Monday 5 November 2007

Deer in Trouble

Lanark Highlands deer are dodging bullets this morning as the start of the hunting season began at dawn to-day. Local hunters began setting up in the bush well before dawn and soon after sunrise the crash of high powered rifles could be heard in several locations.

Little Buck, the G Acres resident deer, is sticking very close to the house this morning, as the G's have an understanding with the local hunt camp and no hunting is permitted in the vicinity of the house. Reached at his favourite feeding station, Little Buck was resigned. "I plan to stay within a few hundred feet of the house for the next two weeks," he said. "But it is going to be pretty tense."

As the orange coloured bodies whine by on their ATV's, it is not only Little Buck who is tense. All of the local deer are nervous and jumpy, liable to forsake their normal habit patterns and jump out onto the road at the least provocation. Over the next two weeks, a great deal of venison will be harvested for local tables, but the deer population is deeply upset.

9 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos! We have an overabundance of deer in our neck of the (suburban) woods. The other day I saw a buck in our back yard and he had a plastic toy truck stuck in his antlers ! So sad . . .

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  2. Beautiful pics.
    The deer population is rightfully upset.

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  3. Ah yes, deer season. My husband is starting to get all itchy with excitement. I just feel sad. I should be used to it by now as I grew up in a family of hunters, but the heart of me is an animal lover. Poor dears (and deers).
    Thanks for commenting at my site. :)

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  4. oh deer season--that is when i get scared to run alone in the country without wearing blaze orange.

    great post.

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  5. Great news article. I particulary enjoyed the quotes from the deer himself.

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  6. wow that's a great picture. I remember growing up in MI and the first day of deer hunting season nearly half the school would be out hunting.

    Thanks for playing along! Excellent entry!

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  7. Mission accomplished excellently! Loved the quote and photos.

    We have a deer park (?) (preserve?) at NASA.

    Julie
    Using My Words

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  8. It's deer season here too. My husband saw 4 deer on the trails right smack in the middle of town this weekend. It would seem they're all hunkering down for safety.

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  9. JG checked the neighbouring hunt camp this afternoon. They have seven deer and are almost out of tags. I think the gormless Little Buck may be safe this year.

    Interesting that so many of you are in deer country. In 1975 when we bought this place there were very few deer. It would be lucky to see one or two a year. Now we have herds of them everywhere and a cull is in their best interests. Not to mention that of the farmers. We have an aquaintance who lost a whole field of pumpkins to them this summer. And they don't really like pumpkin -- it was a bite or two out of each one, making them unsaleable.
    but, like Kathryn, I have a soft spot for them. I find it sad when they get shot.

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