Annual Deer Season

 

Son, Steve’s buck, 2017.  Photo by Jerry Apps

That mid-November morning in 1946 was dark and cold.  I was up at five and hurried out to the barn with my barn lantern to help with morning milking and chores.   I had turned 12 in July, old enough to buy a deer hunting license and go deer hunting with my dad and our neighbor, Bill Miller.

After a quick breakfast, we loaded our hunting gear in the 1936 Plymouth, picked up Bill and drove about three-quarters of an hour to where Dad and Bill had hunted for many years.  To a place near the Roche A Cri River in Adams County.

Arriving just as the sun was creeping over the horizon, Pa asked me to walk along the banks of the Roche A Cri, driving any deer that might be there.  He said that he and Bill would be waiting about a mile farther on downriver, at a place where the river ran through an open area.  A place where they could bag a deer.

 I had dad’s double-barrel twelve-gauge shotgun, that weighed a ton and had barrels half as long as I was tall.  They said to wait for 15 minutes so they’d have time to get in place.  After a time, I started my walk along the river.  The sun was warm on my back and the gun got heavier with each step.  I stopped, leaned the gun against a tree, and watched the river.  I finally made it to where Pa and Bill waited and wondered what had happened to me.  “Where are the deer?” Pa asked.  I had no answer.

Now, so many years later, I am once more looking forward to the annual deer hunt.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: For many Wisconsin families, deer hunting is a revered family tradition.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tune in PBS Wisconsin on Thursday, December 3, 7:00 p.m. for a showing of “Farm Story With Jerry Apps.”

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King,  and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.