here he is when he was about my age.......killing stuff (Bavaria).

The evergreen sprigs are the "last bite".....a traditional Bavarian gesture of respect for the quarry.

A fading tradition. It's hard to even find the old style 'hunter clock' cuckoo clock with the hanging hare and pheasant carvings.

Did he take that yearling buck with a BB gun?

Your slide work yielded some great photos!

Not a yearling but a Reh buck (Rehbock). A small deer native to Germany. Before Schroeder and the reunification of Germany screwed up the forestry service there, wildlife populations and herd culling were highly controlled through hunting. The forestry service chiefs for the area typically were required to be on the hunt and they actually told you which specific deer to shoot. Unusual racks on Rehbock and Hirsch (small German Elk) were highly prized and thus the best breeding stock was preserved.

Today, most of the deer have disappeared and wild boar are overrunning farmlands and destroying crops. Yet the government makes owning firearms so expensive that few Germans can afford to hunt. A policeman with over 30 years on the job will typically be denied a pistol permit because his career field is considered by the bureaucrats to be too prone to violence.

Considering your Dad's hair length, he wasn't military so I'm guessing he was German?

#3.......it's hard for me to say if this buck is a yearling or not. I'd GUESS 2-3 years old, but antler size depends on more things than age.

Anyway.....in this type of hunting, trophy bucks (older) are often passed up in favor of taking young bucks to thin the herd. A lot of factors figure into the selection; and generally the hunter is instructed as to what buck or bucks he is permitted to kill. It gets pretty complicated, as the hunter responsible for the game on the land has to balance conservation, encroachment of humans, and politics (making sure there are trophies available for important people).

I thought that this sounded nutty when it was explained to me, until I got the opportunity to hunt Roe deer several years ago.

The "master hunter" told me which tree to climb, where the deer would present, which bucks would be there, and which ones I was allowed to shoot.

It went down just as he said and I shot the "correct" deer. It would have been bad if I had overstepped my bounds.

I also hunted on another "reserve" where the hunter (a very good family friend) told me that I could shoot any buck I saw. I lucked into a pretty good one that day.

Another interesting facet of this hunting culture is that the most highly prized buck is the old decrepit one........with short mangled antlers. If you are lucky enough to shoot one, you will receive congratulations from the fellow hunters (even though it will look like **** on your wall).

#6.......not German, not military.

A lot of what he did in Germany (and frequent trips to Iran) is still classified I think.

^ Andy, not trying to pry, but at what age did you become aware of your dad's work?

Did he bag any young mullahs with outrageous headgear?

Chief......I dunno.......maybe around 16-17yo.

Pie........I thought you had to be an old man to be a Mullah.

O.K, 'nuff said

#7 We get plenty of road deer around here. Saw a couple on the way home last night. If you get to them before the highway dept. scoops them up, I'd bet you could fill the back of your pickup some nights. C'mon over, help yourself.

Great pic and thread

Wow,he has a marijuana leaf in his hat. How kool is that? X