Stunning Nine-Pointer Going Through a Barbed-Wire Fence
The Specimen
Free-standing White-Tailed Deer (Odoceileus virginianus), a stunning nine-pointer, with barbed wire fence, oak leaves, acorns and bones. Hide from Manitoba. Rack from North Dakota.
This stunning “nine-pointer” is a first-class example of the taxidermist’s art and an object illustration of the American Way of Life. Innocently wandering the woods, the buck seeks food. Beechnuts, the last of the browse, even tree bark will help him pack on nourishing fat, a safety buffer against the cold, hungry months ahead. Lovin’, too, is on his mind, for colder weather has triggered hormonal changes that tell him it’s time to make little Bambis, and the female deer of the area have the same idea. It’s all part of the circle of life, and to complete that circle, this buck – who is literally “horny” – will climb through barbed wire. Meanwhile, back in deer camp, a group of intrepid huntsmen sits around a table eating apple pie with cheddar cheese and drinking beer out of cans. Their fondest dream is to blast this totem of the wild with their high-powered rifles.
Symbolism
They may well see their dream come true, for, as we are reminded by the snow-frosted oak leaves that litter the ground around this magnificent creature, even the hardiest leaf must fall before the wintry blast. And if that isn’t enough to persuade you, take a look at the bone that lies by his right hind foot, a deer’s scapula, a shoulder bone, illustrating the common fate that awaits all mortals. And the inferior maxilla of a canid, species unknown, that lies by his right forefoot. And the fallen tree limb, once green and sap-filled, now leafless and spare, over which he steps, unknowing. The very woods are an ossuary through which we all wander obliviously, intent on satisfying the needs of life. But there’s no need to worry about that right now.
Historic Background
England
“It is a maxim of the common law that things in which no one can claim any property belong to the crown…this rule has been applied to wild animals, and in particular to deer…nor is there any method known to the law by which the public at large…can lawfully acquire the right to take wild animals….From the time of Richard II (1389) to 1831, no person might kill game unless qualified by estate or social standing, a qualification raised from a 40-shilling freehold in 1389 to an interest of 100 pounds a year, etc., etc.” – Encyclopaedia Brittanica, Eleventh Edition, 1910-1911, “Game Laws”
United States
“Hunting; fowling and fishing. The inhabitants of this State shall have liberty in seasonable times, to hunt and fowl on the lands they hold, and on other lands not inclosed, and in like manner to fish in all boatable and other waters (not private property) under proper regulations, to be made and provided by the General Assembly.” – Vermont Constitution, § 67.
fa.1812.1933.dr.br
