The social media memes showing vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz fumbling with loading his shotgun at a pheasant hunt reminded that this is the time of year when my mind sometimes wanders to “Bambi” and the confrontations I have had with deer over the years.
Deer more than any other four-legged creature have been my nemesis. I recall the one time I went deer hunting- I was sixteen or seventeen. My dad and I drove about four hours to get to the deer camp. As was his nature, he never said a word to me on the way up. I was left with my own thoughts and his 50’s music blaring out of the AM station.
The first day was bitter cold and windy. It rained the night before. I was situated in my deer blind, shivering like a banshee. Walz had nothing on my incompetence. My shotgun was cocked and loaded, but I swear if a deer appeared near me, there is no way I could have pulled the trigger. I was too damn cold.
Fortunately, or unfortunately a deer never appeared. I spent the rest of the weekend in the cabin. At that time I was actually hunting deer, but now when I’m not, they find me often.
Just a couple of years ago I was traveling down a well-used road about this time of year, on my way to my office, when BAM, I had a collision with a large buck. It pretty much took out my whole front end but fortunately for my son and I, it didn’t come through the windshield. Neither one of us sustained injuries.
Ever since then it seems wherever I travel deer like to dash in front of my vehicle. One grazed the front passenger fender. It was night with no moon so I could find no sign of the deer. I escaped with a small dent thankfully.
Last year I was traveling down a major boulevard in a large city, when six deer dashed out in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and managed to avoid the family but I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me in an urban area.
A month later, probably late November, another deer made a beeline for my headlights. Again, being cautious, I recognized the situation and swerved to my left to avoid the suicidal deer.
It appears I don’t need a shotgun to do my part in culling the herd. They naturally find their way to my vehicle. I suspect if I were to make my way up the deer blind again, I wouldn’t be so lucky. I imagine deer would avoid my orange camo.
But I gotta tell you, I’m now quite afraid of driving the backroads in October and November, particularly at daybreak or dusk. I read somewhere that deer are more plentiful, because of the mild winter, than they have ever been. I hope deer hunters everywhere fill there quota. We gotta make roads safer for this timid driver.
