sad day

[Mobuck]

I ran over a fawn with my planter today and darned near hit the doe, too. Cover crop rye is 4' tall and the deer are laying tight. No idea how many more that just didn't see. I also got a turkey nest. I was able to stop before running over the hen but her nest didn't make it.

 

[GRAMPS 51]

Sadly it happens years ago my uncle was mowing hay with an offset mower it clogged up and when he backed up it kicked off to the side and it put the tire right on top of a fawn he was quite upset over it for a few days

Gramps

 

[Mobuck]

Lots of farmers mowing and baling over grown cover crop this year or just running it down with the planters as we are. The weather promoted early growth while prohibiting early planting/spraying. Now we have thousands of acres of 4' high cover that the deer and turkeys find ideal for hiding babies and nests.
Just an unfortunate set of circumstances but still not easy to accept.

 

[contender]

The sign of a true hunter, and someone who appreciates wildlife more than any tree hugger ever could.

We may hunt, we may kill them,, but to accidentally kill one when so young etc,, AND feel sadness & compassion,, is the mark of a pure heart.

 

[MHtractorguy]

I'm also a (small) farmer and I would be heartbroken, too.
I must have a box turtle breeding spot in one of my fields. I see them marching in from all directions this time of year.

 

[gnappi]

Why aren't the Dems sleeping in your fields?

 

[Mobuck]

^^I wouldn't show much concern about running a few of those critters down!!!!

 

[NewRuger41]

I send my boy and a mess of his friends through the fields while flying a drone in our attempt to find the wild things and either move them or move around them. 100% success so far. Kids have a good time on their radios chatting with each other. First fawn we saw was 3 weeks back I think.

 

[Mobuck]

That works if you have the 'boy power'.
It's my goal to not allow the cover crop to reach this height EVER AGAIN.

 

[Mobuck]

Yes 'stuff' happens but I try to avoid these things as much as possible. Last week, I discovered a turkey nest quick enough to avoid destroying it and left enough standing hay around it to give the hen security. She came back and has been on the nest for another 7-10 days so quite possible she'll get the eggs hatched.
It would be surprising to know just how many fawns are run over while haying. This is fairly common given the larger hay mowers that operate much faster than the old sickle type mowers. I can mow @5-7 mph on smooth ground which doesn't allow much time for little critters to get out of the way.
Over the past few years, I've adopted a mowing plan that seems to help prevent hitting fawns. I carefully mow 6-8 rounds around the entire field and then leave. We rake and bale this 50-60' band around the perimeter before returning to mow the rest of the field. The does seem to get the idea that this isn't a safe haven any longer and move their babies to better sheltered ditch lines or other cover. I haven't hit a fawn with the mower since making this plan.
It's a bit of a PITA and adds extra time/effort but I feel it's worth what it costs me.

 

[contender]

"It's a bit of a PITA and adds extra time/effort but I feel it's worth what it costs me. "

Once again,, a TRUE hunter & outdoorsman.

 

[Wvfarrier]

Our horses squashed a fawn last week

 

[Mobuck]

^^While working or just moving around?
20 something years back, I did all cattle gathering and checking from horseback. Several times during early summer while moving through tall grass or similar cover, my horse would either shy or simply stop. Sometimes it took some serious looking but often, I'd see a tiny fawn curled up hidden in the grass. I guess the horse could smell them or maybe his vision was better than mine. My Cousin got bucked off once when a fawn jumped up literally under the horse setting off a rodeo.

 

[harley08]

Years ago we went to our shooting range.
A target was already set up. So we got our rifles out a shot for a while.
We finished up and went to check the target, we got to about two feet from the target when a fawn stood up and slowly waked away. We were shooting about a foot over the fawn and never knew it. We were happy that the fawn never moved while we were shooting!

 

[gnappi]

Harley, the local skeet / trap range often has deer wander in front of the backstop and graze like nothing is happening. All of the shooting areas are separated from the backstop by a lake (prob with 3 headed fish in it from all the lead) and shooting is stopped by the RO's till the deer decide to go back to the Everglades

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I was driving down the highway the other day and saw a duck with a group of babies waiting on the edge of the highway, I thought I was going to hit her and did some moving at 60mph, I was holding my breath that I might hit her and I didn’t. But I was heart broken when the vehicle behind me hit her. I have no idea what happened to the ducklings but sure they didn’t make it. What a shame.

 

[OMCHamlin]

The sign of a true hunter, and someone who appreciates wildlife more than any tree hugger ever could.

We may hunt, we may kill them,, but to accidentally kill one when so young etc,, AND feel sadness & compassion,, is the mark of a pure heart.

I couldn’t have said it any better. I’ve never had the first bad feeling about taking a deer for the freezer, nothing but joy, but I remember being very sad when I hit a fawn in spots with my Camry years ago. I sat with the little guy until he passed, it was so needless. I knew guys that went out of their way to run things over, squirrels, turtles, anything they could. I say I knew them, but they were not friends.

 

[KIR]

While driving up to Tahoe many decades ago, I swerved the car to avoid running over a squirrel. My little daughter who saw the squirrel in front asked me if I missed him. Alas, I lied and told her no, as I did not want her day to be ruined. We were all going up to have a 'fish fry' at Sand Harbor Park. Needless to day I was not hungry for lunch.

 

[Mobuck]

The deer just won't give up on these rye/wheat fields. The combine chased 4 adults and one fawn out of one 10 acre rye field. A 60 acre wheat field had 'several'(no one was counting). Both fields have grass waterways and/or trees in the fence lines so it's not like there's no other cover.

 

[bobski]

deer are pests here in s.central ozarks.
they kill more people and destroy more vehicles than one can imagine.
people have no issues culling them the way it happened to you mo'.
my neighbor lost her teenage son to a deer.
one wiped out my town car front end and tried to plant its head in my wifes side window.
sorry, im the other side of the coin.
mow away.

 

[Mobuck]

'deer are pests here in s.central ozarks.
sorry, im the other side of the coin.'
I fully understand your point. Driving close to 2,000,000 to/from work over the past 40 years, I've clipped several deer(all my immediate family included, we've had 12-15 deer strikes) PLUS I complain all summer about the amount of crop damage deer cause. It's into the multiple thousands of $$. BUT I'm not saying it's the entirely deer's fault.
If the state of MO was held responsible for their 'livestock' damages, herd management would be different, maintaining rights of way would be different, and the 'shrug it off/not MY problem' attitude of MoDOT & MDC would change.

 

[kentucky yeti]

My little daughter who saw the squirrel in front asked me if I missed him. Alas, I lied and told her no,

Your daughter asked if you MISSED the squirrel, and you told her no? Good job, dad. Traumatize her LOL

 

[KIR]

Your daughter asked if you MISSED the squirrel, and you told her no? Good job, dad. Traumatize her LOL

I explained to all my kids about honesty and real life. But, since you would not take the time to do so, you would rather take the ez way out and just lie to them. I prepared my kids to handle life and situations that may come up in the future and face it to hopefully solve any problems in the future.

 

[kentucky yeti]

While driving up to Tahoe many decades ago, I swerved the car to avoid running over a squirrel. My little daughter who saw the squirrel in front asked me if I missed him. Alas, I lied and told her no, as I did not want her day to be ruined. We were all going up to have a 'fish fry' at Sand Harbor Park. Needless to day I was not hungry for lunch.

Better read YOUR post. You said you lied to her.

 

[kentucky yeti]

I explained to all my kids about honesty and real life. But, since you would not take the time to do so, you would rather take the ez way out and just lie to them. I prepared my kids to handle life and situations that may come up in the future and face it to hopefully solve any problems in the future.

Your lie, not mine. You are the admitted liar, yet you call me one when you know nothing about me. True liberal... You know my post was just a joke. I didn’t expect you to say you smashed it and actually traumatize a child.

 

[Jeepnik]

As to hitting critters , most drivers are programmed to swerve even if it means killing the folks in the other car.


I have a “B” movie I like “Battle, Los Angeles”. At one point the star asks another what do you do when you’re going to hit a deer? The answer, speed up. Then he proceeds to mow down the aliens with his APC.