Deer Hunting
SAFELY

by
Lin Stone

Your Clicks on the Little Pics
Will bring much bigger scenes
Swimming out into your view.

Deer hunting is a national holiday in Arkansas.  Every year there are small business owners that close up their doors and go hunting for deer.  Customers are expected to understand.

Those who work for companies have their vacation set up to correspond with their favorite deer season and NO sudden developments shall interfere with that time.  Everyone that can hunt for deer, heads out for the best deer hunting area they can access.  For some that is a slice of some National Forest offering.

When deer day arrives deer country fills up with camps of 3 to 30 hunters.  Smoke curls up from a central fire, tents greet the dawn.  Coffee by the gallon is consumed and hunters sit around the fire talking about the deer they bagged, the ones they missed, and the ones they hope to bag.  The ones who aren't still there talking are the serious ones, already out on their stand, eyes peeled, fingers tensed, bullets primed.  Any deer trying to offer itself on the altar of sacrifice will get their scrutinous consideration.

The night before opening day is the time to decide if you are in the right camp.  What you want to hear is: "I'll be on a rock face, up on the hill (a nod of the head in the general direction) to the east of here and facing north." 

In other words:
don't aim my way when you start shooting. 
In return, s/he won't be aiming your way.

Unless you have a desire to end up as unprocessed game you also want to watch the way your associates in the group are handling their weapons. If they are kind of hazy in the way they point the business end you'll want to associate with a different bunch next year.  If they are downright stupid in the way they handle weapons in camp you can suddenly remember somewhere else you have an important need to return to.  "I may not be back in time to hunt with you." 

Do NOT trust to luck; these are the kind of guys that will explain in court: "I heard something in the brush and shot."  That is MY emphasis on the word "something" as THEY are clueless.  Not even two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter will make them any smarter.

Safe camps will be peopled with hunters in safe garb.
They will know how to maintain a fire, safely.
They won't be roaring drunk or trying to get that way.
There will be a first aid kit available in camp.
There will be potable water.
The bathroom "facilities" will be pointed out.  "That tree on the left is where the area for women starts, and that tree over there on the right starts off the territory for men."

Women?  In a deer camp? 

Let me assure you,
them Arkansas women ain't there to wash the dishes.

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One alternative to accepting a mere slice of National Forest is to have a friend with a slab of land to hunt on.  My friend James is a huntmeister on his own ranch that is four miles long and has a river running down the middle of it.  He's big on hunting deer, turkey and bear.  Nor is he above tackling the occasional wild boar.  Any season brave enough to open for deer, he is ready for it.  Bow, black powder, buck only, or buck or doe, James is there with his sights blackened.

His personal deer stand is 25 feet high and looks right down on a corn feeder that is constantly contaminated with sweet strawberry fumes.  His wife makes him wear a seat belt up there.  Deer can smell the strawberry essence from three miles away.  There's water on three sides of the deer stand.  James put his stand there because two deer trails crossed that spot.  Now there are six deer trails crossing there.

When I came to visit James my favorite daughter came with me.  Any season she misses bringing down a deer is a season of lamentation.  This year she brought her baby daughter with her for that all important FIRST DEER HUNT.  The safety jacket came all the way down to her knees.  Mama had to carry the gun for her, but her eyes were bright and her hopes were soaring.  "Are we really going to get a deer, Mama?"

"We'll get one, baby."

Hunting on a friend's slab of land, especially if it is as big as a little National Forest, is only slightly different from hunting on a slice of land.  First off, you'll want to know the slab boundaries   Then you'll want a tour of the property with the huntmeister, if at all possible.

You'll want to get right down on the ground and tromp around when you get near the spot he wants you to hunt from.  Study the landmarks pointed out to you so it will be easy to make your way there in the dark, and back again after you've brought your deer down. 

If you don't have a night scope then one thing you'll want to check out for easier navigation is your camera.  Many (expensive) cameras are equipped with night vision in the view finder.  To my mind it is even better than a night scope for navigating in the dark because the field of view is virtually 180 in front of you and you can see every tree, every bush, every deer, every packrat.  I can see better with mine at night than I can see in broad daylight because everything is in such sharp contrast.

You'll want to remember which direction the water flows, which way the trees are bent (that shows the direction of prevailing winds) and note the sharpness of ascent and descent between you and the camp.  Another thing you'll want to ask about is the location of any deep swimming holes in the area you'll be hunting from.  Finding one by accident while chasing down a wounded deer can be a harrowing experience.

Ask where any other hunters will be stationed while you are at your spot.  Ask which way most deer are wont to run if someone doesn't make a clean kill.  Ask about any field dressing rules your huntmeister might have.

With a deer on your shoulder you may very well look like a deer to another anxious hunter wanting to bag a trophy too.  Just hearing a single shot usually means a clean kill has been made is enough to heighten the tension.  After field dressing your deer to make your triumphant trip back to camp, Make SURE you aren't crossing in front of anyone else's hunt station.  If you went out on a four wheeler or in a truck, your friends will be expecting you to come back in the same fashion.

  

After showing your kill off to your friends, invite their presence while dressing out the meat, just in case your knife slips.  If you discover a hunter in your midst who can't be convinced to take the forefront in dressing his or her own kill, it would be a good idea to leave them behind on the next hunt.

 

 

 


 

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