Little side note to the story…….My patience is a lot thinner at the end of the year than it is going into bow season……I’m like everyone else and I start getting a little burnt out and ready for the season to end. “People” wear on me over time.

So a little background…….I’ve been letting the hunters carry their own rifle this year because its just a lot more convenient not to have to drag a rifle around into all of the thickets we go through….. but you really want to have a rifle with you instead of just a pistol. So the hunter is the rifle toter while I just work the dogs……I tell them not to have one in the chamber until we know we need it and don’t shoot until I say the word “shoot” and everything will go smoothly. Each time someone takes a shot I always ask them right afterwards…..”Is your safety back on??”……They say yes….. I say good deal……etc….Just to make sure we stay safe and someone doesn’t forget in the excitement…..It’s never been an issue……..until today.

This morning everything went smoothly at first…..we bayed the deer up…..got a good clean shot with the dogs cleared and finished the deer off…..Well, when I asked the guy after the shot….. “Is your safety back on??”……He replies….”Nah man, its off… …….”…….I said “What?”…….He replies…..”Nah man I don’t even use a safety… what’s that for?? ……Just obviously being a smart ass……To be honest I really don’t even recall exactly what I said after that……I felt my face start turning red and burning…….I think you could probably see the steam coming off the top of my head because it didn’t take long before ol’ boy was……“Just joking man!”……”I’m a jokester!!......I didn’t mean nothing by it!!”

(Sighhh)……It’s all good…..just people being people and the cost of not carrying the rifle myself. I guess next year I’ll go back to being the shooter again….its just simpler that way…..