The one thing most people know about Smut Eye and the surrounding areas of Bullock County is that the hunting is top notch. People have been coming here for over 100 years, just to hunt Bullock County wildlife. Needless to say, hunting has always been present in my life. I have heard many a story about the old days of hunting, where turkeys where the big game. I can also recall days of shaking squirrel's nests to get them moving. But one of my favorite memories of hunting involves a large group of people and what we call a "deer drive." I had heard the story of my parents and their good friends and neighbors, the Elliotts, going hunting as young couples. My dad and Uncle Mike would be posted at two points on a designated trail, while my mom and Aunt Maryann would be the "dogs" and make noise to move any game along the trail. We would laugh and laugh over Uncle Mike acting out the job the ladies did as "dogs." You see, good hunting dogs were expensive and took special care and time that we didn't have, so they made do.
The day my dad told me they were putting together another drive that spanned a mile or so across neighbors' property lines and involving those neighbors, I was in. I had no desire to kill a deer, I hated watching them cleaning deer, but I had to be involved in the "drive" to experience it first hand.
So here's how it went down. We all met, about 5 groups of two, including Uncle Mike, of course. We went over the trail and the rules. There were a few rules I had already picked up on that were not verbalized:
1. You do not want idiots hunting on a drive with you. Idiots might forget there's someone on the other side of the trail and end up shooting someone.
2. Don't be an idiot yourself and forget there's someone on the other side of the trail, and shoot someone.
The other rules where things like where we were to place ourselves, how long we were to stay on the trail, and how long after Uncle Mike (aka the dog) passed by before we were to shoot at anything.
The day began with excitement over this less stationary way of hunting-I hated sitting completely still in a deer stand. Throughout the hunt, we all listened eagerly for Uncle Mike's yelps and then attentively for any shots that might follow. I think maybe one person got a shot at a deer, but I cannot remember if they actually killed anything. What I do remember is the camaraderie that I felt as we worked as a team hunting and the wonder at how a drive worked as I watched it unfold.
To this day it is still my favorite form of hunting, mainly because you can be doing something without killing a deer and still participate. May sound dweeby, but it was my kind of hunting, focusing on people and fun, and not so much the big kill, although that would have been nice too! Oh, and the next time you really wish you had a hunting dog, you may want to think outside the box-just be careful and make sure you don't take any idiots with you!
