Deer and hunter have narrow escape

[h2ofwlr]

Eric Atherton, Rochester Post-Bulletin
Posted: Thursday, November 14, 2013 8:50 am

A medium-sized doe materialized from the woods 100 yards away from me Saturday evening. I was bowhunting, so I needed that deer to come a lot closer if I had any hope of filling my bonus tag.

She did everything she could to help me out. She proceeded directly toward the blind in which I was concealed, and in a matter of two minutes, she was 15 yards away, staring directly at me. Then she relaxed, turned and took a few more steps, presenting a perfect broadside shot.

I had been at full draw for at least a half-minute, so I was more than ready to release the arrow and claim a well-earned 40 pounds of steaks and ground venison. My finger moved toward the trigger release.

Then that doe twitched her ears, and something didn't look right. Part of her left ear hadn't moved. I leaned the bow slightly aside for a better look in the fading light, but I couldn't see anything amiss. I moved the bow back into position and peered through the peep sight, preparing once again to take the shot.

Suddenly, I realized what was wrong. That "doe" sported a single antler, no more than six inches long, with a tiny fork at the top. It was brown and rather dingy, and even after I knew it was there, I still could barely see it against the backdrop of shadows and trees.

I managed to let off the bowstring without popping a disc in my back, and I chuckled a bit as the young buck strolled away seconds later, utterly unaware that he'd been a fraction of a second from becoming an extremely dead and embarrassing problem for me.

I could see the DNR report now: "P-B outdoors editor runs afoul of APRs." Yikes.

I'm a big fan of the APRs. I'm seeing a lot more bucks than I did four years ago, and when I go out with my bow these days, I do so with the belief that a mature buck might just wander into range. And I have no problem with having to count points before I shoot. A buck is a valuable animal, and there's nothing wrong with taking a good look before you take action.

But I've never thought much about the possibility that a hunter might think he's shooting a nice doe, only to discover that it was a buck with an almost invisible rack. If I'd been armed with a slug gun, I would have downed that deer at 50 yards out, and only then would I have discovered my mistake. Its single antler was invisible at that distance, and my slug gun doesn't have a scope.

It would have been an honest mistake, but the law is the law, and I would have been in a predicament.

That made he wonder: What penalties do hunters face in this situation? What incentive do they have for picking up the phone, calling a conservation officer and saying "Um, I made a mistake."

I called Lt. Dean Olson, the DNR's local district supervisor, and he said that in a typical season, a dozen to 15 hunters make that courageous call. Although they face consequences, they're not hugely painful.

"If somebody calls us up and says 'I screwed up,' we usually write a warning ticket, seize the animal and give it away to someone who needs it," Olson told me. "And they've used their buck tag, too. They've killed their buck for the year." Someone who self-reports an APR mistake typically won't pay a fine and won't face any forfeiture of equipment or loss of future hunting rights.

But hunters who try to hide their mistake can face serious trouble. "If we have to conduct an investigation, the consequences of taking an illegal APR deer can include restitution of $500, plus a fine of about $300," Olson said.

Ouch. That should be incentive enough for hunters to do the right thing.

I got lucky, and I'm now planning to follow Olson's closing advice to me, which should be gospel for every adult deer hunter in Zone 3: "Carry a good pair of binoculars and take a good look at every deer before you drop the hammer."

Even if you're certain it's a doe. I was. And boy, was I wrong.

Eric Atherton is the Post-Bulletin's outdoors editor. Contact him at eatherton@postbulletin.com.

[Goldfish]

I'm just glad I can shoot whatever walks in front of me

Sent from a phancy fone