2 days of deer season left

[Radix]

I'm usually pretty pumped up about deer season and have always enjoyed it. Not the killing aspect, but the preparation and solid excuse to not be inside during an amazing time of the year. I did all my prep this year...pretty half hearted effort, but it's not rocket science. Went out the first day, saw a boat load of deer, but didn't shoot any. Haven't gone back out since as it rained for 4 straight days.

I'm supposed to go for the weekend with friends and I have no desire to do so. I need a solid excuse that won't get me permanently banned from the clan.

[valerieSONORA]

Ask them how could they kill poor, cute little deer and tell them to watch Bambi. Deer are too cute to kill. Tell them to try feeding and petting and babytalking to them instead.

[Bill Farnham]

Originally Posted by valerieSONORA

Deer are too cute to kill. Tell them to try feeding and petting and babytalking to them instead.

You obviously don't live in a high deer to people area like I do.

The next time you look out your window and see 17 deer eating everything in your garden, let me know how that makes you feel...

Those critters can do a lot of damage when their population gets out of hand due to a lack of natural preditors. Deer hunting is actually good for the long term health of the deer population.

Mighty tasty too I might add...

KJ

[Radix]

ok, I'm going with this

[Radix]

Originally Posted by Killer Joe

You obviously don't live in a high deer to people area like I do.

The next time you look out your window and see 17 deer eating everything in your garden, let me know how that makes you feel...

Those critters can do a lot of damage when their population gets out of hand due to a lack of natural preditors. Deer hunting is actually good for the long term health of the deer population.

Mighty tasty too I might add...

KJ

We still have 50% of the corn out because the fields are saturated. The deer have eaten nearly 1/3 of it already. I don't blame them, but they're not creating any good will.

[MissTerraK]

Originally Posted by Killer Joe

You obviously don't live in a high deer to people area like I do.

The next time you look out your window and see 17 deer eating everything in your garden, let me know how that makes you feel...

Those critters can do a lot of damage when their population gets out of hand due to a lack of natural preditors. Deer hunting is actually good for the long term health of the deer population.

Mighty tasty too I might add...

KJ

1) OMGosh, I have the exact same problem and it makes me furious, I pour blood sweat and tears into my flower beds so that when they are beautiful and aromatic, I can gaze at them and de-stress, but when I see the deer eating the buds right when they're about to bloom I get more stressed out! Hubby will only let me shoot plastic bebes at them, He's not a hunter! Maybe if I go and buy a new plant in bloom every time one is chewed on and show him the bill, he'll change his mind!

2)I am a dear and will feel much safer when the season is over! LOL!

MissTerraK

[ThomM]

Just tell them it's really early in the morning, cold, and you don't want to go.
That's usually my excuse (thanks to Ron White).

[valerieSONORA]

Originally Posted by Killer Joe

You obviously don't live in a high deer to people area like I do.

The next time you look out your window and see 17 deer eating everything in your garden, let me know how that makes you feel...

Those critters can do a lot of damage when their population gets out of hand due to a lack of natural preditors. Deer hunting is actually good for the long term health of the deer population.

Mighty tasty too I might add...

KJ

I wouldn't mind if I saw them eating my garden I'd think it was cute. I might plant a garden just for them.

[HeySal]

Yeah, too bad humans killed all the natural preditors eh?

I'm wondering........there are a few things that might keep deer out of smaller gardens (possibly large fields as well if you wanna work that hard). The one I'm thinking about is "doggy no" It keeps dogs away from things so they don't pee on them (excess amonia can kill a plant even if urea is good for them).

Anyhow - I lived near a farmer who used to love it when I took Munchie for walks around his fields because he'd go potty by the fields and it scared a lot of the wildlife
off - they don't like dogs. Not sure if they can tell how big and dangerous a dog might be from his poop, but if their noses are as sensitive as dogs, they would have a good idea not to play in Rottie territory. He said it worked for his fields. Maybe it just seemed that way because someone shot all the deer.

Out here in the OR/ID border area the deer seem to know hunting season. They go stand in the herds of cows and smile as the guys ride by with their guns. Nobody in their right mind would shoot into a herd of cows out here.....good way to go from the hunter to the hunted real fast.

[MissTerraK]

Originally Posted by HeySal

Yeah, too bad humans killed all the natural preditors eh?

I'm wondering........there are a few things that might keep deer out of smaller gardens (possibly large fields as well if you wanna work that hard). The one I'm thinking about is "doggy no" It keeps dogs away from things so they don't pee on them (excess amonia can kill a plant even if urea is good for them).

Anyhow - I lived near a farmer who used to love it when I took Munchie for walks around his fields because he'd go potty by the fields and it scared a lot of the wildlife
off - they don't like dogs. Not sure if they can tell how big and dangerous a dog might be from his poop, but if their noses are as sensitive as dogs, they would have a good idea not to play in Rottie territory. He said it worked for his fields. Maybe it just seemed that way because someone shot all the deer.

Out here in the OR/ID border area the deer seem to know hunting season. They go stand in the herds of cows and smile as the guys ride by with their guns. Nobody in their right mind would shoot into a herd of cows out here.....good way to go from the hunter to the hunted real fast.

Sal,
You are way too funny! But I don't have dogs, I have kitty cats!

Guess the deer don't mind kitty poop, but of coarse I don't let them poop or pee in my flower gardens because then they'll just kill the yellow finches that frequent them!

Life is so full of hard choices LOL!
MissTerraK

[talewins]

"I can't make it this time guys, allergies acting up, you know." should work.
But the real answer should be, "Oh no, not in deer season. I had both my horns shot off my head last time and people are still shooting at me. Must be the way I walk or something."

[ThomM]

Originally Posted by talewins

"I can't make it this time guys, allergies acting up, you know." should work.
But the real answer should be, "Oh no, not in deer season. I had both my horns shot off my head last time and people are still shooting at me. Must be the way I walk or something."

When I cooked at the country club we had a salesman for one of the food brokers who was the definition of gullible.
One day Jim came in and I had to deal with him because the exec. chef was busy.
When he asked where Mike was I said he was dead.
When he asked what happened I told him he went hunting wearing that deer antler hat he had and another hunter shot him.

Later that day I started getting calls from the other club's in the areas chef's.
They all played along I found out.
The next week when Jim came back he just looked at me and uttered one word, a^^hole

[myob]

I have a good friend who is retired military special ops. In his home he has in the den all displays of his medals, awards, and framed certificates in marksmanship, explosives, demolition, etc. He was also an avid hunter for years, and has right above the fireplace the mounted rear end of a deer. With no more excuses left in telling his buddies sometimes he just does not want to go hunting this works very well. When they come over to take him hunting, it always happens they ask why he has the ass of a deer on the wall. To save on excuses for not wanting to go hunting he shrugs and says, "That was all that was left of it."

[Radix]

I went and sat in the woods.

Anytime I go deer hunting squirrels swarm me. I have no idea why and I even tell them to go away, but that only makes them even more curious and they leave and come back with friends.

I am the squirrel king.

I don't know if there's a squirrel season, but I suspect if I went squirrel hunting I would be surrounded by deer.

[Kay King]

I went and sat in the woods.

I'd rather do that anyway.

I know all the practical reasons for hunting deer and I've known hunters who ate venison year round from their freezers. I know there are areas where if the deer population is allowed to proliferate they can die because the resources can't support their numbers.

Even knowing all that, I couldn't shoot one. Just don't have it in me to kill things - no matter how good the reasons are.

I can just imagine you sitting totally overrun with squirrels...

kay

[ThomM]

Originally Posted by Kay King

I'd rather do that anyway.

I know all the practical reasons for hunting deer and I've known hunters who ate venison year round from their freezers. I know there are areas where if the deer population is allowed to proliferate they can die because the resources can't support their numbers.

Even knowing all that, I couldn't shoot one. Just don't have it in me to kill things - no matter how good the reasons are.

I can just imagine you sitting totally overrun with squirrels...

kay

Kay what's important is knowing there are reasons for hunting.
Over the years I've gotten farther away from hunting for basically the same reason.
Still I understand the need for population controls and believe the encon department here in NY does an outstanding job of wildlife management.
Hunting is a part of that management and though I don't hunt I'm glad others do.

[Radix]

I literally have no desire to hunt this year. We always eat them. I process them myself to make sure every scrap is utilized to include boiling the bones and giving my dogs the scraps from them. I literally waste nothing. I even give the hide to my neighbor who has the time and skill to use them for something that I'm more than a little scared to inquire about. He digs deer liver and heart too which is a bit much for me, but two more things not wasted.

The only deer I've seen this season are yearlings. It's legal to hunt them, but I'd have to be starving to death and I'm not. Poverty is leading to poaching. People have to eat, I get that and have no problem with it. With that said, I found two carcasses today with only the backstraps removed. Nothing really makes you detest being a human more than seeing something like that.

I can't comprehend being surrounded by nature and yet having so little respect for it.

[Sleaklight]

Just imagine them as jumping hambrgers instead of jumping deer. I like deer steaks! A buddy of mine always shares them when he does go hunting.

[valerieSONORA]

I say gather up all your hunting friends and watch Bambi and eat clover
Squirrels are also too cute to hunt even tho they are rodents.

[Radix]

Originally Posted by valerieSONORA

I say gather up all your hunting friends and watch Bambi and eat clover
Squirrels are also too cute to hunt even tho they are rodents.

They are a public menace. One kept getting into my backpack trying to find anything he could carry off. They crack me up because they've never been around people and so they have no fear and frankly no manners. To them I'm just a great big slow squirrel with a bag full of Snickers bars.

[talewins]

My grandson has been hunting since he was only 3. He's always bringing home trophy. One was a Boone.. And I really wish you'd go see him because home is where you hang your head.
Vacation For Less in Arkansas

[Kay King]

The only deer I've seen this season are yearlings. It's legal to hunt them, but I'd have to be starving to death and I'm not.

Don't get a big head or anything - but to me that statement qualifies you as a real hunter. Most long time hunters I've known have a great respect for the animals they kill.

It's the idiots who just want an excuse to shoot a gun and kill something that sicken me. Taking a life and wasting it is stupid, nothing more.

kay

[valerieSONORA]

Originally Posted by Radix

They are a public menace. One kept getting into my backpack trying to find anything he could carry off. They crack me up because they've never been around people and so they have no fear and frankly no manners. To them I'm just a great big slow squirrel with a bag full of Snickers bars.

How can you call those cute little things a menace, you should stock up on nuts and snickers bars and feed them and give them names.

[loenex]

what feelings do youhave when you hunt deers?

[Radix]

Originally Posted by loenex

what feelings do youhave when you hunt deers?

It's really just a process. I can't say I feel anything while I sit and wait except that of being content. That part of hunting is a like a mini mental vacation. If you've done everything right a deer will come your way which can be exciting, but most times it's nothing remarkable. Then of course is the act of shooting it, which is violent, ugly and disturbing. From there on out it's all work. There is a sense of accomplishment by the time you're finished, but the reminder that something died by your hands is always in the back of your mind.

When the deer population is too large for the available resources, you can tell. Deer literally pile up on the roadsides as they move in closer to people for food. You can't walk through the woods without spooking up several and you can even catch them right out in the open in the middle of the day eating. I've seen none of that this year and that leads me to believe their population is significantly smaller than it has been. My only mental justification for hunting is to keep the population manageable and sustainable. It appears that isn't an issue right now so to kill one would require another reason that I don't have.

[ThomM]

Originally Posted by Radix

It's really just a process. I can't say I feel anything while I sit and wait except that of being content. That part of hunting is a like a mini mental vacation. If you've done everything right a deer will come your way which can be exciting, but most times it's nothing remarkable. Then of course is the act of shooting it, which is violent, ugly and disturbing. From there on out it's all work. There is a sense of accomplishment by the time you're finished, but the reminder that something died by your hands is always in the back of your mind.

When the deer population is too large for the available resources, you can tell. Deer literally pile up on the roadsides as they move in closer to people for food. You can't walk through the woods without spooking up several and you can even catch them right out in the open in the middle of the day eating. I've seen none of that this year and that leads me to believe their population is significantly smaller than it has been. My only mental justification for hunting is to keep the population manageable and sustainable. It appears that isn't an issue right now so to kill one would require another reason that I don't have.

Just so you know Radix, we go through this all the time with Val.
As for the squirrels, your story reminds me of an apartment complex I use to work at.
We would always tell the new tenants to bang on the dumpsters before opening them to scare the squirrels out. If you didn't you could be sure a couple would come flying out, usually running up the arm that is lifting the dumpster lid. I called it a heart check. If you didn't have a heart attack from the surprise of the squirrels coming out of the dumpster then your heart was good. We also had a problem with the squirrels eating through the window screens of apartments.
I got a call one morning from a guy who went into his living room and found a squirrel sleeping on his couch.

What people don't get is as we take more land from nature for our use, we in turn become more responsible for caring for the nature that is left. Controlling the wildlife population to prevent disease and starvation is part of it. Another part of it is replanting land that is going back to nature with renewable food sources for the wildlife.

I'm with you on the fawn shooting thing.
When I hunted I always tried to take the oldest or weakest deer I'd see. Not always the best tasting, but usually the best choice I thought.

[John Rogers]

Originally Posted by Radix

Haven't gone back out since as it rained for 4 straight days.

If you really want a deer, the rainy days are the best days to go.

I haven't hunted myself since shortly after I graduated high school, but I might actually get my act together and start again next year.

John

[Radix]

Originally Posted by John Rogers

If you really want a deer, the rainy days are the best days to go.

I haven't hunted myself since shortly after I graduated high school, but I might actually get my act together and start again next year.

John

They just button down and won't move when the weather is bad here. Plus when everything's wet they are literally silent.

I'll try again during the second season to see if I can at least see a few adults. Hopefully we get some snow to equalize things.