All Things Anne

I was writing the whole time we were gone…well, not the WHOLE time, but I did make some space to write! The boys were fascinated, it seemed…Joe and Dad both took pictures of me writing! They took pictures of me in my (new) hunting suit, too. The film has to be developed, though, and the way film is developed around our house, good luck on seeing the pictures maybe next year!

Saturday
We left home at noon, or shortly after. First we went to Laurel to fuel, then headed for the mountains. Got here around three or so. Saw around 100 deer on the way here, including a very nice-sized buck. We (well, the boys and Dad) set up camp by unhooking and leveling the trailer. Unfortunately nobody brought a level, or even a marble, so it probably isn’t very level.
Then we circled the “Loop”, which is about four or five miles around [Dad clocked it later and it was 5 miles] in Ben’s pickup. Us girls sat in the front with Ben, and the other two boys and Dad sat on the tailgate and collected firewood. We pointed out to Beth the points of interest: where Ben shot his deer last year; where we were when he shot it (only a couple hundred yards away); where we got stuck; where Dad parked and I learned Morse code (but I forgot most of it, except the really important letters–the ones that spell SOS and my name); where Dad shot part of an antler off a buck; where the boys trailed it over the mountain…pause. There were four deer in that area; tomorrow being the beginning of hunting season, they weren’t skittish at all; they were curious instead. Anyway. Showed where Joe shot his deer; where I shot my deer; where we dragged it on a sled; where I gutted it, and where Ben rode it uphill in a sled.
Periodically on the way, Dad told Ben to stop so the boys and Dad could jump off and collect firewood.
When we came back Dad made a fire. We sat around it for a while, then Dad wient in the trailer to make dinner, and I went in so my feet would thaw (I was just wearing my “lounge shoes”, not my good boots).
We had sloppy joes.
Dad’s trying to light the lantern so we can play poker–with MY change-and eat our emergency rations (candy bars and pepperoni sticks). Tata!

Sunday
Opening day of hunting season (rifle, at least). None of us, including Dad (in the 20-some years he’s been hunting) have ever gone out on opening day. It’s kind of strange. Yesterday the deer were curious about us. Curious! Usually when we go it’s four or five weeks into hunting season when we go–we’ve been known to go a week before closing–and the deer are skittish. Not so now! Dad has always imagined too many people on opening day, and there HAS been a lot of traffic this morning. Down the Loop a little bit, at the trailhead, some guys made camp and pitched a tent.
Dad just handed me breakfast. Later!

10:30 AM Now I know why Dad didn’t want to go hunting on opening day! It IS crowded! There were 10 cars and pickups parked in ONE AREA of the Loop. Ben and I went around the Loop in his pickup. We stopped a couple times and walked. When we drove, it was very slow, so the vehicles lined up behind us. One guy wanted to go fast or something, and whenever Ben and I got “too far ahead”, he sped up and “pert’ near” tailgated us the whole way! Until we got to one particular hill, where we seen the curious deer yesterday. I spotted a deer’s head and ears above the hill, so Ben told me to go up the hill and he’d go around.
I tell you what, that was the steepest hill I’ve ever been on! I told him I wasn’t gonna go up that hill any more! When I got out of the pickup, the woman in the second pickup behind us smiled sympathetically at me. Now I know why!
Ben went around the hill and shot at one in the road. He said, “You know when it’s crowded when you have to pretend people aren’t there!” He missed his shot, because he was so nervous because the people were watching.
Beth one poker last night; I’m winning right now (it’s now 11:30). Later!

1:30 PM We goofed around for a while, drove around the Loop, and are back at camp waiting for our cup o’noodle (a hunter’s staple) water to boil so we can have lunch.
Eric and I are sitting around the fire pit (there’s no fire). Dad’s calling for soup.

3:10 PM About three and a half hours left for shooting light. I’m sittin’ here on my stand (which is actually a sit because I’m sitting), waiting for the deer to come by. The boys, Dad, and Beth all went up in the mountains to walk over “half of tarnation”, as Eric says. (They walked over the first half of tarnation this morning.)
Did you know trees and rocks and stuff are really good deer impersonators? On a hill opposite our camp is an “elk” eating from a tree. (Dad and Beth already climbed that hill and discovered indeed, it wasn’t an elk.)
The trailer was a very cozy fit last night. Ben slept on the bed that folds out from the ceiling; Dad slept on the couch/bed beneath; Joe and Eric slept on the floor, and Beth and I slept on the table bed. Originally, Dad was going to sleep on the floor, and Joe and Eric on the couch, but they didn’t want to sleep together so they traded Dad. Joe slept in the aisle; Eric slept UNDER Dad’s bed. It was SO funny! He looked like he was having too much fun! Dad called it his “sarcophagus”.
I was very comfortable, and faced the wall the whole night (Beth was on the edge). Unfortunately Beth kept elbowing my back. She said she elbowed me every time she rolled over, and that she had a restless sleep, so no wonder!
I better shut up and pay more attention to the landscape (don’t worry, I HAVE been looking!). [Didn't see anything there that night at all.]

7:15 PM Man I’m tired, and I haven’t even done as much walking as the rest of them! I pert’ near fell asleep on my stand earlier. I sat there for three hours, I think, then got up to look on the other side of the road, where I’d gotten my deer last year. Eric was down there though, and told me about the mountains he and the boys crossed. I told him the only thing I’d seen was a mouse and a lot of bugs and cars. Eric had shot at a deer, but missed.
Eric and I talked for a minute, then the people at the beginning of the road (in a Nomad camper trailer) came by and talked for a sec, then left.
Ben and Joe came by in Ben’s pickup shortly after, and we all got in to go find Beth and Dad in the mountains. They were only down the road, so we continued down the Loop anyway. Joe and Eric were cold (they were riding on the tailgate), so the four of us crammed into the cab, and continued up the mountain.
We were passing a thickly wooded spot, and I thought I saw a bear where the tall trees ended. But then I thought it wasn’t. I thought it MIGHT have been an elk, but it didn’t look quite right. Then I realized what it was.
“Stop, Ben! Moose!” I pointed, and he stopped. Joe jumped out and snapped a couple pictures. We could only see her face and part of her body. We could see she was drooling, though. Great globs of drool was dropping from her mouth. Now isn’t there a beer called Moose Drool? Well, after seeing REAL moose drool, the beer seems even more unappetizing to me!
When we got back around, Dad and Beth were just coming into camp. We told stories and built a fire, then came inside. The boys and Beth played poker, and I wrote this.
Dad’s dishing up dinner: chunked potatoes, carrots, and meat. It smells awesome! I’m gonna quit and eat.

Monday 2:00 PM This morning we all hung around camp on stands, except Eric and Joe, who walked around. No luck. Met back at camp around 9:30 or so; dropped Beth, Dad, and Joe off in the mountains, dropped Eric off at a meadow, then Ben and I went walking at the trailhead. We agreed to meet the rest at noon. At about eleven thirty we started back for the mountains. We picked Eric up, and continued. Eric had his radio on, and had been talking to Dad. Ben turned his radio on, and we heard they got some–a buck, a doe, and Joe got a little deer. We went up there as fast as we could. Joe had JUST gotten his, right before the radio conversation.
Dad got the buck, a 2 point, and Beth got the doe. Joe hadn’t gutted his yet, so he did that while Dad, Ben, and I went around the Loop again. When we got back, Joe was just finishing, so we loaded it (well, Joe did it by himself, because it was so small), and came back to camp for lunch.

9:15 PM Almost ready for bed. Joe’s getting his gear together on the floor. After lunch we dropped Dad and Beth off, drove down a little, and the rest of us piled out. We walked a ways, then dropped me off at a stand, and the rest continued (Joe was on a stand not far from me). Gotta go; light’s going off.

Monday (continued on Tuesday) Ok, so they dropped Joe off, then Eric, then Ben walked for a ways before coming back.
I hadn’t brought my suit overalls, just my coat, so I got kind of cold. I made up my mind that when I got cold I’d climb the hill opposite me, to see what was on the other side, and to get warmed up. On the way up I saw Joe, and giant moose tracks.
Only a guy chopping firewood was on the other side.
I came back down. The sun had sunk past the mountains, and it was cooling off, so I couldn’t sit in a stand, so I decided to climb the hill that had been to my back. I talked to Joe a little, then headed up the hill. I got to the top, and went along the crest. The forest just continued on the other side. It reminded me of Oregon; the trees smelled good, sometimes I’d see moss, and the ground was covered in fir and pine needles.
Ben and Eric came up to meet me; Eric was cold so he went to the pickup. Ben and I continued for another quarter mile or so, but it was getting dark so we headed back.
When we got back to where the pickup was SUPPOSED to be, it wasn’t there. I turned on my radio, but Joe said it didn’t work and turned his own on and talked to Beth. I think it was just because HE wanted to talk on it. Beth said Eric and Dad were finishing gutting Eric’s deer, and they’d be back shortly. We walked a ways, then they came. “Hop on the back!” Dad said, so we did. I was afraid I’d fall off, but I didn’t want to sit too far on the left, because I’d have to sit in the blood and I didn’t want to change my pants for bed. (I only had overalls left, and overalls aren’t very good while hunting.) So I stayed out of the blood, but was afraid I’d fall off because Dad was going so fast. Both boys agreed Dad was going faster than Ben ever did, but Dad did a better job of staying out of the potholes. So I scooted back so I was over the hinge where the pickup and the tailgate met. Unfortunately that meant my feet were sticking off the end because my legs are so short, and whenever we went over a bump my rear end hurt, but at least I wasn’t going to fall off!
Got back to camp; had hot dogs for dinner and roasted marshmallows and s’mores for dessert.

Tuesday 11:05 AM We hiked for a little bit, then had a (very cold) stand–oh, headed out again.

12:05 PM Back; saw nothing but a guy in a pickup and a couple grouse and magpies.
Anyway. Hiked down a hill; Eric and Ben walked way up the draw but left me behind so I could stop wherever I wanted to be (Dad and Beth had stopped already; Joe was left near camp). I hiked a little longer, then had that long, cold stand. The sun hadn’t come up one the side of the hill I was on yet, so it was cold. I walked back up the hill and came out on the road at a different place. Dad and Beth was just coming down the road, so they picked me up. We picked the boys up; went back to camp and started writing. Everybody is very interested in my writing this out for my blog. Joe took a picture of me writing, and so did Dad (he also took a picture of me in my suit).
Dad’s heating water for cup o’noodles; Joe’s glassing the mountains (Butcher, Bear, and Froze-to-death, but we don’t know which one is Froze-to-death); Ben, Beth, and Eric are playing poker.
Just collected my beef cup o’noodles; Dad’s passing out water now.

7:45 PM Well…after lunch we walked way, way back up to a meadow. Eric, Beth, and I sat in the meadow, facing different directions. Beth and I were at the same tree, just facing different directions.We both had our backs to the tree. Her spot was real nice. Mine was pretty nice, but there was a stick poking in my back, so I put my TP on it, and it was much better.
We waited a long, long time. The sun went down behind Bear Mountain, and it was getting cold. I hadn’t seen anything all day. Then I did. A nice, 3 by (meaning 3 points on each side) buck, just moseying along. I tried to whistle to stop him, but my mouth was cold and my whistler wasn’t working. So I yelled “Hey!” Beth, from the other side of the tree, said “whaa…?” and I shot. The buck kicked up his heels and ran. I went after it, but didn’t see it. The boys all came over, and Dad. Dad and I hiked all over the hill, and finally decided I’d probably missed. I was trying to hurry, so that’s probably why.
Anyway. Joe came up and looked at the tracks in the snow patch, and found blood. How we missed it before, I don’t know. Joe trailed it a ways, but the snow was patchy so we lost the trail. It looked only like a flesh wound, anyway.
We went back to camp…it’s now nine PM and the boys are hooking the trailer back up to the van. It’s been fun, but we all decided out of the comforts of home, we miss our beds the most!