Careful when
passing the buck…
By Robert Yarnall
In keeping with my casual regard (or maybe
disregard) for time sensitive submission of materials for publication,
certification, and/or licensure, I respectfully remind readers that these first
two weeks in November comprise prime time for deer breeding activity, known by
hunters universally as “the Rut.”
I was reminded of this critical highway safety
period as I perused the November issue of Field & Stream Magazine. Being a
fishing fanatic, I usually read just the “stream” articles and leave the
“field” stuff to the hunters.
Disclosure: I haven’t shot any mammal or reptile in
about forty years, and the last time I shot at anything at all, it was a
pumpkin, which escaped unscathed. At least until my shooting buddy converted it
into pie filling in considerably less than a few seconds.
Back on point. According to Field & Stream Field
Editor Scott Bestul, whitetail deer authority, a calendar-specific combination
of moon phase and available daylight/darkness hours provides the ideal theatre
for deer biology to take over the stage, or road, as the case may be. It’s
every motorist for him or herself.
On a most serious note, THE day for optimum buck-doe
activity just happens to be next Monday, November 11, Veterans’ Day. If you
must venture into the woods, make damn sure you have the required 200 square
inches of fluorescent orange adorning your countenance.
Actually, it’s only required if you’re in a state
management area, such as Burlingame or Arcadia. If you’re on private wooded
land, of which there is a lot here in South County, you can be as stupid as you
want.
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| Is that a hunter....or Charlestown's Tree Warden? |
“But I was in the woods, and I didn’t see a hunter
anywhere, not a one” says Duhlaia.
No, Duhlaia, and you probably won’t, because the uber-serious
hunters, the ones on the tree stands or in hunting blinds, don’t don orange.
They are camouflaged and you cannot/will not see them. Especially if you’re
dead.
Here’s an excerpt from an email I sent to a friend
who manages large tracts of private wooded properties. It was prompted by an
email I received from a fly-fishing group I hang with, warning us about heading
out to the trout streams this next couple of weeks:
“You are probably aware that
the next 7-10 days, esp the next three or four, are prime time for the rut. I
got an email from the fly-fish crew warning us to stay out & away of the
streams as the bucks head down there to drink a lot and the hunters will be
after them. I ran across one guy the other day, he was about fifteen feet from
me in his camo & charcoal and I never even saw him until he let me know -
politely - that he was there. I was in a stream about eight feet wide, not even
a foot deep.
Just right for Bucky, I understand. The guy was scouting out his
area for this week. He tells me that there are so many hunters in the
management areas that the deer head to the private lands. You must see them all
over the estates.”
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| Wood River, Arcadia |
As an alternative Veterans’ Day activity, I
respectfully suggest taking a vet to breakfast. Or maybe take a trip to the
Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery for the ceremonies there. Or maybe both.
Stay safe wherever you may tread, and leave no trace
behind, including body parts.