Deer and stuff...

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Gloria

Super Moderator
Staff member
All hunters that I know abide by the laws and respect wildlife. When hubby hunts, the meat is used. I'm not afraid of guns at all and will use one if I need to especially on a snake!
I can say I'm a pretty good shot..for a woman.
This is an old pic (very old) of me and "Lucy".. but maybe will explain my inability to hunt deer.
Lucy was a day old when her Mom was killed by a vehicle.
 

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Gloria

Super Moderator
Staff member
It's a long story Mel, and I wish I could say it had a good out come.
I had her for a few months, she was even losing her spots and getting up to a good size. I couldn't get her wened from the bottle and the day she wouldn't have her bottle I knew something was wrong. I called a vet out to her and he gave her a shot of antibiotics and suggested another vet that knew more about wildlife animals. I called this vet and he said I had to bring her to him, he didn't make house calls...I was furious as he lived only 5 miles from me, we were talking deer, not a little small pet ..but..we put the camper shell on the truck, threw in an old mattress and Lucy and I rode in the back of that truck to the vet's office 30 miles away.
The vet did all he could do with IV's and such and sent her home but gave her little chance as she had pneumonia. She lived only another two days. I cried till I was totally sick.
The vet said that when taking a animal such as a deer out of the wild, it's almost impossible to keep them healthy. I didn't do it by choice and I tried all I knew but lost her anyway.
I don't know what I would have done with her when she got older. When you take an animal from the wild, it doesn't know how to fend for itself so to turn it loose is not a good thing.
She was getting aggressive where she would jump up on me as a dog would do. Her hooves were sharp and I had several cuts when she died. None were bad but she was still a small deer. Maybe things happen for the best.
Well, I've babbled on and told the story of Lucy. It was an experience...
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
We can't help how we feel about things most the time. Actually, Gloria, you did what you could. Can you imagine how you would feel if you turned your back on Lucy?

I could kill an animal for food if it was necessary. But that isn't likely to happen. But I harbor no ill will toward a hunter as I know that when the animal populations are not kept under control, bad things happen and it's worse than hunting. There was an experiment done many years ago in a place called the Kaibab Forest. I'm not sure of the spelling on that. I think it was back in Theodore Roosevelt's time. But no hunting was allowed and the deer and possibly elk herds were allowed to multiply as nature provided. Everything went well for awhile, but when the herds became too large for the environment, there was not sufficient food for all the animals. Being undernourished, the animals were more susceptible to disease. They began to die off at an alarming rate until there were hardly any left. But nature intervened and when the herds were decimated, the food sources began to rebuild. But management is the key and hunting is one of the tools of management.
 

Melissa

New Member
Gloria, thank you for sharing the story of Lucy...It was beautiful and Lucy was happy to have you. Not only did you feed her and comfort her when her mother couldn't, you got her medical attention and although it didn't save her life, it helped her pass without suffering. You treated a wild animal much better than alot of people treat their pets or children for that matter. Bless you!!
 

IronKnees

New Member
Beautiful and touching picture... Being Native American, I was brought up with basically the same philosophy that is taught in ethical hunter courses and safety courses now... Take only what you need and use ALL of it. Leave the land BETTER than you found it, and ALWAYS give thanks for the sustenance you have harvested... Dave
 

Gloria

Super Moderator
Staff member
When we were growing up, I don't think we wouldn't have made it if it hadn't been for the hunting and fishing done by my dad and brothers. I guess you could say it's sort of in our blood. Although Lucy threw me for a loop, hubby and I make some really good venison sausage..
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against hunting at all. Just thought I'd share the story of Lucy and why I can't bring myself to shoot a deer. If I were hungry that might be a different story!! I know we have quite a few vegeterians on this site but I like meat with my veggies!!
 

Randy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dave, your philosophy sounds like it comes right off the pages of a book I have read several times. I first read it myself and then I read it to my mother who was blind. Some years later, I read it again to my grandchildren. The name of the book is called "The Tracker" by Tom Brown. He befriended an Indian lad about his own age and both of them were taught by the grandfather who was an Apache. It's a remarkable book though and right on as far as conservation and reverance for life is concerned.
 

Mainegal

Super Moderator
Staff member
I had twins in my yard a few yrs ago. Thier mom had got hit by a car, I called the game wardens about it and they said as long as there were eating, they would be fine. I said but the coyotes will get them as mom is not there to take care of them. they told me that it was part of mother nature. A coyote got one of them.. it was sad
 

IronKnees

New Member
I had twins in my yard a few yrs ago. Thier mom had got hit by a car, I called the game wardens about it and they said as long as there were eating, they would be fine. I said but the coyotes will get them as mom is not there to take care of them. they told me that it was part of mother nature. A coyote got one of them.. it was sad

I know those answers sound harsh and even heartless, but they are the ONLY correct answers to the problem. Without predation, overpopulation occurs causing weakness and disease. Disease actually does the same thing predation does, keeping the herd in healthy balance.

Feeding the fawns and taking care of them will, for a while, keep them safe, but it also imprints them, meaning they loose their natural fear of human scent. To do so is an absolute guarantee that they will be tagged by a hunter by walking right in front of him.

State laws (hunting rules and possession limits) are carefully adjusted by the state each year to keep a healthy buck to doe ratio, and in most states, even with natural predation and hunting pressure, the deer herds have been and are increasing in population, but at a natural and controlled rate... Dave
 

Spider_Lily

Active Member
I know people hunt these deer for meat and to keep population in control.
But I dread the time when deer season open's.I alway's get the remain's left on my dirt road.Who ever does this just take's the hind quarter's and antler's.
Then dump's the rest.I have to pass it everyday sometimes it's two or three
dropped in different spot's all along the road.Wish I could catch them.
 


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