It was F. Scott Fitzgerald who said that there are no second acts in American Life. I guess there are exceptions though. In Wisconsin there is a very detailed analysis of white tail deer populations and of the annual harvest through bow and gun hunting seasons. If there are still a lot of deer roaming about a short four day "second season" happens.
Lest you judge this heartless, the deer population is carefully managed for good reasons. White tail deer were once much less common. In the 19th century we logged off the northern half of Wisconsin and covered the southern half with farms. Effectively the state became a giant feet lot for deer. Left to their own devices there would be more deer starving in the winter. Or smacking into cars year 'round. Oh, no doubt the modest extra boost to the local economy is a minor factor in the extended deer season. For what it's worth there are other little special seasons for muzzle loaders, youth hunters and so forth.
This time I'll be hunting on my own, just the Better Half back at the cabin for support staff. Actual real life has more influence on my kids than it does on me. In addition to employment they also have to figure in minimizing any possible Covid exposure in the lead up to Christmas gatherings...
So, back to the woods.
I started the day with a great plan. A stand was set up overlooking a promising trail. I had made a lightweight gun rest out of various "stuff" from the robotics stockpile. I had the scope zeroed in on where the deer should be.
It totally did not work out. A nearby cabin that is never occupied this time of year, was. I suspect its a Covid telecommuting situation. The deer were put off by this and even if I had spotted one I'd be reluctant to disturb these nice neighbors with artillery fire.
So for the evening hunt, another approach.
Down the road a little ways is a parcel of public land that is adjacent to a former golf course. The local gentry, actually a very prominent family of industrialists, bought the golf course and just let it revert to nature. I think this is some combination of tax write off, laudable interest in land conservation...and an excuse for them to have some great hunting land all to themselves. Really, there's deer eating former golf course grass right out in the open. And overlooking it all there are several swank hunting stands. Here's one of them.
Just a cheap folding chair, one my wife was encouraging me to discard. I put a few strips of orange fabric up to help me find it in the dark. And to show it has not been casually dumped.
A fun day and a fun experience overall. With the extra effort I was able to make us 3/3. This will be the benchmark for future hunts. I also learned a lot and had a chance to enjoy some quality family time in a year when we all could use more of it.
6 comments:
Get rid of ALL white on the chair or some idiot will shoot you for a deer's butt, orange or no. Some people really are that stupid.
Gorges
That will be attended to! In this situation I knew I had the woods to myself, but I agree that the intelligence of deer should not be underestimated, nor that of fellow humans overestimated. Thanks!
TJW
Nice! Your mention of warmth reminded me a past experience.
I went to set up camp early for a black powder hunt and had a bit of daylight left. Took a walk and got a pretty good size doe. I was bound and determined to have that thing in the tree when everyone else arrived the next morning. It was only a 700 yard drag, but gullies and brush had me VERY warm by the time I had that thing in the tree.
Weetabix
More hunters die of heart attacks than gunshots every year. I did put the deer onto a little plastic kid's sled once I got it to the road. Just because you can work yourself to exhaustion does not mean you must do so.
TJW
A nibbin buck is about 6 months old and would become an antlered buck. Killing a nibbin is a bit like killing Bambi, and also will reduce the deer population by more than a little. Is this a fair comment?
A fair comment? Sure, it is a thoughtful question. But also a difficult one. Thanks for asking it.
Practically speaking you can't see these little nubs so there is no way to tell if the smaller deer you are aiming at is male, female or whatever else we are supposed to consider as options these days.
The whitetail population in Wisconsin is managed with considerable care. Registrations are on line and available pretty much in real time. Stats are kept of where you got your deer, how many hours you hunted that day, how many deer you saw. And of course buck v. "antlerless" which - see above - of necessity includes younger deer of all sorts.
As to impact on population I guess you'd have to look at one year and multi year factors. If I had been able to line up a shot on the larger antlerless - presumed doe - and taken that shot I would likely have harvested a deer that was two weeks pregnant. Deer have this interesting once a year mating season thing. So in the one year time frame I guess bucks of any size would be preferred. But per the DNR, the second season is only antlerless. BTW the mix of antler/antlerless tags is managed with great care and varies from year to year, location to location.
The reason that there is a second season at all presumably - and I'm still learning - is to reduce winter and motor vehicle crash losses. In at least the first scenario it is the smaller, younger deer that don't make it. Regards the second I think bucks are involved in crashes in disproportionate numbers, mostly due to rutting season stupidity. But that's way off in the fall of 2021, and not something that can be figured.
So perhaps the best answer to your comment is: Practically speaking, no. But there's a lot I don't know about deer. How many does does each buck collect? Is there some buck to doe ratio that is ideal? Questions leading to more questions.....
T. Wolter
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