Deer Hunting
Imagine yourself perched twenty feet up in a tree at six o'clock in the morning in the middle of December. Completely exhausted from the mile hike to your stand, you start to feel the effects of the freezing weather as your body begins to cool down. Your fingers and toes feel like they are going to break off as you wiggle them, desperately trying to regain feeling. Does this seem like an enjoyable leisure sport? Whitetail deer hunting is a very popular winter sport in the south and in many other parts of the country. According to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, there were over a hundred and fifty thousand resident gun deer hunters in Mississippi in 1998. Deer hunting may seem to be very simple and barbaric but actually it involves many well thought out strategies that ensures clean kills, healthy wildlife, and of course trophy bucks- the male deer that is usually sought after for a large set of antlers. The state government, by means of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, regulates seasons so hunters can effectively control deer herd populations, thus preventing disease and starving game. Revenues from license sales are appropriated towards conservation
of refuges and public hunting land. Mississippi also requires hunters to take a hunter education course before they are able to purchase a license, if they were born after 1972. (MDWFP) Intervention from the state makes this sport safer and more organized. Searching for a good place to put a deer stand involves looking for clues that deer are in the vicinity or at a trail they travel in a certain area frequently to hide is called scouting. Michael Hanback of Outdoor Life suggests looking for "deer activity zones." These include crop fields, food plots, where bucks feed openly with doe (a female deer). He also suggests searching large thickets, swamps, and overgrown fields. These are the places mature bucks are most likely going to hide when guns start booming. (Hanback) There are two main things to look for when out scouting are rubs and scrapes. Rubs are the most obvious because they are located at the base of trees where the bark has been rubbed off by the buck with its antlers. It does this because it is trying to rub off all its velvet, a soft covering on the newly developing antlers of deer. Scrapes are where the buck scrapes up the ground and urinates for two primary purposes- mate attraction and to mark t! hundred yards. Careful sighting of your rifle prior to hitting the woods ensures successful marksmanship. Gear is one thing that will increase your time spent in the woods and provide successful hunts. A pair of warm comfortable boots coupled with a pair of good wicking socks, socks that draw sweat away from the foot, will keep you in a stand longer than anything else. Layers of clothes should be worn to ensure comfortability and prevent risk of overexposure. A large pa
Some common words found in the essay are:
Outdoor Life, Fisheries Parks, MDWFP Wildlife, December Completely, MDWFP Intervention, Hunting Imagine, deer hunting, Mississippi Department, Wildlife Fisheries, wildlife fisheries parks, Department Wildlife, department wildlife fisheries, fisheries parks, public land, wildlife fisheries, mississippi department, department wildlife, rattle bag, hundred yards, mississippi department wildlife, land mississippi, call imitates,
Approximate Word count = 1162
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
