T
The_Wraith
Guest
Jed stared at the fire in front of him, quietly listening to the stories being told around him. Most of them were stories that he'd heard at least a million and one times but they never grew old. Cold was the wind that blew off the mountain behind them, whistling through the trees, making them sway to and fro, creaking like an old rocking chair. The day had been long and pretty much uneventful as far as animal sightings were concerned but that didn't matter none at all since to him it was more just being here and experiencing the feeling that one gets when not surrounded by city lights, hurrying people stupidly walking and driving with a cell phone stuck to their ear as if they would die without it, starbucks and television.
Chris sat on the other side of the fire but instead of listening quietly he was doing the talking, mostly about the ones that got away because for some reason they were the ones that stuck in his mind most vividly. He recounted the tale of the beauty buck, all the while just shaking his head in disgust as he saw in his mind as it casually walked over the top of the ridge not caring at all that Chris had just emptied 3 clips full of '06 rounds at it hitting nothing but air. Another one that he spoke of has haunted him for over 10 years, a big bull elk that he had arrowed with his recurve. It had looked like a good hit and he gave it what he thought was plenty of time but once he took up the trail he knew something wasn't right. What had looked like a perfect pocket shot had somehow gone amis and hit the elk square through the stomach. He didn't find the elk that day or the next or even the next, actually it was 2 months before he'd found that animal, he'd looked for it every chance he could, vowing that if he didn't find it he'd hang up the bow for good. It was on one cold, snowy november day that he'd finally found him, half buried in the snow with just one antler sticking above the powder. As he knelt to tie his puched tag around the antler he said a prayer, actually it was his first prayer in his life, he asked forgiveness from the animal for taking so long to find him, for wasting such a beautiful creature but as he did so he seemed to feel a warmth come into him telling him that it was ok and that he'd not gone to waste. He'd fed a young bear that was on his own for the first time, helping him to put on needed fat reserves for the coming winter, magpies, ravens and foxes had also shared in the bounty and what was left had gone back to the earth and to this day he swears that a patch of wild flowers still grows on that spot.
With hands held above the fire to get as much warmth as possible, Dave stood and every part of his body hurt, back ached, legs and knees throbbed, his shoulders could barely lift his arms above his neck line and he thought to himself that this was his last hunt, he could barely get out of his sack in the mornings and the cold hurt him almost as much as his old wounds did. You see Dave had been sent to Vietnam when he was just a kid and after his tour was done he decided to go back for a second tour because he felt it was his duty to go. When he came home from that second tour it was with a shrapnel filled body being pushed in a wheelchair and a mind that would never be fully healed. He thought now as he did then, that it was his duty to go and if called to go again he'd be in the front of the line.
And here I sit, kinda off to one side, sometimes I participate in the talks but mostly I just listen and what they don't know is that I have a video camera hidden taping all that is going on and for christmas this year they're all going to get a copy of it from me and hopefully they'll be able to put it into the vcr one day and be back here where the deer roam the high hills and the elk bugle challenges at rivals unseen in the dark timber.
Dennis
Chris sat on the other side of the fire but instead of listening quietly he was doing the talking, mostly about the ones that got away because for some reason they were the ones that stuck in his mind most vividly. He recounted the tale of the beauty buck, all the while just shaking his head in disgust as he saw in his mind as it casually walked over the top of the ridge not caring at all that Chris had just emptied 3 clips full of '06 rounds at it hitting nothing but air. Another one that he spoke of has haunted him for over 10 years, a big bull elk that he had arrowed with his recurve. It had looked like a good hit and he gave it what he thought was plenty of time but once he took up the trail he knew something wasn't right. What had looked like a perfect pocket shot had somehow gone amis and hit the elk square through the stomach. He didn't find the elk that day or the next or even the next, actually it was 2 months before he'd found that animal, he'd looked for it every chance he could, vowing that if he didn't find it he'd hang up the bow for good. It was on one cold, snowy november day that he'd finally found him, half buried in the snow with just one antler sticking above the powder. As he knelt to tie his puched tag around the antler he said a prayer, actually it was his first prayer in his life, he asked forgiveness from the animal for taking so long to find him, for wasting such a beautiful creature but as he did so he seemed to feel a warmth come into him telling him that it was ok and that he'd not gone to waste. He'd fed a young bear that was on his own for the first time, helping him to put on needed fat reserves for the coming winter, magpies, ravens and foxes had also shared in the bounty and what was left had gone back to the earth and to this day he swears that a patch of wild flowers still grows on that spot.
With hands held above the fire to get as much warmth as possible, Dave stood and every part of his body hurt, back ached, legs and knees throbbed, his shoulders could barely lift his arms above his neck line and he thought to himself that this was his last hunt, he could barely get out of his sack in the mornings and the cold hurt him almost as much as his old wounds did. You see Dave had been sent to Vietnam when he was just a kid and after his tour was done he decided to go back for a second tour because he felt it was his duty to go. When he came home from that second tour it was with a shrapnel filled body being pushed in a wheelchair and a mind that would never be fully healed. He thought now as he did then, that it was his duty to go and if called to go again he'd be in the front of the line.
And here I sit, kinda off to one side, sometimes I participate in the talks but mostly I just listen and what they don't know is that I have a video camera hidden taping all that is going on and for christmas this year they're all going to get a copy of it from me and hopefully they'll be able to put it into the vcr one day and be back here where the deer roam the high hills and the elk bugle challenges at rivals unseen in the dark timber.
Dennis
