This Was a Surprise…

Gents:

 

I’m working about 50 minutes from home and most of the drive is either highway or back roads.  So I take the latter whenever I can.  Tuesday I spotted two foxes and two coyotes.  Wednesday I spotted three coyotes.  Generally, although I’m starting to see predators, this has been a poor year of hunting for me.

 

Today I car pooled with a co-worker.  About five minutes after leaving work I spotted a coyote in a field, which I pointed out to her.  Once we hit the highway I still kept looking on both sides of the highway but she had her eyes firmly on the road ahead.  Then, surprisingly, she said, “There’s something up there!”– a surprise because she doesn’t see blue jays flying across the road in front of the vehicle or sharptail grouse standing on the snow beside the road.  Last week she didn’t see a fox trotting less than a hundred yards out in a bare field.  I don’t think she sees potholes either, because she drives right into most of them.

 

When I looked ahead, about 300 yards in front, I spotted two dogs on the left side of a crossroad; one looking like a German shepard and the other like a black lab.  I also immediately noticed a vehicle stopped on the crossroad on the right side of the highway.  I thought it was someone out “walking” their dogs.

 

A second or so later, the black lab seemed to step into some deep snow because it was suddenly down on the ground.  Then I noticed it was laying on its side on the crossroad.  On the right side of the highway, standing by his truck was a man aiming a rifle; he’d just shot the black lab.

 

He still had his rifle at his shoulder and we were quickly approaching the crossroad.

 

With a considerable amount of emphasis I yelled at my coworker to stop the vehicle.  I could imagine that the shooter was concentrating on shooting and did not know we were coming and that I might end up in the same condition as the lab; I was on the side nearest the shooter.

 

She braked hard and that coincided with the man lowering his rifle.  We never did stop and were able to make it through the crossroad without incident.

 

Ahh…the things one witnesses if one only lives long enough.

 

Ken