DEER [GUTS] SEASON IN ARKANSAS

I am not a hunter. Never have been. My Dad liked to hunt. It's one of those things I never picked up from him -- the desire to kill something for ... "sport".

Deer hunting season in Arkansas started this past weekend I believe. Again, not being a hunter, I was not following "opening day". I'll have to check with my friend Kenny. He's a big time hunter & can get me up-to-date.

I read where 300,000 deer hunters would be in the "deer woods" -- that's what they call it in Arkansas -- for the opening day. Deer hunting is a big deal here. Some school districts in the state close so the students can get in those ... ah ... "deer woods". Bag a big one, boys & girls.

There are several ways I know the main deer hunting season has arrived:
1] The newspaper starts publishing pictures of hunters & their kill.
2] Articles appear in the same paper, of hunters themselves shot -- & many times killed -- while in those "deer woods". It can't be preached enough -- hunting skills & gun safety.
3] Locally ... the deer carcases start to show up.

I have commented previously about the habits of people in Arkansas to dispose of their trash on the side of the road. It's the spoiling of the "Natural State".

In deer hunting season, the roadside trash includes deer remains. The meat has been harvested, so the left over "parts" need to be disposed of. In Arkansas, many times that means thrown on the side of the road.

A favorite disposal site locally is the creek to the East of here. Toss the deer remains in the water & let someone else -- MOTHER NATURE ?? -- deal with it.

This morning, while doing my daily jog, I came upon the first -- of many ?? -- deer remains for this hunting season. This one was unique -- the butcher paper used while cutting up the deer was thrown in the creek along with the guts. [Sorry. I can't think of a better word for the bloody innards. How about -- "internal organs" ?? The messy stuff.] I guess if this hunter didn't want to take time to properly dispose of the deer remains, well, getting rid of the paper was just as much a "problem". [Toss it out too -- No Problem.]

Later I rode my bike to the bridge to take the photos which appear here. It was then I noticed it appears when unloading the deer remains from the truck or trunk, the process of disposal must have resulted in a ... "slip". Some left over guts remained on the bridge & blood stains were prevalent. The impression is there must have been some difficulty in getting the carcass over the side of the bridge.

Maybe a car was coming down the road & the "disposer" had to hurry with the "disposee" before being discovered as the polluter. They sure didn't take time to clean up the mess on the bridge. Probably just a "toss & run".

I am sure there will be more deer remains in the creek as the hunting season goes on. Like the hunting itself, the disposal of the left over deer is handled as so much other trash in the Natural State -- TOSS IT.