Guest Blogger: Rick Kratzke of Whitetail Woods

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I recently invited Rick Kratzke of Whitetail Woods to write a piece for The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles. Rick is a deer hunting enthusiast from Connecticut. When he's not hunting deer, he is either hunting turkeys, scouting for antler sheds, or like the majority of us, working so he can go hunting. I appreciate his taking the time to write a wonderful piece for the Chronicles.

A Proud American Deer Hunter
© Rick Kratzke

I would like to start by saying I felt honored to be asked if I was interested in a guest post for Albert's blog and I did not even think twice about saying yes. I would right now return the offer if he so wishes to.

Now when I asked if he had any subjects in mind, Albert said I'm the deer hunter so maybe something about springtime whitetails. Well, this is a time of year for some of us when we go out in search of those treasures called shed antlers. I know I have been collecting them as long as I have been hunting. To me antlers are like finger prints, there are no two pairs alike.

This time of year is also a good time to do your early season scouting, maybe that is why I don't find as many sheds as I could be finding because I spend half the time studying the terrain and deer trails that I come across. You can never learn to much about these magnificent animals you have earned the right to be considered America's number one big game animal to hunt.

I have been so consumed by them that a lot of people who know me honestly think I am obsessed and I have to say I totally agree with them. My wife Heidi can attest to that because when we go anywhere she is always telling me there is no deer out there so keep my eye's on the road. How can you not love something as magical as a whitetail deer? I can recount numerous times sitting in my treestand and looking back and forth not seeing anything only to have them standing right under your stand and you didn't even hear them coming. I always say they are ghosts of the woods.

The way I see it and tell everyone I speak to is that just being out in the whitetail woods and seeing them in their own natural habitat and have then not even know I am there is worth it and if I'm hunting and I fill a tag well than I just consider that a bonus. I don't take anything for granted and I feel none of us should. We have to remember that if we as human beings don't take care of our environment which includes everything that lives in it and around it than it will not last forever.

This brings me to one more subject that I feel very strongly about, and that is OUR 2nd AMENDMENT RIGHTS as AMERICANS. Through all these years, men and women have fought and died to protect these rights that we sometimes take for granted. We must never forget what our ancestors have done for us. In my most humble opinion, I feel that no matter what anyone else says, or does, or tries to change, my 2nd Amendment rights will not change, they will not be revised, and I will do what I see fit for myself and my family.

With all that being said, I am proud to be an American and live in the United States of America, and I am also proud to consider myself a Whitetail Deer Hunter who does what he can to preserve the deer habitat for my son's and others to enjoy.

I sincerely hope you like my post and please visit "Whitetail Woods" and "The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles" often.

Thank you,

Rick Kratzke
Whitetail Woods
http://whitetailwoods.blogspot.com