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Warning: if you are easily squicked, or feel like we live in a warm and fuzzy universe where such activities as killing and eating animals is barbaric should be avoided, you may want to avoid this post as well. It doesn't get *too* graphic, but it does mention things like blood, skinning dead animals, etc.
Also, to those who feel that it is unfair for me to hunt with a rifle and scope when the deer are "unarmed" (yeah, right -- I've seen what those antlers and hooves can do!), I will simply point out that the deer have MUCH sharper senses and much greater speed than I have. Find a way for me to match their speed and senses, and I'll forego the gun. Until then, I'll take my advantages where I can find them.
For those who think I should apologize for any of the above... well... I'm afraid you'll have to get used to disappointment. ;-)
Okay, you were warned...
Sunrise on Saturday morning marked the beginning of the hunting season in north Mississippi, where my family does their hunting every year. Actually, it was the start of the season where modern-day rifles can be used -- the season for "archaic" weaponry such as black-powder guns, bows, crossbows, etc. has been open for a few weeks, I believe.
Saturday morning, my father, brother-in-law, nephew, and I were up before dawn, engaging in our usual pre-hunt conversations: discussing where each of us was going to hunt, periodically quizzing my nephew on various aspects (he's still a fairly inexperienced hunter), etc. We each headed out to our chosen spots just as false dawn was tinting the eastern horizon.
It was a little cloudy that morning, and not the kind of clouds that make the really flamboyant sunrise/sunset views. Still, it was a pleasant morning, with just the right amount of nip in the air. There are few things as lovely as watching Mother Nature come alive around you. It's even more impressive if you start in the total blackness before first light, but I was out early enough to still get most of it. 8-)
As usual, I had my camera with me, so that I had the option to shoot things besides deer. I had quite a bit of company, including quite a few large pileated woodpeckers. I spent quite a bit of time watching grey squirrels romping through the downed leaves, switching seamlessly back and forth between hunting for things to eat (or to store away for later) with chasing one another around trees.
I saw the first deer at about 7:30, and only about 20 yards away. Unfortunately, the sneaky little bastard was behind me, and downwind -- he'd already caught my scent and was very much "on guard" when I spotted him, and I wasn't able to get into position to take a shot before he'd ducked back out of sight. Oh, well -- the morning was young, and I was enjoying spending time in the woods.
Just over half an hour later, I happened to spot a bit of motion among some bushes on the far side of the little valley I was in. I couldn't be completely certain what it was, so I slowly raised my rifle and checked it through the scope -- sure enough, it was a nice-sized doe. There were too many obstructions between us at that point, but I knew she was heading towards a clear section. Sure enough, about five minutes later she was in the clear, and I took my shot. She ran about 30 yards and dropped.
I crossed the little valley and tracked her to where she'd fallen. I made sure it had been a clean shot and she wasn't suffering, then headed back to get some help hauling her out of there. My father and nephew had already come in from their own hunts (my father had a deer of his own, my nephew wasn't so lucky), and the three of us went back out to retrieve my deer.
Those of you who know me know that one of the things I enjoy doing is teaching. My nephew has had a little bit of woodscraft training from me and my father (don't get me started on my brother-in-law), but there are still several things the boy hasn't had a chance to practice when it's not just an exercise his uncle or his grandpa have set up for him. ::G:: So I took him to the spot where the deer had been standing when I shot, showed him the tuft of hair she's lost when she got hit, told him, "She went that-a-way... now can *you* find her?" and he did quite well. I ended up having to show him where the blood-trail started, but after that he did beautifully and followed the blood-trail right to her.
From what I've seen, most teenage boys think that blood and gore on a tv or movie screen is cool, but when it comes time to actually put their hands in it, they balk. This year, we didn't have that problem with my nephew. A book I've been reading described a different skinning process than the one we've been using, and he was very attentive as I described it and demonstrated it when we started skinning the first deer. I'd describe or show him what needed to be done next, and he'd dive right in and do it. He had a bit of squeamishness when it came to handling the genitals and anus, but that was completely expected (he *is* still a teenage boy, after all ::G::), and he got through it with only a minimum of fuss.
One of the differences in this technique is that you end up with the hide coming off in one large piece. We haven't been using the hides before, mainly because none of us have known how. When I peeled the hide off the first deer and handed it to my nephew, he fell in love with it, and kept saying, "we could do something with this... make something out of it!"
Well... that put Uncle Dragon "on the spot" a little bit, and I told him that I didn't know *yet* how to treat and tan the hide, etc., but that if he was willing to commit to going through the process with me, then I'd find out how and we'd learn it together. The book I mentioned, "Deer skins into buckskins," has some good information but they assume you have a certain level of knowledge about some of the processes already. For instance, they mention salting the hide, but don't give you any indication of how much salt to use.
We were salting the hides that evening (me silently hoping that we were doing it right ::G::) and I told him that I felt it was only fair to warn him that I know that the next phase (scraping the remaining meat and fat from the fleshy side of the hide) is going to take about an hour of some pretty serious physical labor. He was completely serious when looked at me and said, "What's your point?" He may not feel the same way after he's been sweating over that hide for a little while, but seeing the look on his face as he squatted in the floor of that old barn made his dear old uncle feel very proud of him.
I don't suppose anybody here knows how to tan deer hides? 8-)
Also, to those who feel that it is unfair for me to hunt with a rifle and scope when the deer are "unarmed" (yeah, right -- I've seen what those antlers and hooves can do!), I will simply point out that the deer have MUCH sharper senses and much greater speed than I have. Find a way for me to match their speed and senses, and I'll forego the gun. Until then, I'll take my advantages where I can find them.
For those who think I should apologize for any of the above... well... I'm afraid you'll have to get used to disappointment. ;-)
Okay, you were warned...
Sunrise on Saturday morning marked the beginning of the hunting season in north Mississippi, where my family does their hunting every year. Actually, it was the start of the season where modern-day rifles can be used -- the season for "archaic" weaponry such as black-powder guns, bows, crossbows, etc. has been open for a few weeks, I believe.
Saturday morning, my father, brother-in-law, nephew, and I were up before dawn, engaging in our usual pre-hunt conversations: discussing where each of us was going to hunt, periodically quizzing my nephew on various aspects (he's still a fairly inexperienced hunter), etc. We each headed out to our chosen spots just as false dawn was tinting the eastern horizon.
It was a little cloudy that morning, and not the kind of clouds that make the really flamboyant sunrise/sunset views. Still, it was a pleasant morning, with just the right amount of nip in the air. There are few things as lovely as watching Mother Nature come alive around you. It's even more impressive if you start in the total blackness before first light, but I was out early enough to still get most of it. 8-)
As usual, I had my camera with me, so that I had the option to shoot things besides deer. I had quite a bit of company, including quite a few large pileated woodpeckers. I spent quite a bit of time watching grey squirrels romping through the downed leaves, switching seamlessly back and forth between hunting for things to eat (or to store away for later) with chasing one another around trees.
I saw the first deer at about 7:30, and only about 20 yards away. Unfortunately, the sneaky little bastard was behind me, and downwind -- he'd already caught my scent and was very much "on guard" when I spotted him, and I wasn't able to get into position to take a shot before he'd ducked back out of sight. Oh, well -- the morning was young, and I was enjoying spending time in the woods.
Just over half an hour later, I happened to spot a bit of motion among some bushes on the far side of the little valley I was in. I couldn't be completely certain what it was, so I slowly raised my rifle and checked it through the scope -- sure enough, it was a nice-sized doe. There were too many obstructions between us at that point, but I knew she was heading towards a clear section. Sure enough, about five minutes later she was in the clear, and I took my shot. She ran about 30 yards and dropped.
I crossed the little valley and tracked her to where she'd fallen. I made sure it had been a clean shot and she wasn't suffering, then headed back to get some help hauling her out of there. My father and nephew had already come in from their own hunts (my father had a deer of his own, my nephew wasn't so lucky), and the three of us went back out to retrieve my deer.
Those of you who know me know that one of the things I enjoy doing is teaching. My nephew has had a little bit of woodscraft training from me and my father (don't get me started on my brother-in-law), but there are still several things the boy hasn't had a chance to practice when it's not just an exercise his uncle or his grandpa have set up for him. ::G:: So I took him to the spot where the deer had been standing when I shot, showed him the tuft of hair she's lost when she got hit, told him, "She went that-a-way... now can *you* find her?" and he did quite well. I ended up having to show him where the blood-trail started, but after that he did beautifully and followed the blood-trail right to her.
From what I've seen, most teenage boys think that blood and gore on a tv or movie screen is cool, but when it comes time to actually put their hands in it, they balk. This year, we didn't have that problem with my nephew. A book I've been reading described a different skinning process than the one we've been using, and he was very attentive as I described it and demonstrated it when we started skinning the first deer. I'd describe or show him what needed to be done next, and he'd dive right in and do it. He had a bit of squeamishness when it came to handling the genitals and anus, but that was completely expected (he *is* still a teenage boy, after all ::G::), and he got through it with only a minimum of fuss.
One of the differences in this technique is that you end up with the hide coming off in one large piece. We haven't been using the hides before, mainly because none of us have known how. When I peeled the hide off the first deer and handed it to my nephew, he fell in love with it, and kept saying, "we could do something with this... make something out of it!"
Well... that put Uncle Dragon "on the spot" a little bit, and I told him that I didn't know *yet* how to treat and tan the hide, etc., but that if he was willing to commit to going through the process with me, then I'd find out how and we'd learn it together. The book I mentioned, "Deer skins into buckskins," has some good information but they assume you have a certain level of knowledge about some of the processes already. For instance, they mention salting the hide, but don't give you any indication of how much salt to use.
We were salting the hides that evening (me silently hoping that we were doing it right ::G::) and I told him that I felt it was only fair to warn him that I know that the next phase (scraping the remaining meat and fat from the fleshy side of the hide) is going to take about an hour of some pretty serious physical labor. He was completely serious when looked at me and said, "What's your point?" He may not feel the same way after he's been sweating over that hide for a little while, but seeing the look on his face as he squatted in the floor of that old barn made his dear old uncle feel very proud of him.
I don't suppose anybody here knows how to tan deer hides? 8-)