HUNTING TRADITION

     Hunting has been a part of my life forever. i can remember, as a young girl, working in the potato fields and the goal was to get the potato harvest finished in time for the men to go deer or elk hunting, or both. the men talked about it all the time. and it seems like we always accomplished that goal of getting the harvest finished in time. I never went hunting; it was a "man" thing to do back then.
     When Boyd and I were first married, a productive hunting season heped feed our family through many winters. i learened to flavor the meat of even the oldest deer so it was edible. maybe not delicious, maybe not tneder, but edible.
     The day before opening day of hunting, I would load the car with groceries, get the kids off to school, and drive to the ranch. I'd light a fire in the wood cook stove upon arrival and shut the doors to the rooms next to the kitchen so as to centralize the heat in the room I would be occupying. Then - I'd mix bread, start a big stew on the stove, and make pie dough. While the bread was rising and the pies baking, the soup simmered
 and I would sweep and mob the floor - even venturing into the colder rooms to straighten the beds and sweek and mop those floors. while the bread baked, I'd wash and dry the dishes to leave everything neat and clean.
     I know that souns like a lot of work, but I loved being at the ranch as much then as I do now. There was and is a peacefulness there that I love to bask in. Having no electricity, a battery operated radio is used to give us any news that we think we might need. Most of the time that radio isn't even turned on, leaving us with the opportunity to enjoy solitude and peace.
     After a day of cleaning and cooking, I would be able to get back to our valley home by the time the kids got home from school. And the hunters would be going to a warm house with the smell of freshly baked bread and hot stew greeting them as they open the kitchen door.

     There have been many years of hunting, many stories told involving our family and the hunts they have been on. This year, as our youngest son, Jon, and one of our grandsons, Skyler, prepared to go hunting on opening day, I fixed sandwiches to send with them. As they walked out the door, Skyler looked at me with a big grin on his face, grunted like a cave man and said, "Me, Man!" He was going out to provide food for his family.

     Were they able to get their prey. No. In fact they didn't see much game that morning, but did see lots of hunters. But they participated in the tradition of hunting on opening day, a big event in the life of both young men who come from a family of hunters!