Hunting

Hunting has been a part of my life from since before I can remember. On October 1st deer season started and all our spare time was taken up with hunting until the deer was harvested. Now don't get me wrong. I have never killed or even shot at a deer, though I did have a license once (and prayed the whole time that we wouldn't see a deer cuz I really didn't want to shoot at it!). But I love to go with the real hunters. Especially if it is on the land that I grew up on and love. We would walk all over that land in the endless pursuit of the "big one." I learned how to spot them and learned to stop immediately and freeze if my dad (or whoever I was with) stopped. I learned how to gut an animal and drag them with the hair instead of against it. I learned how to hang them from the garage rafters to drain all the blood and cure the meat. I learned how to cut them up and package them. And finally, I learned to appreciate the taste of wild meat. But most importantly, I learned to respect how hard it is to feed a family. My dad was up before dawn and walked until dark every day until he had a deer. Because sometimes when I was little, we wouldn't have had meat unless he harvested a deer.

Hunting has changed since then. The men still get up early and go out walking, but they come home for lunch and this is what happens:

This is my grandpa. I think after close to 70 years of hunting, he deserves a nap! But what excuse do these young whipper snappers have????

David

Sam

Sean

David was really out. All of us women were in the kitchen and Tyler comes running in laughing and says, "Mom, come see what I did!" That is usually a bad sign, so I hurry in there to see what in the world he did and this is what I saw!

He didn't move as Tyler was covering him in pillows, he didn't move as I took pictures, he didn't move as all us laughed in the doorway, he didn't move as Tyler kept saying, "look what I did!!", and he didn't move even when all the other guys came back inside. This is what happens when you work 60+ hours a week! But don't worry, he could still breathe under that pillow mass!


Even with all the sleeping going on :-) Sean and Sam both managed to get an antlered deer (though Sam's was barely antlered hehehehe!) And they all headed up to Arlington yesterday and Sam and David got an elk each as well, so all the sleeping must work!! They had to work their little tails off yesterday and today to get those elk out! No sleeping now!!