Hunting for deer antlers...

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Holly told me she was going for a walk around the block and asked if I’d like to join her. I’d been out to grab the paper already and knew that the sidewalks were still under ten inches of snow and on drives done by snow plows, the sidewalk was blocked by about four feet of snow. I didn’t want to discourage her, but I thought it best to give her the lowdown. “Um…you’ll have snow up to your hips in places where people cheated and hired a snow plow instead of doing the manly thing…and shoveling…like me.”

“Well…I’m going to walk anyway. You said it would be a better workout to walk in deep snow, but if its too much for you…I’ll go alone,” she said.

So I put on my boots and we headed out the door. When we reached our third driveway where the sidewalk was blocked with more like six feet of snow, we decided that parts of the walk would be in the only clean surface…the road. In less than 10 minutes Holly was saying she was overdressed…something that freeze baby never says. “You were right about this being a great workout,” she said. If I’d have had a recorder, I’d have taped those words…and played them for John. It took us almost exactly twice as long to complete our your normal walk and we were both sweating pretty heavily…okay…Holly was glowing…I was sweating.

I’d read a story in the PD that morning about deer shedding their antlers and decided that for the afternoon workout, I’d return to the Metropark and scour the back woods looking for some. Dakota was up for the trip, but once we got there and headed off-trail, her progress was derailed by a foot of snow. We spent the next 90 minutes sliding down into ravines and going places I haven’t been before in quest of antlers. I went to the area where I knew between 20-30 deer were bedding down each night, but saw no tracks as I approached the area and wondered if the culling that had been going on over the last couple of days had changed their patterns. I moved over a ridge and found the spot where it appeared they’d moved. Still….12 inches of snow is not the best time to look for heavy things that fall on the ground and any antlers were probably covered. As a ‘Leave No Trace’ educator, I know that you should leave it where you find it. Antlers are rich in calcium and excellent nutrition for the chipmunks, mice and other little creatures running around on the forest floor. Maybe I’ll just pick them up and look them over and take a couple of pictures…if I find any.

We made our way down to and around the marsh, walking about 4 miles and managing a great workout with the snow so deep. I returned home thinking if I rode that would be okay…but there would be no guilt if I didn’t.

Hike duration: 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 650.