Down the Long Hills

Cowboy · Apr 19, 2003

This man was not a dreamer. He was a realist in the truest sense. But even still, he found himself now perched on a cold wind-swept rock well above timberline, brought there by a vision.

Not long ago, he lost an old friend. His friend was someone who taught him to have a true appreciation of life and living, and gave him lessons about the place of a man in nature. His friend was aged, but even to the end his eyes sparkled to witness the antics of the wild critters. The old boy was a whole lot happier outdoors than inside?and so the two of them had a thing in common. It was for him and because of him that he came here now. He was to receive the final piece of wisdom.

The visionary?s name was Dan?a flatlander from Michigan. It was there he grew up. He?d come to know the habits of whitetail intimately. It was a challenge to see just how close he could get to them. He swore he knew what they thought, and could find them under any condition at any time. It came with patience, which was the very first lesson.

He?d learned to not move a muscle and sit for long periods of time. Become a piece of the woods he did. And this way he learned so much. A patient observer he was who had come to know so much more than the common man, or even hunter. And not just about deer?all animals from the tiniest wren to the jelly belly black bear.

The_Wraith · Apr 19, 2003

Cool!!!

kingfish · Apr 19, 2003

Glad to see you back!!. More please..............

BOHNTR · Apr 20, 2003

Cowboy:

It's been a long time coming......Keep the embers glowing.

BOHNTR )))--------->

kingfish · Apr 20, 2003

IM going to cut more wood...A little chilly this morning...Wraith has the coffee going now we just need to warm the outsides....Keith 46.

Cowboy · Apr 21, 2003

Harley, the old man, had told Dan of his early adventures out west. Dan had a mental image of what the old man had seen and done. Dan had come to believe that those hunting trips out west were pretty significant to Harley and were a part of the old man?s learning. This is what led Dan to wander out west.

Dan was a welder by trade for the railroad. From time to time, he'd get back home and visit the old man. Dan always wondered if the time would come that he'd settle down back there in Michigan, but for now his address was in Cheyenne, Wyoming?more out of convenience to his work than any specific desire to live there.

Probably the crown jewel among Harley?s memoirs was big horn sheep hunting. So unique was the terrain, the habitat, the animal?s behavior, the methods, and the physical exertion that this type of hunting stood alone. This experience more than any other would distinguish a man?especially if he did it alone?at least according to Harley.

With Harley?s encouragement, Dan applied every year for the tag. It wasn?t until the spring that Harley passed on that Dan got the fat envelope in the mail. He?d finally received a tag and regulations to hunt big horn sheep. It lay on the table before him, and he pondered on what the timing meant in the great scheme of things. Harley wasn?t here to advise him any more. Dan was on his own now and bound to trace the steps of his teacher.

catmando · Apr 21, 2003

Keep it coming!!!!

kingfish · Apr 21, 2003

wait!!! I have to get a beer............OK, Im ready.

Cowboy · Apr 21, 2003

Dan put in for the time off, knowing full well that when it came up that work would be too pressing and once again he'd be pushed to postpone his plans. But this time was different. No matter what, he would do this. He had enough confidence in himself and his ability now that he could get another good job if need be.

When August came Dan was ready. He was in pretty good shape as it was, with his work climbing around the cars and lugging material and equipment, but he augmented his training with morning runs. For the first time in years his enthusiasm for the hunt was once again brimming.

A mid-August morning found Dan huffing up a steep winding trail, with his chin buried in his chest against the load he carried. The cool morning air lay in the deep rocky cut formed by the rushing mountain stream that led down from high ground, and it kept the sweat from running...for now anyway. Somewhere behind him on the trail he heard the clink of horseshoes, and he stepped off to rest and let the riders on through.

The happy voices of the trail-riders carried up through the trees and bounced off the rock walls around him. Soon they hove into view...three of them with a string of pack mules burdened with canvas covered mounds. Except for a hand wave and the customary brief comment on the beautiful weather, the riders kept on task and moved on up the trail. Dan let the sounds diminish, until the whistling Whiskey Jacks were once again the loudest thing around, then he picked himself up and moved on.

Cowboy · Apr 22, 2003

Spike camp was nestled among a cove of rocks by a spring above timberline. Dan pumped the little gas stove and the flame screeched intensely. Boiled noodles and dehydrated vegetables would be his dinner fare for the next several days. The air chilled right down when the sun cast its last ray from behind the mountain, as Dan prepared himself for the long night ahead.

The days came and went. He religously surveyed the desolate grey and green landscape. After 4 days of wandering and glassing and becoming less confident by the hour, Dan finally made out a buff colored patch on the far mountain side. Eventually he counted eight sheep. Three rams, and one that he definitely wanted. They were on a small bench below a cluster of grey rock outcrops.

Their place was one that he'd looked at several times in the last few days. Only now they'd shown up...maybe they had been on the other side. Truth was they were there now and he had to figure out how to close the distance. Even as he watched now, the clouds billowed up behind their ridge like steam puffing out of a ruptured boiler. Even a flatlander should know what that meant...only Dan didn't know that this was the start of his lesson and the one that would complete his understanding of his mentor.

A warm rush of air caught him in the chest, which could not be ignored. Dan knew now that the weather would dictate to him just what he would do and when he would do it.

kingfish · Apr 22, 2003

This is better then the morning paper...Coffee with Cowboy..Thanks bud!!. Keith 46.

KattTraxx · Apr 23, 2003

Cowpoke,
I hope you got more where this came from. I also hope you're a better man than to leave us all hangin now. Take all the time you need, just don't quit. This is almost as good as being on a hunt ourselves. Thanks to ya! KattSkatt

Cowboy · Apr 23, 2003

The hair on Dan?s arm seemed to stand up and the air just felt different. The sky began to turn kind of a sickly green as the first distant rumble could be heard. Dan pulled the binoculars down reluctantly. He could not bring himself to sling the rifle and head back to camp. He finally had the quarry in sight and had to give up the chase...

The sky lit up chrome and blue KAABOOOOOOOMMM?Dan felt like he'd been punched in the nose as he landed on his ass. Dazed, he gathered himself, barely noticing at first that the huge drops of rain began to pelt down, then feeling like he was dodging 20mm cannon rounds, the urgency to find cover came front and center...KARRRAAAACK...Dan dove head first smacking his jaw on the rocky ground.

His surroundings were streaked with water as the rain came down in sheets. Dan was soaked completely to the skin, and like some derelict bum he stumbled back the way he'd come...the rain pecking on him mercilessly. Once more the lightning spudded the earth, this time thankfully some distance off. Dan slipped numerous times as he worked his way down hill as the rain hadn't enough time to soak in, and the surface soil was like greased ball bearings.

By dark Dan finally made out the light colored blotch that was his tent, and made his way toward it...painfully slow to avoid torturing his back or knees with yet another slip. He was not in control anymore...he was not top dog here. He was unsettled with these circumstances as he had never been before.

Within an hour of finally making camp and gulping down his boiled dinner, Dan lay in his bag shivering and aching. He rolled over and fumbled for his kit and found the Ibuprofen. Thankful to be alive, he muttered a silent prayer and drifted off to sleep.

KattTraxx · Apr 24, 2003

Cowpoke,
"the riders hove into view" and "once more, lightning spudded the earth" are dead giveaways. You have got to be some kind of Cloned Louis LaMour.

Who cares, just keep going. Kattskatt

kingfish · Apr 25, 2003

Come on Cowboy....I have my coffee where's my story????.

Cowboy · Apr 25, 2003

When the alarm rattled, Dan?s eyes were already open. He lay perfectly still on his back, and thought about what he would do. His decision carried him forward on a path now that would change the way he thought about his life and would do things from this point forward. A lesser man would have stayed put and found plenty of excuse to not venture forth this day.

Dan crawled out of the sack, plenty stiff from the misadventure with Mother Nature the night before. He thought about the herd of sheep, and understood why they were where he saw them just before the storm. His plan was laid out now before him, as he scratched in his grub sack for oatmeal and coffee bags.

By the time the eastern sky glowed with coming dawn, Dan was picking his way through the boulder field to the ridge of last night's retreat. The cold morning air felt good and though his fingers were numb, he felt alive and totally in touch. Strangely, his muscles ached less now, seemingly loosened up with the mornings exertion, no to mention the excitement of a plan starting to gel.

Dan belly crawled to the ridge crest and swung the binoculars up and into focus. Had he been 10 minutes later, he would not have seen the outline of the sheep in the morning sun there on that mountain side where he'd seen them yesterday. It appeared most had gone around the other side. He gave it about 20 minutes, then when satisfied they were gone, he slung his rifle and pack then moved out to negotiate the deep draw that separated them from him.

Cowboy · Apr 28, 2003

Dan picked his way up the rocky slope, crouching as he approached the top, arms swinging low with the rifle dangling. His lungs heaved and his head throbbed with his effort to breathe and the exertion he had been putting out. There was a certain exhilaration now that he was within steps of his goal.

Dan poked his head out between two rocks and spotted the sheep there below him feeding out in a little basin. He watched for a long time until his breathing slowed to a more regular rate, then slid the rifle up alongside. His ram stood head down and backside toward him. It was him there be no doubt...darker brown than the rest, a magnificent full curl broomed-horn monarch.

He judged the range at just over two hundred yards, and the crosshair settled at mid-height on the ram?s chest. Slowly the ram stepped and quartered just slightly away. Dan paused for a moment to savor it, then eased the last ounce of pressure on the trigger as the 25-06 cracked. Dan, scarcely noticed what little recoil there was and stood up to see the ram lurch forward onto his knees, then tip over and kick his hind legs out behind.

Dan approached his downed quarry, knees trembling and the hands clutched firmly around his rifle. He stopped momentarily then layed his hand out on the ram?s hip, like a mountain climber reaching for his last handhold before pulling himself to the peak. The action seemed to close a gap both physically and emotionally.

In the ram?s death, there was a sense of purpose fulfilled to Dan. It was the ram that served as the goal behind this journey. A journey that brought him to the highest ground on earth to experience this part of life in the harshest elements that nature put forth. Dan did not feel he had conquered. He felt humility. He felt small and unprotected. He felt the hand of God as never before. Humility...the lesson Harley knew Dan must have to be a complete outdoorsman, and one that required this place for the schooling because it could not be duplicated down the long hills to home.

The End

kingfish · Apr 29, 2003

YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH BABY!!!!!. My week is made!!!. Thanks Cowboy for another truley great story.. You da man!...OK, How about another.. I'll give you a couple days to rest up before YOUR NEXT GREAT STORY...K. Thanks again, Keith 46.

Cowboy · May 2, 2003

You're welcome Kingfish. I enjoyed telling it. It may be awhile for another story to come along...gonna get busy here now. Frost out of the ground, work cranking up, fish to catch, bears to hunt! Have a good summer!

Hey Wraith...its your turn buddy. Lay out a story and keep ol Kingbean off my back!

kingfish · May 2, 2003

Im just kidding Cowboy...Anytime is good with me as long as it's not toooo long before your next tall tale...I really do enjoy your story telling ability...Ya know Loius Lamour needs someone to carry on his tradition of great stories...How bout it Cowboy and Wraith??. Predator seems to be able to put magic to words also...If you guys get together and publish your great stories don't forget ole kingfish when the royalty's start rollin in....Until then I'll be waiten....Keith 46.

The_Wraith · May 11, 2003

Cowboy, a truly wonderful story told by a truly great story teller. My story telling abilities pale in comparison and I hope that I can learn from you.
D

The_Wraith · Apr 8, 2004

To good of a story to go off the board. It'll speak to you if you'll open up and listen as will all of Cowboys stories, in fact how about a new one Cowboy?
Hunt4lyf