Deer Fishing
Last Saturday morning, my buddy Bo Warren and I were trolling for
stripers in the Chesapeake Bay. We were 1 mile offshore in about 80
feet of water contemplating why the fish weren't biting. We looked
back to check our gear and saw something odd in the water. Was it a
seal?? Can't be, we don't have seals around here. On closer look, it
turned out to be a buck deer that was WAY off course He was desperate
and barely staying afloat.
I've seen deer swim a river or bayou before. When you see that, the
first thing you notice is that they are powerful swimmers. Their head
and shoulders are out of the water and they make surprisingly good
headway. This critter was just keeping his nose up and looked like
he'd been swimming all night long. In fact, he was so warn out that
he swam toward the boat probably thinking it looked enough like land
to him. When he got closer though, he wasn't sure what to make of the
two dudes on board, and backed off.
So, since the fish weren't biting, we thought we'd give this buck a
hand.
Turns out Bo grew up around cows and was really handy with a bowline.
He lassoed the deer on the first try! Bo grabbed his neck, I grabbed
the flank, and we barreled over backwards into the boat. Before I
knew it, Bo was on top of him and had him tied up just like a calf.
We hit the throttle and shuttled him to the closest beach - Kent
Point. I beached the boat and we carefully unloaded the deer onto the
sand. The whole time we kept thinking he was going to kick the snot
out of us. He never did though; he was totally spent. We untied him
and jumped back. Too weak to stand, he just sat there quivering. We
even picked him up again and put his feet underneath him, but he still
couldn't walk. Don't know if he made it or not, but I think his
chances were vastly im proved. Hopefully he recovered after time. When
you're out & about, ya just never know..
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