Deer season starts with a bang

MORAN — Mitch Bolling didn’t have much time to talk Wednesday morning, but he was more than willing to listen.
As scores of hunters took advantage of the start of firearm deer hunting season, Bolling set up shop at Moran Locker.
Sure enough, the first wave of hunters and their harvest started arriving not long after sunrise.
“It’s almost like a holiday,” one hunter told Bolling.
The pace was steady throughout the morning as the tagged animals were brought in for processing.
“It probably takes me eight to 10 minutes to skin one — without interruption,” Bolling said.
But there were plenty of interruptions, as hunters arrived with their animals.
Marlin Danford and Derrick Mathews were two such hunters, both of whom bagged their animals shortly after sunrise.
Danford shot a doe from about 25 yards; Mathews a buck from closer to 100 yards.
The buck was an older animal, Danford concluded, by looking at the worn antlers and lack of teeth in the animal’s mouth.
“The rack wasn’t that big, but he was still a big buck,” Danford said. “We aren’t worried about that part. We just want the food.”
Jason Hawley of rural Humboldt got plenty of food on the 11-point buck he shot shortly after sunrise.
He recounted seeing the animal moving around well before sunrise, likely because of the light of the setting full moon.
“He walked right up to me,” Hawley said. “I wasn’t sure he was going to stop.”
Finally the animal did, about 25 yards away from Hawley in his stand. The animal was felled seconds later from a single shot.
“That’s the biggest buck I’ve ever caught,” Hawley said.
He plans to have the head mounted.
“My wife told me I could have one mounted,” Hawley said, noting he filled that quota years ago. “But I called her this morning and told her we’d have to get rid of the old one because this one’s taking its place.”
As more hunters gathered at the Moran Locker back door, Bolling worked steadily indoors, skinning the animals quickly and efficiently.
“I like it when it’s steady, but not too busy,” Bolling said.
While opening day invariably brings in a rush of hunters who capture their game early on, Bolling figures the pace will wane slightly until Saturday.
“That should be our busy day,” he said. “I don’t know if the warm temperatures will affect anything. It was warm last winter, too, and we were still plenty busy.”
Sharon Bolling, Mitch’s wife, estimated more than 30 deer were processed at the locker Wednesday, enough to keep her and her husband busy for more than 13 1/2 consecutive hours with barely enough time for a break.
“Next week may slow down because a lot of kids have preseason basketball tournaments,” she said.
Both Hawley and Danford noted the deer population remains healthy in and around Allen County.
“We saw several on our way into town,” Hawley said.
Hunting season remains a valuable means of thinning the deer herd, thus limiting the chances of the animals damaging crops, or even worse, causing a traffic accident.