Forget the turkey leftovers.
Forget the shopping frenzy of
the weekend.
Forget the limbs tossed down,
the leaves still whipping around
and those lingering outside chores
complicated by Mother Nature’s
erratic mood swings and frequent
moisture outburst tamtrums.
Forget all the usual, mundane
things of daily life as the Keystone
State, shuts down for that greatest
hunter’s holiday that dwarfs all
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others. Even if you aren’t an active
participant, you could hardly miss
the blitz of advertising for gear or
the extended holiday observed by
umpteen schools across the com
monwealth.
Oh deer!
The annual white-tail economic
revival of remote areas is already
underway, as legions of license
bearing hunters head for the hin
terlands. While mass marketers ea
gerly awaited “black” Friday for its
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With Racks
traditional buying boost with cash
and credit card swiping, many
small mountain-region commu
nities of our state get their year-end
economic boost courtesy of buck
season.
Legions of trophy tales of
those gotten and those that got
away will arise from the deep,
dark depths of the forests. The ac
counts will resound, hashed and re
hashed through multiple tellings,
from walls of tiny, rough-built cab
ins to those of fancy lodges.
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By week’s end, the empty-hand
ed may be wishing they had done
their stalking someplace else. At
least in the mountainous area with
which we are most familiar, the
deer “take” has steadily declined in
recent years. Meanwhile, back
down the valley a piece, on a large
piece of ground held by a sprawl
ing state institution, banned to
hunting and bordered by homes,
the deer herd grazes like a bunch of
cows.
Deer did not come to their abun
dant population numbers by being
Small
deaf, dumb, and blind. Like bear,
foxes, coyotes, and other of the
larger state predator species, they
know a good thing when they find
it.
And, a good thing for a deer is a
lush stand of some farmer’s alfalfa.
Why nibble forest browse when
you could be munching sweet, tasty
forage? Which is why, increasingly,
the “big bucks” may likely be those
that hang out in less-stalked place.
Like a patch of scrub growth along
an interstate, behind an edge-of
town shopping mall, or a small
backyard orchard bordering a
housing development.
While we love to watch the few
that hang out in our neighborhood,
we sympathize with acquaintances
who lament herds of 50 whitetails
nibbling their way through prime
hayfields, night after night. Many
of them are happy to share access
to that abundance to hunters who
display common sense, courtesy,
and respect of property.
Let’s repeat that, hunters: com
mon sense, courtesy, and respect of
property are critical. And, we have
several hunters who are year-round
regulars here, almost like part of
the family. But...
During goose hunting season, we
allowed a few new individuals to
hunt a huge invasion of geese that
descended into our rye and oats
fall pasture seeding. Because of
cows, machinery and beloved
grandchildren roaming the place,
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 29, 2003-B3
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we set strict boundaries about
where anyone can be with a gun.
So when I spied a canto-dressed
young man strolling, gun in hand,
right behind the lawn fence early
one evening,' with the grandchil
dren romping around the yard, I
became “unglued.” And downright
unfriendly.
One night later I totally “freaked
out” when what sounded like a se
ries of shots erupted righL outside
the house. Panic stricken, I went
flying out in search of the intruder,
to find grandson Caleb stomping
on a piece of that puffy-plastic
packaging material that was pop
ping with loud cracks.
Some of the best hunting tro
phies and the best stories
come from the least likely places.
Like that of a neighbor, current
ly carrying around a stranger-than
fiction deer antler trophy. A buck
crashed into his SUV and died be
neath the vehicle. Once back on the
road, a bumping sound from be
neath sent our friend back to the
side of the road to check the omi
nous sound.
Stuck in one of his tires was a
four-inch antler spike, which had
apparently impaled the tread on
impact. In a stroke of good fortune,
the antler point remained em
bedded in the tire until he reached
a repair center.
Beat that story, all you hunters
headed for the hills.
And don’t foret your spare tire.