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Roping deer vs rifle with scope

6K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  Mismost 
#1 ·
Roping a Deer

Actual letter from someone who farms, writes well and tried this:

I had this idea that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up -- 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold.

The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away.. I put a little tension on the rope .., and then received an education. The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED. The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt. A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity. A deer-- no chance.

That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled. There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it. As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined. The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up. It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head. At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison. I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.

I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer. At that moment, I hated the thing, and I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual. Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer's momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in. I didn't want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder - a little trap I had set before hand...kind of like a squeeze chute. I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite?

They do! I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ... I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist. Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and then let go. A deer bites you and shakes its head --almost like a pit bull. They bite HARD and it hurts.

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly. I tried screaming and shaking instead. My method was ineffective.

It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds. I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it. While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.

Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp. I learned a long time ago that, when an animal --like a horse --strikes at you with their hooves and you can't get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal. This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.

This was not a horse. This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work. In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy. I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run. The reason I had always been told NOT to try to turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head. Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.

Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave. I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed. What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.

I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away. So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope to sort of even the odds.

All these events are true so help me God... An Educated Rancher
 
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#5 ·
I most certainly believe it...I roped a deer back in the 70's at a deer park in Minnesota. A friend of ours who owned the park had sold a couple of his does to another park and couldn't round up one of them to crate her up. He knew I team roped and called and said to bring my rope. To make a long story short, I positioned myself behind a large tree on a pathway between a pond and a fence. They processed to head her in my direction so she would have to come by the tree. Here she came at a fast trot and I gave a half swing and around the neck it went, suprised her, and needless to say, me too, and away we went. She really poured on the speed. All I could hear was "Hang on Sue, don't let go!" I hung on and went for the ride, being dragged quite a distance before three guys jumped on top of her and got her down to tie up her legs. I slowed her up enough they could get her down. She weighed no more than 80 pounds, but wow do they have strength! I have been dragged by horses and cattle, but not like that. Thank goodness no one had a video camera with audio...Never again! I prefer rifle or shotgun. Thanks for letting me share one of my adventures!

Sue
 
#6 ·
A guy I used to work with shot a doe and she wasn't dead when he went to check her. He decided to tie her to a tree and get his knife and cut her throat. I don't know why he didn't want to shoot her again, but in the process she got up and he said it turned out pretty bad. He got beat to hell, and his hunting coat was ripped completely off before it was all over. I was laughing too hard to remember what became of the doe.
 
#9 ·
I could go into detail about a time when I was helping pushing some domesticated bison into a shipping pen, but it would be too long. Lets just say that not all domesticated bison are domesticated.

My buddy found this out the hard way after he roped one big ole bull that didn't want to go into the pen. The only saving grace for the horse was that the saddles rigging was old and not as strong as it could have been.

I sat on my horse laughing to beat the band at what transpired over the next few minutes. Yes, we finally got the bull into the pen, but we went about it a little different way.

ss
 
#13 ·
Okay,

First you say you are a farmer then a rancher. Well, truth be know no farmer
or rancher would be this dumb to try and rope a deer. Let's see know,
was this a doe, a 14 point buck or something in between.

A real good story with lots of Bull Shit. I would rate your story up
there close with those of Senior Smoke and his buddy Luther.

Good laugh just the same, but you don't make the grade like
Senior Smoke.

Try againh,
 
#17 ·
I'm willing to bet that if this story isn't true, there's enough truth in it that it could be. I would imagine similar events have taken place many times across America's ranching country.

Sue, having dealt with a very large Charolais bull in my youth I understand how fast those huge animals can move. One has to see it to believe it.
 
#19 ·
Back home in NY on Fire Island all constructuion is performed in the Winter ,as no vehicles are allowed on the beach in summer,A young fellow from the mainland decided he could wrestle a deer down! He was a burly chap around 190lbs and in perfect condition a roofer by trade and not too famialr with wildlife. The rest of the story is predicable 135lb deer + 190lb roofer = aerial comedy!
 
#21 ·
I've seen that email before and it is a funny one. Never knew anyone who tried to rope a deer but I know a guy who rode on the front of a galaxy and roped a steer that was running down the middle of interstate 74 west of Danville Illinois one evening. He took a hell of a beating trying to get that steer to get off the highway. Told me he would never do that again so long as he lived. Dan
 
#23 ·
I roped my Mother's pet doe (mule deer) with the rope tied to my little red wagon. It sure was exciting for a couple of circles around the house. Then the now mad deer came after me, and on top of that my Mother came outside to see what the ruckus was. I got beat up by a deer and belt whipped in the same day. After that I limited my roping to the dog and milk cow's calf. AJ
 
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