huntin in 2015

8:40pm

I just realized that I haven’t written about my weekend and if I wait any longer I might forget what it was all about.

Although, that’s doubtful, considering I went hunting for the first time ever! =)

I’d been pretty lazy for a couple days. No energy and completely unmotivated to move very much. So on Saturday my mom went into the office to work on a test and I laid around the house. Eventually I got up to shower so that she could pick me up before church. I figured I should go.

I checked my fb at one point and saw a message from JR asking if I wanted to go to lunch at CHL. Except it was already lunch time and I told him that I was barely up in time to have an official “lunch”. hah. I also told him that I thought he was supposed to be out hunting all day. It was the first day of the season.

He responded by telling me it’s “not happening” and asked that I call. A couple hours later I answered and said he never picks up my calls [mostly the restricted number thing] and he said he’d call me. The landline rang a minute later and I ran to pick it up.

Turns out he wanted to invite me to go hunting. I did a lot of the indecisive asking questions and not answering them in return. I am horrible at making decisions. And it was one of those things that I wanted to do but was so freakin’ nervous about saying yes to. Because hunting? Why not? I’ve been talking/thinking about going out there for a while.

I asked who was going with him and he said a buddy and his wife, maybe their daughter. I used that as an excuse not to go. Well that, and not having a way to get out to his parent’s house. He said he’d call me back with more details and I hung up and started pacing around the house. Then a couple minutes later he calls back and says he has a plan. That him, his buddy, and I were all going hunting…and that’s all. haha. He’s got a way with plans. =P

He ended up saying that he would come pick me up and he would find me a ride home. That we would have a lot of fun and that he thought I’d really like to do something like this. When I said I’d go some other time, when I had a ride, he said that I always say that and never do. =\ heh. He got me there. I started to feel guilty at this point. Guilty and semi-excited to just want to say yes to whatever the plan was.

So I did. He said he’d call me back in a while because his friend was waiting for his daughter to get home. I called mom to ask about a jacket and said I was going. Of course she gave me the obligatory speech about “being careful” and to make sure other girls were coming. hah. I don’t know what that was all about, but at that point I didn’t know whether the guy’s wife was coming or not.

JR called back about a half-hour later and asked if I was still up for it and he’d be here in 20 minutes. I’d done a lot of walking around the house, prepping, trying to relax/not panic, and going to the bathroom before he got here. I figured there wouldn’t be a bathroom out in the middle of nowhere, and I was right. The first thing he said to me after he got here was, “so, I don’t know how girly you are, but there aren’t any bathrooms or anything out there…” Great opener! haha.

At least the next thing I saw was his nice red jeep. =) But I definitely learned a lesson after the first few seconds - always bring a hat! My hair was whipping around like crazy and it continued like that for the rest of the night. It took me probably 15 minutes to untangle my hair after I got home. ha.

Anyway, we drove out to his parent’s house and met his friend T. We were introduced when JR yelled out to him and names were exchanged. I was tempted to walk over and shake hands but he was pretty far off and I was barely getting out of the jeep. Oh well. He started transferring stuff over and JR disappeared inside. That had serious potential to become awkward but we worked our way through it. Exchanging a few words here and there. Then some puppies escaped under the fence in JR’s yard and he knelt down to play with them. I walked over to do the same. No better ice breaker than cute puppies! I can’t really bend down though so it’s hard to pet those little guys, but they eventually came over and then wouldn’t go back to him. haha. Animals love me!

Everything was moved over to the jeep, puppies were put back (twice..) and we jumped in to take off to the ranch. T was nice enough to let me sit up front. We drove out only a few miles down the road to a cattle ranch. JR was explaining all the lot owners out to me since they’re almost all involved in the business. But I’m not a very good listener so he gave up. A little work stuff came up, but I didn’t feel like talking about it in detail. JR was giving out a lot of information and it’s ok as long as it’s coming from him.

I guess I should try to not recount every single second of the trip, but it’s always nice to come back and read details with my vague memory.

Oh, there was one moment when we first got onto the ranch and I looked ahead to see a giant bull blocking the road, followed by two cows. He didn’t move either. He was very much like, “this is my space and you can find a way around.” JR told me today that he was worried the bull was going to kick me because we seriously passed within a couple feet of him. I could have touched him if I’d reached out my arm. But he looked like the friendliest bull to me and I’m totally of the belief that an animal won’t hurt you if you don’t bother them. There’s no reason for him to do anything to me. :-)

Mostly the trip was spent in silence. Riding around in the jeep with the breeze flowing all around us. We drove up the mountains and down the canyons. Saw a couple squirrels, an amazing bald eagle [from a distance], and some tarantulas. They say those are a good sign, right? because they’re going up hill. We’ll see how true that is. Plenty of birds too.

And we drank beer as we rode around. =] Except they were giving me sh*t because JR said how I always drink him under the table and I was nursing my first beer. Well, I told them, beer is a lot like drinking water and I can’t just whip it out behind the jeep when I have to pee! Seriously. I would have had a lot more to drink but even on an empty bladder [I hadn’t even eaten since breakfast] I had to pee after the first beer. So I only ended up drinking one and half until we got near town and I finished the second one. The problem is that I can’t squat down either because I have bad knees, so hiding behind some bushes was out of the question. Plus, there weren’t really any bushes out there. I would have had to run out towards the trees. ha. That ain’t happening. So no drinking for me. Darn boys and their easy access. ;)

There was one moment where T said he had a bottle of whiskey and JR made comment about my being excited and really liking to drink. I told him not to say those things in front of T because we’d only just met and I didn’t want to ruin the reputation. And T goes, “I already know you drink whiskey so don’t worry about it.” haha. Perfect! Rumors have already been spread. I guess JR told him how he’d taken me a bottle of 1910 but I didn’t get any more details. That was the one problem with being out there. It was so quiet that even if a conversation started up, it didn’t last long. I didn’t feel right talking so much and wasn’t sure about hunting etiquette.

So yeah, we drove around until we couldn’t see anymore and didn’t see anything worth shooting. They said next time they’d bring a .22 so I could shoot at squirrels. haha. We decided to head home and stop at the bar in town. I haven’t been there, but it’s like an old man’s bar. It’s been around forever. Like my parents used to drink there after work. And I figured these two guys would be the perfect ones to go with. We headed back to JR’s place to drop off his jeep and pick up the truck. T was going to give us a ride into town. JR went up to a car that was coming down the road shortly after we got there. I didn’t know who it was so I stood on the side of the jeep and tried getting the knots out of my hair. Then JR calls out to me and says his mom wants to know what I’m doing with them. hah. I start walking up to the car and see his mom, and niece, and another girl. Whoops. I probably seemed like I was hiding behind the jeep. And I forgot to ask JR today what his mom said. But at least I walked over there and chatted with her. She asked if they’d taken me out there in that dirty thing [yes there was plenty of dust with no windows on it] but I told her I had a good time.

Then they left, JR went inside, and I stood around while T unloaded the jeep. He went to his truck and was hunched over the seat for a while. I could see him through the rear-view mirror but I’m going to try not to speculate as to what he was doing. He came around and stood by me in the middle of the street. We talked about my work schedule but not much else. Mostly we stood there and stared around and he walked over to the jeep and wherever else. I was looking for shooting stars out there in the dark.

Once JR came back, and we had a whole thing about me sitting in the backseat, we got into town and the bar was closed. T said everyone must have been drunk by 8 because it was only 9:30 on a Saturday. =( Then we tried another place and they were closed too. Then pulled into a parking lot, walked across the street [in front of a cop that we all laughed about] and turns out the last place in town was also closed. We’d been willing to sacrifice and go into the ritzy place for a drink and were denied. hah. T took it as a sign that he needed to get home to his family and he brought me home. JR was going to stay here for a while, but his mom ended up right behind us and took him home. He was all paranoid about my getting inside ok. haha. I can take care of myself, dude.

Apparently T told him that next time we should all have cocktails. haha. I guess it’s not as fun when I have to pee. haha! And JR asked if I liked T but I never really gave him a straight answer. I need to learn to ease up on the funny sarcasm thing. He said something about “next time” and I asked if that meant that I’d be invited again. He said he guessed so. hah. But then about 20 minutes later he said he was thinking about taking it back. That’s what I get for being rude. haha.

It was a really good time though. I came back from that afternoon feeling so relaxed. I mean it was only 4 hours of driving around, listening to the radio down low, and searching the hills for signs of life [gosh it’s so dry out there!] but it was super amazing. Like I just felt so at ease when I got home. My whole body felt better and I couldn’t even explain why. I’d go out there every day if I could. And I secretly hope that they do take me out at least once more this season. Because I want to implement all the lessons I learned and really have a good time with them. Not to mention that I totally wanted to be the one to find a deer, even if it meant that I’d flinch when they shot and probably cry near the dead body.

I need more days like that though. The calm, relaxing environment, the good people, the quiet, and the amazing sunsets across the rolling hills. Sometimes it seriously does pay off to just say yes. I need to continue to convince myself about what a good idea that is. As long as it’s small groups, I can totally handle it.
[As I asked questions, and JR tried to show me pictures of T’s wife today, he said, “see? I was just trying to show you that not everyone around here is bad.” heh. I gotta give him that. I even sent him a message after I got home that night and told him that he was right. I had a good time. But maybe next time we could shoot something, or at least have a little more whiskey. lol]

rose.
11:37pm

Last updated October 02, 2015