Guns and Dogses
Guns and Dogses - get it? - like Guns and Roses. OK, probably not my best title, but if you have suggestions, I’ll be happy to change it.
Esther and Mary Lou have really enjoyed Tom’s elk. Several times I have returned from running errands, only to find them busy in the kitchen preparing elk. They have even created some of their own recipes - pate de fois ELK, spaghetti and ELKballs and, my personal favorite, ELK Wellington. Esther dices and chops and Mary Lou stirs and pours. They are actually a great team. Every night, at bedtime, the Big Irishman reads his doggie girls a story. For the last several weeks, the usual story has been replaced by a rendition “the big kill” - the story of how he tracked and killed the poor beast. They never tire of hearing all the gory details.
Well, unbeknown-st to us, our doggie duo, applied for and were granted a “big game” permit. Elk season is officially over. So when the girls set out this weekend on their first hunting trip, much to our dismay, their specific target was MOOSE. They carefully packed all their gear (sleeping bags, kibble, food bowls and etc.) and left early Saturday morning - with Mary Lou driving and Esther reading the map. There were supposed to keep us posted by cellphone, (Esther got a cellphone for Christmas) but we didn’t hear one word. Late Sunday night they pulled into the driveway, creating a cacophony of horn-honking and shouting. Sure enough - tied to the hood - a dead moose.
We drug the poor thing into the house and I took several photos of “the carcass.” We stayed up until 2:00 a.m. hearing all about their adventure. Apparently, Esther did the spotting because Mary Lou has really bad eyesight and had forgotten her glasses. Mary Lou was the trigger-puller. (a gun term) The story is that they downed their prey with one shot. The force of the blow totally knocked off one ear and one antler. The body was still oozing guts as we carried it in. Yesterday morning they left early to take Moosie to the meat processor. The fiber-fill is being made into summer sausage. My suspicion is that it will be very dry. They have informed me that I must find a place on the fireplace to mount Moosie’s head. I DON’T THINK SO.
