I won't be in the woods until THUR, low on the senority list at work after the start of the TGD II ( The Great Depression #2, like world war 2 is WWII)
so after all the years of hunting deer, and only takeing one buck, I realize I am not the hunter that my brother is, however he spends many weekends in the tree stand.
We do not use trail cams, we do not bait for deer with a pile of corn on the ground, we do not plant food patches, we do not have a 4 wheeled ATV to get around, we don't put out salt blocks.
Deer Hunting is just like Christmas, it has become over commercialized!
All this technology in the woods, is I believe, adding to the demise of the hunters image.
Deer are wonderful, beautiful anilmals, I have had many opportunities to take a doe, when looking/focused on gettting a buck, one time even had a doe about 18 feet from me, she knew something was wrong with what she was seeing as she kept raising and lowering her head, trying to figure out what I was, if she had have had the benefit of just one of two things, she would have never stayed or even got that close to me.
IF I had moved just an inch or the wind would have been different, she would have gone high tailed it!
I work in an auto repair in a dealership, I am not going to justify hunting by the increased rate of deer/auto collisions, but the trans tech has had several in the last few years. I helped him get sheet metal at a great discount for his Focus this summer, got it fixed and painted in August, guess what hit another about 7-8 weeks ago, totaled it, everybody is ok except the deer.
Done properly with the right crossbow or firearm, the hunting/harvest (I know some think it is slaughtering) of a deer is not the horror show many think it is.
It is the hunters that shoot without reason at any movement, or outta range blasting away at long distance, or taking a shoot with a compound or crossbow without selecting the best possible window of placement that also hampers the image.
Remember the Indians hunted too, and with a long bow, but I like to believe that they were better HUNTERS, because they had to be and had more need for the food and less importance on the trophy.
I have seen ugly, I received a call from a bow hunter in 1981, he had hit a nice buck on a farm that bordered one I was renting, tracked the deer to my 90 acre field of corn and stopped, called my landlord asked permission to continue tracking. She called me, then he called me, being a hunter, I said of course by all means, track the deer, and don't call next time just go.
I never heard back if he found his buck, but when I was harvesting the corn, first week of December, my corn head went empty of the right side of the six rows.
I found his deer and the sight was not good, it was ugly, I called Tom, our game warden, and he came and took care of it, it was out of season then, so I didn't.
I have not stopped hunting, for I watched the overpopulation cycle of raccoons and then skunks take it's course, that is not pretty either, but it did change my approach to hunting.
My brother uses a compound bow and the best arrows he can get, he is very selective and has taken two deer already this year. He takes the time to maintain a skill level with that equipment. I do not have that time nor am I close to the country like he is where he can be in the woods in 10 minutes. I have helped him track deer during gun season, and I am amazed at his ability to do so. It is all about reading the sign.
Best of luck to all myself included but respect and understand your game, our continued pursuit of the sport depends on it more now than ever !
