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My older son, Walter, lives in Singapore. In Singapore, a person can buy anything from Cuban cigars to designer clothes. One of the few things they do not have there is deer jerky, especially the kind made by Dad. He and his wife will be coming for a visit later this month and the only special request they made was to have some deer jerky to eat here and enough to take home for their friends.

That is a simple request. There are only two main ingredients, other than a few spices, to deer jerky. These are a deer and time. So far I have no deer and am rapidly running out of time.

This past weekend, I made a concerted effort to obtain the first and most important ingredient for my recipe. I found a fallen tree at the edge of the timber next to a shallow ditch. The roots from the tree provided cover and a light wind was blowing in my face. The fence showed signs of large numbers of deer crossing and the ditch bottom was covered in tracks. Having my back exposed did not concern me since open pasture was behind me and deer would not be coming from that direction. While watching the tree line intently while the sun rose, I heard a loud snorting sound a few feet behind me in the open pasture. I jumped with a start and turned to see a startled doe making a hasty retreat. About an hour later, I caught glimpses of something coming up the ditch toward me. As it crossed under the fence, I could see it was a bobcat. It padded silently toward me studying everything with its piercing yellow eyes. Its thick gray fur looked soft and luxuriant. Without seeing me, it passed within fifteen feet of where I stood. If I could hide from a bobcat, I was sure this blind would work for deer if they would just happen by. They didn't.[[In-content Ad]]

For the afternoon hunt, I decided to get my turkey blind and set it up in the woods near the creek. The blind was placed on top of a bluff overlooking a grassy opening. There was water in the creek for the deer to drink, grass and low branches to eat, and heavy cover at the edges in which to hide. It is the perfect set up for a hunt. Apparently I thought it was a lot better location than the deer since I sat there until after dark without seeing any. I was so convinced it was such a great hunting spot, I was walking through rose bushes the next morning, well before daylight looking for my blind. Nestled in comfortably, I watched the woods come to life as dawn broke. Squirrels scampered about in the dry leaves chasing and chattering at each other. When a person cannot see what is coming through the timber, one squirrel sounds a lot like three or four deer. A raccoon ambled back toward a hollow tree in the timber after a night out foraging and feeding. Birds of all types flew into the clearing and hopped down to get a drink or a bath from the creek. I saw just about every type of animal, both feathered and furred, that lives at our place, except deer.

There is still time, but I am beginning to get nervous. If I was only hunting for a trophy buck, I would have to beat the deer with a stick to keep them out of my way. When I am hunting only does, bucks are everywhere. When I am not being particular at what I harvest, they all disappear. It is as if they know.

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