far to many scenes of sorrow and my heart aches for every beautiful being whose life has been taken. I wrote this story based on an actual event I encountered this hunting season to honor the life of a beautiful doe whose life was cut short too soon.

The wind was whistling a sullen tune through the trees that evening as night fell upon the snow covered fields.  All seemed calm and quiet as I checked the barn for the night, everyone was nestled in the straw and drifting off to sleep. "Such peace." I smiled to myself.
As I turned off the lights and locked up for the night, I was startled by a sound in the fields.
I listened hard as the sound of fleeting hooves pierced the quite night air.  As the sound echoed louder it was joined by  muffled voices quickly following behind. At that point, I knew exactly what was happening.

"No."

I began running towards the field desperate to get their before the angry voices could.  It felt like years were passing as the snow crunched loudly beneath my feet while I ran,  I couldn't get there fast enough.
A deafening blast filled the air, stopping me dead in my tracks.
It was pitch black as I heard them approach, their steps loud and brash. They remained unaware of me as I stood still, hidden beneath the veil of night.

"Oh christ, all that for a fuckin doe? I thought you said we were trailing a Buck, Trent!"  
"How the hell was I supposed to know?! It's darker than hell out here!"

The two men shouted back and forth like this for a few minutes before the man called 'Trent' said,

"Forget it, she isn't worth shit anyway. I'm freezing, lets go home."

His words cut through me like glass. 'She isn't worth shit'?  "How dare he?" I silently seethed.
I waited till I could no longer hear them talking before I walked up to the scene.

She laid there in the crimson stained snow, heaving for breath as the cold air gently blew the thick fur of her winter coat.  They didn't even bother to put her out of her misery, they just left her there to bleed to death in the snow. A beautiful young Doe, no more than a few summers old.

Tears trickled down my face as I knelt beside her and placed a hand on her velvet face. The moon seemed to shine down on us as she looked at me with pain and sorrow in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry..."  I whispered. I wanted to take her pain away, I wanted her to know she mattered. They may not have thought she was worth anything, but to me she was worth the world.

Her breathing grew faint as her rigid form relaxed, and I knew there was nothing I could do. The gun shot wound was fatal, and it was only a matter of time before she would be leaving this cruel world.

I sat with her in the snow and gently stroked her neck until she took her final breath.

With a heavy heart I had to leave her, the only comfort I had was that she was no longer frightened or in pain. I had reached the edge of the field when I got the strange urge to turn around and look back. As I did, my eyes fell upon a figure standing in the field where I had just been. It was a buck, in fact it was one of the most beautiful bucks I'd ever seen. Despite the sure scent of human that lingered in the air, he walked over to the doe's side. He reached his long neck down and gently nudged her body, I could only imagine what was going through his mind. He paused for a moment, his gaze remaining on the beautiful doe's form, almost mourning her death. He then raised his head abruptly and began to run. He ran with stunning grace and agility as he disappeared into the nearby woods.

Snow began to fall as I watched him go, and I was strangely comforted by the sight of him. My heart ached for the innocent doe who died for no reason at the hands of men who had no respect for the life they took away, but I found solace in the fact they did not get what they came for.

Scenarios like this happen all around the world every year, and thousands of animals die for no reason other than bragging rights, sport, and selfishness. Hunting is a barbaric waste of life, and I believe as humans we are obligated to protect those who cannot fight back, the innocent beings whom with we share the planet. We have no right to take their lives-  We must do everything in our power to keep them safe. I have always been opposed to hunting and I will remain so. I will not tolerate such barbaric, insensitive acts done to my animal friends. They may not have a voice, but I promise you- you cannot silence mine for as long as I live.