Thanks to a Yearling Doe

We live in an area with a very high deer population. As the deer come out of the heavy woods and cross roads, it's inevitable that sometimes vehicles are unable to avoid hitting them. There are certain times of the year when you literally cannot drive more than a few miles without seeing several deer carcasses along the side of the road.

Our Law Enforcement Center keeps a list of people who call in and ask to be put on the road kill deer list. Why would a person want a road killed deer? Some people use the venison for human consumption so not to have it go to waste and others use the meat to feed their dogs.

When law enforcement gets a call saying a deer and vehicle have collided, they call the first person on the list who is waiting for a deer. Sometimes the call comes at a less than convenient time. It could be in the middle of the night. But if you're on the list, you're expected to be willing to go pick up the deer when you're called. I've gone out during the day myself to retrieve a deer when my husband was working full time.

We've always fed our dogs a combination of raw meat and dry dog food. When we used the last of the meat in the freezer for our dog a couple of weeks ago, hubby called law enforcement and asked to be put on their list.

The call came at noon today that there was a road killed deer on a county gravel road about ten miles from us.

You could hardly have asked for a nicer day for a drive on the back roads. Our fall colors are still gorgeous, although I think we've passed the peak of the season.

Deer are so well camouflaged and blend into their natural surroundings that it took us three passes to find the deer off the road where we were told it would be.

It was a yearling doe so the smaller size made it not too difficult to get into the truck.

Then back home to gut and hang it before cutting it up. Even though it was sad to see an animal such as this meet an untimely end, we both had to admire how beautiful and extremely healthy it obviously was. The deer's coat was glossy, smooth, beautifully colored and so clean. I mean this animal lived outside in the woods all of its life, had never had a bath or shower and yet it was almost pristinely clean.

The doe was most likely last year's fawn from the size of her and looked to be in excellent condition to be going into her second winter season. Hubby said he's never seen a deer with such an all-over coating of fat.

I wish this yearling doe hadn't gotten hit this morning. I wish she was still out doing her thing in the woods. I don't mean to sound hokey, but when we brought this deer home, we gave thanks to her and are grateful to be the recipient of the meat she provided.