# DEER HUNTERS



## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

(A letter from someone who wants to remain anonymous, who farms, writes well and actually tried this)

I had this idea that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up-- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold.

The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope, and then received an education. The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED. The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- no Chance. That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined. The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.

I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in. I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ..... I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and slide off to then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head--almost like a big dog. They bite HARD and it hurts.

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.

It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.

Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp... I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.

This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.

Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.

I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away. So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope......to sort of even the odds!!

All these events are true so help me God...An Educated Farmer

Copied from FB, couldn't stop laughing.....


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## Aaroncboo (Sep 21, 2014)

Oh deer....


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## NebTrac (Aug 12, 2014)

Thanks for the story. My thinking was "the deer is already at the feeder". I think he would be corn fed by now, so all that was needed was a gun. Glad it was him and not me.

Troy


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

LMAO.

My dad once roped a badger, and according to him they are hard to rope. When you get the rope around their middle they can get out of it in about a millisecond. After several try's and on pissed off badger he did finally get a rope around its middle and picked off the ground. An old cowboy who worked with dad had the bright idea to take it to the bunkhouse and let it loose in there, so old Red held it over the side of the pickup as dad drove back to the ranch; I can just imagine how pissed this badger is by now, a little devil covered with fur. They get to the ranch and let him loose; along comes a neighbor, who decided to sit on the chair this little devil was under. If you ever heard a badger snort, you would understand just how scary these little devils are. The neighbor did not sit in that chair for long, us up like a shot and out the door. They later put the badger in the dog kennel, how the got him caught I don't know; that had to have been some good watching in itself. It did not take him long before he dug his way out and was long gone. I am sure old Red loved every moment of it, as he loved to play hard.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

Great story. I'm guessing alcohol was involved. LOL


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## Randy Litton (Jan 21, 2018)

Ever wonder why God protects fools, and me? It's mercy.

I grew up in the hills of Louisiana among lumber company sections of trees. I was 15 once, and cornered a mangy bob cat in a net wire fence lot corner. I didn't catch the bobcat. Some thing in it's manner dissuaded me from pressing the issue. When I meet God, I want to personally give thanks for his mercy.

This may be a little off subject, but since we are on don't try this at home.

The attached photo illustrates how unique farm living can be.
View attachment 86828
View attachment 86828


Scruffy came ambling through the wood shop, just as happy with himself as any dog biting on a spike deer antler skull cap with horns attached could be.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

While we're on the subject of deer, buddy of mine commented last week after an unfortunate encounter:

"If you want to be sure of nailing a deer this season, just drop your insurance down from full coverage to liability only."


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

My great-grandpa worked on a ranch back in the 20's and roped a deer once... the boss was NOT amused... cussed him out but good-- "Boy, don't you EVER do that again-- that [email protected] deer could have killed you AND the horse!" (not sure which he was worried more about-- probably the horse since he owned it LOL Later! OL J R


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Here we just need the deer shot all farmers agree there is more and more deer damage every year.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

endrow said:


> Here we just need the deer shot all farmers agree there is more and more deer damage every year.


Kind of the opposite here lately, not terribly long ago freaking deer were slowly bankrupting us, the browse line in the state park across the road was so bad you could see hundred of yards into the park. Wasn't uncommon to see at least one new dead deer along the roadside by the park every day. State finally changed the laws so they could hunt the state parks, I imagine the insurance industry lobbyists had a hand in it as well. Now even the farmers here wonder why they are having yet another park hunt. **** damage is worse than deer damage anymore.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

mlappin said:


> **** damage is worse than deer damage anymore.


**** can be the number one pest in many places. No one hunts ***** anymore to speak of and there is no value in raw fur due to demand. People who wore fur before are extremely reluctant to do so now due to being harassed by the animal rights types. We just try to eliminate them whenever we can to try an help keep the population in check....but it helps almost zero.

Our **** population got so bad 2 years ago and rabies started erupting in the **** population so the state had to fly rabies vaccine impregnated bait and drop over the woodlands state wide. It took all summer to treat the hot spot areas. It is a wax impregnated bait that also contains the vaccine. It was costly, but nothing like a full rabies outbreak.

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> People who wore fur before are extremely reluctant to do so now due to being harassed by the animal rights types. We just try to eliminate them whenever we can to try an help keep the population in check....but it helps almost zero.
> 
> Regards, Mike


My best advice Mike.....just don't lead 'em as far


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

I didn't realize the urgency needed to treat rabies. Neighbor was bitten by a cat and ended up with a septic infection. Had to decide whether to start the rabies treatment because the test results weren't back by the 10th day, which if you don't start the treatments and you have it, you are doomed. No questions, no alternatives, doomed. Done. Not really a threat of rabies in our area, but certainly nothing to gamble with. His insurance wouldn't cover the shots, guess they were nice and adjusted the cost per shot down to $3k.

There is a well known, effective bait for raccoons here, but it is not in accordance with the instructions on the label or the cola so it can't be used.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Farmineer95 said:


> There is a well known, effective bait for raccoons here, but it is not in accordance with the instructions on the label or the cola so it can't be used.


Isn't this similar to the 3 s's and still allowed? Asking for a friend of a friend of a friend, BTW.

Larry


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

I suppose it would be. 
There wouldn't be any flies around either.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Golden Malrin can really alleviate a lot of "fly" type problems. If you have a concentration of "flies" around a corn bin/crib etc., you can take hold of the situation pretty quickly.

Regards, Mike


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

I " heard " it can kill possums in sweet corn too.............Also while killing flies, of course.


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