Today is the final day to get things packed for the hunt.  But before I can do that I have some repair work to do on my rain gutters.  Last nights downpour of rain showed me where my gutters are filled with debris from my trees.  The rain was such a drenching one the gutters could not handle it and came pouring over the end.  Crazy rain.

Once I’m done with that chore, I’ll get very busy with the details of packing.

I’ve said it before, I’m excited for this outing and I’m just the cook!  Does it get any better than that?

Many years ago I was in a similar situation where I was again the cook and went on a bow hunt with Dry Dog and Weasel.  Both of them were hunting and I was just there to be in the way.  We had a steak night dinner planned the second night of our stay and I knew without a doubt that Weasel was going to bag his first ever buck.  I knew where his ground blind was and I could observe the happenings from a point high above his position.  I wanted to witness the event.

So, in my own way, I planned to have the steaks all cooked for when we came off the mountain with his buck well after dark.  I put all three T-bones in a dutch oven with spuds and onions and buried it in the coals of the fire pit.  I was the smartest one and those steaks would be so very delicious when we got into camp.  A few hot coals under the oven and a few on top and bury the whole shootin match in the ground.

Well, I sat up on the ridge and watched patiently as deer after deer made their way down and past Weasels position.  They fed slowly along but nary a shot was fired.  Did he fall asleep?  Were the animals not in a position he could see them?  From my vantage point they looked to be well within range, clearly bucks and feeding broadside to him.  Well after dark, he emerged from his blind and began the hike down to the camp.  I too returned in the vehicle arriving at about the same time as he and Dry Dog wandered into camp.

After hearing the stories of the evenings events, and no shots were taken, I unveiled the steak supper.

I removed the dirt from the lid and pulled the dutch oven out of its buried spot, set it on the make shift table I had made out of fallen timbers, and took the lid off.  My expectancies were fall off the bone meat, perfectly done spuds and nice glazed onions on top of the whole thing.  My eyes about popped out of my head when they peered down into the pot only to find a mound of charcoal steaming in its own mess.  Right now I don’t remember what we ended up eating for supper, but I sure did ruin 3 perfectly good steaks.

With that in the back of my mind, I promise I will not repeat that mistake on this trip.

Bears Butt

August 13, 2014