Heard a loud pop [Archive]

Driver man

12-15-2016, 08:29 PM

I was sitting at the keyboard reading BIS latest posts with the ranch sliders open letting the warm air circulate when I heard a loud pop from out side. I looked out over the deck and watched a good sized red deer being dragged out of the bush by a group of 5 about 25 yards down a small bank that separates the neighbor from me. One of the guys was carrying a silenced rifle so I wondered over to be nosey . As I got there they cut the deer's throat and bled it out in the gutter. I recognized the deer as it had been a regular visitor for the past couple of years and had developed into a good sized 12 pointer. There was a length of rope tangled around antlers and front knee joint which looked broken. The small group was from the city council animal control and had brought in a local hunter to dispatch the animal after it was found distressed by the neighbor. The guy who shot the deer wasn't someone I knew but was using a silenced 223. I don't think any of the neighbours heard the shot as it was obviously close up and avoided the supersonic crack. The knife guy knew what he was doing but wasn't open to the suggestion that the backstraps could be shared, ha. I think the meat will be harvested. I watched them put the carcass into a panel van and drive off. I have a few deer visit in the early morning hours and occasionally I leave them an apple or two. They wander down the creek from the hills and bush that surround the valley I live in and although the local population is about 17000 in my town not many are aware of the large deer numbers surrounding them. Its open deer season in NZ and deer hunting is a popular past time and I have done my bit in keeping the numbers down but in recent years have taken a liking to having the deer around. Last years tomato season was brilliant but the day before I was to harvest them they were eaten to the ground by the deer. I didn't know they liked tomato's and thought it was pretty safe to grow them in my back section garden. Its been an interesting start to the day but time for coffee and then some work.
Barry

Beagle333

12-15-2016, 08:42 PM

That's a pretty unique experience. 'Good thing they did put the poor thing down then, and perhaps will use some of the meat.

Deer do like tomatoes and the plants too. If you really want to see them devastate your tomato crop, spray it with Liquid Sevins Dust (in an attempt to control some bugs). It's like salad dressing to them! They'll eat it down to the ground then and try to dig up the roots! I won't make that mistake again. I'll use some other type of bug control.