Deer cluster in the woods at River Bend Nature Center, Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2013.
YOU KNOW IT’S OPENING weekend of firearms deer hunting in Minnesota when…
- you drive downtown Faribault before noon on Saturday and notice pick-up trucks ringing a corner bar and a dead deer in the back of one.
- you spot a dead deer dangling from a tree while driving to church on Sunday morning.
- you notice that the divider curtains in the Clinton Falls church (at which you are a visitor) are made of a deer print fabric. (Not that these were installed specifically because of deer hunting, but…)
- a woman, during prayer time, asks for protection for hunters.
- on the way to lunch at your nephew’s house, you see a hunter dressed in orange carrying a bow and arrow.
- your brother-in-law and great nephew share about the six deer that walked through the yard after they’d returned from hunting, without a deer.
- your nephew excuses himself from a houseful of guests to hunt for deer before the sun sets.
- your sister-in-law retells her tale of bagging a deer, with her car, along a dark stretch of highway in central Minnesota. Her family claimed the deer and got more venison than when her husband shoots one. (The unlucky highway roaming deer suffered only broken legs, meaning no meat spoilage.)
- the Le Center Municipal Liquor Store welcomes deer hunters with an exterior banner advertising $3 bottles of Busch Light beer during happy hour. (Do hunters drink light beer?)
WHAT CAN YOU add to this list?
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Living next to a state park/campground and surrounded by state land, this time of year is NOT something we look forward to!!!! The “invasion” of ppl turn our normally quiet roadway into something of a downtown city street with parked cars everywhere. Waking up to guns firing signals the morning sunrise, rather than the rosy glow of another morning. Sigh……………this, too, shall pass……………………………….til next year!
I can certainly understand your feelings knowing where you live.
I just keep reminding myself that the worst times are “only” a couple of weeks during the year………………….
True. And there will be fewer deer to roam onto the roadways in your region.
What’s interesting is I’ve not seen evidence of any kills. Very disturbing!!! We just know those critters are out there!!!!!
Hmmmmm.
There are deer hunters and then there are guys who drive around in their pickup trucks and shoot at everything that moves.
That’s a really good point.
Churches change mass times to 7pm on Saturday night and advertise that Orange and Camo are welcome and expected.
I had no idea, not being Catholic. Great addition to the list. Thank you, Mike.
Deer on the move and running to escape the hunter(s).
I especially love the deer hanging out in the yard when the boys come back from hunting without a deer. We had a deer one year on the farm one Fall season trying to blend in by hanging out with our sheep – clever – ha! I have had a few close calls over the years with deer crossing the road and usually where you see one there is more waiting to jump out at you.
Happy Week – Enjoy 🙂
We’ve all had close calls with deer. That reminds me of a deer story I failed to add to my list–a story that was shared by my sister-in-law yesterday. Need to update the post.
8 does and a huge buck walk through my yard nonchalantly knowing that they live in 4000 acres of protected land. 🙂
Wise deer.
Indeed!
I had to laugh about your Sister in Law bagging more deer meat than her husband. Tis’ the season
Yes, but not the best way to accomplish that. At least something positive came from the incident.
Yes, expensive meat with processing, car repairs, and insurance hikes
You’re absolutely right on that.
Hmm….I notice the hunters out in fields when we drive to Oconomowoc and back at this time of year. I always wonder how far a shot from their guns travels. But I’ve never hunted in my life. I suspect that, unless I were starving, I would be terrible at it! My brother-in-law hunts with a bow. He is the quintessential outdoorsman.
Like you, I would also be a terrible hunter. Couldn’t do it. I’ve never fired a weapon. However, many family members, like your brother-in-law, hunt.
I have heard of bullets, on rare occasions, striking vehicles. I suppose there are laws regulating how far away you must be from a roadway to shoot.
Second guessing our thoughts of hiking this afternoon. On our morning drive here in Lutsen, we saw plenty of hunters trucks lining the roads…yikes it’s scary.
If you hike, wear orange.
What people call a deer rifle, a bolt action can reach out to about 3 miles. Keep in mind that it is falling to the ground as it travels. A lever-action (like the cowboys carried) is good to about 2, maybe 300 yards but can also travel up to about 3 miles. Do yourself and others and take a firearms course. Then take a Hunter’s Safety Course, then get a hunting permit. All those guns, ammo, bows & arrows, hunting / sports equipment sold go back to help care for the deer and other wildlife that hunters go after. The tax is built into the price of the item. You will not see it rung up separately at the cash register. Oh – not up to doing a hunt? You don’t have to actually go out and kill anything. You can sit it out at home with a cup of hot cocoa knowing you did your share to protect the wildlife. With gun / hunter safety courses under your belt, you will know when to call out a hunter for doing stupid unsafe acts or a game warden for illegal acts.
Having been around the military, training non-stop, I moved next to a military base that does exactly that. I step out on my porch, sip my coffee and listen to the heart warming sound (to me) of pop, pop, pop knowing someone is actually learning first hand how to shoot. Nothing like the smell of gun smoke in the morning! Then, keep in mind, theSecond Amendment is NOT about hunting! It is all about self defense! Pardon, I got to get my coffee refilled. And no, much to my dismay, I have never hunted any animal except for a hog, and he was too smart for me.
Hunting hogs. Interesting.
Oh, them deer hang around my house to!
I remember decades ago seeing deer atop vehicles traveling the interstate as deer hunters headed back home after a weekend of hunting in northern Minnesota.
You rousted up a lot of good conversation on this subject, Audrey! My husband is a hunter but I only shoot with a camera. Hog hunting is big down here in Oklahoma and we do eat wild hog from time to time. Hogs are a menace in the south and they tear up a lot of ground with their rooting.
I’m like you. The only shooting I will ever do will be with my camera. My sister-in-law, who lives in Missouri, has mentioned the problem with wild hogs. That is so foreign to me.
Audrey,
I can’t help myself, I always feel sorry for those poor, big-brown eyes Bambies. xx
I get it.
One Feller talking about “Deer Camp”, ” You know, one year one damm fool even brought a gun”. 16 days of drunkeness.
Now that’s an interesting observation, uh, quote.
Be safe out there this weekend, hunters.