Deer Season

So it's deer season in these parts. Which for those of you who are not local or rural, means that it's time to hunt deer. Right now, it's time to hunt them with firearms. Some folks hunt them with bows and arrows, so there's already been an archery season for deer. It preceded the firearm season. As well, there is a muzzle loader season for deer. It follows the firearm season. And after that there is the antler-less deer season. These are just the deer seasons.

It always seems to be a hunting season of some sort. There's red and gray fox season. There's a coyote and a striped skunk season.

There are two seasons to hunt raccoon and Opposum (depending upon whether you use a dog or not.)

There's a gray and fox squirrel season, a beaver season, a mink, muskrat and long tailed weasel season. There are four seasons for hunting turkey. 

There are also seasons for hunting ruffed grouse, pheasant, quail, rabbit, and crow. And the kicker for me? There's a season for green frogs and bullfrogs! (Don't believe me? See for yourself.)

As I've let you know, I was worried about hunting when we moved here. I still am a bit. Lately we've been put in an odd spot concerning hunting. Here's the deal. There's a lot of classified forrest behind our property. It seems to be owned by folks on the east coast, as they inherited it. Shortly after we moved in, some local gents were clearing the logging road that runs through it and my husband went out and introduced himself. They told him that they cared for the place in exchange for the right to hunt. And they gave him permission to walk back there any time deer weren't in season. This all seemed reasonable.

The logging road also happens to be the right of way for the telephone and electric companies, as our phone and electric lines are strung along the first 3/4 of a mile. And near the back of the property there is a buried gas line and underground fiber. So the entire length of the logging road is the access point for those utilities. 

Anyway, ever since we have moved here, there seems to be an endless string of people back there at odd times. There have been compact cars in the middle of the day, folks walking down saying they are turkey hunting, a group of teens on foot, various utilities vehicles, random trucks and off-road vehicles. We've even had some young guys on our driveway asking us how to get back there as their friend had told them they could hunt back there. They showed us a print-out of a google map.

It's a bit weird as the road passes along one side of our property line. It's also a bit weird because   the  patriarch of the aforementioned family of hunters/caretakers would stop by at intervals and ask if I'd seen anyone go back there. And I'd answer yes, but never have any knowledge of whom. I'd only have a vague description of a vehicle glimpsed through the trees or what have you, and he'd seem put out. 

He complained once of finding beer bottles. He complained another time of someone else's deer stand on the property. He complained once of some no trespassing signs that appeared (which he did not put up.) It annoyed me. I wondered why he didn't just put a lock on the gate at the end of the road. Why didn't he have his own non-trespassing signs? Why didn't he leave me his phone number so that I could call him whenever I saw a vehicle back there? Then he could come and check things out himself. 

Well, this year there's a new twist. The local hunters/caretakers showed up a few days before deer season asking if they could park on our drive the first day of deer season and walk back into the woods as the culvert  had washed out and they couldn't drive back on the logging road. We knew that the culvert had been partially washed out since we moved here, so my husband agreed. But the day after permission was granted, a front-end loader and a few off-road vehicles went back down the drive. Later I saw that the culvert had been repaired, some gravel had been spread in some particularly mucky places, and the gate had been chained and locked. 

But on the first Saturday of hunting season, the hunters/caretakers still parked in our drive and went hunting. They proceeded to come for the next few days too. So they don't have the key to the gate. But someone does. I've seen cars parked just inside the gate since then. So is the story the hunters/caretakers gave us false? They haven't seemed to be in touch with the owners. They didn't repair the culvert. They didn't hang the "no trespassing" signs. And now they are locked out. 

Oddly enough, we just found out that the eldest hunter/caretaker is the brother of our new insurance agent. But we can't exactly tactfully ask her for information. I guess we'll have to look up the tax information and get in touch with the title holders of the land. That will be awkward too. I'm trying to imagine how to initiate that conversation or how to succinctly describe the circumstances since we moved here. We'd be internet stalkers after all. And in the mean time, we are negotiating with men with guns. :)