What county? I figure many counties had zero deer in 1965
It was in Perry county, and I was hunting with a community group called Cahaba/Okmulgee something or other. They didn't call it a hunting club, but it sort of functioned like one. Anyone in the community who wanted to go could be a member, and I don't think it cost anything. Various landowners took turns organizing the hunts, and
we all met at the local store early Saturday morning to draw stands. People would be scattered out over several miles and multiple packs of dogs would be set loose in different directions. You stayed on your stand all morning. Even at age 10, I was put on a stand by myself and knew dang well that I had better not leave the stand until they picked me up.
The importance of not leaving your stand was so drilled into me that I dared not take a step away from my stand. On one hunt I drew a stand on the bank of the Cahaba river, and there was only one other stander below me and he was 400 yds away. The dogs on the other side of the river ran a nice 7 pt into the river right across from me, but the current carried him downstream maybe 75 yds before he climbed out on my side. I could have easily ran down the bank and been right at him when he climbed out, but I was afraid to move. The stander below me didn't even see the deer, but he saw the dogs when they swam the river after him. Another stander eventually killed the deer over a mile away.
Then when I told the story, everybody gave me a hard time for not running down the bank and shooting him. It all left me confused as to the rules, and made me develop a dislike for organized hunts with a bunch of rules.
Those community hunts existed for only a few years. As deer became more plentiful, the landowners started leasing their lands and if you wanted to hunt you had to pay. Those first years were a unique time that we will never see again.
