Setting of these nine short stories is east central Minnesota, time period is from 1964 to turn of the century. The first story describes the author, a young wife and avid outdoors woman, as she begins her journey hunting deer on the family farm. Through the decades going from mother to grandmother, her knowledge and skill as a naturalist and hunter grew along with love for the riverland and wooded acres she and her family call home. Family and friends join her on this journey. A poem written in 2008, The Land Remembers, ends the book, and describes what Deer Grandma has learned about belonging to the land.

Elizabeth Anne Wilkens, Betty, was born in 1942, and has spent 70 years of that time living in rural areas of Wisconsin and Minnesota. She and her husband, Dan, have four children, seven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. Betty has worked as an educator, farmer, and musician. She is well known as a volunteer with state and local agencies and organizations, serving Minnesotans as a conservationist, angler, hunter, and outdoor skills mentor. After retirement, she began documenting the natural world she lives in through photography; video and time lapse sequences can be viewed at vimeo.com/ewilkens/albums