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Hunting is never a chore
By NEIL CLARRIDGE/Star-Tribune Sports
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 10:13 AM EST
Some chores are better than others. A friend of mine had a deer infestation on her farm. The varmints were everywhere. She asked me to cull the excess deer from the property. It was a chore that I couldn't accomplish on my own so I called in some help.
Brian is a student at Radford University where he studies geology. Due to his busy schedule at school, he doesn't get much time for hunting. I took him to my friend's farm twice and he harvested three deer.
The first day as we were setting up his stand, a deer walked out in the field and started feeding. Brian and I froze for several minutes trying to determine the deer's disposition. Apparently its disposition was to ignore us and feed in the field.
After a short meeting, we determined that the best thing for Brian to do was climb the tree to about twenty feet and hope that the deer would not mind the ruckus. We were in a position that required elevation in order to insure a safe shot. The deer didn't mind. After fumbling for a comfortable position from which to shoot, Brian leveled the rifle and made the 150-yard shot.
I left Brian in the stand, hauled off the deer, and field dressed it for him. Later in the afternoon, I heard him shoot again. He had shot a 5-point buck that I found in the woods. I didn't see any live deer that day, but Brian kept me busy doing chores.
The next day, I dropped Brian off at the same tree. He shot a 6-point buck at 130 yards. I didn't see a thing. He let me field dress that deer too.
The next week Trotter got to hunt the farm. His 30-30 was not the necessary tool for the job so I let him use my daughter's Remington 700 in 7mm-08. I dropped him off at the tree and went to set up in a tree of my own.
Before I could get the stand up the tree, I heard a shot. The truck rounded the bend and found Trotter in the stand with a smile on his face. He didn't say much, he just pointed to the spot where the deer lay. I hauled it off and field dressed it for him.
About an hour later another shot rang out. Being twenty feet up a tree, I called him on the phone. Trotter had killed a small buck that had run down into a deep creek bottom. I had him report to my friend's house for tea and crumpets while I tried to get a deer.
I didn't see a thing. We went down into the huge holler and dragged the buck to the field. It was a chore that left both of us breathless at the top of the hill. My friend was happy to see the deer going home with us. She invited me back to continue my chores. I brought Ethan back the next week. We spent the morning hunting in Franklin County and ended the day at my friend's farm.
Ethan got the visitor's spot. I chose a stand where my friend had hung a porch swing. When I woke up from my nap, the field was full of deer. There were three bucks and seven does wandering around. The bucks were acting aggressively toward the does and the does didn't appreciate it. It took almost an hour for the deer to maneuver to a spot where I could shoot in complete safety.
Just as the finger began to squeeze the trigger, a shot rang out...Ethan. After a momentary lapse of concentration, I was back on focus. Being a man of my word, I chose a doe and squeezed off a round. When I took the assignment, I promised my friend that we would focus on the does since they seemed to be the ones having babies every spring. The deer bolted like it had been shot in the heart, which it had.
The largest buck ran over to see what the doe was doing. I am a man of infinite patience, but a buck standing still in my circle of death completely unaware of my presence... well that's just too much. The sight picture was beautiful, the trigger squeeze smooth: the shot found its mark.
The buck and the doe served as demonstration models to teach Ethan how to field dress a deer. We called Ethan's deer doezilla. The doe had a head the size of a mule and a body that equaled the weight of both of my deer put together. Ethan field dressed doezilla.
It has been a good season. There has been much work to do, but with chores like these, it's easy to get help.
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| Comments: |
Charles wrote on Jan 9, 2008 9:46 PM: " How can you say Human infestation? If the deer herd is allowed to get to large, they compete for food thus making them malnourished. This also opens the door for more diseases for the deer population "
Sonja Ingram wrote on Jan 9, 2008 11:54 AM: " Deer infestation on her farm? Maybe it's the humans who are infesting the deer habitats. Deer were here long before we were. I think it’s awful that people can get so much pleasure in killing. I’ve heard all of the arguments before: deer create hazards because they get in the roads, deer eat my garden, hunting is a sport, etc. But quotes like these “but a buck standing still in my circle of death completely unaware of my presence” and “The deer bolted like it had been shot in the heart, which it had.” I think tell a larger story of the strange need some humans have to kill. "
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