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Congratulations on your success. Here in Henry County, Tennessee the hunting experience is quite different. For the last five years or so, the annual number of whitetail deer taken has been over 5,000, once over 6,000. The hunter success rate approaches 50 %. I read today that in the State of Maine the annual kill amounts to 30,000 for the entire state and hunter success is about 10%.

As opposed to your three doe tags, we have a daily bag limit of three deer during the entire season, which includes archery, and muzzle loading rifles, as well as conventional rifles. Only six antlered bucks (two for each of the seasons, archery, muzzleloading and conventional) per year can be taken, however. Archery season allows the use of crossbows, as well as conventional and compound bows; muzzleloading includes any muzzleloading rifle of .40 caliber or larger,;and conventional rifles include any centerfire caliber, with no limit as to magazine capacity.

Our county (roughly 900 square miles) has a reported deer population of 20,000, roughly the same as the human population. I would not be surprised to find that the actual deer population is twice as great. Last year we were treated to the spectacle of a buck jumping through the window of a bank downtown (a block from the courthouse) and going on a rampage inside until finally trapped in the president's office and subdued. Automobile-deer collisions are daily occurances and crop damage is significant. This, in a county where deer were unknown when I was growing up in the 40's and 50's.

I have the luxury of trying out as many of my exotic firearms on deer as I care to, so hunting with drillings, combination guns, double rifles and strange metric calibers is my annual experience. With 120 acres of soybeans to protect and a number of hungry neighbors, who are eager for the venison, I can justify my hunting activities far beyond my own capability to consume the spoils of the hunt.

Although most of the hunting hereabouts is done from tree stands and free standing blinds, I prefer to still hunt on the ground or stalk. This is not just a function of my advancing years, but also a safety concern. The number of accidents, some fatal, involving falls from stands has risen alarmingly over the years, despite safety belts and harnesses. Also, on the ground, I am much more likely to encounter an unexpected shot, forcing me to use instinctive shooting skills which remain untested from a stand. This gives me a sense of satisfaction otherwise unattainable.

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