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Iowa has a very strange way of allocating deer licenses. Non-residents, who are willing to pay any amount of money for a tag to have the opportunity to hunt deer are lucky if they can obtain one every three or four years. A resident of the state can purchase an almost unlimited number of tags. If a person is a landowner, they get at least one free deer tag and the opportunity to buy as many as they want at a very cheap price. I must admit, it makes my hunting inexpensive, but my wife and I can only eat a couple of deer per year. The deer population is out of control, the state says they need more money, but they will not allow more non-residents in to hunt. A person must have to be a bureaucrat to understand the logic.

Since we are running low on hunters, I went out Saturday to fulfill my civic responsibility by thinning the deer herd. I got one earlier but there is still room in the freezer and a person can never make too much jerky.

We had just enough snow to cover the ground making it easy to spot deer in the woods. The ground was not completely frozen under the snow, making walking in those woods treacherous. If a person did not slip and fall because of the skiff of snow, the mud beneath it would insure a fall. Driving to the top gate, I knew I had pushed my luck with driving further than a person should. The farther I drove, the farther I would have to walk back when I got my truck stuck. It made starting my hunt at the top gate a logical choice.[[In-content Ad]]

The plan was to stalk through the snow silenced timber and sneak up on a sleeping deer. When it jumped up, I would shoot it, drag it back to the truck, and spend the rest of the afternoon making steaks and jerky. I love it when a plan comes together. I had not walked a hundred yards from the truck when a doe jumped up not twenty feet away. Needless to say, I was a bit startled. I shouldered my shotgun, drew down on the rapidly retreating deer and fired just as she ran past a small hickory tree. The deer was not injured but I am afraid the shot was fatal to the tree. There has been offers from people willing to cut it and have the tree mounted for me.

A person's stealth is pretty well ruined after announcing their presence with a shotgun blast. Everything in the area now knew I was sneaking around in their woods. I hiked over to twin sluices where deer may still be bedded in spite of the noise I had made in the adjoining timber. My footsteps were perfectly silent on the snow and wet leaves. I tried to avoid stepping on twigs or letting branches brush my clothes. It felt right as I moved slowly up the hill into the old growth oaks. The wind was in my face as I neared the crest of the hill. Deer would be just over the top and would neither be able to hear nor smell me. I pulled up my shotgun to the ready position and stepped slowly forward. A doe jumped up, turned, and stared at me as I peaked around a large oak tree. When I put my left foot down to steady my shot, my boot slipped on a snow covered tree root. I fell forward, managing a half twist before I hit the ground. This quick thinking maneuver protected my gun and only did minor injury to my body.

Hobbling back to the truck with thoughts of broken ribs passing through my mind, I decided if the deer population needs to be controlled, it might be best to loosen the restrictions on non-residents. I know I have had enough deer hunting, at least until next week-end.

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