4 Point Buck

**Warning**This blog contains photos of actual dead animals. There will be blood and there will be carcasses. They are NOT neatly saran wrapped and neatly stacked in a freezer section. They are real and they are dead. Continue at your own risk.

He's a beauty isn't he? Ok, well you probably can't really tell from just his head but take my word for it. He really was a beauty. And now we can give thanks for the freezer full of meat. This buck is technically Dean's but they usually share what they get. Doug has a doe tag so he is waiting for his chance to get a doe at a later date. They got this buck on a piece of my dad's ground north of our farm. And it wasn't 24 hours earlier that Dean was in Mexico City getting ready to head back home after a weeks worth of work.

While Hadley marveled at the deer and Kate looked on, I took the time to saddle Elvis up and ride in the arena. Holy Smokes. No one has bothered to tell Elvis that he is 20. The horse is a rocket. Within the first 5 minutes of riding I had worn raw spots on the inside of both my knees from hanging on. It was a short but sweet. Then Cruiser got out to stretch his legs and warm his muscles. When I returned him to the pen we decided to make a training experience for him. Doug threw the deer hide over the fence to let the horses get used to it. Cruiser was intensely interested but he was freaked out just the same. Elvis came at it like he might like to paw it to death but had a few moments of confusion about what it was as well. You can see Cruiser in the background of the picture looking on with great interest. I was not surprised to see how both of these horses reacted. For some horses this is scary to the point that they would run through a fence to get away from it. Imagine the trust a horse would have to feel to let a hunter throw a dead animal up on his back to pack out of the mountains! Everything in the survival section of their brains says "Whatever you do, don't let it get on your back or you're as good as dead!" But yet they do, for trust in a man.

Here is a picture of a happier, more relaxed Cruiser.

I always love this part of hunting season. When Doug's uncle lived out here it was such a social time when everyone was down at the cooler, skinning their deer and bs-ing about their hunting stories. I know it sounds morbid but there was something comforting about seeing all of these guys back from the fields and getting ready to cut up their deer for winter meals. It's probably the same part of me that likes to make apple sauce, the Mrs Ingles in me. Mary (played by Hadley) and Half Pint/Laura will be played by Kate. Pa played by Doug. And Uncle Albert will be played by Dean. But who will be Nellie Olson?

But me step back to earlier in the day. Along with being the last weekend of deer season it is also opening weekend of pheasant season. Bird season lasts far longer--into December. And this it the time of year where I have to keep a constant eye out for trespassers. Nothing fries me more than someone who just stops in for a bird hunt without asking permission. Ok, I wouldn't give them permission anyway but STILL! The response that makes me the most mad? "Well, I didn't see a sign that said no trespassing." Ummm...first of all, it is all posted. Secondly, do they post their property in town? Do we just assume we can do into something privately owned unless it says we can't? What backwards thinking.

On to something more positive. Last night we went down the road to a neighbors autumn party. I was looking forward to it from the time I got the invite. It was the most down home family friendly party I had ever seen! Everyone was invited to wear costumes. It was completely geared to the little kids too. They had a huge potluck, a big bonfire, hay ride through the fields and a really fun cake walk. Kate and Hadley had so much fun at the cake walk. Even though they both won they had as much or more fun just walking around to the music and then stopping on a marker when the music stopped. Kate even went back for a second round with nice older gentleman she didn't even know. I am grateful Dean came back to get me and the girls otherwise I wouldn't have gone. Doug came home at the end of the day from scouting for elk and hunting with a fever and wasn't going anywhere. At 8:30 everyone gathered to watch the incredible moon rises we are blessed with. The rest of the party goers proceded to dance the night away and we decided to call it good and head for the barn. But the party was country living at it's finest.