More and more I here about deer coming in contact with what I call city life. We are slowly encroaching on their land and I call it their land because they were here first. I only hope that the deer and us can find a happy medium and coexist without them or us getting hurt.

By: Rick Kratzke

By DAVE STEPHENS
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — Police had him cornered, the suspect panting and tired and probably unsure of his surroundings.

Trapped downtown behind the Diamond and Diamond Law Offices in the 400 block of Wayne Street, the young male – name and exact age unknown – might have been in search of a lawyer.

Instead, he did what came natural, He ran. Animal control officers, noose poles in hand, watched helplessly as the young male deer made his escape.

Where the deer came from, how he got downtown and where he was going Thursday afternoon is not known.

What was clear, by the dogged pursuit of officers, is that the deer was not wanted downtown.

Already he had been spotted near Century Center. He had paused, until pursued by officers, near the county courthouse.

He ran by the WSBT studios, where he was spotted by office staff, and soon a group of three women were in hot pursuit.

Later, as he bolted away from animal control officers and toward this group of onlookers, one of the women would curse and scurry for safety.

By the time he reached the 300 block of Jefferson Street about 1:15 p.m., the deer had gathered a following.

South Bend police dispatchers broadcast his every move. Animal control vehicles and squad cars scurried to set up a perimeter.

The deer – officers weren’t sure if it was a wild whitetail or a domesticated deer that had escaped from a farm – headed west along Western Avenue.

Officers stopped the deer again, this time in front of the Rabbi Albert Shulman apartment building. Police worried that it would run back across the busy road, but again it escaped.

“He’s headed eastbound,” came the call across the police scanner. “Toward the Cove.”

Near the baseball stadium, incoming animal control officers were able to box in and confine the animal.

A well-placed tranquilizer shot and the deer’s downtown adventure was over, 30 minutes after it began.

Animal control officers took the deer to their offices on Olive Street, where they set it in the outside fenced-in patio to sleep off the tranquilizer’s effects.

Animal control investigator Bob Baker said the deer was uninjured and doing fine at their shelter, but said he did not know the long-term plan for the deer.

“Right now, he’s just sleeping,” Baker said.

The deer was taken to a veterinary clinic for a checkup and animal control officials said the Indiana Department of Natural Resources most likely would take possession of the animal.

The deer was not available for comment.

This is another example of one of those memorable moments that needs to be captured so as not to forget. After all those years of not shooting the bow and then to pick it up again and bring home a new state record. That is just so awesome. This story from North American Whitetail is a must read.

By: Rick Kratzke

Last season, this avid Louisiana hunter decided to do some bowhunting for the first time in more than 30 years, and his second trip to the woods produced the state’s largest bow buck in history!

Billy Husted had given up bowhunting years earlier because of the heat and the never-ending mosquitoes, but last year he bought a new bow and headed out to the woods. He came home with this incredible 18-point megabuck, scoring 219 1/8, a new Louisiana state record.

Some of the South’s most impressive whitetails thrive in the Mississippi Delta region of Louisiana. Each year during hunting season, reports trickle in about huge trophy bucks taken in this deer-rich part of the state. Bucks with weights approaching 300 pounds and does in the 200-pound range are not uncommon. Deer in this fertile region attain heavy body weights and grow impressive headgear for one main reason: incredible nutrition.

The weather was warm with temperatures in the 80s on the afternoon of Oct. 2, 2007, when 55-year-old Billy Husted, owner of a sporting goods store in Monroe, Louisiana, decided to go bowhunting. Billy was hunting in Tensas Parish between the towns of Tallulah and Newellton.

“I’ve hunted deer most of my life with a rifle,” Billy said. “I was perfectly content to continue hunting with a rifle until my son-in-law began working on me to give bowhunting another chance. I hadn’t bowhunted for more than 30 years, mostly because of the heat and the mosquitoes that drive you absolutely crazy in the early season.”

However, Billy finally relented. In August 2007 he purchased a Hoyt bow and began practicing. By the afternoon of Oct. 2, he had only been out in the woods with his bow one time previously. Now, on that warm October afternoon on what would be his second bowhunt of the season and only his second bowhunt in some 30 years, he was about to accomplish a feat that would change whitetail history in Louisiana.

By: Glynn Harris

To read more of this story just click.

After reading this story i was almost envious of this couple who was lucky enough to live with the Whitetails. What they had is what I can only imagine I had and yet it took a lot of time, money and love for what they did and I applaud them for that.

By: Rick Kratzke

Most of us here in the North live among deer. But for 38 years, Stan and Esther Stevenson lived with deer.

The Stevensons’ home was amid an enclosed deer farm just outside of Bayfield. Esther sometimes complained about all the whitetail nose smudges on her patio doors. Stan even had one buck that joined him on runs through the property on numerous occasions.

Stan Stevenson, 75, has gathered all of those memories — and 162 color photos — in a book titled, “Living With Deer.”

You may have seen some of the massive bucks and other deer from the Stevenson farm. Professional wildlife photographers Dan Cox, formerly of Duluth, and Stephen J. Krasemann, among others, have sold or published many deer photos taken at the farm.

Stan and Esther moved north to Bayfield from Chicago in 1968, seeking a simpler, quieter life. Stan became a real estate agent in Bayfield. Stan’s family had spent summers in Bayfield for most of his life, and his father had tended the deer farm long-distance from Chicago. When Stan and Esther took over the farm, there were 17 deer there. The population grew to as many as 100 before they realized that was too many for the 40-acre property.

“We tried to keep a herd of 40 to 50 deer,” Stan said. “We had to feed them. They had browsed everything off.”

Feeding the herd corn and oats cost the Stevensons about $3,000 a year, he said, which they offset by charging photographers for the right to shoot photos on their property. The couple also sold some bucks to other deer farms for breeding. The Stevensons lived on the property at least part of the year until 2006. The new owners do not keep deer there.

“It was so special,” Stan said. “In the winter especially. We had spotlights. I’d put out fresh hay every night. The deer would be there throughout the evening. With the snow or in a fresh snowfall, they were beautiful to look at.”

The Stevensons had names for many of the bucks — Rambo, Butch, Wren, Pat, Rudy, Tripod (missing part of a leg), Gabriel and the remarkable Dasher with his 35-point nontypical rack. Many of the book’s photos are snapshots of family members feeding deer, lying down with deer or petting deer.

Although it can be dangerous to be around a buck during the fall mating season, nobody was ever injured on the Stevenson farm, Stan said. Still, he was careful, especially feeding around Gabriel, a particularly feisty buck.

“I would bring a shovel with me, so if he came for me, I’d have something,” Stan said.

Butch was his sometime running partner. The buck would see Stevenson running through the property and come to run ahead of or behind him.

“It was a great experience,” Stan said. “You just didn’t want to quit running.”

Butch would grow to become a magnificent buck with a 12-point rack, and each antler was 7¼ inches in circumference at the base.

Dasher wasn’t a large-bodied buck, but his nontypical rack was amazing. It scored 247 2/8 points on the Boone & Crockett trophy scoring system. Just for comparison, a rack with that score would rank fourth among Minnesota’s all-time nontypical whitetails, according to the “Minnesota Record Book,” published by Wildlife Heritage Association.

Dasher didn’t die of natural causes as most of the bucks at the Stevenson farm did.

“Somebody shot him with a low-caliber weapon in the lower belly,” Stan said. “I couldn’t believe anybody would do that.”

Dasher’s antlers are now mounted in the Stevensons’ new home, away from the deer farm.

Hunters and nonhunters alike appreciated the deer farm and would come to look through the 8-foot fences at the bucks each fall, Stevenson said. At that time of year, the sound of antlers clacking was almost constant, he said, as the bucks wrestled with each other or sized each other up by enmeshing antlers.

Having lived with deer didn’t change Stevenson’s appreciation for wild deer.

“I have only good feelings about all deer,” he said. “Hunters love deer, too. But they just like to hunt them, too. If we didn’t have hunters, we’d have a real deer population problem.”

He hunted deer twice, early in life, and shot one doe. But he lost interest in the activity, not necessarily because of the farm, he said.

Stevenson speaks longingly of the years he and Esther spent among the deer.

“I was proud of what we did,” he said. “We had something unique.”

This is truly sad to hear but at the same time I was happy to hear that the deer was treated and released back into the wild.

By: Rick Kratzke

A small male deer will be OK after crashing through a window at Purdue University this morning.

By Michael Heinz/Journal & Courier

Emergency personnel look over a deer that is tranquilized after falling into a window well at Lilly Hall this morning at Purdue University. The deer suffered minor injuries and was to be released south of campus.

The deer, which police estimated weighed about 100 pounds, appeared to have jumped into a window well, above the downstairs hallway connecting Lilly Hall and Life Science Plants and Soils Laboratory. The well is about a six-foot drop, with a similar drop to the floor below.

Police received a call around 8:10 a.m. but didn’t know how the animal wound up on campus.

Anesthesiologists from the Large Animal Hospital came to scene and tranquilized the deer around 9 a.m. Following the first round of tranquilizers, the deer bucked its way through the window.

Dr. Michele Barletta said the buck, which had cuts to the face and leg but no apparent broken bones, would survive best if released to the wild. Animal control officers took the animal and planned to release it.

“It’s in its best interest to let out in field rather than take it back to the hospital,” Barletta said.

This year I decided to try my luck at turkey hunting. I’m going into it with a positive attitude thinking that I know I don’t know what I am totally doing yet but I am willing to learn and if anything at least I can use this time to clear my head and do a little scouting for deer while I am out there.

The plan was to be setup before the chickadee’s start singing well, they were singing when I left the house. I didn’t read the sunrise/sunset table correctly, that and I only had 3 hours of sleep.

It all started this morning with me pulling up in my truck and getting out. As I was grabbing my gear I was getting blown at by a deer across the road. I couldn’t see it but, it was close. I knew I was running out of time (I like to be setup before the first glimpse of light) so I told the deer “not this morning, come back and see me in the fall” and I locked my truck and headed out. I jumped a couple more deer along the way but paid no never mind except for my occasional chuckle.

I finally got to wear I wanted to sit. It was already shooting light and just as I sat down I heard one gobble out in front of me. I quickly grabbed my push button call and tried to get it to come in. The whole time I’m thinking (holy !@#$, my first day out) I tried to keep my composure. I did get it to answer a couple of times but, it would not come in. I think it had a bunch of hens with it. I’m guessing at this point because they are out of sight.

I yelped and purred every now and then but no show. It was 5:45 when I heard it gobble again and then it happened BOOM,BOOM. Then no more gobble, at that point I just GRRRRRR. But, at the same time I was telling myself (that’s cool) there has to be more around. I continued to yelp and purr occasionally and about and hour later I heard a noise to my right and slightly behind me.

I slowly looked over my shoulder and wouldn’t you know it it was a deer. My estimate was it had to be a one year old. I sat there and watched it as it fed behind me as it headed up the small hill to the overgrown old field. The closest it came to me was 50 yards away and it never knew I was there. I’m thinking to myself that this is so cool, not only am I out here trying to hunt turkey but I get to watch deer as well.

The rest of the morning was spent watching and listening and talking to the chipmunk that kept popping out of a pile of leaves about a foot from my feet. It was quite hilarious actually because he would just sit there for a minute and listen to me. I did get to see a hawk come in and land in a tree for a bit before it decided to fly off, probably looking for breakfast.

All in all it was a great morning and very relaxing which is what I needed. You can bet I will be back as soon as I can. The rest of this week unfortunately is no good due to doctor appointments and tickets to the circus, so it will have to be next week but I will be there trying my luck again and enjoying what the outdoors and nature has to offer. I am very happy I decided to turkey hunt and look forward to the next outing.

I do want to give special thanks to Chuck for the shotgun barrel for which if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have a barrel to put on my shotgun to turkey hunt with. And, special thanks to Allen for taking the time to take me to the club (which I hope to be a member of soon) so I could pattern the shotgun. Even though he says thanks are not necessary.

John Hacker

Artist Larry Glaze and Lucky J Restaurant owner Matt Freeman stand under the chandelier Glaze created for the restaurant. The two men and others hung and wired the chandelier on Tuesday. It has 49 lights, a variety of replica guns and is made of manure-spreader wheels and white-tail deer antlers

CARTHAGE, Mo. —

A work of art by an environmental artist is filling a very practical need in a Missouri restaurant.

Larry Glaze created a 10-foot-high, 900-pound chandelier from manure-spreader wheels and deer antlers that now hangs in the Lucky J restaurant east of Carthage on Fir Road.

“It means a lot to us and it’s something for the people of Carthage, too,” said Matt Freeman, owner of the Lucky J. “He lives here, and he wanted a piece of his artwork hanging for the people of Carthage to see as well.”

Glaze has created similar chandeliers for people far away, including actor Clint Eastwood, but he didn’t have anything like it anywhere in the Carthage area.

In addition to the antlers and the manure-spreader wheels, the chandelier shows off five replica Winchester buffalo rifles and two 1860 replica cap-and-ball revolvers.

The three-tier chandelier has 49 lights and replaces a single bulb that hung in its place before Tuesday, when Freeman, Glaze and a crew of others hung the chandelier.
Freeman said each tier, or wheel, of the piece has its own dimmer switch.

“These wheels are interesting,” Glaze said. “The big ones are 1890 manure-spreader wheels, the bars on them are steel, and the wheels had traction bars on them. All the treads are brazed so they stand out. The smaller top wheel is from a corn planter. It has a split rim and the corn seeds were planted between the rims.”

Glaze said the whitetail deer antlers are sheds from live animals. No deer were killed to create his artwork.

“The guns are 1875 Winchester replica .45 cal hex-barrel buffalo guns with working actions, but they will not fire a bullet,” Glaze said. “They’re collector items. The pistols are 1860 Colt cap and ball pistols and the spurs are Mexican spurs. There are two pistols and five rifles and eight or nine spurs. There are 49 horseshoes on it too.”

Glaze said he made the work as a favor to a friend.

“Matt and I go back 15 years before he was even married into the Lucky J restaurant,” Glaze said. “I worked for Dr. Myers on Jackpine Road and he had a walnut plantation. I was the hired hand and I planted walnut trees and raised his cattle and everything else for five years. Matt’s dad had a farm across the Spring River and his cattle used to get across the river onto Dr. Myers walnut plantation, and Matt came over with his brother on horseback to get them back over to his dad’s place and that’s how we met.”

Glaze has been an environmental artist for more than 18 years and makes tables, chandeliers and a variety of other pieces of art from natural things.

Prior to becoming an artist, he was a maxillofacial technician, helping rebuild the faces of cancer patients. He sold his company, moved back to Carthage and became a full-time artist.

By John Hacker

GateHouse News Service

This is a good story and one that you don’t hear very often.

MADISON — A 60- to 70-yard shot last fall not only brought down a big doe for Dennis Carothers Sr. of Edgerton but also the Department of Natural Resources Ethical Hunter Award.

Carothers was hunting in southeast Dane County the day after Thanksgiving when he saw three whitetail deer on a neighbor’s land. Fifteen minutes later, he heard a shot. Awhile later, he saw three deer appear back on the land he was hunting. Carothers noticed one of the deer was limping and a brought it down with a round from his 12 gauge.

“I waited a while for someone coming up the blood trail, because we have an agreement that we can track deer we shoot onto the neighbor’s land and they can do it on the land we hunt,” Carothers said.

Several minutes later, Carothers tagged the doe and was about to field dress it when Mike Wolff of Janesville and his son, Haydn, came along. Wolff asked Carothers where the deer had been shot, and Carothers said he turned over the animal to see it had been hit with a “killing shot, but it just was able to keep going.”

Carothers learned that Haydn was on his first hunt and had fired first at the doe.

“I just said the deer was his. It was a great experience seeing that father and son out on their first hunt,” Carothers said.

Mike Wolff said Carothers then cut his tag off the deer, which made Haydn “ecstatic.”

“… From a sportsman’s point of view, it was a very honorable thing that Dennis did and a good lesson for Haydn,” Wolff said.

The incident rekindled fond memories for Carothers who was 13 when he began hunting with his father. He now regularly hunts with his son, Dennis Jr., 30.

“Some people may think hunting is just about the shooting but it isn’t for me. It’s the relationships and time you get to spend doing something with people who you like having around,” said Carothers, a unit manager at Kuhn Manufacturing in Brodhead.

After giving Haydn the doe, Carothers didn’t get another deer last gun season, but he didn’t mind as Dennis Jr. took one by bow and another by gun last year.

Carothers’ unselfish act represents what the DNR wants to spotlight with the Ethical Hunter Award now in its 11th year, said Conservation Warden Steven Dewald of La Crosse.

“The theme of the award is hunters engaging in activities that reflect positively on the tradition of hunting,” Dewald said. “Rather than pursuing personal gain, Dennis set a positive example of helping out another hunter rather than thinking of himself.”

Dewald will present Carothers with a plaque at today’s DNR board meeting.

Asked what he’ll say when presented with the award, Carothers wants to thank the DNR and landowners he knows for the many hunting opportunities they have provided.

“Hunting is a privilege not a right but it’s only worthwhile if you have the place to hunt, and I appreciate everyone who allows me and my family the places to enjoy it in,” he said.

By KEVIN MURPHY/SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

This was a story that caught my attention and so I wanted to share it with you. What a way to be remembered.

Terry wanted to go out with a bang. The avid outdoorsman had one dying wish: to have his remains scattered over his favorite hunting grounds. But he wanted no gentle goodbye.

So, according to his will, his ashes were packed into shotgun shells. Soon, a couple of dozen pals will raise their firearms, pull the triggers and thunder Terry’s ashes across a lake.

“He wanted to go out hunting,” says pal Mike.

Mike, 58, lives in Peoria Heights. He met Terry, a Missouri gent nearly 20 years his senior, through their work in the insurance industry. Terry did booming business. In fact, in his self-penned obituary, Terry called himself “the greatest salesman in the world.”

Though he worked only six months a year, he was a millionaire. He plowed profits into land in rural eastern Missouri, where he set up hunting grounds. There, he also created a 15-acre lake, which he stocked with fish. He dubbed it Turkey Lake, for all the wild fowl dashing about.

He’d also hunt and fish all over North America, often taking along Mike and other pals. Mike’s living room boasts a black bear taken in Manitoba. But that’s nothing compared to Terry’s house in Missouri, where nearly every inch of wall space displays mounts of sheep, mountain goats, moose, elk, turkeys, deer and quail.

But Terry hunted not just for wall trophies.

“All he ate was what he hunted,” Mike says.

They’d also often head to the Florida Keys to seek red snapper. The next such foray was on Terry’s mind in November when he got harsh news from his doctor: brain cancer. And it was moving fast.

When he told Mike, Terry asked, “Will you take me to the Keys one more time?”

Terry said he might not be able to help with some chores, such as driving his own boat.

“I can’t hold on to things,” Terry said. “I keep dropping things.”

Mike said he’d make it all work, even allow Terry to fish with weakened hands. Mike said he’d outfit Terry with thick gloves, then use duct tape to affix a pole in Terry’s hands. Terry liked that idea.

But it didn’t happen. Quickly, Terry’s health nose-dived.

“I can’t go,” he told Mike in mid-December.

So, Mike went to visit Terry one last time. Terry died in January, at age 76.

Mike got the news in a phone call from one of Terry’s sons. But there would be no funeral.

“He was just that way,” Mike says, shrugging his shoulders.

But weeks later, Mike received an invitation from Terry’s family in Missouri. It explained Terry’s wish to have his ashes blasted over the lake, during a party planned by Terry. The invite included a poem by Terry, which closes:

So drink my booze and eat my food, for good time’s sake,

and shoot my ashes in the Turkey Lake.

Notice that this tale has no surnames. Mike and Terry’s survivors worry about the ash blast violating environmental laws. So I asked the Missouri Department of Natural Resources about open-air interment of remains via shotgun.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that asked before,” a spokeswoman said. “I don’t think we’d have any regulations on it.”

Regardless, Terry’s place is in the middle of nowhere. So I doubt anyone would even note the shotgun blasts.

But Terry’s friends will. They’ll remember this forever.

By: PHIL LUCIANO - columnist with the Journal Star

I recently did a post about a couple that had helped a deer that had been shot in the head with a crossbow bolt. It was titled “Residents Rescue White-tail Deer”. I have since received a email from Steve over at “The Shed Antler” blog and he gave me a link to a forum which had pictures of a doe which was also shot in the head. Steve was kind enough to think it might be of interest to me and “Tails and Trails” and he was so correct in that thinking that I want to say thanks for the link and thanks for the thought.

By looking at the pictures and reading a bit from the forum it appears the doe has survived the arrow and seems to be doing well and is healthy. From what I have read the person who did shoot the deer denies that it is his arrow but had admitted to shooting at a doe but, thought he had missed and had never recovered the arrow. It is all he said she said if you know what I mean and it is not up to me and “Tails and Trails” to judge. What I will say is that when I did archery hunt I always made a point of retrieving my arrow whenever I missed. So judge for yourself by viewing the pictures and be glad that the deer appears to be in no pain, healthy and lives with others in a small herd.

Here is the original link that was sent to me,

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=686025&page=1

One final note I need to mention in my opinion and that is we as hunters have a high amount of responsibility to ensure a humane and proper way to harvest game so as not to cause undo pain. Ethically I will not take a shot unless I am as sure of a successful hit as possible. I do know and understand that sometimes thing happen but I also know that we owe it to the game we hunt to make sure it comes to a end as quickly as humanly possible.

This story is one that we have all heard at one point or another. If it was not for John and Elaine Fritz who noticed a wounded whitetail doe and took the proper steps to contact the authorities than this doe would probably not had survived. It is nice to see the non hunting public get involved like that to ensure an animals safety.

I just want to mention that whether this animal was shot and left intentionally to suffer or whether it was left not knowing by the hunter that it was shot is unknown. There are a lot of factors that go into hunting that the non hunting public do not understand. I am not taking a particular side in the event I am only stating that unless we know the facts it is not right for us to judge.

From The Lindsay Post in Ontario Canada:

It was a lucky rescue for a white-tailed deer that had been shot with a cross-bow bolt last month.

On Feb. 2, north-east of Nogies Creek, John and Elaine Fritz noticed that a doe was three-legged lame with a shaft protruding from her right side, just behind the elbow. Hunting season had been over six weeks earlier.

They contacted Bobcaygeon Veterinary Services and Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau, near Huntsville, and plans for a rescue were made.

The Fritz’s then watched and fed the deer to routinely get her close enough on a regular schedule so that she could be tranquilized.

Once they established a routine, arrangements were made that Ben Cox from Aspen Valley and Dr. Kerstin Kelly would drive to Nogies Creek and attempt the rescue.

They met at the Fritz residence on Monday at 6 a.m. after getting up in the dark wee hours of the morning. A temporary surgery was set up in the garage.

The trap was set and after an hour of patient waiting, the doe was tranquilized. The razor-sharp bolt head and shaft were surgically removed from the chest. Antibiotics and analgesics were given and a few hours later, the pregnant doe staggered back to her feet and off into the bush.

She lost considerable weight throughout the ordeal, but has been seen eating and using her lame front leg again in the past week.

It was extremely unfortunate for this poor doe to suffer so long this winter with the bolt lodged in her side. An ethical hunter would not have allowed this to happen.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (M.N.R.) and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) state in their web-site that:

“Good hunters have a deep respect for the animal they pursue. Their interest in wildlife extends beyond the field, and their concern for wildlife and the environment extends to non-game and endangered species.

The responsible hunter is prepared, confident in their abilities, and aware of their limitations. They shoot only when a quick, clean kill is assured, and forgo the long-range or obscured shot that may wound an animal or be unsafe. They make every effort to avoid injuring game, and go to great lengths to retrieve a wounded animal.”

This did not appear to be the case this time.

Studies have shown that the whitetail deer as a species is the one most likely to “jump the string”. This means jump at the sound the string makes when an arrow or bolt is released.

Studies show that the whitetail can drop down to the ground in less than 2/5ths of a second.

Deer have been known to whirl around before the arrow reaches them and end up with the arrow in the opposite side from where the bow hunter intended the shot to penetrate.

This means that an alert deer has the ability and has the time, even at the close distance of 15 yards, to drop down below an arrow aimed for the vital area. This can happen even if the arrow is pushed by a very fast bow (300+ fps), and it may even escape unscathed. Chances are, however, that the animal will not and a non-fatal wound or a “gut shot” could be the end result.

To avoid this, some hunters use some kind of silencing system and don’t shoot at a deer that shows signs of being alert. With all this taken into consideration, an ethical bow hunter should make a decision as to where to set the maximum distance for bow hunting and stick to it.

The animal is too important a resource to attempt a shot at if it has a good possibility of only wounding that animal. It’s better not to shoot than to take a shot that will not put the animal down.

Perhaps a camera would make a better shot.

If you are archery hunting, (or for that matter, using any legal firearm) you must follow up on any shot you take at a deer.

A responsible hunter, who is also an ethical hunter, will be prepared to spend hours trailing a wounded deer, even to come back the next day if needed.

At times a wounded deer will not show any signs of being hit.

In some shot deer the bolt or arrow had passed clear through, and the deer did not show any immediate sign of distress - no jump, no shock, not even a higher sense of alertness.

You must not assume you missed just because you didn’t see the deer fall. Sometimes a wounded deer will not leave a blood trail for the first twenty or thirty yards.

At times they will bleed heavily for the first hundred yards or so, and then just a drop of blood here or there. An ethical deer hunter will then mark every spot of blood, get on their hands and knees, look and look again.

You should have a day-pack with hunting supplies; or in your hunting gear, have items that you can mark the blood trail with.

You must make every effort to retrieve a wounded animal. It’s the right and ethical thing to do.

One of the most ethically irresponsible things a hunter can do is to not follow up his or her shot.

Hunters may well find that in the not too distant future that the non-hunters and the anti-hunters have become the majority when it comes to voting time.

This is exactly the type of ammunition that will be used against hunting of any sort and bow-hunting in particular.

No animal should be forced to suffer such a terrible disabling wound and left especially in a winter such as this one.

Story By Dr. Kerstin Kelly