Comments on: A Zone Archery Opener Recap

By: Bodega

Bodega — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:20:02 +0000

Phil,

Sorry to hear about your deer incident, and glad you didn’t have a more serious accident yourself. You did the right thing by not trying to “rescue” the fawn.

I was out at Hedgepeth last Friday and Saturday and put a stalk on a buck. Saw hogs. Very addicting. Will be out there again this weekend.

Cheers,
Sol

By: Tovar

Tovar — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:50:42 +0000

That’s a hard one, Phillip. Thanks for sharing the story.

I had never hit a deer with a car until this past winter. Thankfully, the doe kind of hit the car, jumping into the side of it, and got up and walked off. For a moment, though, I thought I was going to have to finish her off right there on the road. Tracking her in the snow a few hours later, I was pretty sure she would make it.

The experience gave new perspective on how I feel about kinds of harm: intentional (hunting) vs. unintentional (driving).

By: Joshua

Joshua — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:11:34 +0000

Hank, California’s North Coast country is odd like that. We were at about 3k feet, and we also had the chance to see both valley and mountain quail in that range. I think it has to do with its proximity to the ocean as well as the extremeness of the ranges’ contours that provide dozens and dozens of microclimates. The flora up there was amazing – and the sierra gooseberries were ripe. I saw monstrous madrones, too, and what I believe was a California blackberry – a couple of ripe ones, and they were good.

Again, it was amazing.

By: Phillip Loughlin

Phillip Loughlin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:47:45 +0000

Galen, I have come to feel the same way about highway mortality. We (or our highways) have become that much of a part of the habitat. We’ve seen so much roadside carnage that we sort of become inured to it… at least until we’re the one that causes it.

Matt, thanks. There was no crash this time. The poor little deer couldn’t have been more than 25 or 30 lbs, and didn’t even come up high enough to hit the quarterpanel of my truck. I was also going so slow at the time that, had it been an adult deer, it likely would have bounced off and run away.

Brian, I’ll have to try that sometime. I can’t recall ever seeing grouse chicks up there…

By: Carolina Rig

Carolina Rig — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:56:40 +0000

Even better is when you are startled by a grouse or ptarmigan with little chicks. The explosion of momma, followed by the scattering of chicks at your feet creates an illusion of the ground parting beneath you. Great feeling while on a rocky cliff!

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:23:57 +0000

I think you did the right thing. The most important thing is that you didn’t get hurt in the crash!

Deer-related wrecks are a constant threat where I live. My father-in-law hit one just last week

By: Galen Geer

Galen Geer — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:49:26 +0000

Phillip,
I had a perfect record of not hitting a deer until we moved to North Dakota and in the past ten years I’ve hit four, M has hit two, step-son Travis hit a couple and my other step-son has hit one or two. Why so many? I think it has to do with the grass up to the edge of the road and the deer population. I’ve counted as many as 200 whitetail in a single field. The mindset that I’ve come to accept is that nature now includes the mortality of the highway and we play a role in that–as part of a new nature. That doesn’t make it any easier, just a sort of way of thinking.
glg

By: Phillip Loughlin

Phillip Loughlin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:09:06 +0000

Thanks all. It was a drag, but it can’t be undone. Hope it doesn’t happen again, though.

Hank, I’ve been seeing grouse out there every trip for the last several years. I’ve seen them in several places in Mendocino County also. I think they’re hunting them up in Covelo. You can see a zone map at: http://www.fgc.ca.gov/maps/uplandgamemaps.pdf

Definitely can’t shoot them in Sonoma, though. It is fun to bump them. If you have heart failure and don’t have an AED handy, just jump a grouse. It’ll do the same thing.

By: HankShaw

HankShaw — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 03:06:21 +0000

YOU SAW GROUSE!!! Sorry to be off-topic for a second, but WTF?! There are not supposed to be grouse in California unless you are a) at 10,000 feet and are seeing ptarmigan, or b) in Del Norte County, where there are a few ruffed grouse. What gives?

Back on topic. I feel for you, man. The only time I’ve felt like throwing up when I’ve been around deer was one day, when I was zipping along Hwy 88 in the Sierra Foothils, I rounded a corner and voom! Ran over a fawn.

Worst part? I did not hit that fawn. Someone before me did. I went right over it somehow, missing it completely. But I saw its head go up when I passed, so I knew it was alive. But the poor deer was on a curve in a road with no shoulders and a steep dropoff on one side. It would have been suicide for me to try to help it. But I actually came very close to pulling over anyway.

Why do we, seasoned hunters, all feel this way about the baby animals we hunt?

By: Arthur

Arthur — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:01:34 +0000

Man, I feel for you, Phillip. That really, and truly sucks.

Thankfully, I’ve never hit a deer, though we live in some serious deer country (and now that I’ve typed that, I’ll hit one tomorrow), but, if it’s any consolation, my brother and I filmed a doe last year who was moving along just fine on three legs.

And, actually, even if we would have had the chance to shoot her (we didn’t), I’m not sure I would have, because she was so content with the way she moved and fed.

We’ve laid eyes on her a few time since, and she appears to be holding her own, even with a large coyote population.

Animals are amazingly resilient, as you know, so who knows.