Watch a friendly 8-point buck walk right up to a Wisconsin deer hunter (Spoiler: Everyone lives)

Dan Hartley of Janesville has hunted white-tailed deer in Wisconsin for more than four decades.

The years of experience have provided him with valuable perspective.

"No two seasons are the same," said Hartley, 60. "I look forward to every one, no matter what it brings."

If he and the other 500,000-plus deer hunters are able to hunt for another 40 years, it will be hard to top what this season brought Hartley.

On Saturday, opening day of the Wisconsin gun-deer season, Hartley set out into the woods on private land near Hillsboro in Vernon County.

He was hunting with his son-in-law Hank Baumann of Janesville and Josh Woodman of Beloit.

As light filtered into the woods, Hartley decided to sit at the base of a mature tree. The spot afforded views on the downward slope of a coulee, including a likely deer bedding area in a patch of dense vegetation.

Hartley sat on a foam cushion and leaned his back against the tree. He was dressed in a blaze orange coat and hat and camouflage rain pants.

His 25.06 rifle rested by his side.

Having hunted the property multiple times over the last two years, including during the bow seasons, Hartley knew the property fairly well. It held good numbers of deer.

The hunters had agreed to let smaller bucks go. And to help with deer management, they wouldn't hesitate to shoot a doe.

"I was surrounded by deer one time this year during bow season," Hartley said. "I couldn't make a move. That's the first time that's ever happened."

He was about to encounter another first.

At 7 a.m., Hartley noticed movement from a thicket just downhill from his position. Seconds later, an 8-point buck emerged about 20 yards away.

The deer had a smaller rack and was younger than Hartley intended to shoot. 

In an effort to get the deer to move off, Hartley loudly clicked his rifle's safety. The buck jumped. But it didn't run.

Instead, it looked at Hartley and, astonishingly, began to saunter over to the hunter.

Hartley, who wasn't wearing any "doe in heat" or other deer scent, remained still.

The buck walked slowly within a few feet of Hartley and slightly past his location.

For a second, Hartley applauded his stealthy performance.

"I thought it was just going to walk past me and keep going," Hartley said. "Then I heard him smelling me from behind."

Moments later, the buck did more than sniff — it pushed its nose directly into the middle of Hartley's back.

"I thought, 'Hey, what's going on here?" Hartley said. "Then he came around the front of the tree and put his head down toward my feet."

Hartley remained seated as the buck began to work its antlers on his legs and boots.

As they are shedding velvet and during the mating season, it's common for male deer to rub their antlers on trees.

An instance of a buck rubbing on a hunter has never been recorded, according to searches performed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Hartley began to use his hands to push the deer's head away.

"I never felt really threatened," said Hartley, a truck driver by trade who stands 5 feet 9 inches and weighs about 225 pounds."But one time, he backed off and kind of raised a front hoof. That's when I told him to 'knock if off.' "

After a few minutes of jousting, Hartley decided to get his phone out and make a video of the encounter.

"I thought no one is going to believe this if I don't get this on film," Hartley said.

He had to push the buck away to be able to reach into his pocket and retrieve his phone.

Hartley began capturing video. It lasts 7 minutes, 8 seconds.

Viewers see the deer dipping its 8-point rack and pushing into Hartley's legs. At some points, it lifts its head and looks around. At others, Hartley's hand is visible pushing back on the buck. On several occasions the barrel of Hartley's rifle is visible.

The exchange appears more like a human playing with a family dog than a wild animal.

"I had a loaded gun if I really needed it," Hartley said. "But I never was going to use it on that guy."

Hartley said the animal looked completely wild and didn't have any ear tags or other signs of captivity. But it behaved differently than any whitetail he'd ever seen.

"I don't know if it had been fed by someone when it was younger," Hartley said. "It seemed comfortable around me."

The buck-hunter play tussle lasted 15 minutes in all, Hartley said. The only casualty was Hartley's rain pants, which were shredded by the buck's sharp tines.

At one point, Hartley told the deer to get going. "Don't you know I'm trying to hunt?" Hartley said.

Eventually, the buck had enough. It walked away, but not before raking a sapling with its antlers.

Hartley, who shot a doe later Saturday, thinks the 8-pointer survived opening weekend.

"I guess you could say it was his lucky day and my lucky day, too" Hartley said. "Amazing."