My one and only Deer Hunting tale.

[Tyler Durden]

Firstly, I have nothing against hunting or TRUE hunters who practice sportsmanship.

The story: when this happened I only owned one bolt action rifle, a Mauser with a peep: no scope.

Sitting on a log in the brush, very slightly buzzed on good brandy.

The snow was falling very lightly, but I was warmly dressed, and didn't feel the cold. The woods were truly lovely.

Into the clearing walks a large buck, maybe 8 point, with two does. I never saw anything so beautiful. I could not miss, but I couldn't shoot. So I stood up and yelled,

"SHOO!"

This did not work. The three of them looked at me as if to say "You must be a nut." So I chambered a round, and fired into the ground between the buck's legs. THAT got his attention, and the 3 of them headed for the hills.

I sat back down, had another sip of brandy, and never had a moment of regret.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Wow - great story!

I applaud you for not shooting when you didn't feel like it. Sometimes the vision is more important than the kill, or the food.

Thanks for sharing!

[Blue-Jay]

2. I had a similar experience.

Only with more tragic (to me) results. I went hunting with my dad and uncle when I was sixteen. They had been hunting since they were kids, as it was one of the only ways they could eat. Anyhow... I wandered off by myself, sat down and started reading the book I had brought with me. After about a half-hour, I heard a noise and looked up to see a huge, beautiful buck (turned out to be a 12-pointer). I leveled my gun and shot him straight through the neck. It was as clean and painless of a kill as you could ask for. I walked up to the carcass and checked to make sure that it was dead and not suffering.

Dead.

As I stared at it's lifeless eyes, I completely broke down and apologized to the poor thing. Hearing the shot, Dad and Uncle came running to see what had happened. I couldn't even look at them. I asked Dad for his keys and drove home while they dressed the animal. I decided right then that I just didn't have the heart to ever hunt again.

I don't really have a single problem with hunters, but I know that I'll never do it again. I'm not wired for that sort of thing. I'll never forget looking at it's dead eyes.

I've still never been able to finish "The Grapes of Wrath" to this day. Too many bad memories. I hear it's an excellant book.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. don't feel bad dude

I can't even get spiders out of the house.

:)

[Blue-Jay]

6. heh!

I catch spiders and throw them in the basement. Spiders are our friends.

[Throckmorton]

10. Never read Steinbeck on an empty stomach.

My hunting experiances are pretty lame. Walk in the woods, get wet feet, shoot some creature and the eat it. I stopped hunting abot 20 years ago, after David died.

[Maddy McCall]

3. When I was a teenage girl...(my almost deer hunting story)...

My dad decided he wanted to take me up to the land in the country to let me have a go at it. He wasn't a deer hunter (he hunted rabbits), and I had never been, but some girls in my class had started to hunt, and I wanted to see what it was like.

I left the rifle on the ground, tied to a rope that I would pull up, and then climbed up old boards that had been nailed years ago to an ancient oak. When I got to the rotting wooden stand and put one butt cheek on it, it gave away, a nail ripped through my Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and into my ass, and I fell about 20 feet to the ground.

My dad, who had already nestled in to the roots on the other side of the tree , thank god, jumped up, picked me up, dusted me off, and said, "Let's go home."

I saw no deer that day...think if they would have seen me I would have been ashamed.

I haven't hunted since, except for shooting a coyote that was attacking my dog.

That's my story.

[HEyHEY]

5. I once went haywire on a bush wit my BB gun

A deer bucked me and ran into the bush...I lost control, I hope I stung him good!

[Hammie]

7. Drinking and firearms don't mix

Hunting while intoxicated is a recipe for disaster. I applaud your decision to discontinue hunting. The last thing we need is another inebriated hunter traipsing about the woods with loaded rifle.

[regnaD kciN]

8. Then, there's Tom Lehrer's deer-hunting story...

...it isn't really on-topic, but I can't resist!


The Hunting Song

I always will remember,
'Twas a year ago November.
I went out to hunt some deer
On a morning bright and clear.
I went and shot the maximum
The game laws would allow:
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.

I was in no mood to trifle,
I took down my trusty rifle,
And went out to stalk my prey.
What a haul I made that day!
I tied them to my fender,
And I drove them home somehow.
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.

The law was very firm, it
Took away my permit.
The worst punishment I ever endured.
It turned out there was a reason,
Cows were out of season,
And one of the hunters wasn't insured.

People ask me how I do it,
And I say there's nothing to it,
You just stand there looking cute,
And when something moves you shoot.
And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now:
Two game wardens, seven hunters,
And a pure-bred Guernsey cow!

--Tom Lehrer

[Don_G]

9. I Have Several

First and foremost, my Aunt has a 835+ Acre Farm surrounded ny a National Forest.

Her garden is a 5-Acre plot surrounded by the local thieving "wood-golphers." No fence has worked so far, but a .30-06 and a 7mm Remington Magnum goes a long way in keeping the garden intact to the point I've scored five so far with no license required.

I might "Shoo" away the snakes, polecats and the odd bobcat or two, but the deer are edible pests and are treated as such.

[Frangible]

11. I'm a wimp...

I like animals too much to hunt. Had to put down a racoon our dog had torn up and it broke my heart. I don't have anything against people hunting but I just can't do it personally.

[ArkDem]

12. Please do not drink while using a firearem

.