WHITETAILS

INTRODUCTION

This is a series of articles concerning how it was to hunt the "Wild Whitetail", as opposed to the experience we have today which is so radically different. I define the "Wild Whitetail" as being the animal that was part of a herd with 9 deer per square mile, with thousands of acres of interconnected woodlands for range, the victim of a short but lengthening hunting season and light but increasing hunting pressure. It was a time when a deer could expect to live to a ripe old age and develop fully into a self sufficient animal, not dependent in any way on the assistance of man for its daily needs.

The pictures on this page were taken at my home, High Meadow, which is a less than 50 acre tract of land inside the city/county limits of Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, the smallest county in the State of Georgia, the home of the University of Georgia. These animals are not denizens of the deep forest, but azalea and vegetable garden browsers. They show up daily for their apportioned ration of corn in my back yard within 50 feet of my house. The most at any one time has been 36. The herd is heavily hunted, but not using the techniques described in this treatise. We have firing lanes delineated, so that shots can only be fired in specified directions to avoid bordering subdivisions and the commercial businesses easily within rifle range. On stand the hunter is serenaded by the warning beeps of forklifts as they load trucks at the building material company and the sounds of civilization; children playing, dogs barking, tires on the highway, sirens of ambulances and the inevitable bass of the brethren's car radio. Amidst all this, the Whitetail thrives, the large buck above scored 1 point shy of Pope and Young.

In a way this is a window into the past, a glimpse of yesteryear that is gone forever, but it serves as a testamony to a species that has persevered and prospered in an everchanging environment. I have often wondered how one of those original plantees would react if it could be transported to the future, and was suddenly inserted into this herd of the present. Certainly its habits would be subjected to tremendous change, but judging from my half century association with them, my money is on a successful adjustment. As a parallel thought, how would today's hunter fare if transported back in time to pursue the Whitetail in this primitive environment? The chance for this is slight, but perhaps these articles can give some insight as to how the process would be affected. Enjoy.