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Why we shoot deer in the wild (A letter from someone who wants to remain anonymous, who farms, writes well and actually tried this)

I had this idea that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up-- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold..

The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope .., and then received an education. The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED. The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- no Chance. That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined.. The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.

I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in. I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite?

They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ..... I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and slide off to then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head--almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts.

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.

It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.

Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp... I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.

This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.

Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.

I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away. So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope......to sort of even the odds!!


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Was this just a cautionary tale, or were you hoping to provoke a debate?

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Ummmm....it was supposed to be funny? eek

Guess I failed laugh

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There were a couple funny parts (particularly "My method was ineffective."), and my brother (a bow hunter) also liked the comment "This was not a horse."

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Glad someone enjoyed it smile

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great share.. it is funny!










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Last edited by ilovegreen; 09/02/11 05:56 AM.
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Originally Posted by born2beagator
Ummmm....it was supposed to be funny? eek

Guess I failed laugh


Probably just my English sense of humour being a bit too different.

You know the English reckon that Americans don't get irony...is this true?

After all Alannis Morrissette's song "Ironic" was the most unironic song ever...which is in itself ironic!

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Originally Posted by 369
Probably just my English sense of humour being a bit too different.

You know the English reckon that Americans don't get irony...is this true?

After all Alannis Morrissette's song "Ironic" was the most unironic song ever...which is in itself ironic!

As is a Canadian demonstrating a stereotype of Americans. grin I think plenty of US-types do get irony, but not so much the louder, more shouty types you often find online which is probably why the stereotype persists.

Edit: er, not that I'm suggesting that 'Gator there is necessarily loud and shouty; I didn't quite get the joke either but such is the peril of a mostly text-only medium, as I've discovered to my cost in the past. More than once.

Further edit: which I think is me missing the point again. I should shut up and find another thread to infest!

Last edited by Vometia; 09/02/11 12:19 PM.

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Originally Posted by Vometia
Originally Posted by 369
Probably just my English sense of humour being a bit too different.

You know the English reckon that Americans don't get irony...is this true?

After all Alannis Morrissette's song "Ironic" was the most unironic song ever...which is in itself ironic!

As is a Canadian demonstrating a stereotype of Americans. grin I think plenty of US-types do get irony, but not so much the louder, more shouty types you often find online which is probably why the stereotype persists.

Edit: er, not that I'm suggesting that 'Gator there is necessarily loud and shouty; I didn't quite get the joke either but such is the peril of a mostly text-only medium, as I've discovered to my cost in the past. More than once.

Further edit: which I think is me missing the point again. I should shut up and find another thread to infest!

Ha...I love the irony that I mistakenly used a Canadian as an example of Americans not getting irony. Wonderful!

Last edited by 369; 09/02/11 09:37 PM.
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Canadians vs. U.S. Americans ? Look here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV4F46N21PA


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Originally Posted by AlrikFassbauer
Canadians vs. U.S. Americans ? Look here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV4F46N21PA

Wow, loads of muppet karaoke...cool!

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Lots of deer here where I live.
The story was not funny; it was interesting.
Last year we had a fawn born right next to the house in the front yard.
When there is a dog around, the deer calmly go about their business. They know exactly how close they can let the dog get before they have to run.
I like having them around. They do eat all your plants -- which is fine by me; I don't have to have a garden -- the deer make a good excuse.
They are a hazard on the road. I've had 2 cars expensively damaged by deer that ran into them, but of course the deer got the worse end of those collisions.


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Originally Posted by born2beagator
Glad someone enjoyed it smile


I got it bro...

I thought it was hilarious. Although, that sort of thing is not uncommon. People have tried to domesticate deer, just like all the other animals of the Kingdom, since the discovery of dirt. These cases often end in tragedy, due to your "Avg Joe" thinking along the same lines as the unfortunate from your letter.

I personally knew a gentleman that had no previous experience/training in animal behavior, nor was he an outdoorsman of any caliber. He did however, have a fawn that he raised in a pin w/12' fencing. 3 yrs later the fawn had developed into a very mature buck. During the following rut season, the buck went on the attack. This was most likely sparked from a breeze of wind that carried the scent of a female in heat.

I have been an avid hunter/fisherman/outdoorsman my entire life. I can tell you from personal experience that these animals can be VERY lethal. After the ordeal of the poor chap in the letter, I'm sure he grew a profound respect for the animals of the wild.


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Interesting story. Yes they can be very deadly and they are a growing problem here stories of attacks on people by urban deer are getting more frequent. There is a news story here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/7429164/Urban-deer-a-growing-problem-for-UK.html but here in the UK it is illegal to carry any firearm without vetting and issuing with a special permit. It's also illegal to kill deer without a licence (I think) probably why we have so many of them. You also have to kill them quckly, painlessly and humanley by shooting them in the head. There are a lot in the woods and forests around where I live but I have yet to see one on the streets.


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