The weekend started off badly. What should have been a relaxing hunting trip really wasn’t. A nice rain that should have brought the deer out didn’t. The trailer roof that should have been watertight wasn’t. And brakes that should have stopped the truck failed to do so.

I haven’t been driving the big Dodge much, so the brakes had slipped my mind. I did just have the transmission serviced and the oil changed, so I wasn’t completely behind, but the slight grinding noise that I thought was steering turned into a horrifying grinding noise when trying to drive down a muddy road in the rain. We turned around and called Junior’s Mom, who hadn’t left the Valley yet, to bring up some shoes and rotors. Then we hopped into the Ford and continued fruitlessly hunting.

 

 It was slicker than snot on those roads, and the deer were wisely holed up. We gave up around mid-morning and came back to camp. Junior tried to wait for a break in the rain to do the brakes, but the break didn’t last very long. 

 

 I felt horrible with him working under my truck in the mud and rain, so tried to keep an umbrella over him to keep the rain off the small of his back. I know that’s a miserable feeling. He’s a hell of a man though, and this wasn’t his first mountain brake job, and he got it done. 

The bear hunters weren’t really out either; it was too wet and rainy for them. Things picked up a little bit that afternoon when they rolled into camp and we played a little dice in the big tent.

 

 Sunday rolled into some beautiful weather. We had one quick race in the morning that went too fast for really good pictures, and a little more hunting in the late morning. I took the Dodge up another Jeep trail and broke a mirror – it just wasn’t that truck’s weekend, and you’d think I’d learn by now. I’m really ready to have the Jeep rolling on the ground, but that won’t be until next year. I hope the Dodge lives long enough to be retired, or at least paid off! 

The whole weekend was sort of a let-down, all the more so when my schedule presents itself for the next month, and this is my last weekend deerhunting with Junior alone. Next weekend is the wedding, and then I’m working at least the next two. He’s hunting out of state the weekend after that, and that’s it for deer season. Fortunately, the end of deer season is just when the bear hunting gets going really good, so all is not lost. I’d planned to make the most of this year’s hunting though, and it’s just not happening due to things beyond my control and that gets me down.