Merry Christmas (2014)

[Kolchak]

People who kill deer and don't utilize them are not hunters. You find vermin in all walks of life and unfortunately they give the anti hunter element a podium to preach their lies and venom from.

Real hunters turn slob vermin like that into the proper authorities. Thankfully slobs like that are only a tiny fraction of the population. Unfortunately they are like people that have had their drivers license revoked. You can take away their license, but one group will still find a car to drive and the other group will find a gun to kill.

But remember groups like PETA are not those who love wildlife and animals; they are people with strong emotional and mental issues that manifest those problems not into positive avenues of support, but into negative energy, where they show that they engage in their behavior not because they care about wildlife and their preservation, but because of their hatred for humanity.

The issue of coyotes in the eastern US is a problem, but not nearly as bad as dogs that are allowed to run free or dogs that have gone wild. Coyotes however do not present a major problem to deer regardless of what some might think. There are no places in the eastern US where coyote populations have contributed to the elimination or destruction of local whitetail deer populations. I can show you literally thousands of game camera photos that show areas where the coyote population is high and they are photographed with these cameras and yet you still see very large and healthy whitetail deer populations.

Coyotes are not native to the eastern US and have slowly migrated here since the 1920's. They do kill and eat pets such as small dogs and cats. They can hurt bird and waterfowl populations by eating the unhatched eggs. They've also adapted to urban and suburban areas where they eat pet food left out for dogs and they scavenge in peoples garbage. Some people have been bitten by coyotes and have contracted rabies.

I know several folks who have had pet deer and while they are cute and become members of the family like their dogs and cats, it is illegal in all states to own without a permit. Deer can be trained to be like any pet, but I personally wouldn't recommend it. If you see a small deer in the wild, you can rest assured that mommy is nearby. Mommy hides the baby and then she runs off trying to get whatever is out there to chase her. In the instance of a deer being hit and killed by a car and you find the fawn nearby, it is best to call the game warden and have him come get it. If as a last ditch effort, you can take the fawn to the nearest game warden or LICENSED wildlife rescue organization.

We have more deer in the east today than 100 years ago. Just in Georgia alone the population went from less than 300,000 in the 1970's to over a million today. This in a state who's human population has doubled as well. When I was a boy the kill limit was 2 bucks. Today the limit is 12 deer and 10 of those must be doe because the population has grown so large. Most of the money that goes into state wildlife management, comes from the sale of licenses and hunting equipment.

When it comes to loving, caring and preserving wildlife, you'll find that it's the hunter who really cares and loves the natural world.

[Kolchak]

http://www.thecrush.tv/deer-cam

For some cute and big deer that aren't hunted, you can check out!

[Murfreesboro]

That's a great post, Kolchak.

I know we have coyotes around here, even in the town itself. We also have deer, and wild turkey, all co-existing within the city limits.

[MauEvig]

Maybe it's more of a local problem then. Hunters have complained about not having enough game to go around here.

You're correct in that they aren't true hunters Kolchak, they're poachers. >.<

As far as PETA is concerned, they're just a bunch of hypocrites in my opinion and I hope that they'll eventually be shut down. After a recent incident where they stole and Euthanized someone's pet dog, the Virginia Governor is ordering an investigation of them. They don't really care about the animal's welfare, they're just a bunch of crazed loonies. They attempted to hijack my favorite zoo in Natural Bridge, but thankfully a bunch of volunteers kept them at bay, and the authorities stepped in giving them fair warning that if they attempted to enter the zoo, they'd be arrested. My boyfriend got to be one of the volunteers, and if I didn't have to work, I would have come myself. I blame them for brainwashing my cousin, and while she's still a vegetarian, at least she's wisened up to PETA's lies and deceit.

[Kolchak]

There can be any one of a number of reasons why in certain areas the deer population is down. Chronic Wasting Disease is a problem with deer as is Hoof and Mouth disease, Brucellosis and several others that effect cattle. Since deer are hoofed animals and browsers like cattle, and both animals are often found in the same location, it is possible for cattle to pass on illnesses to the deer.

The good news is that it doesn't take long for the population to recover. A population can lose 40% of its deer and rebound in numbers within three to five years.

All that being said; the real reason most people don't kill deer is because they simply are bad hunters!

Many guys just walk into the woods a few yards from the road and plop down next to a tree and think a deer will just walk on by. Maybe one in 1,000 gets lucky, but most who don't scout the area and put in leg work, put themselves at a big disadvantage.

Patience is a must in deer hunting. That's why they call it hunting. So many guys will go into the woods and spend less than 3 hours and get bored and leave. I've yet to see a guy kill a deer while sitting at home watching TV. Where I hunt we have a motto: Hunt Hard or Go Home!!

Over the years I've hunted with guys who have never seen, let alone killed a deer. Yet, every season you will see them spending tons of money to go hunting.

They get where they want to go......Stay up late playing poker and then sleep all day and never set foot in the woods. Come home and tell the wife...."Honey! There are no deer up there!!" "I didn't see a single deer!!".......No of course you didn't! You never left the cabin!!! LOL!!!

Vegetarian: An old Indian word that means, Lousy Hunter!!

[Murfreesboro]

[MauEvig]

Well, that might be a possibility too. People might just like the "idea" of hunting but aren't putting forth enough effort to actually hunt. I myself probably would lack the patience. But if I was starving, that would be a different story. Hopefully I could sustain myself on wild nuts and berries to get me by. In North America at least I should be able to identify what's safe to eat, but that's something I'd have to look into more. i doubt I'd ever end up in that situation, but you never know.

To be honest though I think the best way to get your deer is with your car. Never seem to have a problem with deer crossing the road.

But the dumping of carcasses illegally is a real problem. My Biology Professor is the one who told us about that.

Haha, I have heard that joke before.

[Kolchak]

This might have been the last year for the Peach drop in Atlanta. For the past 20 years, give or take, Underground Atlanta has hosted the Peach drop on New Years Eve. It's a ripoff of the big Apple dropping in New York City. Underground Atlanta was sold to new developers and its not clear what their plans are. In times past they've had close to 100,000 people for the drop, but this year was considerably smaller.

I was home watching it on TV anyway. They showed some of the other places around the country that have a drop. They showed the Crab drop in Maryland, but my favorite was the Guitar drop in Memphis down on Beal Street. All I could think of was all that delicious Bar-B-Q!

May have to check out Memphis one of these New Years. I used to get wild on New Years and Mardi Gras. If I get arrested, I'll call Murph to go my bail!

[Murfreesboro]

Nashville has a "Music Note Drop." Two or three years ago, local TV showed the Memphis Guitar Drop. I wish they always showed it on TV instead of the one in NYC. I never like the music from Times Square, but I liked the music from Memphis.

However, this year we all had the flu, so we just went to bed.

[Boogeyman]

Hope you all are feeling better now Murf.

Locally they do their own NYE celebration downtown and it is growing in popularity. I could never go to Times Square for New Year's Eve. Way too many people and I don't want to use port-a-potties when it is that cold.

I rarely stay up late enough on NYE. I have neighbors that light off fireworks that night. And since I worked both the 31st and on New Year's day, I was too tired to stay up this year anyway.

[Murfreesboro]

Thanks, Boogeyman. We are better now, but I'm glad we had had our flu shots. We felt bad enough even with an attenuated form of it.

Once in the late '80s I actually was in Times Square on NYE, but it was in the morning! I was leaving NYC from Grand Central Station, traveling back to my then-home in VA via Amtrak. Later that night I watched the festivities on TV in VA and had a hard time believing I had actually been there just a few hours earlier.

[MauEvig]

I'm sure it surprises people that I'd lived in New York state for a good majority of my life and had never, not even once, been to New York city. I've only ever seen it on TV myself. I did stay up to Midnight, but went to bed soon afterwards. Didn't watch the ball drop or anything, it was just like...oh...it's Midnight? Happy New Year! And that was it.

I even took the tree down New Year's day. I was going to leave it up through the day and take it down on the second, but considering the cat demolished it...

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, that doesn't really surprise me. I have known enough people from NY to know that there is a huge divide between NYC and the rest of the state. Besides, it's a big state. NYC is in that SE corner of it, so it isn't really very close to lots of New Yorkers.

I stubbornly leave my decorations up through Jan. 6, Twelfth Night or Epiphany, also known as the Feast of Lights. I was out in my yard taking down the outside ornaments yesterday. My tree is still up and I am in no rush to take it down. We have a situation with a condo we own and were using for storage--a water heater exploded and flooded it. So I am more concentrated on taking care of that place right now. My tree isn't bothering anything here.

[Andybev01]

My tree is still up.

The lights are on a timer and turn on a half an hour before I get home from work.

It's nice to see it lit up after a long day at the office.