Are you saying I stunk like an old buck in rut?

Got hot water now....why doesn't this happen during gun season?

Are you saying I stunk like an old buck in rut?

Got hot water now....why doesn't this happen during gun season?

Probably better that than to smell like a doe in estrus! You could have had two or three bucks chasing you around the pool.

....really!

I was out in the front yard, picking up limbs from the recent storm, when I look up and see a 8 pt. buck walking toward me. Having been around a few deer in my life, I noticed this one was in an aggressive mood, from his laid back ears, stiff robotic walk and his head posturing....he also was emitting a grunting sound. Not sure if he was in a fighting or a breeding mood,(neither of which I was),I backed away slowly and "hopped" over the 40" high picket fence...followed quickly by the buck.





The closest thing to me then was a 30 ft. above ground pool, so I went around it, followed by the buck. I got completely around to the other side and since the pool was 48" high, the deer couldn't see me without raising his head way up, which gave me some time to figure out my next move...He would then lower his head, as if he was trying to sneek up on me and depending where I was when he looked up, he would go left or right.



This is about 30-60 days from the peak of the rut however this buck was acting as if he was in full rut.

I made it over to the shed a grabbed a few tools..the first being a 3lb sledge hammer...I threw it and missed! Whoops! Ok...using a large pine tree as a shield, I next threw a rake followed by a trench shovel, the latter, of which hit the deer square in the rib cage and sent him running into the surrounding corn fault. I followed him shouting, figuring that was the last of him.



About a half hour later, I look up to see the buck coming my way again, still in an aggressive mood...or so it seemed. I went up to the porch and watched him, which after sparring with a small tree and the picket fence, he came up on the front porch after me, which sent me promptly into the house. I phoned a friend of mine, who runs a deer checking station, told him what was going on... after laughing, he informs me that in no way can I shoot the deer regardless of it's behavior....So, just to be on the safe side, I call the county sheriff's office,(to inform them about the deer)...and then when I tell them why I called, dispatch starts laughing...." A deer has done what"?, he asked. So I proceed to go over the story again. He says, "I'll send someone right over".

By this time, two locals have gotten a call from my buddy at the local deer checking station and have showed up to take a few pictures for amusement. Soon followed by the county sheriff, who steps out and quickly loads his "riot gun", a short barreled 12 gauge shotgun. I walk over to him. "Are those cracker shells"?, I ask. "No, these are 1 oz slugs", he replies.

Well I got those, I think to myself....I figure they could just run it off...


Moments later here comes the deer again, same aggressive posturing...I throw a rock...doesn't faze the deer. He just keeps on coming...ears laid back, snorting and grunting....at about 20 ft., the officer fires two shots right into it's chest. It runs by me and the two locals, who are standing on the porch watching this unfold, slinging blood all over the cooler, the porch and the landscape..only to topple over in the front yard about 50 ft. away. The officer runs up and shoots it again at point blank range. Within a few minutes the yard was filled with neighbors,( didn't know I had that many)....The officer asked if any of us wanted the deer...but none of us had any power or a working freezer, due to the storm and power outage.
Since none of us could use it, we loaded it up and took it back to the woods from where it came. Coyotes gotta eat too, I guess! What a waste!

With no power you could have split it up among all those neighbors for supper, or had a big BBQ for all.

I had an unusual call the other day and my local newspaper picked up on the story and put me on the front page.


Turkey in a tear takes out window
By Robert Miller
Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 10/24/2008 10:32:39 PM EDT


RIDGEFIELD CT --DANBURY NEWS-TIMES

When an irresistible force, such as a flying turkey, meets an old, immovable object, like a double-paned window, you can bet as sure as you live that something's gotta give.

So Sandy Campbell learned last week.

Campbell, of Wilton Road East, heard a crash at his house. That's the sound of a tree limb smashing through a window, he thought.

"I checked the yard to see if a tree fell down," he said.

With all trees standing tall, he made sure his furnace hadn't backfired. He then went upstairs to check on the bedrooms. In one, he found the shards of a double-paned window scattered like fallen confetti, the window screen torn, the shade askew.

And lying on the floor, on its back, was a discombobulated wild turkey trying to get is bearings.

"It was trying to get its legs underneath it," he said. "I couldn't believe it."

Campbell called Craig Lewis, of Aardvark Animal Control in Danbury. By the time he arrived, the turkey was right side up and pacing the room, looking for an exit.

Lewis first tried to net the bird, only to find his net wasn't big enough. Then he donned heavy leather gloves, cornered the bird, and quickly snatched it up.

"It's a first time for me," Lewis said.

Such collisions are rare, but not unheard of, said Howard Kilpatrick, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"We occasionally get a report of a turkey or a grouse breaking a window,'' Kilpatrick said, however, it's not surprising the turkey crashed the window, rather than bouncing off.

The birds can weigh between 10 to 25 pounds, he said. When they go into their warp-speed glides, they can fly as fast as 55 mph.

"It's a heavy object moving very fast," he said.

And Lewis said, they've got a very heavy layer of black feathers as armor.

"That why they tell hunters to aim at their head and neck only,'' Lewis said.

That there aren't more collisions like the one at Campbell's house is due, in large part, to the strutting nature of turkeys. They're infrequent fliers.

"They fly to their roosts at night,'' Kilpatrick said. "They fly off to escape a predator, or to get over a big object. But typically, when you see them, they're walking.''

And, Kilpatrick said, birds can have a hard time distinguishing a window from the air in front of them. But most window-bird collisions involve small songbirds, not large fowls.

At Campbell's house, Lewis just took the turkey outside and let go.

"She took off,'' Lewis said.

And Campbell? With no Thanksgiving bird in hand, what did he come away with?

"I have a mess to clean up,'' he said.

Contact Robert Miller

at bmiller@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3345
Wild turkey Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Adult males, or toms, weigh between 15 and 25 pounds and stand 48 inches tall. Adult females, or hens, weigh between 8 and 12 pounds and stand 36 inches tall. Toms have dark iridescent feathers and a fleshy red, white and blue head. Colors on the head grow brighter in mating season. Toms also have spurs (up to 1.5 inches in length) on their legs, and a hair-like beard (up to 12 inches long) protruding from their breast. Hens have light brown feathers and a pale blue head. They lack spurs. A few have a beard. Live in hardwood forests and open fields. Diet includes acorns and other nuts, fruit, corn, seeds and invertebrates. Young turkeys feed more on insects. Abundant in Connecticut when the first settlers arrived. Eliminated by early 1800s. Between 1975 and 1992, 356 wild turkeys were released at 18 sites throughout the state. Wild turkeys are now found in all 169 towns in state. Source: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection

Great story, Crager!

How come you guys get all the fun stuff happen? LOL

LOL LT Grey! I hope you put a wooden stake thru the heart of the deer before you dumped it! If you didn't it's just going to come right back you know!

You should talk there Tsarevna, I hear you'll soon have 2 possums stalking you!

This is not my story , but told to me by a customer. I don't know for sure if it is true but , ya just can't dream this stuff up.

This guy had an old Camaro that he was in the process of fixing up. The car had rust in the floorboards and he had cut out the old metal and welded in new panels. He was working on the car and had already replaced the driver's side floor but the passenger's side floor was still open waiting to a new piece put in place. The back seat and a lot of the trim had been removed make way for welding. The guy who owned the car was still driving it until he started to repair the floor. With the driver's side replaced he finished for the day and went to bed and figured if he got up early enough he would have time to replace the passenger's floor before he had to go to work for the night shift.

As his luck would have it , he overslept and got up late with no time to repair the car before work. No problem he figures , he decides to drive the car the way it is with no passenger's floor to work and repair it tomorrow.

Bad move.

He jumps into the car and zooms off down the street gets about 1 mile from his house and as he is going through a sharp curve there is not one , but two skunks crossing the road.

He hits both of them.

The skunks bounce under the bumper and go thumpy-thump under the car then right into the back seat area of the car and explode with essence. The driver slams the brakes on and bails out of the car as fast as humanly possible while simultaneously puking his guts out.

He is then left stinkin to high heaven with the problem of two skunks in his car. After collecting what is left of his wits he finds out that the skunks did not live . He throws them out of the car and drives back to his house with the windows down. He gets home and changes clothes and takes his wife's car to work. When he gets to work as soon as he enters the door people noticed right away that he had been sprayed and told him to go home......


You can't make this stuff up.....

you are right about that!
No fiction writer could come up with the real things we see in daily life.
bob evans

They call that "Truth is stranger than fiction"!

LOL yeah, get them away!!! I'm going to be baiting my cage traps with eggs in my backyard if she releases them. I'll poke at any possums in it and ask "Charlie, Stinky, that one of you???"

Well keep us posted.....if you stop, we'll start to worry! Ha!

After removing two beavers from a drainage in a posh neighborhood, I went to drain all the water by tearing two holes in the four foot high beaverdam. All was going well until I yanked too hard with the 'tater rake and the grip on some sticks gave way....over backwards I went, to the bottom of the spoiiway, with hundreds of gallons of ice cold water rushing overtop of me before I could regain my balance and get upright.
Man I'm glad no one saw that.....drove home with the heater on full blast!

LT GREY-
Dam break . You have all the luck. By the way- what is "ice cold water"? I know I can add ice to cool a drink; but my refrigerator won't produce enough ice to cool a creek.

That is when you get out of it with ICE on your appendages!
bob

LT definitely needs a cameraman following him around. He gets more photo ops than anybody else!

"Every where I go...
there's always something to remind me
of another place in time..."

Anyone else losing Photo Bucket photos?

The biggest problem I find with photo bucket is exceeding your band width and having it announced to the world. Going pro stops that problem and a small investment.

I have never actually lost anything on Photobucket I uploaded properly.Making changes to a photo:ie name and going a head despite their warning has affected me though.