I've been wanting to talk about this subject for some time but somehow I've stopped myself as I'm not totally sure how I feel about it, but maybe it will make a subject for discussion. I imagine you may have very strong views on the subject and I don't want to cause disharmony in the ranks.
I am surrounded by beautiful woodland and in the woods live many deer, I think they are Roe Deer, they are of average size and quite dark tan/red. I think they are beautiful and I feel a real pleasure seeing them as I walk through the meadow and wood with Beth each day. They do get in my garden and eat my plants, I caught sight of one in there yesterday morning, she quickly leaped over the fence and away into the wood again. What with rabbits and deer my poor plants suffer enornmously, but I love being surrounded by wild life.
The man who manages the wood, I'll call him Dick, is an avid hunter, I think he sees himself as a game keeper.
When we first moved in, he obviously didn't know us and we didn't know him and so he was cautious of letting me know of his activities.
One spring evening in the first year of living here, I heard a tremendously loud shot, not the ordinary rabbit shooting shots, but something deafening and eerrie. A short while after i was watching out of my bedroom window which looks down the road along the side of the wood, and I saw Dick in the hedge dragging something huge out of the wood into his truck, on closer inspection i could see it was a deer. I was shocked, I'd not seen this happen before.
Later that week I was walking through the wood and met Dick, he was very anxious to tell me that the deer he had shot was injured, it had been hit by a car , he told me. Reassured I told Stan this.
But as time went on and I got to know Dick well and realised that he did infact hunt the deer, no crime in it, he has permission from the wood owner and the deer are on his land.
But what I do find disconcerting, is his now blaze outlook on letting me see all that goes on. I walk through the wood regularly, there is a public footpath through it, and on many occasions Beth will start sniffing the air and gets excited, I will look and suddenly find a whole deer carcass hanging from a tree, drying I assume. First time I saw it I was horrified and couldn't get over it for ages, but the worst is the trophy heads. Dick hangs all the heads up in the wood.
This is most scarry and disconcerting, yesterday I walked into the wood and Beth immediately started sniffing the air, and looking up, I couldn't see anything to start with, but as I peered into the wood I saw this beautiful big deer head starring at me from a tree, it looked so proud and bright eyed but it was dead and just a head. How grotesque is that!
Whenever , I think about deers being hunted it always takes me back to being a little girl and watching "Bambi"for the first time and being so upset when Bambi's mother is shot.
I'm not totally anti hunting, I have a dog that catches and kills rabbits and pheasants, but it just upsets me to think about deer being hunted, because they are so beautiful. Incongruous I know.
What do you think??
17 comments:
I am with you totally on this one. Does he shoot near a footpath? The law says people mustn't shoot within 50 feet of the centre of a road or public right of way.
We have a significant deer problem on the island. I'd almost call it an infestation. All the natural predators, save man, are gone, and man can't hunt in this area. It is not unusual for me to see 5 or 7 at a time in my garden, and while they are beautiful, they are completely unafraid and very destructive. I wish that a cull could be allowed. That said, I think your neighbour sounds like a nut case. Carcasses hanging in the woods.....head hanging from trees! That is just looney and I think you need to address it. Also, you are probably not safe when walking in the woods. I'll be interested to learn how this progresses.
No, he doesn't shoot close to path, but he brings the game back to his yard after shooting and the path goes through the yard.
no he's not a nut case, it is the way English game keepers /traditional hunters behave,but it is an old fashioned way these days. Nothing can be done as it is totally private wood , except for the one public path, which he always keeps safe. I've never felt unsafe, as he tends to shoot very early in morning before anyone is up.
Oops - I sounded off and I think I was quite culturally insensitive! Had no idea that his was the way in a populated area - I know that hunters in very remote areas (I mean hundreds and hundreds of miles from any habitation) will do this, but most will hang it in a garage of somewher like that. I hope you're able to resolve your discomfort by addressing the issue with your neighbour.
Hmmm - I think I would feel exactly as you do. I do logically 'get' the pro-deer hunting argument, but I think there is something slightly sick about the macho displaying that your neighbout carries out. Who's a big man for shooting a deer then? It's kind of how I feel about the whole hunting thing - and I'm well aware that many will disagree - can see the logic, but cannot understand why anyone would choose to seek their pleasure that way.
No,pondside not culturally insensitive, I do think his behaviour is slightly odd in this day and age but it is very old /traditional to the countryside here. Still doesn't mean I have to like it, but I do get on well with the man .
Not sure I can say much though as it is his territory. I have aclimatised myself to it and the whole carcass thing is very rare sight, just the heads there all time.
Hunting in Colorado is a huge deal and people travel from all over to hunt in the Rocky Mountains as well as on the plains. If they didn't hunt, we would be overrun with deer who would become pests very quickly and would attract large numbers of predators like bear and mountain lions. Hunting in season is a part of the culling process, but the macho part of it demands that the hunter go after the most perfect specimen of the species, rather than the sick, injured or weak, as nature would. I'm not sure what I think about it all, but I do know that the personification of animals by the movie industry hasn't given the general population a realistic view or a practical perspective of this issue. The mounting of the heads seems a little over the top to me. I'll be interested to see how this all plays out.
Deer are very plentiful at the moment and have almost reached pest proportions in some areas. It is common practice for deer to be culled. That is part of good woodland management. What isn't common practice and sounds like bizarre behaviour to me, is the hanging of deer heads in the woods.
I can understand a carcass being hung up until it can be retreived. That would prevent damage by foxes and the like, but the deer heads left as trophies, unhygenic and odd.
Hmmm - interesting topic. While I understand the need to manage the countryside, I just don't get the hunting for pleasure thing. To take pleasure in killing a beautiful animal seems to me a fundamental sacrilege, and hanging up carcasses and trophy heads totally unneccessary and frankly a bit wierd - traditional or not.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds this all a bit strange and spooky.
The need to control deer I can cope with but as we all seem to be agreeing this head trophy thing is a bit bizarre in this day and age
I understand the need to cull, I understand the care/precautions that 'Dick' takes to ensure safety and I understand his eagerness to explain his 'doings'. As you say, you have acclimatised to his heads (and I think I would too), but it maybe worth mentioning to him that this sort of trophy gives off the wrong signal to other members of the public who use the woods and are less comfortable with hunting...? Mootia x
Yes, you are probably right Mootia,
I think I could justify him hunting deer - for the meat. The heads hung up in the woods is rather weird and a bit unnecessary.
Mmmmmm...have never had anything to do with the hunting or indeed culling of deer...but the trophy heads in the woods sounds a bit odd to me.....shiver
Yes is a bit strange!
I would feel exactly as you do Muddie. I am afraid I am not for the hunting to kill thing, I have always been rather sensitive to this, cannot understand why man has to kill such a beautiful creature. I know I would feel very disturbed in seeing those Deer carcasses hanging from a tree, all rather sickening.
Camilla.xx
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