Am I that lousy a driver or is the ever-migrating deep population a really big problem? I have collided with, I believe although I may have lost count, eight different deer in my driving career. This always happens at dusk or dawn when I’m venturing to an airport or a meeting and before it’s fully light outside. Sometimes the damage was very heavy and other times it was very light, but it’s always and annoying and scary.
I just want to go on record that, although I don’t personally care to hunt and never had much of an appetite for guns, I truly appreciate and respect the deer hunters. If it were not for them, we probably would not be able to drive our vehicles at all because we would be so overrun with deer. And that doesn’t even mention the damage they do to shrubs, lawns, farms, etc.
In our neck of the woods “deer day” and deer hunting are more than something one does on an occasional Saturday afternoon. It is a culture and a tradition that those who hunt look forward to eagerly every fall. Just “deer camp” by itself is a tremendous ritual and right of passage. The Monday after Thanksgiving is an “informal holiday” in our region and the deer hunters simply won’t come to work. No questions asked! On the other hand, if you live the woods as I do and don’t hunt, as I don’t, it’s a good day to go to the mall or to take in a movie because the bullets are whizzing around everywhere. (Believe it or not, people have been shot while sitting in their homes.)
So, I just wanted to say thank you, safe hunting and good luck to all of those in the woods this hunting season and I hope you all bag a big one to keep my driving a little bit safer.
