Otherwise known as "gun season" for deerhunters! Fortunately, it only lasts a week here in SE OH, sometimes it is two dreaded weeks of torture as the jacked up, loud, fuming spewing, four-wheel drives and four-wheelers troll up and down our usually quiet dirt road in search of the bambi with the biggest rack, and I'm not talking about hooters!!!

DH goes out the opening day, mostly to drive off the trespassers who try vigilantly to sneak in the back of the property from the road running a mile behind us, he caught two this year, and three more saw him and headed the other way before he could catch 'em. He saw not a single deer that day, but I saw herds of does heading through the horse pasture and aiming for the very steep and briary ravine where only "bigfoot" himself could navigate without falling end over kip down the embankment.

I don't mind the bowhunters who don't upset the woods life at all, how upsetting can an "invasion of the tree-like people" be to a deer or a squirrel? Sitting stock still for hours and hours at a time calls for skill in and of itself one not hardly seen in modern man.

Our four horses and dogs so far are safe and unscathed, how goes the "invasion" in your rural neighborhood?

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

Answers

It ended here for us last Saturday. At least gun season ended. Don't really pay much attention as to when bow season begins and ends. Then we have muzzle-loaders season! Since we have about 95 acres (wooded) and those 95 are surrounded by hay fields and blueberry fields that aren't posted, we never know when someone is going to "accidently" trapse across our wooded property. Their excuse is "we got lost and turned around"! Shouldn't even be in the woods if they can't read a compass!!

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

Gun season ended here Sunday evening. Where I live, it's too populated. Anyone with a gun here would probably be arrested. No hunting in residential areas. I think there are occasional deer here though -- something nipped off all my peony buds a couple of years ago. And I know they live within a mile of here, in one of the conservation areas.

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

Annie--Bubba's--That's so funny--on Monday morning as my husband went out to cut and split wood, I yelled out the door--Don't forget, today is the invasion of the Bubbas! They zoom up and down in those big four wheel drives, once in a while tromp across the field and peer in the woods like they are going to see a big old buck lounging in a recliner just waiting for them to come. Five minutes later, they tromp back across the field to zoom up and down the road some more.

My brother, who loves to hunt, doesn't even go out when it's gun season around here any more. He will only bow hunt. There were years when he had to track a deer that was wounded by another hunter but the hunter was too lazy to follow it and put it out of its misery. Needless to say, we haven't taken our golden, T. Macbear, on any walks back by the woods this week, heck it's not even safe to walk along the side of the road this week.--Vicki

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

All the Bubba's whut hunts down heres is kinfolk, sos weuns justs dusts off the welcome mat and gets the old camera in a cardboard box ready. They take care of any interlopers themselves. 'Course, having Uncle Ivan out there playing his banjo probably scares more of 'em off than the guns do!

We also remember to stay FAAAAR upwind of the dogs for a week or so after wards - they think a pile of rancid old deer guts is the finest eau d'cologne - or EEEEUUUWWWWW d/cologne, as it were...

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

Haven't heard about any really stupid incidents locally this year -- no horses shot out from under 11 year old girls, no albinos shot, didn't hear about any accidental homicides either. A quiet year, all in all.

But there are two little Bambi's, this year's babies, that keep coming around here, trying to get in the fences (headed for the bird feeder apparently). They likely won't make it through the winter without their mother to show them where to go and yard up. I'm thinking about where to find a bale of deer hay and toss it out in the woods for them. Much as I hate the damage that they do, when you see them looking so pathetic, it's hard not to toss something their way.

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

It's Microsoft XP season around here...so far no casualties!

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2001

Wasn't it Holling, from Northern Exposure, who mounted his camera on his hunting rifle? Now thats the way to shoot things!

Hey has anyone around here ever shot a deer? Just wondering....kirk

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

I threw a rock at one once. It thought that I was feeding it.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

Never shot a deer. If I liked the meat more, maybe I would.

Tomorrow is our last day here in WV. The weather should be nice, I expect there to be lots of gunfire. I cannot wait for this part of the season to end. Course, bowhunting goes to the end of the year and muzzle-loaders are next.

No stupid stories here yet.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

Julie! You express yourself so amusingly!

I've never shot or shot at any living critter.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

I've never shot anything more than a target.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

Hi Kirk:

I've been a hunter since I was very young. I've killed quite a few deer over the years, and am proud to say I still feel very sad when I kill them. When I walk up to the dead animal, the first thing I do is kneel down and apologize to the deer for killing it. I explain that I need the meat to feed my family and myself, and hope that the animal understands why I did this.

Sounds hokey, I know, but I truly feel better. If I were ever to get used to killing, I hope I have enough sense to put the guns away for good. IMHO, anyone who derives pleasure of killing a living being really has a screw lose.

So why do I hunt? Because I like to eat meat. Going to the grocery store and buying it does not excuse yourself from the chain of events; someone had to kill an animal, butcher it, wrap it, and transport to the store where we buy it for our consumption. I am just eliminating the middle man.

Three weeks ago, my nephew, nine years old, was on a hunt with my brother and I when my brother killed a small buck. My nephew was very excited, at the beginning. But when we began eviserating the animal and butchering it, his tone changed dramatically. "What are you doing to it?" he asked. I asked him if he had ever seen what we were doing in person, already knowing his answer.

When he gave the expected answer, I told him, "Now you know what happens in real life. Everytime you order a hamburger in a restaurant, everytime you order chicken nuggets, every time you order fish, this is a step that you don't know about. Someone has to do it, and you pay for the service when you buy food."

He thought about this for awhile, then began asking the usual questions . . . is that the heart? . . . what are those? . . . I think a big impression was made on him that day. He grew up very quickly. Now hopefully, he will not take food for granted so easily.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

Did I ever tell you about the years I was a vegetarian?? Told myself if I was going to eat meat than I should kill my own.

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

That's an attitude more folks need to take when they gobble up their Big Macs Diane :-)!!!

Seriously though, I would have to be very, very hungry to kill a deer, or any mammal for that matter. Strangly enough, I can eat mambers of the bird family, chicken and turkey, and eat fish, even go fishing ( I do not use worms however, doing that thing with the hook to a worm is just cruel!!!), but I have a really hard time eating other members of the mammal family. Is that weird or what?

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

Hey j.r., please let me know when cows and pigs are in season. I love them! That is truly the reason I do not hunt deer. Pure palatability, on the larger scale (like 75 pounds of meat!). Meantime I get deer burger and jerky from a neighbor in exchange for smoking some of the meat. And may be getting some squirrel. We'll see what tomorrow brings. If that happens I have an older friend who I will give it to. Such terrific biscuits and gravy!

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

Anne, since you brought it up.........what is it with biscuits and gravy?? I tried it twice when I was down south.........I'll eat most anything but this was..........bleeeaaahhh.........

I don't hafta have the hunter stress in my life this year! A farm neighbor did call me to tattle on all the 'hunters' tresspassing on our land since we aint there to scare em off..........but I don;t really care anymore, since my family or critters aren't in danger of being shot......I can R E L A X.........]

-- Anonymous, November 30, 2001

J.R. thank you for your most considerate post! I just don't know the right or wrong about this subject and I sure don't mean to imply hunting is bad. I had my one kill when in my early 20s and that put a stop to all hunting for me. A buck jumped right out in front of me and I just let him have it! He ran a few feet then fell over stood up then dropped on his front knees. Now why did he have to kneel like that i don't know but I have dreams of him in that position! When he fell over I went up to him and he was blowing hard and stareing at me with those big brown eyes as if to say "why in the world did you do that". Finally after what seemed like 2 hours his eyes fogged over but I was absolutly beside myself by that time!! See I always thought that you shot a deer then ate it but I wasn't prepared for watching it die!

Anyway the point of my story was that I learned from that deer that what I eat comes from something that was alive and then died. Even veggies give up their life so I can feed. Thats the way it works!! Your right. We should always be thankful for everything we eat ....Kirk

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2001

Thanks for sharing with us Kirk, you saw what really happens when another beautiful living creature is "harvested" for human consumption, all folks should have to share that experience before indulging in their beef and pork, etc.

My grandpap would go deer hunting every year and whistle as he walked through the woods, was easier to just do that than explain to his Amish neighbors that he really didn't want to kill the deer, he would rather watch and enjoy them that way!!! But out he went every year, was the "manly" thing to do.....

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2001

We don't get too many trophy hunters here, but we certainly get more than normal 4-wheeler traffic on our quiet road during the season. Our son has reached the age that he wants to hunt, so has been out with his Grandpa a few times to learn the ropes. So far it's just learning, at least for deer, but we have a pretty nice stock of squirrels in the freezer now!

We like venison, especially in chilli, and haven't had one for several years. We've been thinking it's about that time again! Where we used to live in WI we got roadkill as often as we wanted, living right on a highway. This was the ideal situation since there was no guilt making use of an animal that would otherwise be wasted. Otherwise, we only kill what we eat, and we only eat what we kill. One of my wishes is that people who buy supermarket meat would be obligated to see/know how the meat is raised. I bet there would be a lot more vegetarians!

We had a nice herd of 6+ deer that grazed in our hay field all summer (the furthest from our house, but right next to the road). To drive the deer away from the road (i.e. view) we have been grazing our sheep there with the dogs running. We'll let the deer back after the season closes!

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2001

No offense taken Kirk . . . I sometimes have trouble explaining the reason why I hunt. I know that hunting does sometimes sound and look cruel. No matter how well you express yourself, it comes down to a living being killing another living being and when the killer is supposed to the smartest(?) being in the food chain, it can be hard to justify.

I admire vegetarians greatly, especially the ones who converted from a omnivorous diet to a vegan one (My God, you gave up BACON ?? !?!!) I don't think I could ever willingly be happy on that diet. But I know many do and are and they are to be commended by their choice; I am sure that they will live a longer, healthier life.

Again, I didn't take any offense by your first post and I hope I didn't come across as defensive; I was trying to honestly answer a question. You have a good day, guy.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2001

I call them Yahoo's not Bubbas but since the hunters around here are mostly local guys things are not so bad. My husband doesn't hunt. He just doesn't like killing things. I made him help me with the turkeys on Sunday...I held and he lopped heads. He most definitely was NOT happy about it. I do love a good deer steak or chops so i do wish he hunted but c'est la vie!

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2001