It was about 4:45 p.m. and I could hear the deer finally making their way in, and they were getting close. What was probably a sure thing was ruined when I heard a vehicle coming down the forest road and could see headlights thru the trees. The deer stopped and never resumed their progress. THANKS RANGER RICK!!

Anyway, I climbed down and headed to the forest road where I left my mountain bike. My headlamp hit the bike’s reflectors and I also noticed two eyes reflecting back to me. I wasn’t sure what it was until I got closer and it started whimpering. It was a hunting beagle, and she was basically clinging to my bike. I got on my knees and called her to me. As soon as she made contact with my hand, she was all over me, making whimpering sounds and licking my face. She was sure glad to see someone! I am not sure how old she was, but she seemed young and not quite full-grown. Her fur was very soft.

I peddled back to the car slowly and she kept right with me, but she was whimpering alogn the way as if to tell me she was tired and she should be riding on my lap. With a muzzleloader across my chest and a treestand on my back, that wasn’t going to happen! We made it back to the car, and I tossed her inside while I put my gear away, I gave her some water and then we headed home. She was so tired she fell asleep on the 20 minute drive back!

I introduced her to my dog and my kids, and then I locked her in the bathroom while I called the owner (I would have let her run around the house except she was LOADED with ticks, several of which were huge). He was very casual about it (referred to her as a puppy, so my suspicion as to her being very young was probably right), and we agreed on a place to meet. Maybe it wasn’t my place, but when I handed her over to him, I told him he needed to take better care of her. He asked why, and I said that I didn’t think he looked very hard for her (I found her not long after getting down from the tree), and that she had huge ticks on her (indicating negligence to me since they were so obvious and nobody had bothered to pull them off). He said that he and his two brothers looked “all over” for her. I say horse hockey, and here’s why:

1) It was not long after sundown that I found her
2) She was right on one of the forest roads
3) She was clinging to the first thing she found that had anything to do with humans
4) I never heard anyone calling for any dogs, and you can hear a pin drop when the woods are quiet
5) I checked all the parking areas while driving out and no-one was still parked at any of them

I have never been a fan of deer hunting with dogs, mostly because I think it is highly invasive and forces that type of hunting on all hunters in the woods (on public land…private?...have at it!!). But now I have another reason not to like it. I just don’t like the idea of dogs being left behind overnight in the woods, especially when the temps drop so low at night. I assume that she is kept in a kennel outside anyway, but I would hope that she would have some type of cedar filled doghouse or shelter to sleep in.

I didn’t feel good about giving the dog back, but I wouldn’t have felt right about keeping her either.