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.