Every year fall comes again and with the turning of the leaves comes that basic instinctual drive to head out into the woods and blast your winter supply of meat. For years when youth was upon me and my bro's, the annual deers hunt was that time to prove our manhood, get a little more fit for a fews weeks and in general satisfy those urges that blossom each fall and drive boys to load up their pickups and go deers huntin. That great enabler youth, with all its vim and vigor, its simple minded passions, its testosterone amped competitions, is the building blocks of a typical young hunter.
Now let us let that clock tick for say forty years and take a look at that same hunter we describe above. He's put on about 50 pounds and lost most of his hair. He no longer needs to rest his hand above the crapper first thing in the morn and the very thought of a brisk hike to the top of old baldy just in hopes of baggin a deers hasn't crossed his mind for at least ten years. He's shot plenty of deers in his day, bigs ones, little ones, deers standing on top of the hill, deers running up the bottom, and oh ya, deers he spotted right alone the side of the road. He's learned that when all is said and done, you still just got to walk down there, get out the old knife and go to work. Off come the nads, slice up the belly, yank out the guts, damn, how much fun can one guy have. Then, oh crap, the works now begins. Hours later you stumble up on the road, the deers still down in the brush, and you wait for your brother to bring the truck around and help ya load that nice big buck in the back.
Now, I am that old guy, and with all that learning in my brain, I am going to tell you how have to have a fun, productive deers hunt. First off, no trophy huntin! If you really must shot a deers, think small. Young and tender...remember, "ifin you kill it, you got to grill it" as the great rocker and mighty hunter Ted Nugent likes to say. But the culinary delights are not the only benefits to a small buck. Oh, no, remember that 2 mile pull you had with the huge "trophy" 4 point of years past.."never again" is pretty close to what you said if I remember right. Small bucks just drag so nice. And then, lets talk a little about draggin deer in general. The conversation won't be long, cause, I simply won't do it any more. If, and that's a big if, I shot a nice little buck, I make damn sure you can see where he falls from the road. 30-40 yards is plenty far enough.
Lets take a look at a typical days deers hunt for and old boy like me and his old boy brothers that tag alone. We always get up early on a huntin day...to tell the truth, it's cause we have to take a leak more than the need to get an early start after the deers, buts that something you'll learn about soon enough, and then we get after the coffee. Years of practice taught us to get that coffee going first off, then head back in the tent to get dressed. Sweet rolls and a travel mug of Joe is all ya need this early. Normally you stand around a little to kind of let the coffee take affect and get the truck nice and warm and then as soon as the day starts to break, off you go. You know the roads like the back of your hand. You know every likely spot there might be a deers a standin and you know ya can't see with the window rolled up. I usually do the drivin because a good driver is the key to a successful roads hunt. Drive to fast...nothing, drive to slow..nothing...that perfect pace where in you don't drive by one and yet you still cover lots of ground...it's an art that only age can develop. When needed, the heater's just blastin away...I got to laugh every time I drive by some young fellow freezin his butt off on that $8000 ATV he just had to have to fulfill his hunting fantasy, but then, I'd probably done the same when I was his age. Nope, for us old guys, you just can't beat the comfort of a nice roomy warm cab of a pickup truck. It's huntin at it's finest! We visit, we laugh, we shoot the breeze and yak about the old days. We slurp our coffee and nibble the rolls. Sometimes we spot a deer, and this is when all the years of practice pays off. I'll artful bring the truck to a stop, backing up a little if needed and a determination is made as to is it a buck, is it one we want to shot, do we really want to shot it now, will we see one a little closer to the road, is it too early in the season to harvest a deers, are these my binocs cause they ain't quite in focus, back up a little more, no pull forward a little bit, no stop right there, no that's the doe, do you want him, he's to big for me, etc, etc, etc. and a million other consideration that are needed when out huntin deers. Most generally the deers runs off and we're all relieved for the reasons I mentioned above. I know many on this forum will frown and maybe even harangue, but this my friends is how we do it, and this my friends is how to have a fun and productive deers hunt.
