I want to be a cowboy- Part Two

I have been going big game hunting for a few years with my buddy Jerry and various others and my hunting usually involved driving to the area we were going to hunt in a two-wheel drive pickup and getting as high up into the mountains as we could drive, setting up camp and hiking out on opening day in the dark as high as we could hike and looking for the deer or elk then hiking back down at night for supper then going at it again the next morning.
In about 1992 Jerry had a guy working for him at the meat packing plant that he owns who was a real cowboy. Now this kid grew up on a ranch about 30 miles southwest of Fowler and knew all about horses and things. I remember him as a little kid of about six and he was chewing tobacco already which I once tried and got so dizzy and sick I had to barf.
Well he had a great idea, we would go on a hunt on horseback,Jerry and his 12 year old son Jonah, myself, and the cowboy, Blake. Blake knew a guy that outfitted for hunting trips and could rent three horses for us greenhorns and Blake would ride his own horse. The plan was for Blake and I to leave early Friday afternoon, Blake driving his 2WD pickup pulling the horse trailer, me driving Jerry's 2WD pickup with camper and Jerry and Jonah driving my little S-10 2WD pickup after Jerry got of work at 5:00. We were to drive up and set up camp and have supper ready for when Jerry got there. Well we got to Trinidad and headed up the mountain only to find it snowing like crazy, roads slick as snot and us in 2WD vehicles. We slipped and slid our way up the pass, at one point we couldn't get traction and almost jack-knifed the trailer and almost off the road. We got another run at it and finally made it but getting to the campground wasn't any better as the snow was deep and we almost got stuck trying to turn around to park, but we were finally set up and waited on Jerry.
Jerry finally got there late, he had the same problems as we did getting up the road, but we bedded down for the night to get ready for an early start the next morning. Got up the next morning ate breakfast, fixed us a sack lunch, and saddled up to go hunting. We rode those horses up the hills and down the hills through deep snow and icy spots and didn't see anything, no tracks no deer not another soul around, freezing our tails off on horseback. This wasn't quite what I had imagined a horse hunt would be. After riding some 6 to 8 miles we finally got back to the camper and decided that the way it was snowing that we had better get out of there or we might get stuck in our 2WD pickups and never get home.
We got back to Trinidad without any problems and Blake called the local game warden to get some tips as to where else we could hunt. We found out that there was a new area that just opened that year that we could go to. It involved driving south on I-25 over Raton Pass into New Mexico then east 25 miles then back north into Colorado to a camping area where we could park and hunt from there and we did just that. Before leaving Trinidad I did pick up a somewhat map of the area so we would know where we could hunt and where we could not.
Sunday morning we got saddled up again and headed out. Now this area is called was called Fishers Peak Mesa and it included Fishers peak itself which overlooks Trinidad, and it was a fairly flat area about 10 miles across, a little snow, but nothing near what we had been in. To get up on top we followed a trail along a little creek then headed up a little valley and gaining about 1000 feet in elevation until we were up on the flat part.
We decided to ride in a giant circle around the edges figuring that would be where the deer were and sure enough around mid-morning with Blake riding in the lead he saw and shot a fine 5-point buck deer. Maybe there was something good about this horse hunting, although my butt and knees didn't agree. We got the deer field dressed and tied on the back of Blake's saddle and headed out again. Now I had asked Blake what would happen if I were to shoot my rifle while I was still in the saddle and he said that the horse would likely collapse from the sound of the gunfire or they would start bucking neither of which I wanted to happen.
A little while later as I was coming over a rise I spooked a buck and keeping in mind what Blake had warned, I grabbed my rifle out of its scabbard swung out of the saddle onto the ground aimed and just about fired when the deer disappeared over the rise. It was like Blake said "It looked like John Wayne getting ready to fire at some Indians" so maybe I am getting the hang of this cowboy thing.
Well we rode more and more into the late afternoon and only saw a couple more deer in the distance when we realized we need to head back before it got to dark. By the time we got back to the place where we came up the valley it was already dark, but we had flashlights so no problem, right? The thing is we headed down the wrong valley and didn't realize it until we were well on our way down. Now this valley didn't have a trail to follow, only a small creek that wound its way back and forth and lots of small trees and brush to bushwhack through. We could only ride a little bit then had to jump the horses across the creek then ride a bit more and do it all over again. But the biggest problem was almost everytime we jumped, the deer tied onto Blake's horse would shift and we had to stop and retie it . Now its getting to be after 8:00 and our batteries for the flashlights were starting to go dead!
So here's the situation,pitch black,no moon, no flashlights,no idea where we are, tired ,butt and knees sore, cold , hungry and Jonah and I were to be back home Sunday night so I could work Monday morning and Jonah to go to school and planning on playing in the Junior high basketball game Monday afternoon while Jerry and Blake were to hunt more on Monday and come home Monday night. We had no choice but to spend the night in the woods. Well I had a pack saw to cut firewood , matches to start a fire, we each had on long johns and insulated coveralls and saddle blankets to cover up with so we should be OK. We didn't freeze and it was an uneventful night except when I got up in the middle of the night and was breaking up some more firewood when Jerry was about to pull his gun because he thought I was some kind of wild animal.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch,[home that is ], our wives were going crazy when Jonah and I weren't getting home, they called the state patrol to see if we were in some kind of accident, had people looking for us in the area we were supposed to be hunting in, which of course we had not notified them of our change of hunting areas, and just going into a general panic. My boss needed to be notified ,my substitute scheduled to work and all those other things that need to be taken care of in an emergency. All those things were on our minds through that cold night but in the time before cell phones and GPS there really wasn't much we could do.
The next morning we got up at first light saddled up and continued on our journey, rode probably 200 to 300 yards when we ran onto the right trail to go back to the pickups. If we had only had extra batteries for the flashlights we most likely would have made it home in time for work and school. We had a bite to eat, loaded up the horses, then headed into Raton to call the wives. After a lot of tears, I'm sorrys, I'm OK's, I love you's,please forgive me's, we headed back home. Annette said it was the longest night of her life and I hope I never put her through something like that again.
Lessons learned: notify of any changes in plans, allow extra time in the event of emergency's,carry extra food , be prepared like a boy scout with matches, survival gear, extra water,etc..., AND DON'T THINK YOU'RE A COWBOY YET!