"Doe Season" by David Michael Kaplan, originally featured in The Atlantic, follows a young girl named Andy on a hunting trip that serves as a pivotal coming-of-age experience, forcing her to confront themes of gender identity, maturity, and the reality of death. The story explores her transition from childhood to womanhood as she reconciles her tomboy identity with the traumatic, visceral experience of killing a deer.

Bottom line: A thoughtful, beautifully written novel that rewards patience—best for readers who prefer psychological depth and mood over fast plotting.

David Michael Kaplan is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Born in 1946 in Los Angeles, California, Kaplan grew up in a Jewish family and spent his childhood moving between different parts of the country. This nomadic upbringing had a profound impact on his writing, which often explores themes of identity, community, and belonging.

1. The Liminal Setting (Between Two Worlds)

Kaplan sets the hunt in the “deep woods” during November—a threshold month between autumn and winter. The cold numbs Andy’s fingers, but the true chill is emotional. The woods are described as “dark, even in daylight,” representing the unconscious mind where difficult truths reside. Andy is neither fully a child (she handles a gun) nor an adult (she hallucinates a mermaid singing on the ocean floor). She is trapped in the liminal space of growing up.

7. Suggested Discussion Questions

  1. Ethical Conflict – How does the narrator reconcile his scientific role with the knowledge that his work directly supports the killing of the animals he studies?
  2. Symbolism of the Gunshot – What does the single, distant gunshot at the story’s end represent for the narrator, the forest, and the reader?
  3. Narrative Reliability – In what ways does the narrator’s admitted uncertainty shape our trust in the story’s “facts”?
  4. Intergenerational Influence – How does the memory of the father shape the narrator’s perception of hunting and conservation?
  5. Ecocritical Lens – How might the story change if told from the perspective of the deer (or the forest itself)?

For readers interested in exploring more of David Michael Kaplan's work, several of his novels and short story collections are available. His novel "Fallen Immortals" (1984) explores themes of identity and community, while his short story collection "The Museum of the American Grotesque" (2000) showcases his skill as a writer of subtle, nuanced prose.

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