I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. (J.R.R.Tolkien, The Two Towers)

When I carry a gun, I don't do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I'm looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don't carry it because I'm afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn't limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force.

Marko Kloos "Why the Gun is Civilization"

Friday, November 12, 2004

Deer-track Soup

Anyone who deer hunts by themself will tell you that getting a deer is the easy part. After that the real fun begins. First you field dress your kill and then comes the wonderful experience of dragging it and all of your equipment out to where you left the truck or at least where you think you left the truck. Anyway I prefer to hunt uphill so the drag will be downhill. But it doesn't always work out that way.
My grandfather used to tell a story about a monster buck that he estimated would weigh 200+ pounds. He had parked at the top of the mountain and followed an old logging road about 2 miles down the back side when the buck stepped out of a thicket in front of him. He was about to shoot when he remembered where he was and let the buck go. When asked later why he didn't shoot he said that it was easier to make some deer-track soup than to drag that old buck 2 miles uphill to the truck.

For those of you who don't know how to make deer-track soup...when you come in from hunting and you haven't seen anything but tracks all day long and someone asks you about your luck you tell them you'll be eating deer-track soup for supper today.

Labels: , ,

Are You Sure That's the Way Back To the Truck? AKA Are We Having Fun Yet?

Are You Sure That's the Way Back To the Truck? AKA Are We Having Fun Yet?

Now that another deer season has rolled around it's time to dust off the compass and maps and become totally confused once again. Not that I have ever been lost in the woods you understand but it's just that I seem to get confused a lot. Well maybe not exactly confused, I certainly know where I am and where I want to go it's just that I usually can't get there from here.

Two things have always worried me when I'm in the woods. Getting lost or running into a bear. Once when hunting in Bath county with Dad I managed to do both at the same time. I was making a circle back to our camp for the noon meal when I foolishly allowed a momma bear and her cub to get between me and where I wanted to be. Not being that familiar with the area I crossed one ridge too many while trying to miss the bear family. To make a long story short I finally made it back to camp about an hour after dark. That certainly put me in a fine mind set for hunting about 50 yards from camp for the rest of that trip.

Now I really haven't been that confused since then but occasionally I realize that I'm not coming out where I thought I would and I get that wonderful thrill of pure unadulterated panic that just makes my day.

Labels: ,

Subscribe in a reader <