{"id":16823,"date":"2021-10-20T00:47:19","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T00:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=16823"},"modified":"2021-10-19T18:56:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T18:56:04","slug":"elk-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/20\/elk-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Elk Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY BRYCE ANGELL<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Bryce Angell – The outdoors has always been a large part of my life. My father was an outfitter and guide for 35 years and I was there to shoe and care for the horses and help him do the cooking. We took many great trips into the Yellowstone area. Even now that I\u2019m older, we still ride into the Tetons, Yellowstone and surrounding areas. My poems are mostly of personal experience. I am now retired and enjoying life to the fullest. I plan to do more riding and writing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My friends were city dwellers. They were hunter wannabes. So they drew a late fall elk hunt. Here\u2019s the story they told me.<\/p>\n

The morning snow was on the ground. We gulped down our last bite. Our bellies full of scrambled eggs and coffee black as night.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d drawn our tags six months ago, the elk hunt of our dreams. Our guide was checking all our gear, so surreal, it seemed.<\/p>\n

I heard the guide make mention, \u201cLet\u2019s go easy on these guys. They both look like they\u2019re nervous. I can see it in their eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

How could we fail this outdoor guide? He seemed to know so much. But we were fragile city boys, and hunters out of touch.<\/p>\n

Our guide had surely pegged us. We were not tough hunter men. We both were soft as Twinkies \u2019cuz each day we pushed the pen.<\/p>\n

We started at a slower pace but sweat fogged up our glasses. The camp cook called us overweight and slower than molasses.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The days flew by with nothing but the blisters we\u2019d been branded. We were running out of time and prob\u2019ly leaving empty-handed.<\/p>\n

We wondered what our wives and kids would say to no elk rack. Hopefully they\u2019d all agree it\u2019s good to have us back.<\/p>\n

But then our guide stood pointing at two bulls just up ahead. He whispered, \u201cBetter hurry, boys, it\u2019s time to fire some lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

We might be city boys, but we were practiced deadly shots. We\u2019d both go home successful. No more stomachs tied in knots.<\/p>\n

Our guide was there for skinning and said, \u201cPlease don\u2019t waste the meat. Enjoy what we\u2019ve been given. This will make your hunt complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd realize, before our time, men would hunt to stay alive. So count your many blessings while you\u2019re working nine to five.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Bryce Angell<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY BRYCE ANGELL My friends were city dwellers. They were hunter wannabes. So they drew a late fall elk hunt. Here\u2019s the story they told me. The morning snow was on the ground. We gulped down our last bite. Our bellies full of scrambled eggs and coffee black as night. We\u2019d drawn our tags six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cowboy-poetry","7":"category-commentary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16824,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16823\/revisions\/16824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}