Salt on a wound

Yesterday I came back from  my yearly deer hunting trip and I am not a happy camper. There were four of us: my son and a couple of our friends. Usually we are six, but two couldn’t make it. Last year’s trip was a disaster, because we were caught in the snowstorm and had to leave after the second day...without any deer. So this year we had high hopes. The weather was great and there was no snow, except for a little dusting. It did get quite cold and on one day it was uncomfortable with the north wind blowing.

Even though the weather was great, the hunting wasn’t. We left last week on the 6th of November, which means we hunted for 6 full days and a few hours yesterday morning. During all that time I didn’t see any deer. My companions did see deer and even had slim chances to shoot, but nothing compared to other years. The deer are scarce this year in the area we hunt. There are many reasons for that. We hunt on crown land that is used as community pasture, which means farmers use it to keep cattle in the summer. These past few years the farmers have been cutting huge swaths into the wooded area, cutting down all the trees and creating grazing land. Then they began erecting barbed wire fences and electric fences.

I used to have a wonderful and productive spot to hunt. It was a clearing about 350 yards long and about 90 yards wide. My deer stand faced north and I only worried about the north winds blowing into my face. Deer crossed it frequently and I harvested many deer over the years, but that clearing has been destroyed. All the trees are gone and a fence runs right through the middle of the clearing. I did build a new stand in a different clearing a few years back, but it wasn’t as great as the old one. My stand faces west and it is nearly useless on sunny days because of the setting sun. I missed a large buck once because it was 4 o’clock and the sun was right in my face. I saw nothing but bright lights in my scope.

This year the farmers have done even more damage to the beautiful wooded area. More cleared areas and more fences. They were busy in there all summer and it didn’t help to keep the deer in the habitat still left.

Other reasons for the lack of deer are the presence of coyotes, bears, foxes, and timber wolves, and possibly a few lynx. Of course, with fewer deer the coyotes will die out now; they’ll starve, which will help to get the deer population back up. These last few years the winters have been harsh and in 2011 we lost about 60 % of our deer in Manitoba. Last winter was just as bad. Hopefully, we’ll get a milder winter this year, with less snow. High snow makes it difficult for the deer to travel and when the snow develops a hard crust toward the end of winter, deer are in trouble.

To make a long story short, we came home without any deer. No venison this year.

The hunting trip was not successful, but it is not all about the hunt and the shooting of deer. I enjoy the camaraderie with friends and my son, the evenings in the trailer playing cards, the reminiscing about past hunts and the good food and beer we consume. I enjoy sitting in my stand, anticipating the elusive huge buck to make an appearance. I also enjoy the quiet time, listening to the wind in the trees, watching the geese flying above on their way south, the chickadees and woodpeckers visiting me, and hearing the crows making a spectacle as they patiently wait for me to shoot something and provide them with a feast. They clean up the mess afterwards. If they don’t the coyotes will surly eat any remains. Nothing ever gets wasted in nature.

I saw a few grouse and my son even saw a rabbit, a sign that the coyote population has already declined, which gives the grouse and rabbits a chance to multiply and survive. All the mountains of dead trees the farmers piled up everywhere also help to create cover for the grouse and rabbits. Every negative side also has a positive one.

You’ll probably wonder about the title of this blog. Well, today when I looked out of my window there were four deer in my backyard. We used to get deer crossing our yard before all the houses were built all around us, but it’s been years since we saw any deer. So this was a huge surprise. We have no idea where they came from. There are no wooded areas nearby. I guess they just wanted to come by and say hello, possibly to taunt me a bit, but maybe I’m just paranoid.

There is no shooting allowed in this area and the deer must know this. They were safe. The only shooting I could have done was with my camera. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to snap a picture to prove that the deer were actually there, but I swear, I did not suffer from an hallucination, because my wife is a witness. She saw them, too. In fact, she spotted them first.

When I saw them I said, “Sure, go ahead, rub salt into my wound.”