The Time of my Life

Today, I am going to share a few thoughts that I learned from our hunting trip to the Missouri Breaks.

The first thought that came to me while cruising around on the four-wheeler in an area that is bigger than our entire ranch was that I now understood how those South Dakota ranchers felt during the blizzard.  I know that most of South Dakota is not as rugged as the Missouri Breaks, but as I saw yearling cattle spread out all over this ranch, I knew that the rancher would have to take several days to gather them and bring them back home to their winter pasture approximately 20 miles.  The storm was tough on the SD ranchers and they are still dealing with their loss. 

My second thought was that even though I was away from family and friends, memories of them came with me.   First let me paraphrase a few comments because I can’t remember the exact words in each quote.

    1.   It was a successful hunt! I had a great time in the outdoors and came home without the added work of having to gut, skin and process an animal.

   2.    I knew that he had been here before, so I trusted his driving.

     

              3.  It isn’t the kill that makes the hunt successful, it is sharing time with a friend and enjoying the outdoors.

      4. It takes a community to raise a child.

      5.  “You hit it, I’ll git it!”

I have decided that when looking for deer or elk, it does take two drivers.  One to say, “Keep your eyes on the road!”

I did come up with a game plan for the next hunt.  I decided that next time I was going to take a lot of friends on my hunt.  Here is my plan:  KW (She who rides with elk) will bring her horse and ride around each creek bottom. (We watched a hunter do that.)  EW will be available to rope the horns the minute I shoot it so that MS the “You hit it, I’ll git it” man doesn’t have to carry the meat up those steep embankments.

In all seriousness, this was a very successful hunt for me.  Having lived away from the ranch for five years while teaching, I became very depressed my last year away.  I would have an anxiety attack with the first flake of snow that I saw thinking that I would not be able to make it home on the weekend.  I have always liked snow, but I was growing to hate it.  I didn’t want to be snowed out of the ranch and my commitment to my job made me feel obligated to not be snowed in at the ranch. Those feelings do not heal overnight or even in a year’s time.

Last year I did not put in for an elk tag.  I didn’t want to deal with the stress or anxiety.  This year I grudgingly applied telling the lady to make sure that I wasn’t drawn for the Missouri Breaks.  When the tag arrived in the mailed Chip was jubilant and I started to head back toward the edge of the pit of depression. I had decided that this was my last year to even apply for an elk hunt.

The last few months I was becoming agoraphobic to the point that I was going to mention it to my doctor when I go back in for a blood pressure test.  Chip would go to town, I would stay home. I was just happier if I never left the place.

Well, October 24^th arrived and the day was beautiful with a great forecast until Sunday evening.  Chip and I loaded up the camper and headed north.  I remember praying “Lord, please make this hunt easy!’ Then I realized that not everything in life is easy.  Building a relationship with someone is not always easy.  Continuing to build my relationship with God takes work on my part.  He is always there waiting, but I neglect to take time for Him.  So Chip and I discussed that.  It was about a five hour trip and I must admit that I did take a Lorazepam to help me through the day.  We reached our normal camp sight and set up camp.  (I needed some comfort zone.) We unloaded the four-wheeler and decided to look around for elk.

I had the time of my life.  (I do have to say that the 215+ miles that I walked around our deck since February sure helped me on this trip.) We walked over to a neat place where we could sit and just look for miles and miles. We walked up and down hills and the thought I had was now that I have a Garmin wristband, I need to walk up the hill to get our mail and then back home to prepare myself for the next hunt.

On Friday we took the four-wheeler and went west, then south and then we took the pickup and went into town for an appointment.  It was cancelled because the lady called in sick. So I said hello to one of my past students and we went back out to the campsite.  We sat by the camper and watched headlights coming toward us from all directions.

The only time that I was stressed was when I thought that I had to kill an elk.  I had a coveted tag, one that many people have put in for for years and have not been drawn.  I had received my second chance.  Then I would remember that I was having a successful hunt because I was truly enjoying myself with my husband. “It isn’t the kill that makes the hunt successful.”  I am planning on putting in again for an elk tag just so that I can spend time in that area again. The good news is that I can go with Chip on his archery hunt and I won’t even have to think about killing an elk.

I have learned to like snow again.  I have enjoyed being snowed in a few times on the ranch already this year.  Am I ready to be mudded in or snowed in up in the Missouri Breaks?  Probably not for more than a day or possibly two.  Besides, it was a little chilly up there between 5 A.M to 8 A.M.

The best times of the hunt were the discussions with my husband, the four-wheeler rides and enjoying all of God’s creations.