As a columnist, I am responsible to a small degree for public sentiment with regard to hunting. To quote Abe Lincoln, “Public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed.” My job is to help non-hunters understand why hunting matters, and how it benefits wildlife, the economy, and non-hunters themselves. Why you ask.

Hunters make up only 5% of our U.S. population. When anti-hunting legislation or ballot issues come along, our 5% doesn’t determine the outcome. The other 95% does. An estimated 70-80% of people are neutral on the hunting issue. We hunters need them in our corner when such issues make the ballot. Wolves in Colorado and grizzly bears in British Columbia were voted on by the people.

Last summer I applied for a 2021 “Any Whitetail” tag in Charles Mix County but failed to draw. I made a Charles Mix County “Antlerless Whitetail” tag my second choice and drew that tag. One can deer hunt in his/her desired county most every year if an antlerless tag is satisfactory. Now let’s take a look at my not-so-trophy doe hunt.

After two failed attempts on my own, I looked forward to my hunt with Chuck, a former student of mine. I’m like Brown, my old hunting dog. During her final year, she could barely walk, but when she saw me pick up my shotgun, she jumped up like a puppy. Like Brown, I stumble around most of the time, but when I pulled into Chuck’s river-bottom yard the afternoon of December 11th, I was ready to trudge through the snow and climb over windfalls.

The 3:30 P.M. weather was balmy with a slight breeze out of the west, and we took a stand on the north side of a harvested field that was a maze of snowladen deer tracks. A heavy growth of timber lay on the west as well as straight across to the south where it bordered the Missouri River. Hopefully the deer would come from both wooded areas as they entered the field. Turkeys were already entering the field from the south, and they made for great entertainment as they bullied each other for choice pickings. If this wasn’t grand enough, we were serenaded by passing geese against a crimson sky.

Within the hour the turkeys were joined by deer, but they were too far out – maybe 300 to 400 yards. These deer were primarily whitetail does with fawns. Chuck, busy with his binoculars, saw a number of very good bucks along that southern edge. Because of my tremor, I am no longer steady enough to make use of binoculars. However, my anticipation grew as deer emerged from the woods on my right.

During the mid-November rut, does will generally chase off their now independent fawns, but the fawns sometimes rejoin mom after she is bred. Around 5:00 P.M., a doe and two fawns approached from our right that passed directly in front of us at forty yards. I knew that deer depended heavily on sight, smell, and sound, but I failed to realize after all my years of deer hunting just how good their hearing was. As I raised my rifle, the slight sound of arms in my canvas-sleeved coat spooked the deer. It was a great lesson.

Minutes later a doe with fawns appeared about ninety yards out at two o’clock (direction). I couldn’t get comfortable with my rifle and tripod, and missed my first shot that took a good deal of hair from the top of her back but no blood. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. Seconds later she dropped dead at my second shot. Her fawns fled immediately. A month earlier they would have hung around their mother’s fallen body. Chuck gave me a thumbs up, but I wasn’t proud of my poor marksmanship.

Dissatisfaction with my poor shooting was forgotten when I saw just how big a doe she was. I also learned a second lesson as we field-dressed her. She was dry! Her fawns had been weaned quite a while back. I’ve read accounts by hunters who claimed they shot a dry doe, but experts claim there is no such thing as a dry doe. It obviously comes down to time of year.

Deer need to be managed. An hour later there would be hundreds of deer in that field. These same deer would cause crop depredation. They would run back and forth across Houska Road or County Road 2 and perhaps cause an accident. Now I looked forward to renewing my supply of venison burger. I was as excited about this hunt as I was fifty some years ago. It’s all what you make of it, and I’ve learned to appreciate small things.

See you next week.