WolverineFury
Member
Howdy everyone. I don't know about all of you, but for me, and all other Kentuckians tomorrow is the opening day of modern gun season for whitetail deer. Earlier this year I wrote a short story describing opening day to some of my non-hunting friends. I was told that it was an enjoyable story so I thought that I'd share it in honor of the day.
Hope you enjoy.
>>>>>>
It's opening day you wake up half frozen to the sound of your alarm clock buzzing at 0545 (if you sleep at all). Halfway through the thought, "why on earth is the alarm clock going off at..." You suddenly pop up with the realization that it's opening day, the first day of the season (though the sun is still a long ways from coming up). You then quickly jump out of bed, turn off the alarm clock and quietly wake those who are going with you. While getting dressed in your warmest clothes which were laid out the night before (probably at 2 a.m. after watching a movie) you may grab a bit to eat from the bowl of leftover popcorn, or if you prefer a proper breakfast some eggs. Hopefully you're sleeping at your hunting location (if not, you're going to have to wake up 30 minutes, to 2 hours earlier for a long, sleepy drive, while hoping and praying you didn't forget anything important (like your gun):banghead:
When everyone is all dressed you will then adorn yourself in a bright orange hat and vest which will rest over the camouflage you undoubtedly have on underneath. Then weapons are checked, loaded, and put on "safe." While the walk begins to your hunting locations. You do your utmost the remain as silent as the grave. The goal is to get into your positions an hour before the dawn, and then... you wait... Perhaps staring at the night sky looking for satellites, or staring at your favorite constellations. Within minutes the cold sets in, while taking the short walk to your perch you had begun sweating and wondered why you even put on all this stuff. Now you recall. It doesn't matter though. This is opening day, you wouldn't move if it was 30 degrees colder. You look at your watch, ten minutes have passed. Has it only been that long? Forever seems to have gone by when you first notice that a particular tree which you have been staring at for the past 40 minutes seems to be more defined than it was an instant ago. Looking around you can see with every passing second the effects of a sun which has still to stick it's smiling face up above the horizon. It is now that you begin to keenly focus your attention on the city of trees. Focusing and committing every shadow to memory so that you will be sure to know if one changes. You may check the sights on your gun, no, still to dark to make an accurate shot.
Then comes the dawn. Most things are now visible. You are still cold to the bone, but the sun raises your spirits. You know that you will be able to hit your target if one presents itself. You start doing breathing exercises to slow your heart rate and to help you keep your mind on something other than the cold. You slowly turn your head, as if on a swivel, every ninety seconds scanning for signs of life all the while trying to mentally prepare yourself for the time you know is coming. "A deep breath in 1...2...3... and a deep breath out 1...2...3... a deep breath in 1...2...3... and a dee****GASP**** " Your breath gets sucked away. There it is! Standing tall and beautiful in the shadows under a tree. A gorgeous doe. Out the door go all your attempts to say calm. Your heart rate jumps to 182 beats per minute. You're suddenly breathing in and out just as fast. So much for all that mental preparation. You start to pull your gun up when you realize that this will never do. Painfully you force yourself to think this through and calm yourself down, "a deep breath in 1...2...3... and a deep breath out 1...2...3..." You pull down your hearing protection over your ears, until then your muffs have been sitting on your head. You're already glad you've started thinking. Having a shot go off without those on would not have been fun.
You then slowly raise your rifle, halfway to getting it up the doe's head pops up and she looks right at you. Your heart sinks as you freeze and anticipate her prancing off into the woods, waving her tail defiantly. Then, just as suddenly as her head popped up, it goes back down to grazing. You remain there frozen in place for another second before you continue raising your rifle while letting out your breath and set it on a rest while saying to yourself "a deep breath in 1...2...3... and a deep breath out 1...2...3..." You whisper a prayer as you get your sights lined up on where you guesstimate the vitals of the deer are. Slowly letting your last breath out you begin to s---l---o---w---l---y press the trigger back. You've been told that the shot is supposed to surprise you, you hope it would hurry up though. You could hardly hold your breath any longer the blood is pulsing through your head and your arms are starting to tremble, when all of the sudden, BANG! There it goes. After recoiling from the shock you see the unsuspecting deer stumble and frantically jump off in the way it came. A pang of remorse strikes you as you realize that you have just been the cause for the lose of the life of one of God's amazing creatures. You say a prayer asking that your deer will bleed out quickly and painlessly, and pray that you will be a good steward of the proceeds of the life which has been given you.
Ten minutes goes by, and you can't contain yourself any longer. You know that you're suppose to wait for a minimum of 30 minutes to go looking for an animal which you've shot, but if you did wait that long you know that you would lose your mind, after all, now that you've thought over it in that eternity since you pulled the trigger, you're not so sure that you even hit the deer. Anxiety is killing you. When the time comes that you would either have to scream or move, you stand up, stretch, and take that first step out towards where you saw the deer grazing at the time the shot was fired. When you get there you begin to feel sick. You can't find a trace of blood or hair anywhere. Frantically, you look about. Ah! There it is. You're spirits instantly soar. You forgot to take an exact bearing of where the deer was standing. As you catalog that fact in your brain you begin scanning for signs of blood in the direction which your deer took off in. For a while you find nothing, then... There! You see a drop on a leaf 10 yards from where the initial blood sign is, and three or four on a tree branch just beyond it. Slowly you follow the trail. Suddenly you lose it, it's now that you and your partners fan out and keep your heads to the ground. You wish for an instant that you had taken off some of those warm clothes. The excitement, and walking around stooped over has your body burning up, but you don't care. You are looking for your deer. Nothing else matters. Then all of the sudden, looking ahead you see a slight dab of brown between the stalks of grass. At first you think that it's just a leaf, but that thought quickly leaves your mind. As you stand up you can see that it is indeed your deer. Lying there on the ground. You slowly and slightingly approach her from behind and ensure that she is dead. Yes. As you stand over her mixed emotions come to mind. Sorrow for the life you have taken. Joy for the entire experience which has been shared with those out with you. And Thankfulness for the food which will soon be on your familie's table.
It is now that the work of the day begins. You start by going back to your base and shedding some layers of clothes, drop off your guns, and pick up some tools. As you start to leave you remember that you don't get to lose the orange just yet. As you slip your vest and hat back on you recruit the help of your partners to drag your deer's body out of the woods. For the first bit it's not that bad. Then you begin to realize how heavy 150 lbs of dead weight actually is. Once your deer is out in a clearing you being the bloody process of removing the deer's entrails, and then wrapping it in garbage bags so as to not get blood in the back of your vehicle. Once you arrive home you hang the deer up off of a nearby tree, and begin sharpening your butchering knives for the first time of many that day.
It's now 14 hours later. You've lying in bed exhausted. You didn't want to butcher the whole deer in one day, but you knew that it was for the best. You now have 40 pounds of fresh steaks, roasts, and burger in the freezer to be eaten during the coming months. There are also various bowls of meat marinating on the kitchen table overnight. Some contents will go to making Jerky, some will go to making Summer Sausage. You smile with the thoughts of all the good memories you will make cooking and eating the meat you've gathered in today. Your thoughts abiding on these things you slowly drift off into dreamland with that smile planted firmly on your face.
Hope you enjoy.
>>>>>>
It's opening day you wake up half frozen to the sound of your alarm clock buzzing at 0545 (if you sleep at all). Halfway through the thought, "why on earth is the alarm clock going off at..." You suddenly pop up with the realization that it's opening day, the first day of the season (though the sun is still a long ways from coming up). You then quickly jump out of bed, turn off the alarm clock and quietly wake those who are going with you. While getting dressed in your warmest clothes which were laid out the night before (probably at 2 a.m. after watching a movie) you may grab a bit to eat from the bowl of leftover popcorn, or if you prefer a proper breakfast some eggs. Hopefully you're sleeping at your hunting location (if not, you're going to have to wake up 30 minutes, to 2 hours earlier for a long, sleepy drive, while hoping and praying you didn't forget anything important (like your gun):banghead:
When everyone is all dressed you will then adorn yourself in a bright orange hat and vest which will rest over the camouflage you undoubtedly have on underneath. Then weapons are checked, loaded, and put on "safe." While the walk begins to your hunting locations. You do your utmost the remain as silent as the grave. The goal is to get into your positions an hour before the dawn, and then... you wait... Perhaps staring at the night sky looking for satellites, or staring at your favorite constellations. Within minutes the cold sets in, while taking the short walk to your perch you had begun sweating and wondered why you even put on all this stuff. Now you recall. It doesn't matter though. This is opening day, you wouldn't move if it was 30 degrees colder. You look at your watch, ten minutes have passed. Has it only been that long? Forever seems to have gone by when you first notice that a particular tree which you have been staring at for the past 40 minutes seems to be more defined than it was an instant ago. Looking around you can see with every passing second the effects of a sun which has still to stick it's smiling face up above the horizon. It is now that you begin to keenly focus your attention on the city of trees. Focusing and committing every shadow to memory so that you will be sure to know if one changes. You may check the sights on your gun, no, still to dark to make an accurate shot.
Then comes the dawn. Most things are now visible. You are still cold to the bone, but the sun raises your spirits. You know that you will be able to hit your target if one presents itself. You start doing breathing exercises to slow your heart rate and to help you keep your mind on something other than the cold. You slowly turn your head, as if on a swivel, every ninety seconds scanning for signs of life all the while trying to mentally prepare yourself for the time you know is coming. "A deep breath in 1...2...3... and a deep breath out 1...2...3... a deep breath in 1...2...3... and a dee****GASP**** " Your breath gets sucked away. There it is! Standing tall and beautiful in the shadows under a tree. A gorgeous doe. Out the door go all your attempts to say calm. Your heart rate jumps to 182 beats per minute. You're suddenly breathing in and out just as fast. So much for all that mental preparation. You start to pull your gun up when you realize that this will never do. Painfully you force yourself to think this through and calm yourself down, "a deep breath in 1...2...3... and a deep breath out 1...2...3..." You pull down your hearing protection over your ears, until then your muffs have been sitting on your head. You're already glad you've started thinking. Having a shot go off without those on would not have been fun.
You then slowly raise your rifle, halfway to getting it up the doe's head pops up and she looks right at you. Your heart sinks as you freeze and anticipate her prancing off into the woods, waving her tail defiantly. Then, just as suddenly as her head popped up, it goes back down to grazing. You remain there frozen in place for another second before you continue raising your rifle while letting out your breath and set it on a rest while saying to yourself "a deep breath in 1...2...3... and a deep breath out 1...2...3..." You whisper a prayer as you get your sights lined up on where you guesstimate the vitals of the deer are. Slowly letting your last breath out you begin to s---l---o---w---l---y press the trigger back. You've been told that the shot is supposed to surprise you, you hope it would hurry up though. You could hardly hold your breath any longer the blood is pulsing through your head and your arms are starting to tremble, when all of the sudden, BANG! There it goes. After recoiling from the shock you see the unsuspecting deer stumble and frantically jump off in the way it came. A pang of remorse strikes you as you realize that you have just been the cause for the lose of the life of one of God's amazing creatures. You say a prayer asking that your deer will bleed out quickly and painlessly, and pray that you will be a good steward of the proceeds of the life which has been given you.
Ten minutes goes by, and you can't contain yourself any longer. You know that you're suppose to wait for a minimum of 30 minutes to go looking for an animal which you've shot, but if you did wait that long you know that you would lose your mind, after all, now that you've thought over it in that eternity since you pulled the trigger, you're not so sure that you even hit the deer. Anxiety is killing you. When the time comes that you would either have to scream or move, you stand up, stretch, and take that first step out towards where you saw the deer grazing at the time the shot was fired. When you get there you begin to feel sick. You can't find a trace of blood or hair anywhere. Frantically, you look about. Ah! There it is. You're spirits instantly soar. You forgot to take an exact bearing of where the deer was standing. As you catalog that fact in your brain you begin scanning for signs of blood in the direction which your deer took off in. For a while you find nothing, then... There! You see a drop on a leaf 10 yards from where the initial blood sign is, and three or four on a tree branch just beyond it. Slowly you follow the trail. Suddenly you lose it, it's now that you and your partners fan out and keep your heads to the ground. You wish for an instant that you had taken off some of those warm clothes. The excitement, and walking around stooped over has your body burning up, but you don't care. You are looking for your deer. Nothing else matters. Then all of the sudden, looking ahead you see a slight dab of brown between the stalks of grass. At first you think that it's just a leaf, but that thought quickly leaves your mind. As you stand up you can see that it is indeed your deer. Lying there on the ground. You slowly and slightingly approach her from behind and ensure that she is dead. Yes. As you stand over her mixed emotions come to mind. Sorrow for the life you have taken. Joy for the entire experience which has been shared with those out with you. And Thankfulness for the food which will soon be on your familie's table.
It is now that the work of the day begins. You start by going back to your base and shedding some layers of clothes, drop off your guns, and pick up some tools. As you start to leave you remember that you don't get to lose the orange just yet. As you slip your vest and hat back on you recruit the help of your partners to drag your deer's body out of the woods. For the first bit it's not that bad. Then you begin to realize how heavy 150 lbs of dead weight actually is. Once your deer is out in a clearing you being the bloody process of removing the deer's entrails, and then wrapping it in garbage bags so as to not get blood in the back of your vehicle. Once you arrive home you hang the deer up off of a nearby tree, and begin sharpening your butchering knives for the first time of many that day.
It's now 14 hours later. You've lying in bed exhausted. You didn't want to butcher the whole deer in one day, but you knew that it was for the best. You now have 40 pounds of fresh steaks, roasts, and burger in the freezer to be eaten during the coming months. There are also various bowls of meat marinating on the kitchen table overnight. Some contents will go to making Jerky, some will go to making Summer Sausage. You smile with the thoughts of all the good memories you will make cooking and eating the meat you've gathered in today. Your thoughts abiding on these things you slowly drift off into dreamland with that smile planted firmly on your face.
