Oct. 28, 2008

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell
Life certainly seems to stay in some sort of chaos most of the time, well, at least in our household. I would like to say that it is organized chaos- but that is not even close to the truth. I have been in hunting camp most of the month. I had a very nice place to cook and the rooms that we stay in are nice. In hunting camp, nice means that you do not have rodents running over your feet in the night. It is not a five star accommodations but to some of the hunters they think that it is too comfortable to call it a hunting camp. I can not imagine what too comfortable means but I do know what uncomfortable is and I do not care for the experience.
The great thing about going away to cook for the hunters is that I get the opportunity to meet so many different people and all of the different types of occupations that gives them to means to afford an elk hunt.
I had for the first time in camp, a plastic surgeon, a banker and a man who owns and raises kangaroos. Actually, it was his wife who raises the roos. He made his living in investments. I have never met anyone who has actually raised kangaroos- I found that interesting and probably annoyed him with all of my questions. We also had two editors of two prominent sports magazines there to write an article on elk hunting- I wanted to know when one of the articles would be in print and he told me that it would in about two years as that particular magazine is that far ahead in their layouts.
There were also a couple of hunters who have their own television sport shows. They are very nice and easy to get along with. However, the hunters rarely do things to upset the cook. We do have our ways to getting even.
We had two sets of father and daughter hunters. It was nice to see dads and daughters together enjoying the same pastime. One daughter told me that her parents were divorced and since there was two daughters they split them and the mom took one and the dad took the other. She was the one who went with her mom. So this is what her and her dad share when they get to gather each year.
There was a group of three hunters who had come from Ohio. When I asked them what all they did - They were in construction and they told me that they raise Tennessee Walker horses. That was of interest to me as I have just purchased a Tennessee Walker. I asked them if the horse price in Ohio was as low as it is here. They told me that their show horses that are worth $10,000.00 -they were selling for $1,500.00. So I guess that means that horses are not worth much wherever you go. One of the hunters had an elk is his crosshairs and was ready to pull the trigger when his guide stopped him as he had heard a rumble. The rumble was not thunder or a rockslide it was the wild horses that run on this ranch. They were telling me that the wild horses cause more trouble than the elk. The horses run thru the fences and run the cattle and elk. Since we were talking about the horse prices and we are thinking that there will be many more horses turned out to the wild as there is no other place for the undesirable types. I would hate to ever turn anything out to fend for itself -but there are some who see it as their only alternative.
The sad thing about my return home was the news that Anna Lou Einsel had passed away- She was a wonderful lady and we will miss her. One year at Christmas she brought us the most beautiful tray of homemade goodies. There were little tarts and cookies and all kinds of Christmas treats. I think that she was a really good rancher's wife and mother. Every time that I saw Anna Lou, she always had a positive outlook on life. We will miss her here but heaven just got a little better.