Back Home by Chris Hardie
I’m at the age now where I can use my years of experience to make certain statements that do not need to be verified by a second source.
So I will simply state that the opening weekend of the 2025 Wisconsin gun deer hunting season sucked.
My work schedule allowed for three days; the worst three days of deer hunting I have experienced in more than 50 years of hunting. This was my official 50th year of being able to carry my own gun and hunt, but like many farm kids in the days before blaze orange I was in the woods wearing a red hat or a partially-colored red coat making drives or sitting with other relatives by the time I was 8.
I saw – that term is used lightly because when you “see deer” before it’s light you only hear them or catch the vague flash of a white tail – nine deer this season. Eight of them were on opening day and one on Sunday morning. None of them had antlers.
While I am not averse to shooting doe, I struggle to find the time to do the work of gutting a deer and cutting it up simply for the meat – which my wife, Sherry, doesn’t like anyway. Some guys my age are retired or take vacation to hunt the entire season but I’m simply too busy.
My meager deer sighting numbers are large compared to others I’ve heard from – a cousin says he saw three deer in the first three days and one may have been a repeater. Some say it’s the later season this year, others say it’s the warmer weather we had on opening weekend. Both are probably true, but there’s been a change in the woods over the past few years.
Gone are the days when I would see three or four dozen deer on opening day. Fewer people are hunting – at least during gun deer season – and there’s less pressure on the deer. I used to be able to roam the entire acreage of the farm looking for deer when it belonged to my family but most of the farm has been sold. And since the land is leased, I don’t know who is coming or going.
More solo hunters means no deer drives – unless you count a one-man drive when I have to go back to the house because I forgot my coffee Thermos. The deer simply find a spot to bed down and don’t roam around because no one is pushing them.
The lack of deer did give me the opportunity to shoot something else – the breeze with my son, Ross.
We sat for a good hour and talked about life. Ross is 37 and has a few hunting seasons under his belt as well. We talked about my late father, the old days and the fact that the farm will never be what it once was.
Monday afternoon I went out by myself and sat under a tree for a few hours. I saw two – squirrels – and nothing else. It really didn’t matter. It gave me a chance to remember and reflect on the many memories over the years and hunting partners who are no longer with us.
I’ve been blessed.
Of course this is Wisconsin and the weather finally changed later in the week, but I was unable to hit the woods because of my work schedule. As my cousin said, at least having some snow made it easier to see nothing.
My 50th season is over – hardly one to celebrate when it comes to deer.I hope to be around for season 51 and many more. But it was time I still treasured –- we never know when our last hunting season might be.
Chris Hardie spent more than 30 years as a reporter, editor
