Hunting Stories

HUNTING STORIES

Hunting stories have a way of getting out of control.  Like a three year old in Wal Mart they can take on a persona not at all resembling their former selves.  How or why this happens is largely a mystery to those who frequent the woods in pursuit of game.  While a hunter may mislead intentionally when it comes to the exact location the game was taken, I was up No-Tellum Creek at the tree line…an ethical hunter will not actually lie as to the details pertaining to the animal taken.  For example, that monster buck was at a dead run at 180 yards, through the trees.  I shot him mid jump.  Boy that was a difficult shot.  To the ethical hunter that is how the details played out in his head as he raised his rifle to his shoulder to bring down his trophy.  In actuality that particular rather small buck was 35 yards away and had twitched his ear giving the impression that at any moment he might break into a full run.  The seasoned hunter knows that the time it takes an agile buck to run 145 yards is…well let’s just say the details in his mind were pretty darn accurate. 

Let’s get back to the how and why this happens to even the most discriminating hunter.  My theory is, this is a defense mechanism that dates back to prehistoric times.  In the camps of the prehistoric man only the families of the best hunters ate.  It was only the hunters with the best stories that had families to feed, if you get my drift.  You see the prehistoric ladies liked to hear the hunting stories as they prepared the fresh kill their man had brought home.  So who do you think had the ladies at his hut when the hunt didn’t go so well and the entire hunting party had only a hand full of dead bugs and a rat or two?  Todays modern hunter is simply running on instinct when the stories begin to flow.