TRURO - For three-and-a-half hours, brothers Craig and Lee Yuill watched a buck and waited until it was light enough for general deer hunting season to start yesterday.
Shortly after 7 a.m., Lee, 30, had his nine-point buck.
"I'm done now," said Lee, who has been hunting regularly for the past five years. "I'll be running the binoculars from now on."
Deer season began at daylight Friday and ends on Dec. 1. The season has been open to bow hunters since Sept. 29 and ends Dec. 8. In the province, more than 87,000 men, women and youth have provincial wildlife resources cards and are eligible to hunt. Last year, 39,322 hunting licenses were sold in Nova Scotia.
"It's really peaceful," said Lee, about spending time in the woods and waiting for a deer to come into sight.
"It's relaxing and quiet, and gives us lots of time to think and catch up," added 29-year-old Craig. "Lee was away for two months working and just got back on Wednesday."
The two men went to a family camp in Old Barns Thursday night just after suppertime. The camp is elevated in the woods, and is insulated and heated.
The brothers first saw the buck at about 3:45 a.m., but couldn't shoot at it until daylight. They didn't realize just how big the buck was until after it was shot. The buck, they estimate, weighs at least 200 pounds.
"When a deer comes into your sight, your adrenaline starts pumping for sure," said Craig, a hunter for about two years now.
"We'll keep the deer meat for ourselves and give some of it to our cousin who owns the land. We'll also make our own jerky and pepperoni."
At Hunt Outdoors in Truro, manager Greg Hunt said the morning's business was slow, however, they did have three other customers drop by and another three call to let the staff know they got their deer as well.
"We wanted to be a registry station, but we aren't this year, but we're still close to our customers," said Hunt. "When they come in, they like to talk to us for sometimes an hour."
While business may have been slow Friday morning, it was brisk in the days leading up to opening day.
"Late (Thursday) night and even the day was very steady. A lot of people were looking for ammunition. That was the biggest seller, but they were definitely looking for feed such as apples, and lures, as well as scopes," he said, adding the staff mounted about 10 or 12 scopes on customers' guns.
Hunt said the weather is a deer hunter's biggest concern.
"Every one of our customers this week has talked about the weather. It's been mild and deer aren't moving around as much in mild weather," he said.
Hunters with a valid license and deer stamp may harvest one deer of either gender in zones 107, 105, and 102. Zone 107 includes parts of Colchester, Hants, Pictou and Halifax counties.
A limited number of antlerless deer may be taken in the remaining mainland zones.
rtetanish@trurodaily.com
Deer harvest numbers for Colchester County
2002: 1,173
2003: 704
2004: 859
2005: 799
2006:1,143
2007: 1,126
2008: 1,454
2009: 963
2010: 1,087
2011: 1,114
Total deer harvested in Nova Scotia in 2011
Antlerless deer kill reported: 3,575
"Buck" kill reported: 5,484
Total Reported: 9,059
Colchester had the second highest harvest numbers in the province in 2011, with Lunenburg the only county having more.
*Source: Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources
