DEER HUNTER
From inheritance, I got four hundred acres of fertile land separated by a thick forest by a ten feet wide water stream. My father used the land for growing big trees like mahogany, teak, and other trees which grew up to two, or three meters in diameter and sold them by logging from time to time. It brought a lot of money as most of the furniture makers preferred getting the logs firsthand without any brokers. We always had enough trees to cut as two hundred acres are huge.
On the other side of this land and beyond the water stream which separated my land found a lot of wild animals and my father was a good hunter as he used to go on hunting every week with his old friends in his hay day. He used to bring home at least a wild rabbit every time he went on hunting.
As there were a lot of wild boars in the forest we were sure of getting a wild boar very often after a hunting spree by my father. Wild rabbits were plenty, while during the dry season hoards of deer used to visit the water stream for their water. On the other side of this land and beyond the water stream which separated my land found a lot of wild animals and my father was a good hunter as he used to go on hunting every week with his old friends in his hay day. He used to bring home at least a wild rabbit every time he went on hunting.
As there were a lot of wild boar in the forest we were sure of getting a wild boar very often after a hunting spree by my father. Wild rabbits were plenty, while during the dry season hoards of deer used to visit the water stream for their water.
After my father’s retirement after giving my three sisters in marriage and dividing the family wealth among us, I got the land and just like my father, I liked hunting. I managed to get a point five zero air rifle which could wound and paralyze even a deer for twenty minutes until we complete the hunt with our killing gear by approaching the wounded animal.
Also, it was fitted with a laser target finder and I never missed a shot with that. With one filling of air, it gave me twenty super shots at 1400 feet per second.
I have four friends who visited the land during a long weekend and we camped near the water stream and went to the other side for hunting. We have camping equipment, barbecue gear as well as a portable generator, and a traveling fridge in our camping site with all the necessities to prepare a meal without running back to the bungalow. Also, we used to carry enough beer cans for the journey apart from six five-gallon water cans.
Today when I look at the land, I see a lot of deer in my land as my way of life in hunting changed by an incident that took place eleven years ago. My four friends came to my place on a long weekend and we prepared ourselves for an escapade of hunting we set off early that day. We went to the campsite which was a permanent structure and set off all things in place before starting our journey for another day of hunting. We had two powerful air rifles as well as hunting knives and all gear that a hunter will need.
It was the dry season and during mid-day we experienced scorching heat, making us uncomfortable. We have already had two beers each which were in the cool box and proceeded to the thicket with our backpacks and were very silent and listened to the sounds of animals moving around.
By the 14th hour we were exhausted and still couldn’t find a kill. We sat down to have our lunch when we heard a little sound of a fawn. When we heard the sound, we knew that a set of deer should be around. After about five minutes a deer appeared and I knew it is time to strike. I aimed and shot the deer with my very powerful air gun on her upper back leg. I knew the deer won’t be able to move for at least ten minutes with that shot.
The deer jumped in a twinkling of an eye and vanished. I was sure that our victim won’t be too far. And we all started running towards the place where the deer ran. The deer leaped twenty-five yards and it was a she with the fawn. The next what we saw brought us to tears. The female deer was bleeding from her leg and still feeding the fawn. It broke my heart to see that. The female deer started weeping when she saw us coming towards her as if pleading to save her life because of the fawn that was sucking the breast of the injured female deer.
For a minute or so we were very silent and all felt the same way as we have done a crime by shooting the female deer. Then I told them that we should not kill her but rescue her. All agreed but it was a very hard struggle for us to get the two to a safe place. To do that we had to force her and bind her four legs while the fawn also had to be bound on all four before carrying them to our jeep. It was around nine in the evening when we returned to the bungalow. We had a barn house in the land and for the moment we had to lock them up there with water and food.
The next morning we got a veterinary surgeon and after giving anesthesia he operated on the mother deer and bandaged her wound while giving her a shot of saline. We had to get advice from the vet for their food and managed to find food for her while the fawn continued to suck on the mother. After about four days she managed to get up and I saw that she is trying to get used to the new environment slowly. By being with them the whole day, I decided I would never go hunting again.
Just like us, they also have a right to their lives and still, it haunts me when I remember the fawn drinking milk from the injured mother. After about a month she recovered fully and was very much domesticated with their lives. After inquiring from so many, I managed to find her a male partner to whom I paid a handsome amount of money as I wanted the male without any blemish.
After eleven long years, today we have a herd of more than twenty-five deer. My children love them so much and we have become family. During the day time they roam around the two hundred acre land and during the dry season they cross the water stream and go to the other side too but in the evening they come home as every morning they get a stomach full of food.
Moral of the story;
If you are a hunter, remember even animals have a right to
live and they could teach you the best lessons that you will never learn in
school. There again it depends on how human you are!
The deer is my dear is very dear the saying goes…..