So there I was in the early morning haze, stealthily walking across a
mowed field in search of the wily feral hog. Actually, the first
half-mile was not as stealthy, it was more like trudging, since my
packer whom we’ll call Newt, had partied the night before and failed to
gas up the four-wheeler.
Carrying pistols, rifles, ammo and video filming equipment, we looked
more like refugees fleeing the Libyan conflict. My guide, who asked us
to call him Bwana, froze in his tracks. It was dark but we could hear
his “Shush! There, on the edge of the field, see’em?” he said.
If there was a pig I sure couldn’t tell.
I wondered at the time how we must have looked in a pig’s eye view? A
round bale, back-lit by the rising sun, festooned with arms, legs,
heads, cameras and weapons sticking out in silhouette.
After five minutes of intense scrutiny Bwana said, “They’ve gone. Must have smelled us.”
Then suddenly Newt said, “There’s a big one!”
Casting our attention eastward we spotted a large black creature. “I think it’s a cow…” said Newt, “or a pig.”
How far a shot is that?”
“Six-hundred yards,” said Bwana.
I raised my rifle and the crosshairs actually blocked out the target.
Calculating windage, fall, distance, instability, the hiccups, the
mosquitoes and the bowl of chili Newt had eaten the night before, I
figured my odds of hitting the beast was about 100 to one.
“Did we leave the bazooka at home?” I asked.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
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