Bow hunting season for deer here now.

I tend to stay out of the forests during the first week of firearms season, but that's mostly out of respect for the hunters, not fear. Hunting accidents are pretty rare here. It's not like up in Wisconsin where they tend to go a little nuts opening weekend.

There's lots of places to hunt here, and lots of deer, and a pretty long season. I've never hunted, but I might someday try and take a deer. I have grown to like venison since moving here.

I good friend of mine in California told me about his last and final deer hunt there. He'd scouted a spot somewhere in the NFs north of LA a few times over the weeks leading to opening day and found some deer. The night before he drove up there and hiked to his spot in the dark and sat down by a tree next to a big clearing. Deer season officially opened at exactly sunrise, right about 6:00am. Just a few minutes before that he watched a doe walk out into the clearing. He checked his watch and raised his rifle about 30 seconds before the official time and counted off the seconds. The deer was in his crosshairs as he counted.

Just as he was ready to pull the trigger he heard what he said sounded like a hundred guns go off and he watched the deer fall in several directions. Shots were still being fired for a few more seconds after that and he scrambled behind his tree and hunkered down tight after hearing bullets whiz by way too close. Within a few more seconds hunters came running out of the forest from every direction with the intent to claim the deer and before any of them even reached the deer they were already hollering at each other.

He got up and went home feeling lucky to be alive and never hunted deer out there again.