A Tale of two Tails

I love writing stories, and since my propane ran out last night in my camper and I woke up feeling somewhat like an ice cube, what better way to thaw my fingers than to type a story? I went Elk hunting earlier this week, actually I left sunday night and got back last night, making it most of the week. I picked up a buddy in Lewiston and drove 3 hours out to Elk camp, man what a waste of time. We hunted hard all day monday, patterned a bull, and set up on him about 3:30 monday afternoon. I had the brilliant idea of climbing a tree so I could see out of the new growth. I clambered up this tree and set to work cutting branches away so I could see out and watch a clearcut. The first hack with my razor sharp meat cutting knife sent the blade deep into my hand. Cutting nicely though skin, muscle, tendon, and ligament it stopped abruptly on the bone, deep in the base of my thumb. Well, I'm a nurse and I know what to do, but I found it difficult 30 feet up in a tree, no first aid supplies, one injured hand, and the blood flowed freely. I know the picture here is less than appealing, but nursing students acquire a sick sense of humor. As I hung between Heaven and Earth with my good hand wondering how long it would take to pass out and Ryan to find me, I came upon another far more brilliant idea. I took my knife and cut my shirt up into a sort of bandage. After an hour of bleeding the shirt did the trick and now, aside from the inability to properly use my thumb and a large slice in my hand, I'm pretty much back to normal. Back to the story I originally intended to tell, we hunted hard for three days and never so much as got a shot at an Elk. The closest we came was 2 fleeting Elk tails through the timber. Our hunt was not without excitment for we came upon a small pack of hungry wolves, who we discovered had been following us around for sometime. Aside from wolves, no Elk, large cut, and rainy days, we had a great time and look forward to doing it again. Next time I'll be more careful with my knife, but I was proud of it, it did what it was made to do with speed and ease. If you know anyone with a spare thumb, I would'nt mind having a fresh start.

SISTERS

Most often this word would be followed by another, but no comment today. I love my sisters, sometimes I wish I had picked a better set, but they are the best ones I've got. This year brought all sorts of bad luck between me and hunting. I have not been able to kill anything, and if I had no meat left from last year I'd have starved to death by now. My sisters, on the other hand, got a serious case of begginers luck. Just this year they decide to become real women and hunt. (my mom too). Us boys work hard to take them out and try to pretend to care about them. Opening day Ruth decides to shoot a nice buck. Actually a big buck. The biggest one any of us has shot, right near the house, perfect shot, easy pack, and the thing scores 140! I thought this was bad, then I come home the other night and Lois is standing next to another buck hanging in the barn. Thankfully this one is a little smaller, but the principle remains; she shot a nice little 4 point about 300 yards from the house, perfect shot, easy pack, lot of meat, you get the picture. It's a scary thought but I may have to rely on my sisters to feed me this year. Here I am going 120 miles into the back country to hunt Elk, and they're killing deer right in our front yard. This is positively humiliating and frankly, disgusting. Happy hunting, they say, yeah right. Their pictures are below, no drooling.

Ruth with the big one 

Lois smites a deer 

Why Me?

I often ask myself this question, and this week more than ever. I know this sounds like laziness, and hey, maybe it is, but never let anyone know the extent of your capabilities. Now your thinking I lost it, and frankly, I had nothing to lose. I love helping people, but I get to busy helping people to keep up with work and school and life in general. My phone rings nearly constantly (never get a cell phone, but if you must, never give your number to anyone) usually people of the female persuasion, always with a question about when I have time to help them. When I was young, long ago, I thought it would be neat to learn all I could about everything. I became proficient in nothing but whining, but did learn many trades in the process. Back then life was good, no rent, no school, just eat, sleep, work and hunt. Then, somewhere along the line, me in my great brilliance decided to fix someone's car as a favor. Before I know it, here I am, fixing cars, roofing, building flat beds and trailers, and doing a thousand other carpentry and construction related things, all for free! I hate to say no, but this is it. If you or anyone you know has a problem with anything, feel free to call someone else. From now on, I am a poor college student, and I know nothing about anything. All this is to say, either avoid people altogether, (not a bad idea) especially women, never learn to do anything (this to saves you down the road), or best of all, pretend to know little. This will keep you from having to work constantly, making no money. Helping people is truly a blessing to you, but can be overdone, putting untimely wrinkles in your fair complexion. Help few, learn little, and enjoy a restful, happy life! (I wish this were true too).

The Great Bear Hunt

There comes a time, every now and again, when I have to get away. Sometimes it is to the shop to work on a project, but most of the time it is to the woods, to one of my favorite spots. Just me, some food, and my gun. I enjoy these times because it gives me a chance to enjoy God's creation, and do nothing but sit and watch. Today was one of those days. Last week I only got about 6 hours of sleep and had a difficult test on friday which pretty much cooked me. When I found out last night that I had passed my state boards, I decided to go celebrate by looking for a bear. I was rained off my job, so I went to a good bear canyon and began doing what I do best, nothing at all. It was raining cats and dogs (I even fell in a poodle), but I was having fun anyway. I tracked a nice boar until the rain washed his tracks out, and thus headed back through the soggy brush for my pickup. I sat on a hillside in the rain until dark, and tried in vain to spot something other than deer. Once again I realized how lucky I am to be able to do such things, and how greatful I should be to God for his goodness. Even though I didn't even see a bear, it was a good time out in the woods to refresh and rejoice in the goodness of God.