Friday, February 27, 2009

Another Adventure!

And, of course, this adventure comes by way of Caleb. The following is his account of what happened to him this week. Just so you know, he came home trembling and said he would never hunt in the dark again. 15 minutes later, after the adrenaline went away, he was ready to go again!!  :)

 

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  After some research on the best techniques to call in coyotes, I headed for the hills in the late afternoon with Mom's 20 gauge and two of my knives. Hoping to out smart a coyote and return with a nice pelt for a blanket. I found a good spot and started calling. I heard some howls and barks but nothing came in (or so I thought ) so after about two hours it was dark and I unloaded my gun and packed it up. Then I started back to the atv. I decided to try a different route ( not smart). I kinda got disoriented and I found myself doing circles in the dark. Mom called wondering where I was. I explained that I was somewhat lost. She was a bit worried and wished me well.  "Greeaat, now what do I do?" I thought to myself. After some hiking I located the creek and followed it to the trail I needed to follow. I climbed up the steep creek bank. I finally reached the top and stopped to catch my breath and that is when I looked across the creek and saw some sort of medium sized animal looking at me. It disappeared as quick as it had appeared. I backed away slowly and then started into a fast walk looking behind me often. I kept hearing things but I convinced myself it was my imagination. Then, 20 ft in front of me I saw the same wild thing leap across the path. Then I saw him at my right, then my left.  He seemed to be everywhere at once.  I will admit it, I was scared. I came to the clearing where I had parked the atv. I decided to try and sprint across the clearing to my atv. I bolted outta there, but the wild thing bolted right with me. I looked back and saw he was still trailing me and that is when I fell. I thought for sure I was going to be his Saturday night dinner.  When I fell, I cut my head on some ice. The cut starts at my forehead and goes down my cheek. ( I didn't even know I had done it at the time) The wild thing jumped 20ft to my right, I got up and grabbed my knife ( in case It attacked ) It started doing circles around me I growled and yelled hoping to scare it away, but it would just crouch down and growl. Meanwhile, I felt my phone vibrating. Mom was calling again. I wanted to answer it but I was afraid the thing would attack if I made any sudden movements. The atv wasn't far away so I decided to try sprinting to it. I ran as fast as I could. I made it and jumped on the atv and turned the key in the ignition then turned the head lights on hoping to identify the wild thing but it had disappeared. I put it in reverse and flew down the road. My heart was still racing, I met dad coming up the road. He was coming to see what was wrong. I told him what had happened and he thought it might of been a mountain lion.  It seemed to be smaller than a lion.  So the next morning Hudson and I went to see if we could find tracks. We found 3 or 4 different sets of coyote tracks that followed my tracks all the way to the road. So I was being stalked by a pack of coyotes, that explains why it seemed to be every where at once.  I Guess the hunter became the hunted, but not next time!!!    

Caleb

Aka. camo man

11 comments:

Messy and Wonderful said...

Caleb, you make me want to put my boys in a bubble! I am forwarding this to Kenyon. He'll love it.

P.S. Please don't let Brendan come with you on these adventures when he stays with you in April. He'll surely wind up as dinner. :-)

Anonymous said...

Caleb, Awesome story! Next time let the 20 gauge do the talking for you :) I look forward to your next story with a picture of five dead dogs at your feet.

Kenyon

Anonymous said...

Caleb,
Two things I have learned over the years; 1.OIL IN THE CAN DOES NO GOOD
2.BULLETS IN THE POCKET PROVIDE NO PROTECTION

but do be safe and keep the adventures coming.

Papa

Anonymous said...

Caleb, although you spared your Great Grandma Margaret the details, she could not get over the cut that ran from your forehead down the side of your cheek! She had fun being there with us to celebrate your 15th birthday on Wednesday. Please keep your adventures a little less risky henceforth! We want to celebrate your 16th birthday with you present, next year at this time! :>))))))) Thanks for writing up the event - I can feel the drama with each word. Hugs,Nana

Anonymous said...

Great adventure Caleb. I'd say it was something straight out of a Daniel Boone book except for the Cell phone and ATV. Happy Hunting...

Uncle Grant

Cinnamon said...

Caleb,
I bet you caught up on all your devotions for the week, in a very short time :-)

Something similar happened to me when I was 8 yrs old. But it involved a Big Black Bear. Thankfully the bear was more afraid of us than we were of it :-)

I'm sure our boys will be wanting to move in after our visit this spring :-)

Glad you didn't end up as dinner~

John, Cinnamon and our G's

Anonymous said...

OK Caleb...Aunt Deb is going to have to put her foot down...STOP IT! Well, maybe I do enjoy your adventure writings, so maybe you could start writing fiction and put an end to these true stories! Love you sweet boy,
Happy Birthday again,
Debbie

Teri said...

Mamma Mia! What an exciting adventure. Sounds a bit like a chapter out of a Jack London novel or from an adventure of Huck Finn.
Glad you are home safe, yet ready for for the next hunt.

Anonymous said...

That is pretty creepy! How much did you pay them to provide you with such excellant escort service?

Sam

PS Aunt Blogger, can we see a picture of said cut? Please?

Natalie said...

Whew! My heart rate went up just reading. Glad you're safe!

Cinnamon said...

Hi Caleb,
This is Gunnar of, Knights and Maidens Gathering, typing.

I know what I would've done,
loaded the 20 guage, and had gun-to-shoulder at the first noise I heard! I'm glad you're home.
Not much hunting around Iowa.

Gunnar

P.S. Now I know what the cut is from. Ouch!