It also reminded me of the time my dad took me hunting when I was a kid. He was really big into hunting - having grown up in South Dakota, he was pretty much raised with hunting - and invited me to go along one day. We got up at 4am, it was still dark, and headed off into the hills. Heh, now that I think about it, there were deer crossing the highway that morning, too! Dad woke up me up so I could see them, illuminated in the headlights. There were at least four or five of them then, and they just meandered across the highway unconcerned. Of course, dad stopped the pickup, so they really didn't have to worry, but still. They were awfully brave deer to be wandering around like that during hunting season!

I don't remember exactly were we went - I think it might've been near the Snake River - but by the time the sun came up we were hiking up in the hills. I remember the bright yellow sun shining down on the field, and dad and I just walking. We didn't talk much; it was nice just being together. We climbed down into a gully and found a bunch of cow bones - jawbones, and other bones that I couldn't identify. (Yeah, okay, I pretended they were dinosaur bones, because that would be a much cooler discovery, but they really were just old cow bones) Dad said the cows were probably grazing on the pasture we'd been walking through, and just fell of the side of the cliff. He said cows were just stupid like that.

We didn't end up seeing any more deer, and we went home empty handed, but dad wasn't disappointed. He said as much as he liked hunting, once you get something, that's when it stops being fun, and becomes work. He told me about the hunting trips he took with his friends when we lived in Cle Elum - four or five guys up in the snowy mountians in a trailer with a deck of cards, a bunch of beer, and a small, black and white television. He said those were the best times - just sitting around with the guys playing poker and drinking beer.

Occasionally they would go out to hunt, but if they didn't get anything, they weren't too disappointed. If they did get something, then they would have to track the wounded deer, sometimes for miles. When they found it, they had to haul it all the way back to the trailer, then gut it, skin it, and all that crap. Ewww!

Mom was never disappointed when he came back empty handed, either, cause it just meant she didn't have to have a dead animal carcas hanging in the garage for weeks on end. Heh!

for (ho) what (ho) it's (ho) worth | Hez