We've never felt it necessary to place those brightly colored "Posted" signs around our property. You know the ones - usually yellow, red or orange, they warn against trespassing or, horror of horrors, "poaching" (usually meaning deer). For one thing, I've never quite understood the idea that when deer wander into the borders of what the state considers "mine" they suddenly belong to me, but when they wander out again, they don't. Second, I've got nothing specific against hunting per se (just stupid and greedy hunting - the kind that happens too close to a house or without verification of the actual presence of the animal). Third, I know personally of families nearby whose winters would be long and dark indeed without the benefit of their summer gardens and fall kills. So I've always felt that if a responsible hunter saw a legal shot that happened to bring him or her onto my property that was fine.


You know where this is going, right? We put up the Posted signs yesterday in response to two separate and coincidental events. First, someone did take a shot, or more accurately prepared to take a shot, on our property that was neither responsible nor legal. Way too close to the house when I saw him, I yelled to get his attention and in the process jolted the deer out of its stupor and caused it to run. The guy was furious but, hey, he was standing a mere 400 feet or so from my front door with a gun. I'd say that I have more of a ground, so to speak, for anger.


Second, we learned that we may be held accountable for hunting accidents that occur on our land, even if we weren't involved or even knowledgeable about them. Like the proverbial robber who trips down your stairs or vandal who cuts himself while chopping down your tree, a hunter who is hurt on your property may quickly become even more of a problem.


I'm saddened by this development. Although not a hunter myself, I do enjoy eating venison and rabbit and appreciate the gifts of game given to me by hunter friends. I am also accutely aware of the impact that burgeoning deer populations are having on our environment - two of the does in the little herd that visits us each had two sets of twins this year, making four little fawns who have stripped away the bark and are killing the trees that serve as shelter for birds which help keep the insect population in check which...you get the idea (the Wall Street Journal had an excellent article earlier this week on this very subject). Two of the fawns look too skinny to make it through the winter and I wonder about them as the days get shorter and colder, and foliage is much harder to come by. No, overly restricting hunting would be just as damaging as unregulated hunting.


And yet. My little corner of the world has now become part of the problem.