The Old Settlers' Deer Camp

Our octogenarian heroes of this story are;

* Mr. Eugene
* Mr. Thetis
* Mr. Alonzo
* Mr. Lemuel
* The young minister is Ty or Mr. Tyrus

In Texas and, indeed, in most of the south, referring to a person as Mr. or Miz in front of the first name is an expression of great personal respect. To greet a person as Mr. Eugene or Miz Dorothy is a high compliment. There was no distinction for Miss, Mrs, or Ms; for example, just plain Miz Dorothy.

At that time, Ty, (Mr. Tyrus) was a young man who had just completed his education at the Seminary and was recently ordained a Southern Baptist Minister. Can I get an amen? His first mission was a small church in a rural community in northwest Texas.

The Texas deer season was set to open in a couple of weeks and since Ty was interested in getting to know some of the elders of his new church in order to form a men’s Bible study group, he saw this as a great opportunity for him to accompany an elderly group of hunters into the Texas Hill Country. He would get to know them, win them over, and get his mission started. He jumped at the chance.

The day before the season opener found Ty driving his huge International Travelall pulling a large box trailer behind. The four hunters were all in their 80’s and a little slow to move around but their minds were still sharp and they had voiced disapproval of Ty’s efforts to start a men’s group in his new ministry. Men’s groups were not catching on well in Texas in those days but Ty was young and inspired. He would get to know these guys on their level and start a wonderful program that would bind the men of his congregation to the church.

Ty picked up the guys one at a time and was surprised at how much gear each shooter had packed to bring along. The Travelall was packed to the roof line and the 14 foot box trailer could hold no more. Of course, Ty was officially volunteered to load all of each of the hunter’s gear. They drove deep into the Texas Hill Country with the vehicle creaking and groaning over the deeply rutted roads.

Eventually they arrived at an old but sturdy house that had been built adjoining a small cave that served as an extra room. It was always 56 degrees in this sealed off dugout; cool in the summer and warm enough in the winter. It was here that the old settlers slept and ate.

The Mexican caretaker and his wife had laid in a good supply of firewood for the old Warm Morning stove in the dugout and food for the pantry. The gas was turned on and the hot water heater had been lit; but the old fellows would not deign to use these modern conveniences. “Weren’t sportin." they said.

The elders went on into the dugout and started a fire to take the chill off. Ty was not cold; in fact, he was perspiring heavily from carrying all the supplies up the hill to the sleeping quarters. After the last load, he collapsed in a chair at the big table. Instantly there was a hush in the room and Mr. Eugene looked highly offended and walked out of the room. Most of the others followed him leaving only Mr. Thetis behind to counsel with Ty. He explained that this chair was a place of honor for Mr. Eugene and Ty's sitting in it was an affront to the rules of order.

Ty apologized and asked where these rules were written so he could avoid future mistakes of etiquette and was told curtly,”Not written no where; everyone knows these things!” Mr. Thetis went out and got the rest of the guys while Ty waited. After everyone was seated again, Ty sat in the left over chair.

Mr. Eugene called the meeting to order and began making assignments for the duration of the hunt. First order of business was to welcome Ty to the hunt and give him the honor of keeping firewood near the stove, carrying the rifles out to the truck, keeping the water bucket full, and taking care of the dishwashing, cooking, and general housekeeping.

Welcome to deer hunting, Mr. Tyrus...Texas style.

Next Mr. Eugene held up match sticks for the drawing to see who would choose first among the four deer stands. Now the reason became clear as to why each hunter brought along three rifles. One stand was in brushy terrain requiring a rifle with a big slow bullet like the Winchester 30/30. Another was overlooking a clearing with a deer trail some 250 yards out; this stand required a fast, flat shooting rifle like the 270 Winchester.

Another stand combined deer opportunities as well as offering shots at bobcats and coyotes for extra money in the form of furs. This required a rifle such as the 243 Winchester that would not destroy the pelt.

And finally, there was the 12 gauge shotgun slug that was ideal for close shots in the heavy brush. Add to this list a backpack for each hunter, extra water, a lunch sack, snacks, and one can readily see that Ty was going to work hard loading this stuff in the Travelall. Again.

The alarm sounded at 3:30 AM. Ty put on the coffee and started loading the rifles and ice chests in the Travelall. When the coffee was done, he began preparing breakfast which consisted of steak and eggs, fried potatoes, and home made biscuits. Ty had never made home made biscuits, but followed the instructions on the flour sack. They turned out a little heavy, but tasty. One of the old guys rudely pointed out that Ty had forgotten the red eye gravy.

After breakfast, everyone climbed in the big Travelall and Ty drove them to their respective stands. As he dropped off Mr. Alonzo, he was instructed to go back to the cabin and get ready for a hot supper as they would all be hungry. He was also instructed to make a round of the stands every couple of hours or so and if he saw a red ribbon tied on a fence post or a tree he should stop as that meant the hunter had a deer down and needed help with field dressing and transportation back to camp. Can you guess who would do the field dressing and drag the deer back to the truck?

So Ty’s day was accounted for and as he made his rounds, Mr. Lemuel’s stand had a bright red ribbon fluttering in the breeze. Ty always wanted to see how this deer hunting worked after the deer was down. Mr. Lemuel was only too happy to tell him each step of the field dressing procedure. They dragged the deer back to the Travelall and Ty wrestled it into the back. They took it back to camp and hung it under an overhead shelf that provided shade for an open mouthed cave. Here it would stay cool until it was time to take it to town.

No one else had a shot that day so Ty was not called on to show off his new found ability to field dress a deer. Supper was a huge success with more steaks, fried potatoes, red beans with onions, and biscuits with red eye gravy. For dessert, Ty had prepared toast and jelly. After Ty had cleaned up the table, washed the dishes, and put away everything, he finally had a chance to visit with the guys.

He started by asking how many years they had done this, how far were they from the nearest town, what happens when one of them gets sick, where was the nearest phone, and in general, asking question to get a feel for the nuances of a week in deer camp.

Mr. Eugene told him the nearest town was about forty miles from the deer camp and that also was the nearest phone location as well.

Mr. Alonzo told him they had hunted together for nearly 60 years and that old settlers hardly ever got sick. They just kept on hunting and once in a while one of them just…died. Ty found that hard to believe. One of the guys...just died? Out here?

“Oh, yeah, sure. Coupla years back, Mr. Jim was assigned to keep the fire goin’ in the stove. In the night it got real cold in here and I whispered at Jim to get up and put some wood in the stove. When I got no answer, I went over to shake him and found he was stiff as a board. Died in his sleep, he did.”

Ty asked what he did then and Mr. Alonzo said, “Well, I did not wish to awaken the others, so I put more wood in the stove, moved Mr. Jim outside on the porch where it was cold, and went back to bed.”

“Next morning, Jim’s absence was noted and Mr. Eugene asked me where he was. When I told him what happened, he just nodded, and had no comment.” Later that day, it was revealed that the others thought Mr. Alonzo had exercised rare good judgment for a youngster of only fifteen lustrum. (a lustrum is five years)

Ty asked what happened next and Mr. Eugene told him they all went out on the deer stands, those who got a deer field dressed it and headed back to the camp. They took all the deer and Mr. Jim into town. At the locker plant, they reverently placed Mr. Jim in a quiet corner of the cold room and went back to camp to finish the hunt. Problem was there was no place else to put him and everyone agreed that Jim would not have wanted the boys to miss out on the hunt. Oh, they did call the funeral home in the next town over, but the deer were waiting and tags needed to be filled.

Ty was aghast and could scarcely tell if the guys were puttin’ him on or not, but all doubt was removed when Mr. Thetis told him of the circumstances surrounding the demise of one Mr. Rufus. Seems one cold morning, Mr. Rufus did not return to camp. After a while, they decided they should maybe go check on him. They approached his stand from the blind side so as not to get shot if he were still hunting. The blind was empty, but there was no Mr. Rufus.

They spread out and begin making big circles to pick up his trail. They found him about 150 yards from his stand. He was gone; having died doing what he loved. One of the guys unloaded his rifle and observed one round was missing. Everyone hunted with four rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. Mr. Rufus only had three rounds in the magazine of his rifle and one in the chamber. You don’t suppose…

Again, they spread out and about a hundred yards further out, they found the last deer that Mr. Rufus would ever shoot. It was a big buck with a magnificent rack. Clearly he had made a great shot on a huge trophy buck and the excitement proved too much for the old fella. Quickly they field dressed the animal, then headed back to the road taking the deer and the deceased back to camp.

The hunt continued for two more days, then all the harvested deer, (and Mr. Rufus) were taken to the locker plant where Mr.Rufus was reverently placed in a quiet corner. The taxidermist in the next town over was contacted to preserve the deer shot by Mr. Rufus and the coroner was duly notified as well. Priorities, you know. Mr. Rufus would not have wanted the boys to miss out on the hunt.

At this point, Ty abandoned all hope of getting these old codgers involved in a men’s group at church. A lifetime of enjoying nature the way these old fellows did simply could not be improved upon. They had religious experiences every time they came to deer camp and this philosophy spilled over into their every day lives as well.

Want proof? Well, just look at the magnificent deer head on the wall of the cabin. It is the last deer shot by Mr. Rufus. By this display, Mr. Rufus and the deer were honored in perpetuity.

Mr. Alonzo was right. Old settlers don't get sick very often; they keep on hunting and then one day, they just...die. Loyalty within this group runs deep. Survivors keep on hunting til one day, their turn too will come; and it's not a bad way to go. Meanwhile life goes on. Pass the red eye gravy, please.

Mr. Rufus would not have wanted the boys to miss out on any of this.

PB