White-tailed deer takes over as top hunting season

The nine-day firearm deer season begins today and perhaps 70,000 hunters will don blaze orange and take to the field. While it seemed in my youth that the opening day of pheasant season was the primary hunting holiday in the state, I believe deer – white-tailed deer in particular – have now taken over that top spot.

Part of the reason for that shift is that a generation or two ago, most young hunters would have cut their teeth on rabbits or squirrels, and then moved up to upland game birds or waterfowl. Graduating to big game was quite a step back in the day and drawing a tag was not a sure thing either.

Nowadays, many rookies seem to "pass go" and move directly to the big game challenge. Of course that may be a result of game populations going in different directions as much as anything else. These are indeed very good times for Nebraska deer hunters.

As a schoolteacher I get to hear all kinds of personal stories from students on a wide variety of topics, some of them including hunting and fishing tales. One change I’ve noticed over the 25 years or so in the business is how many kids’ deer stories now come with a sheepish admission that their deer is not a trophy.

And that’s the myth I want to dispel today. Each success should be a trophy in the eye of the beholder. While every buck has never made the record book, it seems our sport’s preoccupation with big antlers – and quality deer management, and food plots, and other topics – has maybe overshadowed the feeling of accomplishment that should go with successfully bagging a deer in a humane, ethical manner.

I don’t recall any negative vibes from my first deer, a little Burt County 3x3 taken with the 30-30 some 33 years ago. I was proud as can be of that deer and it’s a memory that still burns brightly today. I don’t recall anyone back in that time period trying to come up with excuses as to why they shot something small.

Despite Nebraska’s improving big buck statistics, there are not monster deer hiding behind every tree. Nor will there ever be. Honestly, there’s a lot of luck involved in most of those chance happenings anyway.

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with going to the woods hoping for an encounter with something that will require a call to the taxidermist. But the reality is that being too picky can mean passing up a deer that the hunter would be quite satisfied with. In many cases I wonder if some hunters don’t make themselves miserable in the process of trying to hold out for a buck that will make the record books and inspire awe from friends.

That’s why whenever a student tells me about their deer hunt and starts to apologize for the small-racked buck or doe he or she took, I interrupt them right there and then. They should be very proud of any deer they take and not worry about what others will say.

I enthusiastically pound the back and pump the arm of the lucky young hunters who stop by. It’s a red-letter day regardless of the deer’s size.

I would urge all of us to keep that in mind the next nine days. Passing negative judgment on a newbie’s smallish deer can have the effect of making them not enjoy the sport. And in these days of increasing urbanization and decreasing contact with the land, hunting can scarcely afford the net loss of men and women, and boys and girls, who feel the call to head to the field.

While the big bucks make the magazine covers, the does and bucks with small antlers make great memories ... and jerky and summer sausage and the like.