I woke this morning thinking it was a rest day from hunting. I had a writing group session first thing and a doctor’s appointment in the late morning. As I walked to the door, I grabbed the dry cleaning and headed out. My hunting gear was in the truck- it always is now- and I drove down the driveway thinking about what a perfect morning it was. Then my eyes caught the flick of an ear off to my left in a willow patch on the neighbor’s property and I saw a young doe. As I rounded the turn, a large buck came into view. I thought to myself “they always show up in places I can’t hunt” and I drove on to the doctor appointment, happy to have at least seen a nice buck in the area.
Later on the way home, after dropping off the dry cleaning, I called my Mom and shared with her my sighting of the buck. In my heart I hoped he was still around, but commented to my Mom that it would be a miracle to see him again- much less have him walk onto my property and give me time to load and shoot. I had both my rifle and the shotgun in the car, so I would have the ability to take a safe shot with the 12 gauge, but the chances of him still being there and coming onto my property were slim. My wise mother said miracles do happen, and as I rounded the corner of the willow patch, I saw the doe stepping out onto my driveway, followed by the mature buck. I told Mom I would call her back and stopped the truck. Leaving the motor running- turning off the engine usually spooks animals- I concentrated on getting my hunter orange vest on and lifted the shotgun out of the truck with me, grabbing one shell from the center console. The buck had slipped through the fence and was now standing broad side less than 20 feet from me. I lifted the rifle to my shoulder and took aim. He was so majestic, looking at me as he stood in a perfect spot for me to take my shot. It was truly a miracle.
I pulled the trigger; the buck dropped onto the road, running in place. I’d hit a major artery in the neck and watched as the life flowed out of the animal while giving thanks for the harvest. My mentor has a belief that when a buck turns and stands broad side while looking at you, he is offering himself in a sacred covenant, which hunters and the deer nation have shared for thousands of years. I have always experienced this ritual in the hunt. As the deer turns to face me, he stands and offers a clear broad side shot, supporting a clean kill. It was a powerful moment as I watched the buck’s blood drain quickly. I had hit a vital artery, which caused the intense flow, making the buck’s transition into death hasten. There is always a moment of final flight in the deer’s instinct. He made his run as he lay on the ground. I gathered a hand full of tobacco and said prayers of thanks to the deer and the ancestors. When I kill and animal, I always speak to the cycle of life and death, knowing that I too will die one day, and that my blood and body will also return to the earth to feed future generations of life on this earth. It’s a powerful and humbling time, and I sat quietly awaiting the buck’s final moment, calm and present with him. When he was still, I carefully approached and touched his eye to see if there was any movement. The animal lay motionless in the road. Now the real work would begin.
I still had a bit of adrenaline running through me, and opened the tailgate of the truck to lift the deer by his antlers, pulling him up into the bed while protecting my back by leaning backwards, letting myself slowly fall into a sitting position while pulling the front half of the animal onto the tailgate. It was a feat- but slowly, the blacktail slid up and into the truck bed, as I carefully hauled him in. This is always a challenging part of hunting alone. If I can’t lift the animal into the pickup myself, I would have to cut it in half- and I didn’t want to make more of a mess on the road. Driving the short distance back to the house, I texted a few people who had been following my hunt this year to share the news of my success. One of them is a hunting mentee who said she could come help me with processing. It’s always such a reward to have a learning opportunity with my hunt, so I was glad to have the help and shared the experience.
Unloading the deer into a wheelbarrow was much easier, as I was moving the carcass down into something, rather than lifting up. The full dead weight of the animal must have been around 150 lbs. He’s the second largest black tail I’ve ever harvested. My mentee arrived and we started with taking off the scent glands on the back legs. This is important, because those sent patched can get all over your meat as you skin if you don’t remove them first. They were smelly- I love the scent, but it does not add good flavor. After that we hung the animal on the wench and raised it up to make processing easier. Next we took off the back hooves and started skinning. My mentee was careful and slow, an expected caution for a first time skinning. They diligently “unzipped” the back leg hide, and then I showed them how to prep the anus for gutting. If you are getting a little queasy reading this, my apologies, but processing an animal is not glamorous- it’s the true blood and guts of killing for food. I’ll spare the exact details, but needless to say, you don’t want any of the poop to get in the meat- so you have to tie up the end to prevent spills. Then we opened the stomach from tail to chest, slowly letting the guts out while grabbing the kidneys, liver, and heart of the deer, as well as lace fat from around the organs. This buck had the most fat on him I’d ever seen. A sure sign of health and wellness in the animal. His liver was also red and healthy looking and great eating, especially fresh. My mentee got a great lesson in gutting and skinning, then they had to take off for an afternoon appointment. I reminded them to wash hands before leaving- they had not noticed the dry blood in all the excitement.
I now had to cut the carcass into two parts to lift into the walk in cooler. There were already two lambs hanging, and I moved them to the sides to make room for this great buck. He hung beautifully in two parts, the meat a deep red, which reflected his health and vitality. So much gratitude to that food, which will nurture us through what I think is going to be a particularly harsh winter this year in 2024-25. This miracle harvest of good wild food will be cherished by many mouths and grateful folks who share my passion for hunting and gathering as much from nature as we can. You’ll not find anything as fresh or healthy in a grocery store- I guarantee it. This was my ninth blacktail buck harvest in 12 years of hunting. I remain a passionate caretaker of land which these animals feed on, cultivating more diversity in forage and cover for these magnificent beings. This buck likely fed on vegetation at EEC Forest Stewardship, and now, he is feeding me. Thus the cycle of life continues, and my relationship with the deer strengthens in our quest to steward this world through following our original instructions.
EEC Forest Stewardship 