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!

I want to be a cowboy

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a cowboy, I guess it was the influence of all the old TV westerns like Roy Rogers (that's my name too!) Hop-a-long Cassidy,Gene Autry , Cheyenne (staring Clint Walker!),The Rifleman, John Wayne,etc.. I would get up each morning and put on my jeans and cowboy boots,imitation leather vest with the silver buttons and fringe and put on my red painted straw cowboy hat with the nifty shoestring strap to keep it from blowing off when you're riding a fast horse, strap on my trusty chrome plated cap gun and out I'd go to save the west from the guys in the black hats.
We lived in a rented farm house and we always had a milk cow and chickens for eggs, but we never had a horse, except for the stick kind with the brown vinyl head and plastic reins. I had my little pet dog Pat as my sidekick and we would play for hours in the backyard. Sometimes I was allowed to cross the road to the Rupp brothers farm and hang out with them and also get cookies from their spinster sister Ellen, who also was the first grade teacher at park school. One day I was over there messing around the irrigation ditch that had water running in it when I slipped and fell into the water. My cowboy boot was sucked off my foot and went floating down the ditch while I cried my eyes out. I had to walk all the way home with only one boot on, but the worst was having to tell my mother that i was playing around the water which was strictly a no-no.
I don't remember hardly any of the birthday presents I got around that time ,but one I'll always remember was given to me by my Great Uncle Tom Marvin. He gave me about 15 to 20 feet of half inch manila rope to use as a lasso.He tied a loop in the end for me and I would go around roping any thing that stood still long enough for me to lasso. My folks even took me to the Nepesta rodeo grounds so I could see how the real cowboys did it.
My folks finally bought a house closer to town just outside the city limits with a acre of ground and we still had the milk cow and chickens but no horse. I would go out to my friends homes who had horses and they would tolerate me and let me ride double up behind them when they would go riding together. Pity the poor soul who got me because they couldn't go as fast as the others with the extra weight hanging on for dear life at the rear. I think it was kind of embarrassing for them when I would show up in my blue jeans and t-shirt and sneakers and ball cap as by that time I didn't have any boots or cowboy hat so that didn't last too long.
We would always spend our vacations at my grandparents in Oklahoma and when we got there my grandpa L would go out into the pasture to round up the Shetland ponies for us to ride. We would usually ride bareback with just a bridle and its tough to stay on once you start leaning too much one way. My oldest brother was tall and long legged and could just stand up and let the pony run out from underneath him but I would usually just fall off, but at least we were riding horses. After two weeks of that I was still convinced I could be a cowboy if I only had my own horse.
When I was about 10 or 12 I was at my uncles home and he had bought a small horse for his girls and wanted my help in breaking it of a bad habit of being jumpy. Now my uncle was a big man ,truck driver, been around horses all his life and knew how to do this. My cousin Gail would lead the horse while I rode him and every now and then I was to wave my hands wildly until he got used to it. Now this horse had been mistreated and beaten about the head and any movement around his head would set him off which Gail and I didn't know. So we start walking around the yard when my uncle yelled "wave your arms" which I did and all hell broke loose, the horse bucked almost running over Gail, I'm grabbing a hold of the saddle horn trying to stay on and my uncle yelling "wave your arms".We do this for a few more times until my arm waves are more like just barely moving my hands off the saddle horn, and both Gail and I were bawling our eyes out, scared we were going to run her over or I was going to be bucked off. I never rode a horse again for 20 years and I never wanted to be a cowboy ever again.

Skiing

I had a great Christmas, got to spend time with all my family, and after Christmas I got to go skiing at Monarch Ski area with my daughter Clair. Now I don't know if you have noticed the current fad at ski areas, but you ride the lift and anywhere there is a nearby tree people toss their Mardi Gras beads into the tree to hang on the branches like Christmas decorations. And that is all fine and good and even sometimes they toss a bra or thong underwear for all to see and that is even somewhat titillating to imagine the girl that must have been wearing it before tossing it. But one one of the lifts was a very disturbing sight, on the only tree that was close enough to the lift was a pair of soiled size 44 tightly whiteys . Now these didn't just have a brown skid mark, they looked like the after affects of an all night burrito and frijoles eating contest followed by Coronas and shots of tequila. This was a full fledged Skud missile dump. Now I have to ask myself just how did these get here? Two possibilities come to mind and neither are very pleasant. One was someone had these at home and drove all the way to the ski area carrying them in a paper or plastic bag, tucked it into their pocket or inside their coat, got it out of the bag after loading onto the lift, and with either their bare or gloved hand tossed them just right to land smack dab on top of the visible branch. The other option would be that this happened in the ski lodge restroom, so that person would have to take off their ski boots ,ski pants,pants long johns in order to remove said underwear, place them into toilet paper or paper towel and then put said ski clothes back on. Now you have a large person going commando out on the ski runs carrying a warm smelly surprise in their coat and going through the steps again to get this to land in the tree. I don't thing I want to share the ski lift with this person much less ski on the same slopes as him. What do you think?