Deer Season Report

 Our friends, Dusty and George have spent a bunch of time this Fall in our timber bow hunting, and this weekend, firearm hunting. Saturday was windy and the deer stayed out of sight until dusk, when they came out in bunches. Sunday morning was calm and at 6:45 we heard Dusty shoot. He got a very nice buck through the heart. Dusty lost sight of the deer and came in so it would lie down. When we went out again to look for it, it had gone about 75 yards before going down. 

Ten days ago, George bagged a good buck with a crossbow and we retrieved it with the tractor.

A few days after that buck, George got another one! Dusty came to help him retrieve this one, and he had a meaningful deer blessing before they loaded it. "Thank God it died by the road!"  I gotta say that I am impressed by the hunting skill of our friends! This photo is by Dusty.

Firearm Deer Season Starts Friday, November 18

...and I am hoping we don't hear cannonades in the morning. Sometimes it sounds like a war firing up on the first day. It will be cold in the morning with a NW wind, so hunters will have to climb down early and retreat to their 4WD pickups and coffee bottles. I wish young bucks like these two were safe, but many hunters will shoot any deer with antlers. These two crossed our driveway during the morning, Thursday, November 17.

 

Saddening, Maddening

 Below are a couple of bucks on our place. The first one was road kill, just past our driveway. He was hit in a curve that slows traffic a bit, so most people are able to hit the brakes and miss a deer, but one gets it occasionally. The deer herd moves around the house regularly, so young bucks like this one are practically family. We have hit our share of wildlife on the road, and we always hate it. Squirrels, birds, rabbits, and a few deer; I think I remember every one of them.

The second one is an aggravation. We have good habitat where we live, and there is habitat around us, but it all is an island surrounded by ag fields. The deer, turkey, and coyotes attract hunters all out of proportion to the size of the resource, and we have to turn away hunters and trespassers regularly.  We always have hunters that hug our lines, and this buck is from one of those. Whoever shot it should have come to our door and asked about retrieving it. We actually go out and help find deer for hunters who ask, and we are glad to retrieve them with the tractor and loader. So, I wonder if this was done by an inept hunter, or a poacher.  Line hunters are an aggravation, as are poor shooters, and any hunter who doesn't track down and retrieve game.

Thank You for the photo, GW!