How do you name the deer stands in your favorite hunting area? I delved into some official records of the Rip N’ Tear Hunt Club Manual to find out.
The aging and dusty manual is rarely referred to in our club except for matters of the utmost importance to keep the peace in the camp. Specifically, Section 2 – Determining Seniority In The Camp, seems to be quoted frequently. That is the part that says (in summary) that the young guns have to do dishes while the veteran members enjoy the camp stove and a hot cup of coffee.
Moving on to Section 5 of our camp’s paper relic is a portion entitled, Naming a Deer Watch. Once you get through the ‘pre’ and ‘post’ ambles, you can read,
A deer stand (or deer watch) can be named after one, or more, of the following instances:
-a humorous or unusual event that occurred at the forest location
-a unique geographical characteristic
-a member of the hunt club so long as an adjective or descriptive term follows the member’s name (ie. Bill’s Sleeping Hollow)
In order for the name to stick, all members must be made aware of the recommendation (and agree unanimously) at the next deer planning session before the next hunt or immediately preceding the day’s Bunk Watch.
Now, that you are caught up on some of the formalities of our deer stand naming conventions, what follows is a list of our deer watches indicating how the rules applied.
The Knob – the highest point in small hardwood section of forest that is beside a swamp on Dad’s lot. The previous property owner’s favorite watch. It is also home to a very comfortable Oak tree that can cause a hunter to sleep against during a sunny day.
Howie’s Choke – Where, Howie, came face to face with a monster buck at 10 yards (still debated) and missed. This watch is in the middle of 3 long evergreen trees that fell during a windstorm.
Dead Deer Flats – Named after an event where a deer tag was ‘filled’ by Wrangler who fired very few shots to accomplish this. It was so surprising that all of the other Rip N’ Tear members felt that Wrangler brought in a dead deer ahead of time and faked the shooting. Hence, the name. Geographically, this spot watches a flat stretch of an old logging road.
The Pulpit – a tree stump that looks like a pulpit and overlooks a large pond and hardwood section of bush on grandpa’s lot. Also, the location where I observed a bull moose jumping from shore into the water (and repeating the process) for 30 minutes during deer season.
The Back Watch - A spot on a ridge that overlooks and old logging road and hardwood section of forest. It is not far from the Pulpit and it got it’s name because of a tendency of deer to circle back around the hunter (walking through this section of forest). A deer pulling this maneuver would usually escape by the Back Watch.
Sweetie’s Hollow – Named after my brother-in-law who got sick while watching in this small hump along a trail that crosses a wet section of bush. We figured he got sick because he missed his sweetie (aka. wife).
There are more names and watches, but I would be interested in hearing the names of your deerstands and the story behind them. Please comment them below.
