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ViewpointBY PATRICK CARROLLMany years ago, while on a fishing trip in Pennsylvania, I was asked by one of the group -a member of the Pennsylvania Game Commission - if I would like to go deer hunting. It was June. Deer season, I was certain, didn’t open until fall.Maybe I didn’t hear him correctly. “What was that?” I asked.“Would you like to go deer hunting?”“No thanks, I’m not a deer hunter but I appreciate the invite.”I soon learned the invite was not to shoot deer, but to look for them grazing in roadside fields around dusk and then, as darkness settled in, with spotlights. “It’s a family pastime. Everyone enjoys seeing deer and families compete with one another. ... Who saw the most deer in a given period of time? And the Game Commission allows and promotes this activity.”That evening we went “deer hunting” and I soon realized itwas, indeed, a venture enjoyed by area families. We observed dozens of vehicles stopped along the way with kids perched on the hood or roof spotting grazing deer in nearby fields. We also saw an unbelievable number of deer — mostly does and fawns as the bucks, according to the commissioner, usually didn’t make themselves too visible. “Where do all these deer go during daylight hours?”“Oh, they move back into the woods and do their browsing and resting under the cover of heavy brush — but they’re out there!” It was an interesting trip and over the years it was easy to understand why the state of Pennsylvania ranks high with deer hunters.One evening, about a month ago, while returning from Danbury and driving down through Greenfield Hill, my wife Milli-cent pointed to the side of the road: “Look at the deer.” I immediately thought of Pennsylvania and wondered if an eveningFairfield Minuteman September 26, 2002 A13Going deer hunting in Fairfield“deer hunting” trip throughout Greenfield Hill might not bring about the same results. A few evenings later Mill, great-grandson Aidan and I left our home about an hour before sunset. Within the next hour we saw 18 deer. Subsequent trips put evening counts as high as 24. On an evening when Aidan was with his mom and grandmother, they observed a herd of 14, two of which were fawns and one big buck. Aidan told the story: “There were a lot of deer, two fawns and a big buck that ran away and jumped over a fence when we got out of the car.” Some deer we’ve seen have been within arm’s length of the car, show no fear nor make any effort to move away. The trips have taken us past horses, turkeys, rabbits, groundhogs and most recently, a big black and white skunk!Interested? Start out a short time before sunset. This is the route we generally follow: west on Cedar Road to MorehouseLane; right on Morehouse to a right on Hulls Farm Road; left on Redding Road to a left on Merwins Lane. If the kids like horses they can be seen on Merwins Lane, both south and north of Cross Highway. Continue on Merwins Lane across Cross Highway to a right at Catamount Road. It was in a field on the south side of Catamount Road that Aidan saw “lots of deer.” Take a right off Catamount onto Banks North Road to Cross Highway. We usually make our way home by going south on Redding, cutting across Old Academy Road to Mine Hill Road, down to Duck Farm Road and home. There are deer all along the way. Move along slowly and be alert for animals grazing in open fields. While this is where we have made most of our observations, we have had does with fawns walk across the road in front of the car or have seen them grazing on the edge of the road.One wonders what the deerpopulation is in Fairfield proper, let alone Fairfield County or the state of Connecticut. To see as many as 24 deer in the course of an hour and within a two- or three-square mile area begs the question — I wonder how many there were that we did not see. As stated earlier, 1 am not a deer hunter in the true sense of the word but do believe an overall deer management program is a must if damage to crops, trees, shrubs and plants is to be minimized in the future. Most importantly, the risk of Lyme Disease would be lessened.As we move into the fall months, if the kids finish their homework early some evening and become a little restless, load up the car, head for Greenfield Hill and go “deer hunting.”Pat Carroll, retired captain of the Fairfield Police Department, where he was head of the Detective Bureau, is harbormaster of Southport Harbor.
Newspaper Details
Fairfield Minuteman
Fairfield, Connecticut, US
Thu, Sep 26, 2002
Page 13
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USA 26 Nov 2024
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