I worked at the grocery store with a pharmacist who lost his father this exact way. My co-worker was 16 years old, and they were out with a third man, I don’t remember who. Anyway, his father simply keeled over out in a field, and they had to carry him quite a ways back to the car and find a pay phone (this would have been in the 1960s) and the resulting autopsy revealed that he was probably dead before he hit the ground.
Not long after he told me about this, our local newspaper printed a “humorous” column about Sven and Ole being out deer hunting; I forget the rest, but I sure hoped that my co-worker wouldn’t see it. You guessed it - one of our favorite customers stopped by a day or two later, having clipped that column, and thought we would enjoy it. Of course, my co-worker was not amused, and when that customer came back a few days later to tell me about it, I told him why he didn’t find it funny, and he felt bad but I told him don’t worry about it, there was no way he could have known about it.
Way back when, we were visiting my maternal grandparents. My grandfather wasn’t home at the time. He had gone deer hunting out back of their property. After a while my grandmother got worried. But he did turn up.
Turns out he spotted a buck and was trailing it for a long time but had to give up. He was in his 70s at the time. I wondered what he would have done if he had bagged it. It was rough country with hardly a road. How was he going to get this back without having a heart attack?
And he did have a bad heart. The whole trip must have been a big stress. His heart gave out a couple years later.
What would have happened if he had died out in the sticks? All alone on foot, pre-cellphone, etc. A lot of territory to search.
Speaking of old men and hunting.
Average age about 66.(that’s guessing some ages).
There’s about 20 this week out there. (Holiday).
He’s had as many as 47 hunters, this year.
I worry every year someone is gonna get hurt or die out there.
(Actually toting a gun and going out to hunt occupies about 10% of their time out there. But danger is everywhere)
A friend’s dad gave up hunting when he was in his 40s after his third injury. He blew off a toe (resting the barrel on his boot and accidentally firing), fell out of his tree stand and broke his arm after dozing off, and slipped while climbing a steep slope, suffering cuts and bruises.
When my son was a senior in high school he told me he wanted to go deer hunting. I’d taken him target shooting and skeet shooting. I taught him gun safety.
I enrolled him in a hunter safety course, which he passed, and bought him his hunting license. A good friend who is a hunter offered to take him.
When deer season was a week away, he was hanging out at our house. There were deer in our yard, including a nice 8 point buck. My son told us his plan involved sitting in our living room and quietly opening the door to shoot his deer.
I explained that, no, hunting involved going out in the woods around sunrise and sitting in a blind or tree stand. He explained that he wasn’t into cold weather, so he never went hunting after all that.
He lives in Gainesville, Florida now. Maybe @Dung_Beetle has run into him at the store or somewhere.
That’s funny! BTW, would it have been legal to harvest a deer out of your yard?
My old boss was a hunter, and he very proudly posted a picture in his office of his 15-year-old granddaughter with her first deer. That’s what she did in the morning. Later that evening, she danced in a local production of “The Nutcracker.”
Paraphrasing Jeff Foxworthy: “My cousin got shot last hunting season. It was his fault, really. They thought he was a deer. That’s what he gets for driving a brown car… with a white license plate… and a roof rack.” Elk hunting with 7mm Remington Magnum it was double drilled into me that you saw your target and the backdrop, dummy. That round can easily still kill a mile away.
You just stand there looking cute
And when something moves you shoot
The law was very firm, it
took away my permit
the worst punishment I’ve ever endured
turns out there was a reason
cows were out of season
and one of the hunters wasn’t insured
Gun control in the UK is very strict so hunting only takes place at organised shoots with the owners permission or in very isolated places. Any reports of unauthorised gunshots would have the police respond very quickly. Possession of a firearm without a licence carries a maximum sentance of 5 years if you have a licence and shoot without the land owners permission you will almost certainly lose your licence and have your gun(s) conviscated.
Only time it could have been an issue was many years ago I went horse riding, the girl who was the guide had only just started takig rides out on her own. The route involved going through a gate that was always open but had a sign on saying “No entry when closed shooting taking place with high powered rifles” we then continued our ride, turned round and returned the same way. As we approached the gate on the way back we could see it was closed and the guide was worried about gettign shot, I calmed her down saying they were probably shooting in the afternoon (it was about 12) so closed the gate to ensure the land was clear. We got to the gate went through and less than a minute later heard gun shots behind us. Returning to the stables the owner had forgotten it was the first day of the hunting season so hadn’t checked with the landowner.
Horses can aso be the solution for exertion. Horses such as Highland ponies were bred to bring deer down from the hill and in fact I rode at a place (now closed) which close at the end of July each year as the horses were used by the hunters.
Why are they way out in the woods dragging dead deer back to their cars? If I wanted to kill a deer I’d just shoot one of the deer eating the shrubbery in my back yard.
There are specific laws (in Pennsylvania) about landowners taking deer. Each state has their own laws.
From the state game commission:
Yes, Pennsylvania farmers can harvest deer from their property under certain circumstances, including:
Agricultural Deer Control (AG Tag) Program
Also known as the “Red Tag” program, this permit allows landowners to hire hunters to remove deer that are damaging agricultural land outside of regular hunting season. The permit is valid from August 1 to September 15 and February 1 to April 15, excluding Sundays. Landowners can get one sub-permit for every five acres of cultivated land. Hunters must have a valid hunting license, unless they qualify for an exemption.
Depredation permits
The Game Commission issues these permits to farmers who have enrolled their property in a public access program for at least two years. Farmers can assign two people to shoot deer at any time, and there is no limit to the number of deer that can be harvested.
Shooting for crop damage
Farmers can shoot deer for crop damage from April 15 to August 1, as long as they coordinate with the Game Commission.
Hunting without a license
Landowners who own at least 50 contiguous acres of land can get one antlerless deer license for that county if the land is open to public hunting and trapping. Landowners can also hunt without a license on detached land that is leased as part of the same farm and is within ten air miles of the home farm
