Fall is the time for hunting for a lot of people – birds, deer and other game. Many hunters do it to help feed their families, but some do it just for sport. Slim Randles is here with a story of one man who does hunt for food, but may not always shoot. Join me in some refreshments and enjoy Slim’s story.
Old Jasper Blankenship bought a deer license again this year, just as he’s done every year since Eisenhower was President. He sticks nickels and dimes in a jar all year long and smiles each time he contributes. By Fall, he’s saved up enough for a deer tag.
Jasper lives full-time out at the diggin’s with his dog, Arthur, of course, so he has only to walk about 100 feet from the cabin to do his hunting. That’s one of the marvels of it.
If he sees a nice buck, he might shoot it. Hey, he enjoys venison like everyone else, of course. But he might not shoot it. He had two good shots last Fall and didn’t take either one of them. He’s tried to justify this inactivity to himself, but has come a cropper each time.
So off he went once again with his rifle to sit against that one certain tree, kinda scrooched around in the pine needles until he was comfortable, and waited.
The squirrel came down a nearby tree and chattered at him for a while, and then left.
The blue jay flew to a branch above him and looked down. Didn’t stay long, though.
The soft music of the mountains began along about four in the afternoon, resembling, at first, just the breeze in the tops of the aspens, but later taking form into a melody no composer could ever create.
A legal buck came along just about sundown, but Jasper just waved at it and watched it bound off. Didn’t want to shoot one on opening day, anyway. Still five days to go.
Maybe tomorrow.
We’ll see.
That’s my kind of hunting. What about you? Are you a hunter? I respect people who hunt to put food on the table. I also respect people who respect the animals. That’s a whole lot of respecting, but that is not a bad thing. In fact, I think it is a really good thing.
Have a wonderful weekend, whether you spend it indoors or at a deer stand.
And don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway that is running all this month. I’ve joined with a number of other authors to sponsor a giveaway with some great prizes that includes a 7″ #Kindle Fire, $25 Amazon eGift Card, and a book-lover coffee mug from a great site for Reader Giveaways -The Kindle Book Review.
I’m sponsoring with my mystery, Open Season, and it continues to be discounted to only .99.
Just click on this link to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. It’s easy & fun. The giveaway runs until November 30, and you can enter every day to have more chances to win one of the prizes.
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Slim’s column is brought to us today by Arizona’s Book of the Year, Stories from History’s Dust Bin, by Wayne Winterton. This is a 3-book series of historical vignettes featuring the famous and the ordinary people who shaped our world.
