thedrifter
11-25-08, 08:09 AM
November 25, 2008
Outside the news: Menasha man prefers to 'shoot' deer with video
By Steve Wideman
Post-Crescent staff writer
DALE — Maple leaves of nylon and polyester pine needles cover Dave Reischl from head to foot as wisps of frozen breath give the only hint a man stands among deer in the swamp.
Peering out the rabbit fur-lined hood of his camouflaged hunting suit, Reischl's probing eyes, honed during a tour in Vietnam with the Marines to detect the slightest movements in the brush, watch for telltale signs of whitetail deer.
It's opening day of the 2008 gun deer season and, save for a blaze- orange colored vest and hat which color blind deer can't detect, Reischl, of Menasha, is hard to see as he sits in the crotch of a tree whose main trunk splits near the ground.
"Deer are animals that amaze me. There's just something about them," said Reischl as the sound of a shotgun blast rolls through government-owned woods near the Rat River Wildlife Area south of Dale.
Each opening day of the annual gun deer season Reischl goes where few deer hunters desire — to Wisconsin's overcrowded public hunting grounds, and rarely leaves without "shooting" at least one deer.
"I don't own any land, but there are hundreds of deer out here," he said.
As the shotgun discharge dissipates in the nearby woods and hills, Reischl turns toward the source of the sound, anticipating the appearance of an escaping deer.
He reaches to his side and readies his weapon of choice, a camcorder whose flip-out monitor temporarily refuses to work in the below-freezing temperatures.
"I don't gun hunt for deer, I just bow hunt for them," Reischl said. "But sometimes you can't get that shot with a bow. You can, though, get the shot with a camera."
Reischl films deer in their natural habitat from January through September, until the start of the bow season.
"I mostly enjoy filming deer. I don't really need to kill the animals. I'm not a rack hunter, but I do like to put deer meat on the table," he said.
Reischl also packs a 35mm camera with a telephoto lens nearly as long as his arm, to record the peculiarities of whitetail behavior.
"It's just a hobby. I try to get as much as possible on film. I don't sell my pictures," he said.
Reischl's devotion to his hobby has resulted in some memorable moments, like the time two bucks reared up on hind legs before crashing their velvet-covered antlers together in combat.
"I had never seen anything like that," Reischl said. "Back in July, I spotted a doe with rare triplet fawns. I was lucky enough to get them on camera when they were all together."
On this 2008 opening Reischl isn't focusing entirely on deer.
His 24-year-old son, Kraig, is a few feet away with eyes set toward a clearing filled with marsh hay. Kraig hopes to bag his first deer.
"I really want to get that on film," the elder Reischl said.
Kraig Reischl appreciates not only the fact his father loves to capture deer in pictures, "but it's one less gun in the woods."
"I least I don't have to worry about him shooting me with a gun," Kraig Reischl says tongue-in-cheek.
Ellie
Outside the news: Menasha man prefers to 'shoot' deer with video
By Steve Wideman
Post-Crescent staff writer
DALE — Maple leaves of nylon and polyester pine needles cover Dave Reischl from head to foot as wisps of frozen breath give the only hint a man stands among deer in the swamp.
Peering out the rabbit fur-lined hood of his camouflaged hunting suit, Reischl's probing eyes, honed during a tour in Vietnam with the Marines to detect the slightest movements in the brush, watch for telltale signs of whitetail deer.
It's opening day of the 2008 gun deer season and, save for a blaze- orange colored vest and hat which color blind deer can't detect, Reischl, of Menasha, is hard to see as he sits in the crotch of a tree whose main trunk splits near the ground.
"Deer are animals that amaze me. There's just something about them," said Reischl as the sound of a shotgun blast rolls through government-owned woods near the Rat River Wildlife Area south of Dale.
Each opening day of the annual gun deer season Reischl goes where few deer hunters desire — to Wisconsin's overcrowded public hunting grounds, and rarely leaves without "shooting" at least one deer.
"I don't own any land, but there are hundreds of deer out here," he said.
As the shotgun discharge dissipates in the nearby woods and hills, Reischl turns toward the source of the sound, anticipating the appearance of an escaping deer.
He reaches to his side and readies his weapon of choice, a camcorder whose flip-out monitor temporarily refuses to work in the below-freezing temperatures.
"I don't gun hunt for deer, I just bow hunt for them," Reischl said. "But sometimes you can't get that shot with a bow. You can, though, get the shot with a camera."
Reischl films deer in their natural habitat from January through September, until the start of the bow season.
"I mostly enjoy filming deer. I don't really need to kill the animals. I'm not a rack hunter, but I do like to put deer meat on the table," he said.
Reischl also packs a 35mm camera with a telephoto lens nearly as long as his arm, to record the peculiarities of whitetail behavior.
"It's just a hobby. I try to get as much as possible on film. I don't sell my pictures," he said.
Reischl's devotion to his hobby has resulted in some memorable moments, like the time two bucks reared up on hind legs before crashing their velvet-covered antlers together in combat.
"I had never seen anything like that," Reischl said. "Back in July, I spotted a doe with rare triplet fawns. I was lucky enough to get them on camera when they were all together."
On this 2008 opening Reischl isn't focusing entirely on deer.
His 24-year-old son, Kraig, is a few feet away with eyes set toward a clearing filled with marsh hay. Kraig hopes to bag his first deer.
"I really want to get that on film," the elder Reischl said.
Kraig Reischl appreciates not only the fact his father loves to capture deer in pictures, "but it's one less gun in the woods."
"I least I don't have to worry about him shooting me with a gun," Kraig Reischl says tongue-in-cheek.
Ellie