THE HUNTER

  THE HUNTER

 

The hunter goes out each week at dawn and scouts the land for her soon to be prey. She watches and waits. Learning the habits of that one “special” prize. She soon knows where the prey feeds and knows where he takes water.

In a matter of weeks she will take one of her many weapons into the forest. She will go to the place she has found the prey eating the fruit.

Finally the day she had longed for during the long hot summer has arrived. Hours before the sun warms the morning, she is dressing for the hunt. Pulling on her inner insulation to ward off the chill in the pre-dawn air, she then gathers her down filled coat, her warm socks, and boots. As soon as she is dressed, she reaches for her rifle and ammunition. Taking one final look around the cabin to see that all fires are turned down and there are no chances of danger while she is away, she closes the door.

As she begins her trek into the forest, she feels her heartbeat quicken with anticipation. She arrives at the spot, and settles in for the wait.

As the sun begins to rise, she watches for signs that the animal would soon arrive.  The wind begins to blow and she shivers from the cold. And she waits……wishing she had brought the hot coffee she had left on the stove. Quietly she waits and listens for sounds of the prey.

Suddenly she is alerted by the snapping of a twig. With her eyes scanning the forest in the direction of the sound. she catches a glimpse of a white tail running in the opposite direction…Opportunity had slipped by and she settles back into her hidden seat in the densely wooded forest.

It is now mid morning and the snow gently begins to fall. The hunter doesn’t feel quite so cold. She figures the temperature has risen by the wetness of the snow. It is safe now to build a small fire. Just enough to warm her hands and toes. With slight warmth of the fire and leaning against the huge black oak, she begins to fall asleep.

She is jolted to wakeful awareness by a sharper sound of twigs breaking which meant the sound was closer than before. An automatic reflex has her reaching for her rifle. Watching and listening closely, she sees the familiar orange color of another hunters cap.

Realizing she had been asleep and could very possibly miss the rack she’s been waiting for, she gathers a handful of the cold wet snow and rubs it over her face to wake herself up. Then to keep her cheeks from the possibility of frostbite, she dries her face with the sleeve of her coat. The fire has been out for some time as the ashes are cold. She then wonders how long she had slept. Long enough for her legs and feet to go to sleep. She tries to stand and the tingling of life returning is felt. She decides to walk around and look for the split hoof mark in the freshly fallen snow.

Not wanting to wander too far from her hiding place, she decides to walk in a circular area of about one hundred yards in diameter, looking in every direction.

Finally, after walking about a half hour, she hears what seems to be a cough. She has been very quiet during her walk and as she looks in the direction of the noise, she only sees what appears to be just another tree with no leaves on the branches. She slowly begins to walk toward the tree to get a better look. Looking through the scope on her rifle, she sees a face with the most beautiful, big, brown eyes she has ever seen, and knows the branches were not part of a tree, but in fact a male deer known as a “buck”. She strains her eyes and adjusts the power of her scope to get a better view and get an idea of how big this buck is. She begins to count the protrusions of antlers crowning the head of this magnificent animal. One, two, three…seven on the right side and there are….nine on the left side. Hhhmmm… no wonder he looked so much like a tree.

Still aiming her rifle, she quietly releases the safety and squeezes the trigger. The 270 caliber bullet finds a new home in the heart of the buck. He drops instantly and the hunter goes to him.

Beginning the field dressing of the prize, the hunters mind and senses are filled with the aroma of the warm stew that will come from the deer and she thanks God above that there will be meat again this winter.

Now comes the hard part…dragging the buck to the cabin.

Acknowledging the fact that she was wise in requesting a few extra days away, she is making mental notes of what is still to be done to get the meat ready for packaging and storage.

PULL…..she tells herself as she drags the deer another few feet. This one seems to be the heaviest yet, or is it just age getting to her. Resting momentarily, she remembers the hot coffee left at the cabin.

Suddenly she hears a loud noise from behind her. As she turns around to see what has caused all the racket, she is horrified to see a black bear running towards her. A bear that has for some reason been awakened from his deep winter sleep.

Checking her rifle, she brings it up to prepare for what she hopes is a live saving shot. But the bear is too quick and is upon her before she gets her eye to the scope. But still, she says a hasty prayer and fires. The bear falls, but just for a moment, then slowly rises.

The hunter sees blood coming from the bears’ shoulder and realizes that she has only wounded and angered the bear.

She knows the bear is after the buck, but how far will he go to get it?

Now with the bear no more than fifty yards away, the hunter tries to figure out the best way to save her own life and still not surrender the buck.

In the quiet of the forest with only the sound of her own heartbeat, the hunter hears a shot and turns. She watches as the bear now runs in the opposite direction, as though the shot from the hunter made him realize that he didn’t want another feeling like that.. Then searching in the direction of the shot, at first seeing nothing, then catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she sees the shooter, moving swiftly toward her, she is assured that the bear is gone.

In a strange sort of way, the hunter was glad about the bear; it gave her the help she needed to get the deer to the cabin for processing of the sweet meat. The shooter wasn’t quite big enough to drag the deer but she was working on it. Now she has the help she needs. So they head out of the woods and share the task of dragging the deer. The hunter tells the shooter the story of how she finally got the buck with the massive rack, after a summer of watching him. The shooter relays a dreamers tale of always wanting, but never having the right opportunity of getting even a moderately sized buck. After nearly an hour of pulling and dragging, they reach the cabin and hoist the buck up into the nearby tree that seems to be waiting for the pair of them. Once inside the cabin, they build a warm fire in the fireplace, and place the water pot over the fire to make fresh coffee. The hunter and shooter share stories of their past hunting tales and soon nightfall arrives. With that, the shooter says he must leave as it wouldn’t be the proper thing for him to stay.

Reluctantly, she says goodbye, and watches as he starts down the trail they had followed to the cabin. She blinks one time and suddenly, she’s alone.

Did he disappear? Did he just turn down into the thick part of the forest? No one could move that fast.

Finally, she banks the fire and snuggles deep under the covers for the night. As she sleeps, a strange dream comes to her. The kind that can only come from one place. In the dream she discovers herself in a strangely wonderful place. One where beauty is the most understated way of description there ever could be. Walking down a path that seems to be of brilliant yellow sand, she notices, the wildlife isn’t afraid of her. She sees the birds, squirrels, even deer and rabbits, and wonders if this is a place like “Alice In Wonderland” must have seen. Some of the animals even come to her for petting. As she continues down the path, she sees a figure that appears to be another person and she runs to catch up to them. As she nears, she calls out a “hello”. Watching as the figure turns toward her, she recognizes the face…..the face of the shooter. This time he is dressed all in white, and seems to have a glow around him. They talk for a while and even talk of the hunt and the bear. She gets closes and notices something else….he seems to have “humps” on his shoulders….and she realizes now, how he disappeared. Waking, she knows it wasn’t a dream, but just a way of letting her know that what she needs will be provided. The “hunter” told her why he didn’t actually shoot the bear, he only shot to scare him and to let her know that help was on the way. The bear was only there for that purpose as well; to make her aware that no matter what she may face, God is ready and willing to help. Granted dragging the deer didn’t seem to be that big of a deal, it was really more than she could handle on her own.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the shooter was an angel, sent to protect and assist. With the hunter being the person she was, she may not have accepted help from “just another hunter”. God’s plan is ALWAYS right. He ALWAYS knows how to take care of you in ways you will accept. Even when you may not want it.

 

©Maxine Branthoover