Anybody ever hunt deer with dogs? Back in the early 80’s I worked with an older guy who was a longtime member of a hunting camp/club on timber company land near El Dorado Arkansas. One year he invited me to go along for a few days. (I was in my mid-20’s and not a deer hunter – growing up my my fall weekends were spent chasing quail and pheasants all over Oklahoma and Kansas.) This was a real old school deer camp the group had for decades. There were 6-8 simple cabins they had built as well as a cook shack/dining hall. One of the requirements for membership was to have at least a couple of deer dogs. There were a a dozen or more dogs in the camp kennel that weekend.
We gathered at the cook shack in the dark and a couple of the guys had a huge breakfast laid out for everybody. I just sat there and listened as all the old-timers smoked their cigarettes, drank coffee and laid out the plan for the day – who was going to hunt and who was going to handle the dogs. Everybody piled into vehicles and I was driven several miles down a logging road then dropped off with vague instructions – “walk about 100 yards that way until you find a tree stand. When you hear the dogs coming, get ready”.
I walked into the woods worried about getting lost when finally in the beam of my flashlight I saw some 2x4 steps going up a pine tree. I crawled up, got settled in and carefully loaded my borrowed Marlin 30/30. Not long after first light I heard the dogs baying in the distance but I couldn’t tell which direction they were going. I was unprepared for the first group of deer that ran by at a trot – I barely got my gun up before they were gone. A while later a buck ran by at full tilt with dogs close behind – no shot. I figured since the dogs had gone by I had missed my opportunity but a few minutes later here came a young fork horn sneaking in from the opposite direction. I guess he had avoided the dogs and doubled back. I will say here that I had asked my buddy if there was any restriction on what I could shoot. His reply was “what do you do when you’re duck hunting and see a duck?” I said “well, you shoot it!” He said “well, we are deer hunting, if you see a deer, shoot it!” The buck passed within about 50 yards and I dropped him. I sat there for another hour or two occasionally hearing dogs and shots in the distance before they came and got me.
If I remember correctly they only hunted the mornings – the rest of the day was spent at camp playing cards, horseshoes and lots of eating and drinking. One other memory - there was an ancient black man named Morehead that had apparently been squatting on this timber land for many years. He had to be in his 80’s and had lived in a shack in the woods with no electricity pretty much his whole life. When he started hearing shooting he knew it was deer season and he’d ride his mule into camp where he would gut, skin and quarter your deer for $20.
I don't know if hunting deer with dogs is still legal anywhere. Not a way I would want to do it all the time but it was an exciting experience.
We gathered at the cook shack in the dark and a couple of the guys had a huge breakfast laid out for everybody. I just sat there and listened as all the old-timers smoked their cigarettes, drank coffee and laid out the plan for the day – who was going to hunt and who was going to handle the dogs. Everybody piled into vehicles and I was driven several miles down a logging road then dropped off with vague instructions – “walk about 100 yards that way until you find a tree stand. When you hear the dogs coming, get ready”.
I walked into the woods worried about getting lost when finally in the beam of my flashlight I saw some 2x4 steps going up a pine tree. I crawled up, got settled in and carefully loaded my borrowed Marlin 30/30. Not long after first light I heard the dogs baying in the distance but I couldn’t tell which direction they were going. I was unprepared for the first group of deer that ran by at a trot – I barely got my gun up before they were gone. A while later a buck ran by at full tilt with dogs close behind – no shot. I figured since the dogs had gone by I had missed my opportunity but a few minutes later here came a young fork horn sneaking in from the opposite direction. I guess he had avoided the dogs and doubled back. I will say here that I had asked my buddy if there was any restriction on what I could shoot. His reply was “what do you do when you’re duck hunting and see a duck?” I said “well, you shoot it!” He said “well, we are deer hunting, if you see a deer, shoot it!” The buck passed within about 50 yards and I dropped him. I sat there for another hour or two occasionally hearing dogs and shots in the distance before they came and got me.
If I remember correctly they only hunted the mornings – the rest of the day was spent at camp playing cards, horseshoes and lots of eating and drinking. One other memory - there was an ancient black man named Morehead that had apparently been squatting on this timber land for many years. He had to be in his 80’s and had lived in a shack in the woods with no electricity pretty much his whole life. When he started hearing shooting he knew it was deer season and he’d ride his mule into camp where he would gut, skin and quarter your deer for $20.
I don't know if hunting deer with dogs is still legal anywhere. Not a way I would want to do it all the time but it was an exciting experience.
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