WEEKLY WARNING WORDS
December 1, 2004 - Week 63 - Hunting Accidents
BY DR. BRUNO J. KEITH
The opening of the short hunting season in one of the most important presidential election states (Wisconsin), coincided with a series of deliberate & some attempted murders. Several experts in rural psychology are not surprised. 2 more blame these private assassinations on asocial stubbornness of the National Rifle Association whose sabotage of any gun controls delivers terror weapons into the hands of criminals, socially deranged characters & those of partial or complete insanity even if induced by our military in their uneven struggle against Communism by some savage Laotian drug tribes whom our heroes taught to aim & kill even without a scope on an ordinary, rusty rifle. In this very old memory spring to life some 50 year old eyewitness considerations.
As a teaching principal in more western rusticity, I tried to figure out the mind, the inclinations & loyalties of 14-year-old Larry. He was the house slave of a rather religious Catholic couple. The young & rather weak son had to do the cleaning of their barroom over which his mother presided in competition with the 2nd bar (tavern) of her cousin. Father was a good & healthy-looking war veteran whose smoking & main-customer alcoholism was paid for by our government. No parental help for Larry with his chores in the stable for 4 cows, the 85 sheep in their sage-bush desert & the plowing, seeding & harvesting of winter wheat, cutting grass, haying, bundling & storing it all. Papa only did take care of some marketing & gathering-in the money.
Once I was called in to settle a savage family dispute which might have resulted in murder if Larry had not considered me his friend & counselor. He even invited me to a big steak dinner in mother's barroom. I accepted greedily the young fellow's trust. Still, I was a bit surprised to be offered a well-cooked lump of deer meat with 2 large Bitterroot potatoes & red cabbage. The co-eaters were the sheriff & game warden.
Why did the county law enforcement participate in consuming illegal game (out of season)? To get to the facts & truth of this "minor" crime, I sent Larry on an errand.
With him out of hearing, the 2 officials (in the presence of both parents) praised Larry's fast aim & sure hitting with his second-hand military rifle. "You don't see him aim for long, but he never misses his target", was one expert opinion. The game protector off season made the case even clearer: "Larry is a better shot than I. Since I want to live, I let the boy have a kill every early morning. But I fear there will be real trouble, if nobody wants to eat his deer or antelope."
At that moment the happy hunter reappeared smiling: "You wanted me outside. Why did you do that to me?" My answer was already prepared: "We decided without you that we are going to start the first school lunch in this neck of the woods without trees. No adult help allowed. The Senior girls do the cooking & other preparations. You show the boys how to skin your catch of the day, cut it open & clean it & portion out all parts. The hard-working teams pick their choice of pieces, the elementary-school kids share the meals if they all bring their own plates & all else they need & rinse well. The school will provide refreshments if the deer wants to drink. Do you all agree?"
Larry was happier than I had ever seen him previously. He shook hands with the law in both areas & embraced his older friend without even looking at his impassive parents. He came to life to everyone's astonishment & talked & talked: " I don't go out when the hunting season begins. I hate those who have telescopic lenses or other expensive game killers. We don't get city slickers here. They come only when an expensive licence is needed to hunt down an elk, a moose or a bear. None of us has that kind of money. They are no hunters. They are big game killers with military stuff. Wait until some of us gets mad at those…"____"…interlopers?" I suggested.
"I don't know that word. But sooner or later they will find out that there will be grudge-killing at the beginning of the season. Last fall only a few Mexican railroad workers were accidentally shot. We don't know yet who will be targeted next month." The 2 lawmen looked at each other, then at me but not at Larry or his parents. The long silence was the signal for me to excuse myself. Yet, I thought of the words of an honest little shooter whenever I heard about the many "accidental killings" on the opening of the yearly hunting season.
Week 64- December 8, 2004 - Book Pirates