Getting ready for deer hunting ~ October 30, 1997

David Heiller

My son, Noah, is going deer hunting for the first time this year. I bought him a license. He is 14, and because he is under age 16, he can shoot either a doe or a buck in our woods.

I will be going with Noah, but I won’t be hunting or carrying a gun. I didn’t buy a license for myself.

Noah

Most people don’t know that DNR game warden Curt Rossow of Willow River was the person responsible for letting youths shoot either a buck or doe (in areas where antlerless permits are given).

He told me on October 28 that it took his daughter, Heidi, seven years to get an antlerless permit. Now it’s possible to get one right away. Young hunters have a better chance at success, which will more likely keep them hunting. Thanks, Curt!

I went deer hunting a few times when I was Noah’s age. I used an old 12-gauge pump shot-gun that we had. It was in bad shape. The stock had electrical tape holding it together. Luckily it didn’t misfire and kill anybody. It had a tendency to go off on its own free will.

Noah will be following my footsteps on November 8. He’ll have a better gun—a Remington 30.06 that we inherited from Cindy’s dad, Gordy.

Gordy shot a lot of deer with it at his home near Thief River Falls. He died in 1993. Noah liked him a lot. So hunting with Gordy’s rifle will be a good thing.

I have never shot a deer. That may sound strange for a 44-year-old man who grew up and lives in rural Minnesota. One part of me wants to try it again. The rest of me knows that deer hunting isn’t something I care to do.

But I’ll do it with my son.

I doubt that grinding meat for venison burger was in Noah's fantasies of hunting, but it was the reality. 
We would have a big job once the hunt was over, 
and we all took part.

Noah and I walked through our woods last Saturday, looking for deer signs. We saw lots of trails, and a few scrapes. We even saw a big deer bound off ahead of us. We couldn’t tell if it was a doe or a buck.

It was nice getting out in the woods on a crisp fall morning. Now that most of the leaves are gone, the woods look entirely different than they did a month ago. You can see everywhere.

We found three spots where a deer stand will work well. At least we think they will. We’re not exactly experts, although we talked like we were as we analyzed the pros and cons of this spot and that.

A friend of mine, Dave, is going to come over this weekend and walk the woods with us. He has shot a lot of deer. He seems very willing to share his knowledge.

Last Saturday another friend, Bruce, told me in detail how to gut a deer. I didn’t ask for the advice. I figured I could muddle through it. No need to show my stupidity.

But Bruce could sense my stupidity, so he went ahead and gave a slice-by-slice account of cleaning a deer. I appreciated it. It will be faster and neater than my technique, and I can tell Noah exactly how to do it.

People like Dave and Bruce are going out of their way to help with Noah’s first deer hunt, even though I haven’t asked for the help. That’s what friends are for.

It shows how much they value deer hunting. They are both good hunters. Not only good shots, but careful and ethical. I respect that.

David

Lots of deer have visited our property this year. For a couple weeks during the summer, a doe would come to our pond every evening. We usually just sat and watched it. One time my daughter and I decided to see how close we could get. We walked to within 30 feet of it before it ran away.

Other times we got up in the morning to see a deer eating apples beneath the tree in our front yard. When we let the dogs out, the deer would dash away.

If you think a dog can run fast, watch it behind a deer. The dog looks like it is standing still.

Noah will be looking at deer next Saturday a little differently than he did this summer—through the cross hairs of a scope. He’s excited about that. I am too.

I’ll let you know what happens.