20 year Reflection
I did not have cell service on September 11th to participate in the plethora of remembrance posts and justified lengthy grieving. But the thoughts of the day were heavy on my mind as we set out on day two of an early archery bull elk hunt in Arizona.
Morning temperatures pre-dawn at 4:30 am headed to a high point were in the upper 50s and by the time we would return to camp for a late breakfast and nap around 10:30 am, they would be soaring into the lower 90s. Hunting in the heat is not for the weary.
But as we stood there with the rising sun to our backs, listening to bugles over the next ridge, searching for those glowing tines in the first light of day, it meant so much more on this day that we are able to do what we love because people love and fight for this country.
Three sets of eyes are better than one.
The first elk to appear on opening day. A real pretty 5 point and a handful of cows.
It is however, and unfortunately, a daily struggle to maintain the freedoms in this country we love when so many are so out of touch with reality and blindly follow the media and the corrupt government that has been appointed or worse yet, voted in.
On day two, my feet hurt for some reason. At a few months shy of 40, one hip aches at the thought of carrying a pack. I didn’t sleep well the night before in anticipation. But with only 14 days to hunt, you cannot get lazy. And I believe a giant proportion of people in this country are lazy. Uninformed. Unwilling to break away from the television, radio, social media, and other outlets. People are afraid to do the work for themselves.
It is a long walk anywhere in this country.
But it is easy to rely on a corrupt system is it not? Social programs masquerading as benefits.
I thought about the pure disregard and disgust people have for our law enforcement and military, who fight both mentally and physically, alone, away from their families, for our freedoms and comfort today. I thought about those who defended us before this generation who ensured that America stands in it’s convictions that we are a free nation affording all the rights a person is born with.
I thought about how lucky I am that at that moment, it did not matter what time it was, where I was at, or where my pillow and next meal would come from. My stomach did growl, but hours until our morning endeavors were over, I checked my pack for snacks.
In a stroke of luck, as hunting is mostly luck and a lot of skill, we closed in on what we thought might be two mature bulls. The rut is fantastic this year so getting close to elk has not been an issue at all. However, as luck would have it, with one at 60 and another just a little farther, one was mature, the other not so much and both were much smaller than what we were hoping for and we passed on them.
Put on a show but without mass and antler growth, he was an easy pass.
Given what we just learned about that little piece of the management unit, we will remember the cadence of those bugles and best guess what we cannot exactly see the next time we hear them. And before we hiked back to the truck, with shade a hot commodity, we stopped for a minute and someone checked the cell service on their phone and found that we had some. Since Jason, my father-in-law and I are all playing fantasy football, we checked stats and made jokes about what might happen in Sunday’s games.
The walk back to the truck in 90 degree temps has us wishing for AC and breakfast.
Not a care in the world except that we were doing what we loved with (a few of ) those we love. We were making memories.
And as we sat in the 90-degree heat that afternoon after enjoying a nap and some tamales and eggs, back on a glassing point still searching for “the one”, it hit me again. How lucky we are. Disconnected from the noise, and not just by chance, but by choice. Undoubtedly thankful to those whose lives were prematurely lost. Reveling in the freedoms we are afforded just by being born here. And not a moment of it created on lazy.
I glassed for big elk and wished more would realize the need for action and self-worth. I wished more would take a stance and exert effort. I wished more would be appreciative and realize self-sufficiency is the greatest way to show respect to those we lost 20 years ago and the best way to show respect to those we have lost and who have fought every day since then to prevent it from happening again.
She makes it hard to glass sometimes. The right species didn’t show itself that night anyway.
And I sat there in awe watching the sun go down, I was thankful. Not thankful for binoculars full off all the antelope in the world and not a single elk, but thankful that I had the freedom for another day to wake up and do it all over again.
Written by Jessica Manuell.
