Seeking a deer and inspiration

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John Weiss: Seeking a deer and inspiration

By John Weiss, weiss@postbulletin.com
Posted: Thursday, November 14, 2013 8:00 am | Updated: 8:01 am, Thu Nov 14, 2013.

Talia Mentjes holds up a painting she did of a ruddy duck that was one one of three state winners in the Minnesota State Junior Duck Stamp Contest.
Photo: http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/outd ... 7bafe.html


GENOA — In the pre-dawn Saturday, Talia Mentjes began an adventure that could lead to her first deer, an inspiration for her considerable artistic talents and maybe a lifetime of hunting enjoyment.

That journey, strangely enough, is getting a bit of boost from chronic wasting disease.

Talia is 12, the daughter of Ron and Nicole Mentjes and sister of Logan, her younger brother. They live north of Rochester on some rugged wooded land near the spot where a deer with CWD was shot a few years ago.

To test as many deer as possible, and to reduce deer numbers to lower chances of CWD spreading, the Department of Natural Resources has been allowing hunters in a special zone centering around Pine Island to hunt for most of November and take up to five deer (only one legal buck). If no CWD is found this fall, the special zone will disappear.

That means this year — Talia's first with slug gun in hand — she has plenty of time. She doesn't have to hurry. She doesn't have to squeeze in as many hours as possible in a treestand with her father during a few short days. She can savor every aspect of the experience without "burning out" or getting weary of it.

It's an ideal way to begin a lifetime of hunting.

On Saturday, opening day of the firearms deer season, getting up early wasn't a problem. "I was pretty excited, first year of deer hunting," she said. She ate a breakfast of cranberry bread made by her grandmother, Mary Peterson of Albert Lea, and "away we went." Her grandfather, Terry Peterson, took another stand.

In the stand, she knew she had to obey two key commandments chiseled in stone by her father: Be safe and be quiet. She held her 20-gauge straight up and held her tongue.

Silence isn't hard with so many things to watch.

Even before sunrise, they would see deer faintly moving in a soybean field nearby. They couldn't tell if they were does or bucks, just deer.

When it was light, a forkhorn buck walked behind them. "We had hopes he would turn up the hillside just a little bit," she said.

The buck didn't turn, not even a little bit.

All Talia got was a thrill. Then they saw a second buck, but it got into some brush before a shot presented itself. Talia handled her gun safely, but keeping quiet? "It's not as easy when you see a deer coming up," she said.

Her dad knows just how hard that can be. When he grew up near Le Center, deer hunting "was better than Christmas," he said. "It was tough to get to sleep. I had the fever. I'm not sure I ever grew out of it."

On Saturday, she got down early to go to an art class. No problem — she has time. And there are deer there. Even with the culling the past few years, there are still deer.

On Sunday, they saw a few small bucks, but she had to leave early again. Ron shot a 10-point buck when Talia was gone, but she wasn't upset. There are more out there, and there is time to get one, she said.

Besides, she was in the outdoors and knows that inspiration for some new artwork could hit any time. Her picture of a ruddy duck was one of three selected in her age group to receive blue ribbons in the Minnesota State Junior Duck Stamp Contest. She has also won other awards in past years.

Talia isn't stuck on ducks only. Maybe a tree, or a deer, or a turkey will hit her, inspire her, to do another painting.

Talia said she is never sure when the urge will hit.

She just knows she has nearly all November to sit in that stand and get her first deer. And perhaps inspiration will strike