A friend of the boys and his dad invited Jason, Joshua, Jonathan and me to the ranch of a local businessman for a day in the country and to do a little shooting. This ranch was unique in the fact that it exists to raise deer, not cows. It is quite an operation and requires a good deal of work to raise these deer. So, we head out to the ranch and the last time that any of us saw a weather forecast, it was supposed to be partly cloudy and a high temperature of nearly 50 degrees. Nothing any of us would call the perfect day but certainly bearable.
Needless to say, the weather did quite work out as planned. The day ended up very cold and cloudy and, fortunately, no rain. I had no way to find out what the temperature at the ranch was but when we got home at 4:30PM, the wind chill was at 26 degrees.
Not knowing the real temperature may have made the day outside more easy to stand. We arrived at the ranch, grabbed one of the Polaris truck/4-wheeler vehicles (I'm sure that is exactly what all the hunters call them) and headed to one of the barns on the ranch to pick up the other Polaris truck/4-wheeler vehicles. Once we had both vehicles we were ready to head out across the ranch and look for deer, elk and those pesky coyotes.
I learned something about coyotes while on the ranch. They are considered by most ranchers to be the worst of the pests and are good for nothing but to be killed. Judging from the way Buddy (my boy's friend's dad) talked, I would liken them to roaches in a house. Coyotes will go to great lengths to make their way onto a ranch and tear up just about anything they can get their hands on. One of the biggest challenges the coyotes present at this ranch is that they will attack and kill for food any young deer they find. So, as I said, these ranchers, none of the ranchers like coyotes and will go to great lengths to exterminate them. Yep! That's the word they use!
We drove through the ranch, taking time occasionally to check on the boys and make sure they were "hangin' in there." They were troopers and rode along in the cold. After an hour or so of driving around, we went back to the barn and had lunch and tried to warm up a bit. Ham and Bologna sandwiches all around. After lunch, we decided to take the pickup truck and "ride the fence," a term used to describe the process of riding a vehicle along the perimeter of the property to check fence condition and for those pesky coyotes. The boys were excited about the possibility of putting a few shells into the body of one of those varmits. It was much warmer in the pickup with the heater blowing so the fence ride was much more comfortable. But, no coyotes! I'm really kind of glad because I hate killing anything. I don't care if someone else wants to or likes to. Its just not something I care for. But, four little boys -- they couldn't wait. Joshua seemed to have the keen eye in the group. He spotted a deer or two twice while we were driving around.
After another hour or so of driving around, we stopped at the watering hole for the boys to shoot guns. They came all this way and would not be denied the opportunity to put a few shells into a small watering pond or the side of an old oak tree. Each boy took their turn with either a .22 caliber or a bb-gun. The latter is more my speed. Joshua shot first, then Jonathan and finally Ben, the other boy. Jason seemed content to shoot bb's into the tank.
After 30 or 45 minutes, we all decided we had had enough of the cold and wind and decided to pack it up and head home. We drove back to the barn, picked up the first Polaris truck/4-wheel vehicle and drove it back to the main house. On the way out, we finally saw a large group of deer (8 - 10).
I remember doing something like this when I was a boy (probably closer to 13 or 14) and thinking it was really, really cool. I know my boys enjoyed it and I am thankful for friends like Buddy and Ben that will take time for us and allow us to do something that I know my guys will like but will never get to do if its up to me.
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