Conner  wanted to go with the ol Bears Butt out on the trappin line one day.  It wuz pretty good weather considerin it wuz cold an all, but I decided he shud go an learn sum bout trappin anyway.

Well, I always carry my pistol just in case I dun git a critter what I didn’t want ta kitch an I kint  take care of it with a stick.  Sum time ya gotta take a chance an shoot the critter, even if hostiles might hear the shot an cum ta take yer scalp.

I dun worned Conner bout the chance we dun cum inta hostile territory an that my traps wuz deep in there quite a bit.  Well he still said he dun wanted ta cum and be with Bears Butt.  I wuz ok with all of that.

Here we wuz the next day an we loaded up the horses and wagon with all our stuff what we wuz gonna need.  Corse I always takes my trusty pistol.  We had all the normal things what we needed too.  Traps, lots of feed for the hosses, sum jerky an water, fer us.  We wuz set ta go.

Loaded up we dun headed out.  Took us quite sum time ta git ta the trappin spot, but the sun wuz still high an we had sum time ta check what traps wuz out there.  As we gits ta chickin traps we wuz not gitin many plews.  Seems maybe the weather had em denned up er sumpin.  Anyways we keeped on chickin the traps and pert soon we wuz dun.  Havin been a perty long day so far an we still had us a heap of a ride ta git back ta camp, we turned the horses round and headed that direction.

I wuznt too worried nun about the hostiles cuz the weather wuz a bit nippy an I figgered they wood have theys heads in theys lodges all hunkered down an all.  So what I mean by all of that is I hadn’t bin watchin fer nun of em.  Corse the way it all turned out there twernt nun anywayz.

Ol Conner says he wanted ta take a little break frum all this trappin an travlin so we pulled up short and tied the critters down.  I broke us out sum jerky an we begin ta talk sum.  He had a heap o questions about why the plews wuz not so many an how the weather wuz an all.  Then he spots my trusty ol pistol.  Kin I look at that there pistol sum?

Sure you kin look at it son.  An I pulled it outa its hidin spot an handed it to im.  He aint never seed a pistol like this here one an he is wide eyed an a lookin real close at it.  I asked him if he dun ever seed one like it afor an corse he says no.  Well, I asked him if he dun ever shot a pistol afor an he tells me he aint.  So I say lets be shootin this here one right now.  I’ll show ya the ropes an you can shoot er.

Sos I show him the deal about this here pistol real good.  An I tell him about how easy it is to point it all round the place without havin ta move his arm an such an how he cud git in a heap o trouble ifn he didn’t mind where it was a pointin.  An he says he understood all of that real good an he wuz ready ta try an shoot it.

Well we wuz gonna need sumpin ta shoot at what we cud see wheres his bullets wuz goin.  So I goes through my saddle pack an finds a fine targit what wood do real fine.  Then I walked the targit out about 25 yards an placed it on the ground sos ya cud see it real good.  Then I dun cummed back ta Conner an the hosses.

Next I showed Conner just how the pistol wuz loaded up an told him how it wuz just like loadin a long gun only this here had a way much shorter barrel than a long gun.  He said he dun knowed it had a lot shorter barrel than a long gun an that I wuzn’t teachin him nutin he didn’t already know about that there.  But he dun never shot a pistol afor an needed me ta strucked him good.

Sos after showin him how ta load it up, he dun loaded it up just like I said ta do it.  Then I showed him how ta aim it an said it wuz just like aimin a long gun, seppen it had a shorter barrel than a long gun an other then that it wuz pert near the same.  He just looked at me.  So I figgered he knowed that part already.

Well, now it is time ta shoot at that there targit.  He takes that pistol an he aims her pritty dang good an holds it steady and boom off it goes with a bang!  Corse I knowed he wuzn’t gonna hit that targit cuz it wuz so small, bout the size of a kettle pot lid,  an we walked down range an sure nuff he dun hit that targit right good.  Sos we goes back.

Now this here is my bestest pistol what I own an I kin shoot it perty gud an all.   I even hit a rabbit right in the eye at 20 yards onest an I wuz aimin at the eye, cuz that wuz all I cud see of that there rabbit.  But what I wuz about ta see I aint so sure I cud a done, but don’t ya go tellin Conner that now.  Hold yer tung.

Conner loads er up agin an takes careful as he cud aim an squeezes that there trigger just like afor an boom, off she goes.  Agin we walk down there and now they is two holes in that there targit!  Son of a gun, this boy dun is a natural shooter.  Well this here goes on fer a time an he dun shot a heap of times an ever time that there targit dun got a new hole in it.

I finally had ta call a stop ta all this here shootin an hittin, cuz it wuz high time we wuz on our way ta camp.  Besides we probably wuz wakin up them hostiles makin all our whoopin an gun shot sounds.  An the targit wuznt much ta shoot at no more either.  A few more shots an I doubt we cud see where the ball wuz dun strikin.

I reckon ol Conner will be shootin a pistol at the next rondeevoo.  Ifn not, maybe I got a last chance ta maybe win a shootin contest aginst them other mountain men.  Cuz I knowed beyond knowin he be shootin in the rondeevoo after this here next one.

Bears Butt

June 13, 2011