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| The Dutchman and his deer |
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| "You cant hunt a deer in the swamp the same as on the ridge!" |
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| Then came the rain and thunder |
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| 18th century butcher style |
SO seasonal depression has set it.
No not the fact that its winter and has short days but rather the fact you now have to wait months before you can go deer hunting again. When all the
world becomes grey and you are trapped in a dark brooding world right out of a
Fritz Lang film.
Speaking of Dark
weird Germans I did get to finish the season out hunting with the Dutchman. For
the past few years we’ve made a point to go hunting the last week of the
muzzleloader season. This year like every other year was a real test of our
gear. Temperatures in the teens and Thunderstorms was what we had to deal with.
I’m not a religious person but when you get as far as you're going to go for the
day, and it immediately begins to Thunder and drop buckets of rain on you it can
really feel like God is laughing at you.
I changed my kit a
little for the Hunt. Rather than wear layers of gear I kept it super simple and
opted to carry 2 blanket coats. I decided to try the “double capot” method from
the Thomas Dudley at the battle of Frenchtown in January of 1813 Narrative I
mentioned a few posts ago. Under this I wore a hunting shirt, waistcoat,
trousers and moccasins. I have to say for the amount of ground we covered and conditions
we sat hunting I stayed pretty comfortable.
We saw a number of
deer at a distance the first day but nothing to get a shot at. The second day
we sat on a ridge until about an hour after sunset then hoofed it to a spot in
the camp that bordered some brush. We got into a downed tree and waited out the
constant wind. After a few hours as we sat there insulting each other in
increasingly abstract ways I looked to my left to see a lone doe walk out of
the brush feeding. I whispered to the
Dutchman we had company on my left and he slid his gun into his hands. I slowly
leaned back to make sure I was clear of the flash as he intently took aim and
fired.
I sprang forward
and brought my gun to bare on the spot I had seen the doe in case we needed a
second shot. As the smoke cleared it was obvious this wouldn’t be needed. The
doe had dropped right in the spot the Dutchman had shot it. After a few minutes
we walked up to the deer and started the process of packing it out. He had shot
the doe from 60 yards right in the head. So after a few minutes of arguing
about that we headed back to camp with
the deer.
We skinned and
butchered the deer at camp relatively quickly and in a very German fashion.
After this we had to cut the trip short because of some real-world issues. However,
It did prove to be a great few days and a real test of the gear we had brought
along.
So take aways…The
double capot method was pretty sweet, I was worried that it’d be too bulky to
move around in. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t. Also this is the 3rd
deer this season that was killed while hunting in my new red stroud blanket
coat. So a few points towards the “you don’t need to dress like a stump to kill a deer”
camp of thinking. I can also vouch for the fact that neither my logwood dyed
hunting shirt or the blanket coat burst into flames when they contact each
other.
SO to end this
post I thought I’d toss in a story from” the Personal Narrative of William Lytle” . If you haven’t read
it it’s a pretty good short narrative on his life in Kentucky and some of his
military service. This storyt shows some neat details about scouting out a camp
as well as reenforcing my theory that there has always been “That guy” in human
history.
My father
here beckoned me to stand, informing me that it was necessary to take a keen
survey of the premises to ascertain whether savages might not be concealed
about the camp awaiting our return. He then preceded me, walking softly, and
with great caution inspecting every point in advance and behind us. Having
convinced himself that there was no ambush on that side, he made a circuit and
explored the other side of the camp in the same way. Having convinced ourselves
that no enemy lurked around, we advanced to the fire, spread our blankets on
the ground, and threw ourselves on them for repose. He then admonished me of
the necessity of untiring vigilance, reminding- me that the danger from the
wily foe was often greatest at the moment when the parties felt themselves most
secure. He then directed me to keep a keen lookout on the north side of the
camp, while he would do the same in regard to the south.
A stratagem
was practiced upon us on this occasion which had well nigh proved fatal to the
party practicing it. We had not been long on our mutual watch before I
discovered a man lurking in advance toward the camp, keeping a tree between him
and myself in order to screen his body from view. We reclined our feet toward
the fire. My rifle was carefully loaded, the muzzle resting on a log at our
heads. At first I supposed it to be one of our own men, and I determined to be
farther satisfied before I alarmed my father. I discovered in a moment that he
was approaching me with too much caution for that supposition ; that he
carefully inspected everything around us, and made his way with a soft and
stealthy step. I allowed him to approach near enough to a tree at which he was
aiming, to enable me to clearly discover that his face was blacked and that he
wore no hat. I had hitherto remained motionless, and I was convinced he had not
yet seen me. I cocked my rifle. Even this slight noise aroused my father, who
lay with his back to mine, looking in a contrary direction. He asked me what I
was doing. I informed him I was watching an Indian who was lurking toward us, apparently
to fire upon us, and that I was waiting until he should reach a tree, toward
which he was stealing, and expose his head so that I might give him a fatal
shot. He asked me if I saw more than one, to which I answered in the negative.
He then directed me to be sure of my aim, and not to fire until I should have
gained sight of a mark in his eye. The person had now gained his tree, and had
now rested his gun in a position to fire upon us. But as we reclined flat on
the ground, and as a leg in some measure protected our bodies from his fire, it
was nec-essary for him to survey us closely in order to find any part of our
bodies sufficiently exposed to receive his shot. This I comprehended from his
movements, and waited my own opportunity. In putting his head from behind the
tree for this close inspection, he exposed half of it. I took aim and drew the
trigger, but the gun missed fire. The person, hearing the noise, instantly
jerked back his head. "I am sorry for that," said my father in a low
tone of voice, and I replied in vexation that it was the first time it had
failed me. It was two minutes before the person exposed his head for a second
survey of us. He once more showed his face, so as almost to give me a shot at
him. He finally presented two-thirds of his face, and my gun missed fire a
second time. Hearing this more distinctly than the first snapping, he again
jerked back his head and exclaimed, "Why, I believe you have been snapping
at me !" I immediately recognized the voice to be that of Crawford, one of
our men. He had thrown off his hat and blacked his face, as he informed us,
with a view to frighten me. We were both provoked at this wanton folly, and I
assured him that I still had a good mind to shoot him. Mv father severely
reprimanded him, and I remarked with astonishment upon the circumstance that my
rifle had twice missed fire. To show him the extent of his exposure, I pointed
to a white spot on the tree behind which he had been concealed. I observed to
him that it was not larger than his eye, and that I would demonstrate to him
what his fate would have been in case my gun had not missed fire. I presented,
and my ball carried the bark of the white spot into the tree
Seriously, the kid
had two misfires. How lucky can 1 guy get. So I’m still pumping away on the youtube stuff
I’m hoping to have the first video up next week. Now back to the grey world of
Fritz lang and staring at my pile of unfinished projects and articles while I
buy more books. Here is a link to the Lytle narrative https://archive.org/details/personalnarrativ00lytlrich
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