Hunting with Bud 'n' the Rels Part 3
Question:
Hunting with Bud ‘n’ the Rels Part 3 Sequel The next year Al invited me back. But by then I had decided I was too fussy to share the woods with the likes of Bud ‘n’ the Rels, and had taken up with a bow. I was hoping not to see anyone when I hunted, or at the least, to see only the sort of tony hunters who’d be fly fishermen if they fished. So Al went with them by himself, and got a bear. Bud ‘n’ the Rels had seen a cub and blazed at it, blowing the guts mostly out, and it staggered toward Al in a clearing. Seeing many wounds, he finished it off. "It charged him, sure as fate," says a Rel. "Yup," says another. "They will, when they’re wounded." Significant look. "It’s their way." They all nod. The ways of wounded cubs are a known thing. "Good thing ol’ Al kin shoot. Really shoot." They look admiringly at Al. He has fired one shot and killed the bear instantly … at 50 feet. Crockett’s cap. Boone’s moccasins. "Weren’t for ol’ Al’s shootin’, I hate to think what might a happened…." They all look soberly at each other, and then they all go down to town to buy a tag for it. Al looked at the cub; he had shot it between the eyes. For a number of reasons, some of them his associates, and some of them ordinary life pressures, and probably one of them the cub, it was his last hunt. It took me about 10 years of poking around in the woods with that bow learning what an inept hunter I was; and a financially catastrophic divorce; and finding Weaver as a hunting partner; and getting access to some nice land; before I hung up that bow and got Old Flintheart out again. Copyright (c) 1997 by Earl Perry
Response:
Great Story. I look forward to another one. Smile, a bad day in the woods or on the water is better than a good day at work!!! Milt.
