It’s that glorious time of the year when the state of Utah announces who can hunt big game in the Fall.  I’ll let you know right now that I, one of many, have drawn a muzzleloader deer tag and I’m a bit pumped to think I will be hunting and carrying a weapon of choice.

It is a nice feeling to be “in the circle of winners” for this lottery.  But what about those outside the circle?  A bad feeling for sure and we have one of our group who’s credit card has not been hit as of this writing.  Sorry Crock!  I hope it’s just a fluke and your credit card will show a deduction before bedtime tonight.  Even if it doesn’t don’t give up hope.  Someone who did draw may opt out of the hunt and open up the tag just for you!

One of my favorite forum web sites is the Utah Wildlife Net .net and there are a great bunch of guys that post up on that forum.  One even put a thread out there for the “unchosen” and there are a lot of tears on that thread.  One guy came on with a winning lottery statement and was chastised severely for it. Rightfully deserved.

But for us lucky dogs who drew the coveted “whatever” tag we wanted the most for this falls hunting it is a wonderful time.  Just before rendezvous and we have bragging rights at the camp.  The unlucky probably won’t even show up to the camp…all hung dog and sad you know.  I would not blame them.  Why throw yourself in front of a bunch of happy faces and bragging dudes and dudetts who lucked out .  Stay home and be comforted by the spouse about how much money you will save etc.

As for me, I’m glad I drew out, but I would have still gone on the hunt, just to be in camp and maybe get the chance to gut someone elses deer.  But at least be out there gathering up the smoke from the fire into the fabric of my clothes and stinking of the stale smell of beer.  I love the hunt!  I love the camp!  I love the cold beer!  I love the outing and the friends and the animals and the mountains and watching the first of the leaves to begin to fall.  YES!

And then there are the ULTRA lucky!  The ones who put in for the “general” hunt stuff, but also put in for coveted tags that limit the entry of people into a given area of mountain turf and only they can carry a weapon and hunt the game.  THEY are the luckiest of the lucky!  And talk about bragging rights!  They outshine the lucky general tag winners by MILES!  And their smiles show it.

Whenever someone around the fire says “did you draw out”?  They break out into the big old smile that comes with being so very lucky and they hesitate just a moment before speaking about the quest that took them decades to finally draw.  We have two of them in our group who drew such a tag.  No Grimace and Baby Boy!  The Lucky Lucky ones.

With such a feat of luck, they now have choices to make.  What should their shirts say?  A few years ago the shirt read “The Chosen Ones”.  Last year the shirt said “The Chosen ONE”!  Does this years shirt read “The Chosen Pair”?  “The Chosen Two”?  “Dos Elegido, the two chosen”?  Only they can decide.

Yes folks, we are going back into the Crawford Mountains to once again try and educate some of those Wyoming deer.

Bears Butt

May 22, 2012