A hunting we will go....

October 1 was a VERY busy day! We started the day by going to a young man's Eagle Ceremony in Pendleton. It was incredibly special and I was so glad I insisted we needed to go. Later on, Steve and Jon went off to the mountains. It was a lovely day. The clouds were puffy, the sky was blue, and the colors of the world were amazing!

Jon took several photos of Steve (as usual) and then they finally got down to business.

Steve called me from the ranch--it was getting dark--and told me the end of their day of hiking was better than the first part. And then he told me Jon got his deer. It was not pretty, but he prevailed! Our one shot, clean kill kid sort of ran away this last year as a youth hunter. Yet, he did manage to bag Bambi's older brother!

I took several other photos after the guys maneuvered it into the shop and around the engine less Bronco. However, they are pretty grisly. Even for a mom who is used to hunting photos! Jon shot it a couple of times. One shot shattered his back leg and also hurt the corresponding leg. Another shot literally creased his belly fur and the final shot was from 10 or 15 yards away. It was definitely a lethal wound....At any rate, Jon's pretty happy. This antler set we are going to keep as horns only. We still haven't taken care of last year's head..which is in the freezer still! European mounts are so messy!!!!!!