Hunting Season

Living in a mountainous rural area, we often hear gunfire.  The frequency of this noise increases as the various hunting seasons roll around.  Most of our neighbors hunt, wild turkey and deer primarily, but also bear, raccoons, squirrels and rabbits. Bow season for deer began in early October, this is followed by muzzle loaded gun hunting in early November then on to other firearms for the last couple of weeks in November, then the seasons reverse, ending in December.  When this begins, we see fewer deer on our property, it almost like they go into hiding.  One doe has been hanging around for a couple of years.  We know she is the same one because she has a gimpy left hind leg.  In spite of this, she has raised twin fawns last year and a single fawn this year.  She sticks close to the upper part of our property and we often see her with her current young near our barn.  As we drove out late this morning to deliver eggs and to resupply the various animal foods and get a few items for our larder, she and her fawn were grazing near the barn. It surprises me that she has survived the seasons.  I hope that she makes it through this cycle as well.  This evening, there is one in the lower hayfield.   During this season, we don’t venture far from the house without wearing a blaze orange hat or vest even to go to the chicken coop or garden.  We consider putting a blaze vest on our mastiff as he is of similar size and coloration to the local deer.