I didn’t think I was going to get to do this but as it turned out I did. Spotlighting is another population study done by ODFW. In this case it’s a study of Black Tail deer and it’s accomplished at night just like it sounds, by driving down the road and looking for deer with a spotlight. After my medical procedure I just didn’t think I would be able to do this, so I took myself off the schedule. But then just last week, very late in the schedule Doug asked if I’d like to go with him. I’ve been working for and with Doug during our stay here and he is a very nice guy. So me being a little better than I was, and being very comfortable with Doug, I thought I could make a go of it. The worst part would be bathroom breaks because I still can’t hold my water very well, and getting in and out of the truck. They have some big pick-ups here. The kind I need a ladder to get into and a parachute to get out of. Doug assured me I could do it and anyway we’d be in the woods in the dark where there was no shortage of restrooms. So I bought some junk food and we were off.
We were to work an area out of Willamina and Sheridan west of Salem in the foothills of the coast range. My instructions were to open the window, hold the spotlight out and look for deer. A real tough gig! So after turning the light on inside the pick-up and blinding both myself and Doug, then shining the light through the closed window and blinding us again, I kind of got the hang of it. Only to find out I forgot my gloves. And it is cold with your arm out the window in the rain and wind in the foothills of the coast range in late November. But I did remember the junk food! Got to keep your priorities in order, and Doug had some gloves. So we drove around the country side, up and down some roads I wouldn’t even take during the day, looking for deer. Doug said I couldn’t count the ones with lights and shiny red noses. They were too easy, but there were some of those. There were two other spotlighting rigs out that night and Doug kept in touch via radio. I didn’t ask but assumed it’s kind of a safety thing even though we were a considerable distance apart. So we looked while Doug drove and I recorded the results. I believe that our count at the end of the night, maybe 2 hours of real looking, was 53. That was broken down by fawns, does, and bucks. As with the Bear Baiting study, I suppose these numbers are worked and massaged by the experts wearing white coats in headquarters and decisions are then made as to the health and population of the herds. Based on what I saw they won’t be shutting down any hunts. There are many nice looking deer out there and it was good to take part again.
We lost in the deer count though. And Doug always wins in getting the largest count of deer. This night he was a little handicapped. Me! The count was real close, but I guess we just had to stop a few too many times to pee and climb in and out of that big pick-up. Doug took it in stride and I still had a good time. It was another thing, on my list of things, that I never thought would be on my list of things, that now, I have done. Ain’t it Grand!!!!
We were to work an area out of Willamina and Sheridan west of Salem in the foothills of the coast range. My instructions were to open the window, hold the spotlight out and look for deer. A real tough gig! So after turning the light on inside the pick-up and blinding both myself and Doug, then shining the light through the closed window and blinding us again, I kind of got the hang of it. Only to find out I forgot my gloves. And it is cold with your arm out the window in the rain and wind in the foothills of the coast range in late November. But I did remember the junk food! Got to keep your priorities in order, and Doug had some gloves. So we drove around the country side, up and down some roads I wouldn’t even take during the day, looking for deer. Doug said I couldn’t count the ones with lights and shiny red noses. They were too easy, but there were some of those. There were two other spotlighting rigs out that night and Doug kept in touch via radio. I didn’t ask but assumed it’s kind of a safety thing even though we were a considerable distance apart. So we looked while Doug drove and I recorded the results. I believe that our count at the end of the night, maybe 2 hours of real looking, was 53. That was broken down by fawns, does, and bucks. As with the Bear Baiting study, I suppose these numbers are worked and massaged by the experts wearing white coats in headquarters and decisions are then made as to the health and population of the herds. Based on what I saw they won’t be shutting down any hunts. There are many nice looking deer out there and it was good to take part again.
We lost in the deer count though. And Doug always wins in getting the largest count of deer. This night he was a little handicapped. Me! The count was real close, but I guess we just had to stop a few too many times to pee and climb in and out of that big pick-up. Doug took it in stride and I still had a good time. It was another thing, on my list of things, that I never thought would be on my list of things, that now, I have done. Ain’t it Grand!!!!
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