(slight gore warning)
+ 3rd Person - The Sun is Just About to Rise +
The sun rose over the mountains that protected the ranch, slowly waking up everyone. The men were the first to get up, all of them getting dressed and grabbing simple breakfast. Braunschweiger on a toasted English muffin, buttered, wasn't popular, but it was Toby's favorite. After he fed Mojo he folded his food like a sandwich and ate it. He didn't have time to savor it, as he had to go outside and take care of his mare.
An unknown truck pulled up the driveway as Toby walked to the barn. He just decided to ignore it, as it was probably just some city folk wanting to ride a horse. The ranch wasn't a riding stable for people to come and ride at, but people still tried.
Mojo followed right behind Toby as he walked into the barn. Grabbing Chick's halter and lead, he walked up to the stall and was greeted by her nickering. Her nickering didn't stop until he led her to the post where he would brush and tack her.
In the background, the radio played one of Toby's favorite songs, Drinkaby. It was always playing on the radio, and every time he heard it he would hum along. Mojo lay in the background in front of a fan, staring at the brushed Chick. The dog was patient as he knew the day would become active eventually. First Toby had to completely wake up, as he was basically on 'airplane mode' doing a routine off of muscle memory.
Once he was done brushing the mare, Toby led her out to warm her up before he hopped on. He took her to the round pen, where he had her run circles around him, loping her. The radio still played in the background, except the new song was 'beer never broke my heart' continued to hum along as he worked Chick.
He finally seemed to have woken up before he led the mare out of the round pen and hopped into the saddle. Mojo excitedly stood up, ready to follow right alongside Toby. It had already been 2 hours since Toby woke up, meaning the women were probably awake now.
A couple of the other men caught up with Toby before they went to go walk the hills. The cows never went in the hills, but it was where most of the predators lurked. So it was always their favorite place to hunt, of course with the benefit of a hidden lake once you get on the other side.
All of them were quiet, not only enjoying the peace but also listening to certain sounds and certain calls. More specifically the squirrels, always alerting because of a predator but never alerting because of the humans. The bluejays were also good to look for because if there was a hawk or bigger bird you would hear them squawking. The bluejays were a bird that was full of themselves, never afraid to attack a hawk or an eagle.
it seemed the dogs caught onto a scent and they started running and hollering, the horses followed suit. To the horses, the dogs hollering meant they would be praised with good food and treats when dinner rolled around. Only if they followed the dogs and the humans caught something that was.
The dogs managed to pin a couple of raccoons up a tree, the other boys used their guns as he continued on because Mojo kept his head down but was still following a scent. The other boys had hound dogs meant for coon hunting, while Mojo was meant for birds, rabbits, and large game like boars, deer, and even moose if they were lucky.
All of a sudden The Black lab stopped and pointed, ahead there was a herd of deer that was heavily alert due to the hounds and gunshots. It was a miracle they hadn't run the moment they heard them. Unlike the others, Toby carried a bow, it was silent and didn't alert his prey.
Toby slowly took out his bow and pulled an arrow back, aiming at the largest buck amongst them. Once he let go of the arrow the deer saw him, but it still landed in its chest so it would collapse eventually. It was a game of cat and mouse, except the cat was patient. Once they ran Toby slowly followed, keeping an eye on the blood trail since it was all he had to follow.
It didn't take long to find the large buck on the ground breathing heavily, it seemed the arrow struck its lung. He quickly put it out of its misery and started to gut it, Toby was excited. He finally had a large buck to mount above the fireplace in the cabin he was provided. He didn't have a cabinmate at the moment to comment on it either.
Once he finished he took the meat he could carry and put it in the cooler he had attached to his saddle. He skinned the deer so he could bring another pelt home with him and add it to his pile. Wrapping the head up in a tarp before strapping it to his back, he hopped back onto Chick and all that was left of the deer were organs thrown to the side, and chunks of meat still clinging to the bones.
He made his way back to the others, parading around his prize.
“Marty really?” His friend Garrett asked, “How did you manage to find deer even after the hounds made a ruckus?” He questioned.
“The leader of the herd was an older buck, his antlers were enormous and they are the ones you see behind me. My best guess is that his hearing was going bad and it sounded farther away than it was.” Toby explained and the other two groaned
“Why can’t you share some of your luck with us man?” His other friend Derek asked.
“No way, if you get my luck you also get my life,” he said with a laugh as they made their way back. As they exited the forest and came back out to the clearing they saw that there were 2 newbies.
“Check out the fresh meat,” Derek said, “How much you want to bet neither of them knows how to ride a horse?” Garrett thought for a second
“The taller one looks like he has some experience under his belt, so I will bet my desert on him,” Garrett responded
“I’m going to go with the shorter guy,” Toby said as they kept getting closer to the group “He looks well built.” Derek groaned
“Are you sure it’s not because you think he is cute?” Derek asked and Toby gave him a look
“Do you have to comment on my sexuality every chance you get?” Toby asked
“Yup,” both Garrett and Derek said in sync
“We don’t hate you for it, we just like to pick on you about it,” Garrett said and Toby sighed
“Oh well, at least you don’t hate me for it.” They said as they rode behind the group and headed to the barn to untack their horses. Toby made eye contact with the shorter guy that he had bet on, quickly looking away as he had been caught.
The boys made their way into the barn before untacking their horses and brushing them again before turning them out into the pasture together. Toby took the deer head and the meat into the garage of his cabin. Laying down a tarp and cleaning up the meat before throwing it in his freezer. He got a tub and began to carefully remove the fur, then he had to saw off the base where the antlers met the skull. He disposed of the head and brought the antlers to the garage of the main house along with the skin from the head. Passing the group that was still talking in the middle of the drive.
He knocked on the door that led to the kitchen and Garrett’s girlfriend opened the door,
“Could you get Mrs. Martens?” Toby asked and his mother peeked around the door. The girl left and his mother came into the garage, and where he saw his prize, she could only see a mess.
“What did you wing that in here for?” Toby’s mother asked
“I was going to see if it could be turned into a mount,” Toby said as more of a question than a statement.
“You’re lucky you are my son,” She said “I should get it done in under 2 weeks,” She explained
“Thank you Ma’” Toby said with a pause “I would hug you but I got blood on me,” he said with a laugh and his mother just sighed with a smile.
“If either of those girls ends up like you I am going to go stand in front of the bull and taunt him to run me over,” She said before walking inside.
Tobey went back outside and looked up, it was noon. With a sigh, he went to his cabin and made himself lunch. Hearing the door to his cabin open, he looked up, and the two boys from earlier had come in.
“One of you will be sleeping in the other room in this cabin.” Toby’s father explained, “I will leave it up to you two to decide who stays here.” He explained and then walked over to Toby “Boy did you shoot that deer I saw you carrying into the house?” Toby’s father asked
“Yes sir,” Toby responded, and the next thing he knew his hard was being ruffled up and his father had put him in a headlock.
“Look at you! Shooting all the big bucks while most of the boys are still hunting coons,” He said with a proud tone. Once he let go of Toby, Toby stood up and his hair was a mess. He tried to fix it but failed and he gave up before going to his freezer.
“Here, this is for you, Pa.” He said bringing over two pieces of meat he packaged so they could be stored. His father took the meat and thanked him before going into the main house.
Toby paused realizing he was still wearing the shirt covered in blood, so the first impression these two guys had of him was him still partially covered in blood. As there was still some on his face that he accidentally put there when he was wiping his face. There was even some on his upper arms that he couldn’t get without taking a shower.
“Uh, ignore how I look at the moment, it would be pointless to take a shower mid-day when there is still work to do,” He said going silent again before he finished making his lunch and began to eat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got excited... I do not expect you to type almost 2,000 words.
Winter 
Night 
Clear Moon: 
