Oh Deer!

       This past Saturday, our alarm went off at 4:45 a.m.  As it did, I was glad that it was not going off for me!  Tyler on the other hand was ready to jump out of bed.  All night he had been like a little boy trying to sleep on Christmas Eve...he could not wait to wake up so that he could go hunting.  I supported him by getting his breakfast and making sure he had warm clothes, hunting license, water, etc. 
      At about 9:00 Tyler told me that he had gotten his deer!!!  I was so excited for him!  Later he told me the story of how it had happened...He and his dad had been out waiting for a deer for a couple of hours and had seen nothing.  Finally, they decided that it was time to go home and come back another time.  As they got in the truck, and began to back up, they saw two deer off in the distance in a little valley.  Tyler got out of the truck, but he did not have a good shot at it.  He waited and waited, while his dad drove the truck, hoping to get the deer to move.  One deer finally began to run, and would not stop...so once again it could not be shot!  Finally it stopped, and Tyler aimed and fired.  He had gotten his deer!
      Later I finally got to see the deer...I made sure not to get too close!  I saw it from about 15 feet away as it hung in his parents' garage.  Thankfully the head was in a bucket, because that is where it was shot, and I am not sure if I would have been able to see that!  Tyler, my father-in-law, and mother-in-law spent about an hour processing the meat...I did not help here either!  I did give it a distant glance after all the fat and hair had been removed and it looked a little more normal. They are excited about the deer jerky, deer roast, deer shredded meat, and everything else they will get from it.  I am very excited for them as well, but am not quite sure how much of it I will eat!
      I am definitely in South Dakota now!  I know of two other people who shot a deer over the weekend.  I am just thankful that there is a Wal-Mart here with good cow meat!  It did put me into the Thanksgiving mood as I thought of the Pilgrims and Indians on the first Thanksgiving...everything they were eating they had killed themselves!