I kept expecting this story should have started out with one redneck saying
to another, "Hey, watch this.!"
Perhaps, "Hold my beer."
;-)
Reminds me of a tape I heard about a drunk hitting a deer, stopped to help
it and seeing it dead put it in his back seat so he could take it home for
future dinners. Part way home the deer decided he wasn;t dead and didn;t
like being driven around. He proceeded to kick the hell out of the driver
who is relating the story to the 911 operator. It was hilarious. Just like
your experience.
You'd have thunk playing with deer would be so much fun?
Larry T (67 MGB, 74 911, 78 240D, 91 300D)
www.youroil.net for Oil Analysis and Weber Parts
Test Results http://members.rennlist.com/oil
PORSCHE POSTERS! youroil.net
Weber Carb Info http://members.rennlist.com/webercarbs
Porsche Road Test http://members.rennlist.com/roadtest/
.
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2007 7:07 PM
Subject: [MBZ] Roping a deer, a learning experience
I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it
up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in
this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that since they congregated at
my
cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a
bold
one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in
the back of the truck not 4 feet away) that it should not be difficult to
rope
one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it Down) then hog
tie
it and transport it home.
I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The
cattle, who had seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were
not
having any of it. After about 20 minutes my deer showed up... 3 of them. I
picked
out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw
my
rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around
my
waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just
stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the
whole rope situation. I took a step towards it. It took a step away. I put a
little tension on the rope and received an education.
The first thing that I learned is that while a deer may just stand there
looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you
start pulling on that rope. That deer EXPLODED.
The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT
stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could
fight
down with a rope with some dignity. A deer, no chance. That thing ran and
bucked
and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting
close to it.
As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it
occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea
as I
originally imagined. The only up side is that they do not have as much
stamina as many animals. A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not
nearly as
quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took
me a
few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing
out of the big gash in my head.
At that point I had lost my taste for corn fed venison. I just wanted to
get that devil creature off the end of that rope. I figured if I just let it
go
with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and
painfully
somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer.
At that moment, I hated the thing and I would venture a guess that the
feeling
was mutual.
Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had
cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various
large rocks
as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to
recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of
responsibility for the situation we were in, so I didn't want the deer to
have to
suffer a slow death. I managed to get it lined up to back in between my
truck and
the feeder... a little trap I had set beforehand. Kind of like a squeeze
chute. I got it to back in there and started moving up so I could get my
rope back.
Did you know that deer bite? They do! I never in a million years would have
thought that a deer would bite somebody so I was very surprised when I
reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.
Now, when
a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite
you
and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head almost like a pit
bull.
They bite HARD and it hurts. The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is
probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking
instead. My method was ineffective. It seems like the deer was biting and
shaking
for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being
smarter
than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now) tricked it.
While
I kept it busy tearing the be Jesus out of my right arm, I reached up with
my
left hand and pulled that rope loose.
That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day. Deer will
strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet
and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are
surprisingly sharp. I learned a long time ago that when an animal like a
horse strikes at
you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is
try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal.
This
will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape. This was not a
horse. This was a deer, so obviously such >trickery would not work.
In the course of a millisecond I devised a different strategy. I screamed
like woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT
to
try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good
chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so
different
from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and three times as
evil,
because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head
and knocked me down.
Now when a deer paws at you and knocks you down it does not immediately
leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they
do
instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying
there
crying like a little girl and covering your head. I finally managed to crawl
under the truck and the deer went away.
Now for the local legend. I was pretty beat up. My scalp was split open,
I had several large goose eggs, my wrist was bleeding pretty good and felt
broken (it turned out to be just badly bruised) and my back was bleeding in
a few
places, though my insulated canvas jacket had protected me from most of the
worst of it. I drove to the nearest place, which was the co-op. I got out of
the truck, covered in blood and dust and looking like hell. The guy who ran
the
place saw me through the window and came running out yelling "what happened"
?
I have never seen any law in the state of Kansas that would prohibit an
individual from roping a deer. I suspect that this is an area that they have
overlooked entirely. Knowing, as I do, the lengths to which law enforcement
personnel will go to exercise their power, I was concerned that they may
find a way
to twist the existing laws to paint my actions as criminal. I swear... not
wanting to admit that I had done something monumentally stupid played no
part in
my response. I told him "I was attacked by a deer." I did not mention that
at the time I had a rope on it. The evidence was all over my body. Deer
prints
on the back of my jacket where it had stomped all over me and a large deer
print on my face where it had struck me there.
I asked him to call somebody to come get me... I didn't think I could make
it home on my own. He did.
Later that afternoon, a game warden showed up at my house and wanted to
know about the deer attack. Surprisingly, deer attacks are a rare thing and
wildlife and parks was interested in the event. I tried to describe the
attack as
completely and accurately as I could... I was filling the grain hopper and
this
deer came out of nowhere and just started kicking the hell out of me and BIT
me. It was obviously rabid or insane or something. EVERYBODY for miles
around
knows about the deer attack (the guy at the co-op has a big mouth).
For several weeks people dragged their kids in the house when they saw
deer
around and the local ranchers carried rifles when they filled their feeders.
I have told several people the story, but NEVER anybody around here. I have
to
see these people every day and as an outsider... a city folk... I have
enough
trouble fitting in without them snickering behind my back and whispering
"there is the dumb-ass that tried to rope the deer."
**************************************
AOL now offers free email to
everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.
_______________________________________
http://www.okiebenz.com
For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/
For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.17/730 - Release Date: 3/22/2007
7:44 AM
