Begin teaching respect for hunting when they’re young

It’s funny the number of responses I heard from the last two weeks’ columns. I guess they were pretty well divided from “You nailed it” to “You think you know everything don’t you?” I still stand behind my observations on the rut. You can’t wish it to be true and you can’t say it if you’re behind a desk, but sadly for those of us idiots who’ll be out in the rain, the frenzy of the rut has passed. I’m seeing scrapes reopened (before they became mud puddles) and that tells me that the mass receptiveness of does is gone with the buck tacking up business cards again.

You may tell by the tone that I’m writing this before opening day. Even with torrential rains and high winds, I know deer don’t go inside during those times. It won’t be the first time I was one of the dumbest animals outdoors.

Before I get into the hunting stories, I do finally have a fish story. Buddy David Henderson of Camden took his daughter Kate out tautog (tog) fishing last week. They were guests of John Van Dorpe of Dover on his boat. They launched out of the new public launch facility at Lewes and David assured me it was money exceptionally well spent.

He said they got there about 6:30 and all six slips were filled with launching boats. They had to wait about 45 minutes before it was their turn. The wait was well worth it. Using green crabs and sand fleas along the ocean side of the breakwater, they had limited out and were back at the launch by 11:20.

Each year about a week before the regular season, Delaware hosts a youth day for deer hunting. Hunters cannot have passed their 16th birthday to participate, and though I’m sure there were many successes, I’m sorry that I only have two young hunters to recognize.

Trevor White, 14, of Dover had harvested his first deer last year during this special season with a nice doe. This year was another success story, but this time his trophy was a young four-pointer he took on private land near Marydel.

Mickey McNatt of Seaford and I travel the same trails with the Delaware Master Hunter’s program and other wildlife related events. Mickey’s daughter Ellie has been a hunting partner of his for some time and had also taken her first trophy last year in a small basket five-pointer. Since this was her last year of eligibility, she was determined to hold out for a better deer. Her patience paid off and she took a quality seven-pointer with a wide spread with her 12 gauge H&R slug gun. She will gladly trade in her youth hunting license with a regular resident license next year.

Congratulations to both Trevor and Ellie.

Each year I’m inundated by new “state/world/universe” record whitetails. Most of them are simply wishes as I’ve had only a very few make the Boone & Crockett record books. A few more have made those “wannabe” record books created by groups seeing some financial gain, but most are simply trophies to their respective hunters. The worst thing I can hear, however, is that a superb quality animal has been poached. Even worse, one that’s poached and abandoned as varmint food.

Just such a scenario took place this last week in nearby Maryland. A farmer cutting soybeans happened on this huge deer lying dead and half eaten in his bean field. In lieu of just cutting the “horns” off and nailing them to the barn, he gave the carcass to a neighbor who is having the animal mounted in a pose that such a magnificent animal deserves. The buck was a perfectly symmetrical eight-pointer that grossed out at 166 7/8 B&C and netted 161 even. A mere nine inches from the minimums for the record book shot senselessly and left to be buzzard bait. I would say there ought to be a law but there actually already is one. This poor excuse for a human being, much less a “hunter” gives you and me a bad name and leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Too poor a hunter and/or too bad a shot to meet this animal on ethical ground, he sneaked through the night to rob all legitimate hunters of an opportunity of a lifetime.

Last week’s article was about our wardens, but they can’t be everywhere. We need to police our own ranks for people posing as hunters. Operation Game Theft was established just for that purpose. By turning in some crook, you could be rewarded up to $1,000 for a conviction of that individual. Rewards vary by the seriousness of the charges and can be found on Page 8 in the Delaware Hunting and Trapping Guide.

Your name will be protected if that’s a concern. You need only to call 800-292-3030 and you will be given a case number and agents will investigate immediately. Let’s protect the integrity of our sport. If you see it and know it’s wrong, just report it.