The Many ‘Names’ of Hunting

Where are y’all going hunting at tonight? I’m going to “Hole in the Fence.” Haha, my favorite hunting blind is “Hole in the Fence.” That got me to thinking, how in the world do places we hunt at get “names,” as we tend to assign them? Well, kind of just like that favorite rifle that you have, or your car maybe! The best part is that these names mean as much and contribute to the hunt, just as the animals taken there. The same can be said for the deer at the property you hunt as well.

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Then after I met my husband I realized his family was no different, and had names for every blind as well. They have “The Oat’s Patch,” “The Long Field,” “Spring Draw,” “Hole in the Fence,” “Iron Stand,” “Crow’s Nest,” “Red Roof,” “The Rattle Box,” “Walter’s Point,” “The Ball Park,” “The Pipeline,” “The Car Body,” “Big Billy’s,” “Little Billy’s,” “The Hog Trap,” “The Windmill,” and “The Goat Shed.” Wow, we weren’t the only crazy hunting family that named everything!

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Then after getting to know their family land better, along with the stands and hunting habits, I became familiar with the deer around their pasture, just as at Oma’s. We still to this day name our pets, or so we call them, that come to the house for scraps of whatever we throw out, as well as our “Pet” feeder full of corn. Our favorite old doe, she’d been here for years, was “Mama.” Her buck fawn that I became real familiar with, and somewhat tamed, was “Nubby,” who grew to be a 4 year old 8 that our hunters shot at “The Oats Patch,” not knowing who he was. Then the next two to receive a name, named of course by our 4 year old son at the time, were “Snaky,” and “Dude,” (no clues as to why Snaky and Dude lol!) My in-laws’ doe that everyone, including our hunters, was aware of, and not to be shot, was “Tripod.” She was named after the obvious, she only had 3 legs after losing one in a fence. She lived around their house and had many fawns of her own, such as “Quatro,” until about 2 years ago, when she died of ancient age. (His was simple, he was the four-legged baby of the three-legged doe lol!) Then there was “Stickers,” the big buck that several of us were hunting for a couple years, until one of our hunters was lucky enough to get him. He had extra little points coming from a couple tines that earned him his name. Then there’s “Piebald,” “The Big 6,” the large cull that none of us can ever seem to harvest, but we’ve all been after, and “The Double Drop.” The list goes on and on!

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The best part about names is that when we talk and share our hunting stories every time we come in from a hunt, we all know who saw which deer, and where everyone is/was hunting. Sometimes the names are descriptive enough that everyone knows who not to shoot, or who to watch for. Most of all, it really personalizes hunting, and creates more great memories for years to come, and great stories to share. It is a kind of history timeline of sorts too, telling who began hunting a known spot, or who was shot where. You should try it if you haven’t already, because it’s a lot of fun for everyone. Send us some names of your craziest hunting spots, and why they’re named what they are! I bet there are some awesome stories and names out there!

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Jody