In darkness, the truck lumbers up the windy road. A car follows about fifty yards behind. They were sent on a job this odd hour. They were told that it wouldn’t take long. Unbeknownst to them, a meeting was scheduled with a corpse.
Our trapping night ended early. There were two deer under the net but a malfunction provided enough opportunity for escape. It was a sad sight to see as I looked through those binoculars. As spotter, I gave the order to drop the net, the weight fell, but the net came down slowly. One deer ran to the left, free and clear. The other was barely caught to the right. Before the crew finished their sprint to the net, the juvenile freed itself and ran into the woods. Trapping night concluded on that sour note.
Since it was early our crew leader asked if we would deploy a blind and a camera at another trapping site. It was late but not too late. Three of us were game and set out on this final task for the day.
On our way up the hill to the trapping sight, our headlights illuminated something on the side of the road. We slowed and identified the form. A small deer lay lifeless. Sure, this is a common scene on rural roads. However, when your waking hours revolve around deer, you have to investigate. After all, our trapping site was just up the road. Soon, we would discover our connection to this corpse.
Two nights ago
On this warm evening, we trapped again at the same location of my first deer. I resumed the role of tackler and took my place in the first blind. The hours dragged on and I began to wonder if we would see anything. Not until nine o’clock, the deer came out. The net was dropped on two. One of my crew mates tackled a buck and I subdued a doe, both yearlings. My doe struggled little and was quickly sedated by the drugs. They were processed quickly without trouble. My doe was very fuzzy. I took off my thick glove to pet her. Upon release, I followed her a short distance into the woods. She ran off beyond the reach of my headlamp and I was content knowing that she was fine. We marveled over her cuteness.
The present
I pulled over and parked the truck at our trapping sight. Without question, the three of us walked down the road towards the lifeless corpse. Our headlamps illuminated the fuzzy form and revealed the scene. On the road not far from the deer, we discovered a pool of blood. The liquid hadn’t enough time to congeal or dry. We surmised that she was hit by an automobile. How she got to her resting place was a matter of speculation. We began to debate the timeline. To offer more information, I placed my hand, fitted with a nitrile glove, upon the deer. I could feel no heat. I moved my hand under an armpit and felt the warmth. Death occurred not long ago. We rolled the deer over to search for more evidence. In doing so, we discovered that it was female. At first, we saw no other obvious sign of injury besides her bloodied mouth. One of us noticed the ears. Both had two in slits in the middle of them. We deduced that ear tags were cut away by a knife. No other hypothesis could satisfy this oddity. This was strong evidence presuming that she was one of our deer and someone was eager to claim the $100 cash reward. Albeit, I hoped they took them to report the incident instead. Upon further examination of the scene, we found a 9 mm casing on the road. I smelled the brass and it was fresh. Most likely, this was a mercy killing dealt after the deer was hit. I doubted that a poacher would use this cartridge to illegally kill a deer. Although we didn’t observe any apparent evidence on the deer’s body, we could have easily overlooked the small entry wound. I doubt the cartridge would have enough power to exit the animal. Satisfied that we thoroughly investigated the scene, we reported our findings to our crew leader and continued with our original mission.
As I lay in bed
I tackled a few deer by now. Each encounter was different. However, what remained the same was my curiosity. I wonder about the lives that we interrupt. Where was it going? Where did it come from? How long will it live? Will it contract CWD? Needless to say, these questions and many more cross my mind often.
When we came upon that deer laying on the side of the road, we had to investigate. We made our observations, they led to assumptions, and we cast our opinions before the night was over. I ponder why the ear tags were removed and why the deer was shot. Is it criminal?
I lay in bed and wonder if she was a deer that I handled. I wonder if she was my fuzzy doe.