Today I would label myself as a fair deer hunter, but I find it interesting that I was 26 years-old before I first gave deer hunting a try. I laugh at myself when I think about that first 1968 Black Hills adventure.

Fellow Parkston teachers Ralph McGregor and Dave Walker were my partners, and we decided to hunt the area around the Placerville church camp on Rapid Creek as I was slightly familiar with it from trout fishing. Back then licenses could be purchased over-the-counter. I struggled with a decision about my rifle scope. Although I was proficient with that rifle and six-power scope on running jack rabbits, I decided to remove the scope as shots would probably be close and the forest would be dark because of the overcast conditions. That decision cost me my first deer.

Ralph and I were watching trout from a ledge above the creek when three deer came up for a drink. We decided to fire on the count of three. Why those deer didn’t hear us talking I’ll never know. Anyway, we both missed fifteen-yard shots. In the semi-darkness, I had placed the bead of my front site on the deer but failed to bring up my rear site. I shot over them. My scope’s crosshairs would have solved that problem. Ralph probably did the same thing.

The fall of 1969 found me deer hunting in Hutchinson County west of the James River and northeast of Parkston. I never fired a shot at a deer, but I did take a running hundred-yard shot at a west-bound fox that I thought I missed. At school the next day Ralph McGregor told me that he and his family were out for an afternoon drive northeast of Parkston when a fox came running toward their car and dropped dead. Some coincidence.

In the fall of 1970 I bagged my first deer while hunting in Corson County with Jerry Shepard, a fellow Parkston High School teacher. I had become acquainted with original homesteader Lewie Schmidt, a Corson County rancher, during a previous antelope hunt. This fall I will hunt that same Corson County ranch now managed by Lew’s grandson. The only year I’ve missed on that ranch was the fall of 2018 when we failed to draw a tag. Until my debilitating tremor shut me down, I also worked at archery hunting. Archery hunters have my deepest respect.

During my fifty seasons of Corson County deer hunts, most were day-long Saturday and Sunday morning hunts as I faced a long drive home. Our family lived on venison, and for many years I felt like I had to take a deer home. Today I regret that too many of those bucks were yearling three and four pointers, and it took me many years to realize that the hunt was far more important than the kill. My ”wakeup call” was a five-point buck that proved to be a yearling. He would have grown into a stud. My East River hunts have been divided among Brule, Charles Mix, and Jerauld Counties. A few Black Hills hunts have been sprinkled among them.

1972 was a big Corson County year for me. I bagged a trophy pronghorn antelope, and on that hunt I rolled a coyote with a running 200 yard shot. In November I took my first respectable whitetail buck. He was on the edge of a brushy creek with six does, and on my 250 yard shot, he leaped into the creek where I presumed he ran and escaped. Regrettably, I never checked. A half-hour later, I met another hunter, Merle Lofgren, on that same Grand River bottom. While hunting that creek, he found a big freshlykilled buck lying dead. Thank God for Merle. By then I was shooting a scoped .30-06, and I had no idea whatsoever what that rifle could do. It was a major lesson.

Have I learned any other valuable lessons in my fifty-two years of deer hunting? Always hunt down wind. Another thing. The manufacturers as well as the television experts would have us believe that camouflage clothing is essential. Deer are color blind. If they weren’t, our bright orange attire would spook them. Camouflage clothing probably helps archery hunters and those stalking elk, antelope, sheep, or goats in open cover, but the slightest movement will spook any deer right now. It hasn’t mattered what color I’m wearing.

Though the Outdoor Channel deer hunters faithfully spray down their clothing with scent eliminator, research has shown it to be worthless. It’s all about marketing. I do believe that freshly laundered clothing and being odor free certainly help. Finally, no hunter is too good a shot to go without a rest – be it a tree, rock, or tripod. !’ve said some controversial things, and I’d certainly value your thoughts.

I’ll be antelope hunting as you read this. See you next week.