The Day After

You are wondering what I mean by "The Day After". I say with a wink ...Here in Iowa it is the day after the first shotgun season for White- tail Deer. As a middle-aged woman I have taken up the pass time of hunting on my home farm / timber property. I have yet to be able to say that "I have brought home the "buck" ". Last night at this time I was standing outside waiting for the deer to return after I had scared them away when I opened the back door to checkout the doe and her young from this springs fawning. As is the usual case in my further exploration the rest of the group was just over the edge of the hill. The group was made up of an eight point buck with does and a big bunch of young. They disappeared across the ravine to the other side of the property , a refuge when someone isn't standing over there waiting for them. As it were no-one was was available to chase them back. The deer had experienced an abrupt change in their daily habits when the shotguns started going off a half hour before sunrise Saturday, December 2nd. It has been 24 hours since the last gunshots were heard around here. The deer have resumed their evening feeding habits . They arrived at 4:00 p.m. and by 4:35 p.m. have now gone to graze further and prepare for the cold night ahead....