OH Deer!

Yes, it was that time again. Opening deer was this past weekend and with that was chilly “nature” walks, scanning the horizon, caring a firearm, and bullshitting each other at the 4th annual Remynse deer cull. This year there was less culling than normal as we struggled with the population numbers and the weather conditions a bit. So on Thursday, we headed up to Lansford just in time for Randy’s pizza…made especially for us, I won’t lie…that’s a helluva way to start the weekend out. Matt’s been itching to get home for a bit so it was good to see him relax a bit just by walking in the door. And with Kevin and his friend there…that’s just added bonus to seeing Randy, Michele, and Randy’s deep dish.

Friday started with modesty out the window and reputations on the line. See last year, Matt managed to get his deer within 4 hours and with one shot. And in true Remynse fashion, we can’t let people forget our attributes….ha! Much to our dismay, the first day didn’t go as planned. I was proud that at the end of our first walk, I was the one to spot the buck scampering into the tree row and I wish we could have taken him down. We didn’t get him or anything else on the first day.

Saturday finally delivered a few results…the boys headed out early while us girls kept warm and toasty as long as we could. When we headed out, we heard the big announcement. “One-Shot Matt and now we have Two-Shot Kevin”….Kevin obtained the first deer down. Kevin’s deer did bring a little attention from the Game and Fish Department. Two wardens showed up on site to check licenses, see the deer, and visit a bit. There was some concern about Kevin’s shooting abilities, obviously his reputation precedes him! But I like calling him Two-shot Kevin versus FillTheGroundWithLead Kevin!

By the end of the day, things hadn’t changed much from the morning. Kevin’s doe was awful lonely hanging.

On Sunday, things changed a bit. Brendan got his second doe. But we kept missing the bucks, which is what the 4 ND Remynses had. So that night, at dusk, I dropped Matt off and he went to go sit and watch the deer move across the field. He wasn’t able to get the 5x5 he locked eyes with, but he did drop a deer, a 2x2.

That left us, on Monday morning, with a Kevin knocking on the bedroom door at 6:30am…”Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy.” I’m all for wake up calls, except on days off when I don’t want to go in the cold. But I got up. Put on layers and then more layers and Matt and I headed out, despite the fact that he reminded me that he had already gotten his deer. So there I was sitting, on the frost covered ground, watching my breath, and because I’d lost a contact, fogging up my own glasses, scanning for deer. I saw Matt’s beast go across the field but I knew the idea of me shooting 270 yards was a bit more optimism than I could handle. And that was the only buck I saw that morning, I’ve determined I’m not a good hunter. I didn’t even get a decent shot off at anything.

There are some pretty solid examples of my inability to hunt but I was not alone. You’d think I would have learned when I was 12 or 13 with my father (maybe it’s because of this experience that he laughed when I asked if I could borrow a gun). Yes, I did see the first deer, which gave me hope. So when I saw the second deer, a doe in the trees, I got hopeful. I told Michele to stop as she was right in front of us. At this particular moment, I’m going to question Michele’s scanning abilities as it took a long time to point out the deer to her. Once she saw them, we got a hunter over to us but we were concerned about spooking her. This was impossible as it was pointed out to us that the deer are concrete fakes. That’s a humbling feeling. We attempted to disguise our faux paus by saying that they ran off. Now, I will admit it’s bad that I was scared to spook a concrete deer and that I didn’t really see that it was concrete on my own. But there are others that may have been worse than me. Bill continued to stalk these deer even after we tried to throw them off. He was worried to take a shot at the doe as the two deer were too close and didn’t seem to be moving. AND later that day as we were prepping to walk another field, Brendan came up and asked why Matt didn’t take a shot of the deer on the road. Matt responded that he didn’t see the deer. Brendan suddenly had doubts in Matt’s abilities until the “deer” showed its face just a few feet off, it was a big dog. So thank you to Bill and Brendan, between the three of us, I’m not sure which person got the “hunter of the weekend” demotion!

I guess you could say that my favorite part of the weekend was the family and the food. It was good to see the BS sling throughout the weekend and the loving ribbing. Was good to catch up a bit on what’s happening with each and then enjoy some great meals like wings (bbq, jerk, and buffalo), pulled pork, Kevin’s Stromboli for breakfast and snacks, Michele’s spinach dip, and then the chili night. Matt’s batch of pheasant chili was the best that he’s made for the past couple years.

And now to the subject that brings me heartache/burn…..the bane of my existence, Matt had decided to grow a moustache. He is the most handsome and commanding man I’ve ever met in my life and suddenly you put some fluff on his face, and he is still good looking but he’s more park ranger than senator. He’s more school principal than savvy business leader. He’s more 70’s porn star than I can handle. My co-worker’s husband pegged it correctly…it doesn’t look bad if you don’t know Matt but if you know him or have met him before it’s not as complimentary as not having one. I don’t like it. One bit. He started growing it on our honeymoon…but only because he wasn’t shaving at all and suddenly when he did start shaving he took advantage of razor creativity and current growth. I told him a beard would have been more welcomed. His family loves it, but I know his true friends, the firehall guys are being honest and are concerned! He has informed me that it will be coming off and I’m counting the moments but the damage is done…it always seems that he does something dumb with his looks (shaved head, grows a beard, grows a moustache) and the news crew shows up on his front door with their cameras to capture all the glory so it lives on forever. Sigh.

 

Aside from Matt’s family, we also had a visit from a little of my family, my aunt, Merri, came for supper this past week. She was in town for a conference and we spent a bit of time with her catching up on her family and life in general.

Best meal: Randy’s pizza. Was hot, fresh, and so good….it’s probably a good thing that we don’t live closer because I didn’t have any guilt having two bit deep dish slices.

3 months ago: at my mother’s house

MJR: (Proudly displaying his newly printed off general wildlife license) I’m going to have the prettiest license around! (the license was printed on paper that was in the printer that had flowers all around the borders, beautiful daisies)

November 11: at our house

ALR: So, did you haftah show your game warden your tag?

MJR: yes.

ALR: (Giggling) ANNNNDDDD your license?

MJR: yes.

ALR: And what did he say?

MJR: Nice paper.

ALR: (Giggling)