Episode 3 of Huntin with Shell

I'd like to say that in Episode 3, we see a successful hunt. But we don't.

Miss Kat and I spent Friday night at Mom's house. Miss Kat was going to do the jewelry thing on Saturday while I was going out to hunt and leave the house by 6 a.m. Miss Kat and I shared a bed in my old bedroom. I wasn't terribly concerned about sharing a bed with her, because she used to sleep with me every weekend--at least one night every weekend.

But, at home, I have a King size bed. At Mom's, we shared a Full sized bed. And Miss Kat is bigger now, and she's more used to sleeping in the middle of the bed and she kicks and talks in her sleep and, well, it was a rather sleepless night. But, when Dad got up at 5:30, I did too.

I drove out to the hill to try for one of the Whitetail bucks that we know live and bed down in the draws amongst the sagebrush. I parked at the house and cut across the CRP to the pasture. Not a bad walk at all, but let me tell you, it was DARK. I used my red headlight on my headlamp to see. Supposedly, the deer can't see red light, making them safe for hunters to use to navigate dark pastures and fields.

I took a chair in with me because I couldn't see down the draws if I sat on the ground. The chair is a burnt orange in color, but Kev thought it would work because it would be hidden by the sagebrush. Whatever. I decided to give it a try. (Just a reminder, it was one of those camping chairs--folding, lightweight. I'm not a complete idiot and would never carry in a heavy chair.)

I got settled right in front of a big 5 foot tall sage. All I had to do then was wait for it to get light and for the deer to decide it was time to come to bed. There was a storm front coming in, so we figured the deer would be up and moving trying to fill their bellies before the storm hit.

At 6:55--maybe 6:57, I looked to the south, from whence I traveled, and there was a stupid little spike buck following my trail. He had his nose down, sniffing my tracks. Now, I know that Lynn once shot and killed a deer by shooting it in the nose; but that's not recommended. My target could have been his chest or his nose and I was really surprised to see the idiot. I hadn't heard him at all until he snorted. By then, he was 10-15 yards away. He looked up and saw me, sitting there in my chair. He jumped and took off, stopping on the other side of the draw. I probably could have shot him from that distance, but he was so young and really, to be honest, I was amused that we surprised each other. (And, I was somewhat relieved that he wasn't a Rabid Killer Deer.) He then jumped the fence and took off.

But, it made me think...that maybe I picked a bad spot to sit. So, I relocated to another sage brush, a little farther back from the trail that I could now see--which I inadvertently followed into my spot.

And, I sat there for 2 more hours--not seeing another deer. Instead, I composed a blog--a rather poetic blog about the beauty of the morning and the colors of the sage brush and the imaginary deer that I could see and create from various sage plants and shadows as the sun came up. I imagined how I'd wax poetically about the scent of sagebrush, and the colors and textures. and, maybe, someday, I will write about how pretty the prairie is and how many different colors there are out there.

By 9 a.m., I was cold (the wind was coming up) and Mom's bathroom was calling my name. So, I called it quits and walked back to the car and then to town. Once in town, I visited with Mom and the bead junkies as they got creative. It was a nice, warm, and dry way to end this episode of Huntin' with Shell.

Note: We'll have a 2 week break for episode 4. We're going out of town next week and won't be able to hunt. Stay tuned for another "exciting" episode!