If you've never been deer hunting, you may think the sport involves creeping around the woods looking for a deer to shoot. After all, that's how Robert Dinero did it in "The Deer Hunter."
Most hunters, however, hunt deer by luring them to a deer feeder that distributes corn and then shooting their prey from a concealed spot called a deer blind.
Battery-operated game cameras placed near the deer feeders aid hunters in their quest. These cameras are activated by movement and linked to the hunter's cell phone. Thus, a deer slayer can know the exact time a deer arrives at the feeder.
Simple enough, right?
In real life, however, hunting deer from a blind is much dicier than you might think. First of all, deer are not stupid. They're suspicious when they come across a deer feeder for the first time. They ask themselves, Who was the Good Samaritan who left this delicious corn for me in this woodland clearing? What's the catch?
Over time, the female deer become less cautious and may visit a deer feeder during daylight hours, usually around dawn.
Not the bucks—particularly the trophy bucks with magnificent antlers. Their mamas didn't raise no fools. They've lived long enough to grow impressive antlers because they're too bright to approach a deer feeder during daylight hours.
So when do the big fellas show up to munch corn? In the middle of the night when it is illegal to shoot them.
And the bucks often have company when they arrive for their midnight snack. Feral hogs are nocturnal creatures, and they typically appear with their relatives to vacuum up the corn with their ideally fitted flat noses. These scruffy beasts have terrible table manners and never learned to share. Over time, they will drive out the deer.
During my last deer hunt, I contemplated the habits of the wary deer and the cunning wild pig as I shivered in my blind in the pre-dawn darkness. I'm not really hunting deer, I reflected. No, I'm running an all-night restaurant for the nocturnal creatures of the forest.
I hope they appreciate my generosity.
