(The Wilderness) Deer Hunter (Solo)

by **Cade** on January 5th, 2012, 8:32 am

3rd day of winter, 511AV

Cade could not believe how energized he felt as he crested the last ridge before descending into the remote wilderness bowl; an area he would call home for the next subsequent ten to twelve days, away from the gang life of sunberth. All the seasons he spent keeping his body battle ready helped for this kind of backpack hunt, as fatigue wasn't an element after the multi-kilometre hike in. Who knows, perhaps he very was tired however was unable to feel it, as his senses were overcome with by an uncontrollable desire to hunt? after all in spite of everything he was within the area where trees gave away to open tundra like terrain with occasional stunted trees and also the sounds of alarmed birds barked in their sheltered nests.

This day began shortly once day broke, when Cade left his horse back in sunberth and commenced his long trek into backcountry with nothing more than his frame pack, sword and crossbow and bolts. Cade had grown familiar with this sort of journey since the day his mother died and left him in the hands of Arturus Breuner, a mercenary captain who found the boy and adopted him so many years back.. There was simply something magical concerning this time of year higher than tree line at elevations more appropriate for mountain goats than deer. Since Cade was hunting the latter, He quickly unloaded his pack and created camp in an exceedingly small tree thicket close to the edge of an outsized open bowl. Once camp was made and water collected for the week, he grabbed his new spyglass and took a brief hike to a close-by vantage point to glass. With a snowstorm looming and a cool brisk breeze blowing, He was already having the time of his life!

Almost immediately, Cade noticed a awfully nice size deer with four by four antlers bedded beneath a cliff about eight hundred yards off on a particularly steep hillside. He had three other bucks with him, but he was, by far, the attractive out of all of them along with his unusually deep back forks. That first evening he saw a minimum of six nice trophy bucks in conjunction with numerous other bucks and does, however Cade disciplined himself for he knew he wasn't going to kill one of them tell properly tracked and stalked the small herd for a few days. Hunting was not just a necessity for the barbarian, but it was an art to keep his battle senses keened and skills just as sharp as his blade.

The next two appeared to mirror one another, as He would spot the constant cluster of deer within the morning and evening. What he could not duplicate was locating the big buck from the cliffs, as he looked as if it would have vanished. He did, however, spot a reasonably wide and heavy five by five that gave the impression to| be of older age and was regressing a little. He was feeding about three hundred and fifty yards above camp the evening before the third day. Cade determined to call him "Mr. Big". With a trifle of luck, perhaps he would spot him within the morning for that was when the barbarian determined he had stalked the heard long enough, taking in the sights and enjoying the peace and quiet far from Sunberth. However that had to come to an finish, for it was time to work.

by **Cade** on January 5th, 2012, 8:33 am

It is a completely different style of hunting camp within the wilderness when you are living amongst them. The constant whispering, no loud noises, and no camp fire rule could also be boring to some, however Cade came to find out if you wish to achieve success, remaining undetected could be a definite plus. He literally had a deer waltz through camp as he covertly ate morning meal of dried meat and frozen bread. one thing Cade was positive would changed the instant he spoke or sat around a campfire at the hours of darkness.

The third day found Cade on a vantage point spotting the same herd of deer. He had many bucks spotted together with a few trophies fairly close to camp. Cade left the vantage point and visited the far side of the bowl. Shortly after leaving the point Cade had a number of close encounters, but nothing panned out that morning. as morning grew into mid-day, Cade determined to have some lunch at camp and spot from there while formulating a game plan for the evening hunt. Once a tasty snow frozen meal Cade set to hike back to the vantage point about two hundred yards from camp to locate a trophy buck he could stalk. About sixty yards out of camp, Cade happened to look directly below camp and spotted "Mr. Big" bedded not hundred fifty yards down the ridge from camp. Cade convinced that living among the deer and remaining quiet throughout the day allowed this buck to feel snug enough to bed that close to the barbarian's camp.

Since Cade was out within the open, he laid flat on the snow covered ground and glassed the buck for a short time through his spyglass to confirm he did not see him. Cade was in an exceedingly bad spot, thus he began to crawl back towards camp to vanish from the buck's line of site and to get up wind to conceal his position and movement. Once Cade was out of the buck's sight, the stalk was on. As he barbarian closed the gap to about seventy five yards, he took his pack off and crept in closer. The shadows were getting longer as Cade peered over the little ridge directly on top of where Mr Big was bedded. To Cade's surprise, he was gone.

by **Cade** on January 5th, 2012, 8:34 am

Knowing there was an hour before dark and also the wind was robust in his face; Cade felt the buck was within reach and possibly feeding. He crept on, glassing in front of him every two or three steps. Finally, He saw half a rack and body protruding out the facet of a tree just higher then the tree line and directly below him. Once verifying the buck was "Mr. Big", Cade crept in even closer as his head was totally obstructed by the tree.

At forty yards, a few winter birds were ringing their natural high altitude alarms above the barbarian. The old buck knew something was wrong, as he stood and stared looking for a possible threat in the half blood myrian's direction. Cade loaded and drew the crossbow while settling the pin on the alert buck. At the shot, Cade could tell he hit him a degree further back than he would have liked as the deer took off at full gallop. The snow made it easy track in conjunction with the blood drips. As Cade was looking he spotted the buck slowly walking off through a tiny low gap of the timber. The barbarian decided to leave him alone for a trifle and provide the wounded buck time to bed down.

Once locating his arrow, He could tell he had pierced the buck through the liver. A lethal hit, however sometimes takes about an hour to be fatal. With solely about thirty minutes before it grew dark, he determined to leave Mr Big overnight and take up the trail the next morning, as he did not wish to push this deer further down the canyon and lose any potential blood path. It had been a protracted night in his tent, as he replayed that shot over and over through his head.

by **Cade** on January 5th, 2012, 8:36 am

Once after another wonderful breakfast, Cade headed down below camp to the last place he saw the wounded buck. He sought out the little gap where he last saw the buck move through the evening before, Cade searched the white covered forest floor for any sign of blood and found none. Panic began set in. All he was able to follow was Mr Big's enormous track because it meandered downward through the timber and snow.

About fifty yards later, Cade found him piled up and from the rigor present; he had been dead most of the night…..probably an hour when he last saw him. the choice to leave him overnight was undoubtedly the correct one in this case. After a brief prayer, he began to take care of the buck, not a pleasing job for the squeamish or those that have weak stomachs. however it should be done and done properly. The barbarian started by pruning the testicles and penis and discarding them. once doing that Cade turnd the deer over on its back, bracing the deer's hind legs open with his own knees. He then pulled the animal's hide up, and away from the stomach. this permits the inner organs to fall back away from the hide. together with his sharp blade, Cade then open up the lower chest cavity by cutting through the hide, careful to not cut the stomach or rumen, then towards the neck no more than where the front legs would be when the buck was standing. Now, while holding the rumen down, with the knife blade facing up, Cade cut the hide open all the way up through the creature's chest cavity using his weight and strength to saw through the brisket exposing the wind pipe. Cade then reached as faras he could into the deer's throat and sliced the oesophagus off. After this, the membrane lining on both sides of the rib cage was the barbarians next task, cutting as close as attainable to the ribs right down to the backbone

Cade proceed all the way down to the pelvic space of the hind legs. Being careful not to puncture the bladder, for this would taint the venison meat, while cutting the hide back to the anus area. Cade then used a saw to rip through the pelvic bone while holding down any flesh, glands, or intestinal tissue. Then Cade went back up to work in the chest cavity, obtaining a strong hold of the wind pipe and began pulling back, towards the hind legs. Trimming some membranes along the rib cage; and pulling continuously, all the entrails came out. Once done, Cade rolled the deer over to empty out any pooled blood.

Once the buck was relieved of his innards The barbarian moved on to de hiding and de boning the kill, butchering the deer into its respective peaces like the neck: used for sausages, chili and burger. the backstrap; used for steaks and roasts and the chuck: used for burger, sausage, roast, stew and jerky. The shanks, the brisket and the flanks are used for burger and sausage, the rump and round are used for steaks, roast, stir fry, stew and kabobs. Cade wrapped the meat in cloth to protect them from foreign elements that could contaminate the meat. The winter cold would keep the meat preserved tell he could get it back to town and on the market. After all that cade packed the meat back to camp. With the cool daytime temperatures, Cade determined to hang the meat high in a tree tell he was done hunting.

by **Cade** on January 5th, 2012, 8:36 am

On the consecutive evening, Cade hiked out to the edge of the bowl and looked towards the cliffs. The everyday afternoon snowstorms were present once more as snow blanketed him while he waited for it to clear. simply as it began to clear, Cade noticed four bucks on a steep hillside no just over three hundred yards away. Cade marked their spot and planned his route.

Thirty minutes later, the snow had stopped as Cade was closing in on the unsuspecting deer. As he peeked over a tiny low ledge directly above his prey, Cade could tell the bucks were alert. for two of them were looking up in his direction. Seconds later, they trotted off about fifteen yards and stopped as Cade came to draw his crossbow. One arrow through the slender of the deer's chest was all it took as Cade watched the buck go down fifty yards below where he had just stood.

Cade made fast work of his deer loaded the meat and antlers back to camp before dark. As he packed out the camp for the long hike back to sunbirth with meat, antlers and hides in tow on a make shift sled, Cade could not have asked for a better trip.

by **Ink** on February 27th, 2012, 12:48 am

And in the Aftermath . . .

The Rewards are Revealed.

Cade :

Written in the ink :