2016 Deer Camp

The alarm sounded at 6 a.m. I was up without hesitation. The propane lantern was ignited and light filled the one-room building known as The Hut. A temperature indicator on the alarm registered 50 degrees.

I ventured outside to admire the stars and large moon. It wasn’t full, but large just the same. The stars of the big dipper were bright, but only the North Star of the little dipper was visible.

The propane heater was awakened with a push of the button, sparking the gas to flame on the catalytic heater. The temperature is now 51 degrees.

The large burner of the Guide Series Coleman stove is started and a large coffee-pot looking container, filled halfway with water, is placed on top. The temperature is now 53 degrees, after a few minutes with three gas appliances burning.

The other two burners on the stove are occupied by two 10-inch cast iron skillets. One is shinning with a light coating of olive oil, rubbed into place after the last cleaning yesterday.

The other has an inch of water in the bottom. After the evening meal, last night, the leftovers were placed in a resealable bag and placed in the cooler. Water was added to the skillet and boiled to loosen any food residue. Sometime today this skillet will be scrubbed with soap and water and then rinsed with boiling water and then coated with a thin coat of olive oil to ready it for the next cooking chore.

My coffee cup is retrieved from the cab of the Death Ram. There is some frost on the windshield and other parts of the vehicle, confirming the temperature dropped below freezing during the night.

The time is now 6:39 and the temperature is 55 degrees. Shooting time begins at 6:55, so I relax with a cup of coffee while eating a banana and putting these words into the computer.

First light begins to show in the east, with orange and blue dominating the color scheme. Sometimes a sunrise can be as spectacular as a sunset, but not today. Yet this dawning is beautiful just the same, with the beginning of a new day.

A wheat stubble field is my view to the east. The edge of the field begins at 600 yards and continues up and over a hill. This is land my group is not allowed to hunt. Our huntable land begins at a fence 460 yards distant.

Below the fence, on the side of a hill toward me, is a stand of sagebrush. Some parts have short bushes where animals are easily spotted. Other parts are tall and thick, where deer can hide easily.

As the morning light brightens, objects become clearer. A dozen deer, all does and yearlings, become visible in the stubble. Another deer becomes visible as the others move off to the west.

It is obviously a buck as sizable antlers glisten in the morning light. The buck is a 4- by 4-point mule deer. The does finally head west and the buck remains in place at the edge of the sagebrush, eating and watching for danger and eating again.

A coyote entered the picture from the north and heading south. It spooked two new deer, two does, and sent them running to the south. The big buck wasn’t spooked as much as concerned. He walked west, toward me, without pausing to eat. Then he disappeared into a tall stand of sagebrush.

I watched for him to appear again, but he didn’t. An hour later movement was spotted to the south east and there he was, glistening antlers and all. Something had startled him and he was headed south and east and a fast pace.

The hunt continues as of this writing, with optimism about finding at least a 3-point buck, which is the minimum legal deer.

We eat well during deer season. For example, the first night of this year’s deer camp, we cooked and consumed deer steaks from last year’s deer. Also on the menu were fried spuds and onions.

The next night Rudy prepared walleye tacos, which the rest of us demand from him each year. He takes a head of cabbage and cuts it in half. After slicing one half into thin pieces and adding ingredients, such as pineapple, spicy mayonnaise, onions, cilantro and other spices, the walleye is cooked separately.

When all is ready, Rudy heats the tortillas and then adds the ingredients and the walleye. We each are allowed two tacos during the meal. This is actually plenty to eat, but we all are yearning for more. This is why we insist Rudy plans on cooking two meals during the week-long hunting season.

Another meal was pulled venison. A small deer roast was cooked in the digital pressure cooker and pulled in the style of pulled pork. This was accomplished with a can of diced tomatoes added.

Next the pulled venison was frozen with the idea of using it at deer camp. When thawed, barbecue sauce was added and the result was placed between two hamburger-style buns. Delicious.

The days of 2016 deer camp continue. There is hope we will find a legal deer within the next few days or we will go home without winter meat.

Still the friendships will continue to build and fun times will continue. The meals will always be a big highlight of the annual deer camp.