DUKE’S DEER STICK

Back when it was common knowledge that when you shot a doe, you most likely were killing three deer — and thus the shooting of does would wipe out the deer herd — my brother and I were young pups in a hunting gang of older guys, longtime deer hunters in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

We caught a lot of good-natured BS of course, kept our mouths shut most of the time, didn’t expect to sit in on evening penny-ante poker until invited, and had fun.

We listened to hunting yarns of bygone seasons, of tents with holes so large a guy could lie in bed and count stars, of straw ticks instead of mattresses and of tarpaper shacks instead of cabins … of practical jokes that sometimes became a bit violent, such as tying a guy’s foot