The Armchair Outfitter

A frequent contributor to the site sent me this picture close to the end of deer season. He offered that he was not too proud of this one, and he apologized for his “late season heavy finger.” In fact, he let me publish these photos only on condition of anonymity. As I appreciate anyone’s contribution to the site, and I am true to my word, I even distorted the license plate when I was resizing the photos. All of this started me thinking about whether the emphasis on big racks and genetic freak “super-deer” has taken some of the fun out of deer hunting. Should Mr. Anonymous have let this buck “go to grow,” as he said in his e-mail to me?

When I was learning to deer hunt as a teenager in Tennessee, whitetails were not nearly as plentiful as they are now. With a buck-only gun season, a successful deer hunt was any trip that ended with field dressing. Sure, we liked to see big racks, but the mark of a hardcore hunter was whether you had meat every season. Deer hunters who had not seen each other in a while met with the question, “Did you get your deer yet this year?”

Take a closer look at this buck:

Any one of those 8 points is big enough to hang a ring on, and that was the test back when Boone and Crockett were just folks we read about in Tennessee History class. By the gray on his muzzle and around his eyes, I don’t believe he had much more growing to do, but I’m no wildlife biologist. He may be past his prime and therefore a perfect deer to take even for those obsessed with the “management” aspect of hunting. What do you think? Our knowledge of whitetail deer has increased vastly since the old days, but I can’t help but echo the sentiments of an older gentleman who advised my nameless friend, “You can boil the horns all day long and they will never get soft enough to eat.”

Madison County Tennessee Wildlife Officer Amy Snider and her K-9, Jake, made an incredible find at the end of December. Investigator Buckley with the Jackson Police Department contacted Officer Snider and requested assistance in searching for a gun used in a robbery. The robbery suspect was in jail, and the investigators had recordings of phone conservations revealing the general area where the suspect had “ditched” the gun at the time officers served a search warrant. The investigator and several police officers had done a thorough search of the area, but they could not find the gun.

With approval from the TWRA Area 11 supervisor, Brian Thompson, Officer Snider and Jake headed to the search location. Within 20 minutes of searching, Jake “alerted” on the gun under some thick cover along a railroad track. Jake had found a .410 sawed-off shotgun with the serial number filed off. What makes this a remarkable find is that the gun had been there for 17 days and the area had received 4.85 inches of rain. A total of 8 charges from the Jackson Police Department and 2 charges from the BATF are pending.

Ed. note – Frequent contributor Jim Overman sent in this story and I couldn’t help but run it. Now that’s a “Gun Dog.” I understand Jake was so proud of his trophy that he didn’t want to give it up after the pictures were made. I wonder if he could find me a Westley Richards?

“First man to kill a deer does not have to wash dishes for the rest of the season. First man to miss tends the fire for the rest of the season. The poker game starts when the last dish is dried and put away and sometimes is still going when the first hunter slips out the door into the early, milky morning light.”

- Geoffrey Norman, “Sea of Plenty,”Esquire, September 1981