Once, while cross country skiing, a deer jumped over my head

I came across an albino deer running from a kettle hole on the grounds of Our Lady of the Island in Manorville.

I came upon a deer stuck in deep snow while walking with snowshoes in the forest near my Manorville house. It could not move, was shivering, and twitched as I approached, I stroked its back. It may have weighed 175 pounds. I could see it’s rips. I touched its nose – cold wet. As I walked away, I looked back to see it looking back at me.

I got a call from a friend at midnight to come quick with knife and zip lock bags. He had just come across a deer that had been struck by a car. I arrived ½ hour later. The muscle was still warm. Three of us butchered as much venison as possible.

I got a call from a man who I allowed to park on my property so he could hunt deer. He had killed a large buck. It was 9AM. He invited me come and cut some venison. He told me that he had a golf date at noon he worked on getting the head off with a huge antlers. I worked on cutting off both hind legs. Back home, I spent hours cutting and bagging. It’s amazing how I learned about deer anatomy. I could only butcher one leg. I called a friend and they came and took the other leg.

I have often found deer bones on woods walks. I am especially attracted to the scapula ( shoulder blades).

At the William Floyd Estate in Shirley, I came upon a heard of deer browsing. I stood perfectly still and watched for 15 minutes. One deer turned and saw me. Instantly about a dozen deer flipped up their white warning flags ( tails) and bounded into the woods.

I have often seen deer in my headlights crossing the road at night. Sometimes one would became paralyzed by the light. I shut the lights and then on and the deer were gone.

I have seen female deer with twin fawns. Iat looks as if the young are invisible attached to the mother by some strong attachment.

I learned how to fry venison from my beekeeper friend. Slice it thin, fry in butter, flip after 30 seconds. Eat.

I was give a deer skin with fur. I used it to be a wannabe Native by wearing it on my back.

My friend and I worked with deer skin that was free of fir. He soaked it with deer brains, then we pulled at it for over an hour to soften the skin.

Once I saw a buck with antlers rubbing its antlers against the trunk of a tree. He did this for at least 15 minutes. I learned that it is because bucks in heat have massive strength and have to find ways to exercise their necks which they need when being challenged by other bucks for a female.

While volunteering at a large organic farm in Northville, The farmer asked me to help him corral two deer that got inside his deer fence. We worked for over two hours until we herded them toward the open gate. They were nervous and would turn away from the direction we wanted them to go.

I used a small piece of deer bone to try to make a needle. I scraped the bone against a piece of sandstone for two hours until I had a point. I took another hour to scrape a narrow hole for the thread. Finally pleased with the result, I drove to a friend to show. I lost the needle in the car. This proves the old saying that it’s not the destination, it’s the process.