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Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of Cutting the Distance podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Dirk Durham, and I hope all of you moms

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Speaker 1: that are listening out there had a great Mother's Day weekend.

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Speaker 1: Both of my folks have long since passed away, but

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Speaker 1: watching my wife and our daughter and her daughter in

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Speaker 1: law on Mother's Day set my mind spinning about my mom,

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Speaker 1: so today I thought i'd share a little tribute to her.

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Speaker 1: My mom was born Pauline Haper. Her relatives homesteaded in

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Speaker 1: rural New Mexico. After her folks are married, she was

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Speaker 1: raised in southern Colorado. Her dad was a sheep herder

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Speaker 1: and her mom was a housewife raising four kids. She

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Speaker 1: told stories and growing up in poor in Colorado, living

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Speaker 1: off what wild game my grandfather could secure and whatever

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Speaker 1: other food they could scare up. As a sheep herder

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Speaker 1: didn't pay well. Grandpa was a crack shot, she said.

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Speaker 1: With money being tight when he bought ammunition for his

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Speaker 1: hunting rifle, he could only afford two or three rounds

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Speaker 1: at a time, and with such limited supply of ammunition,

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Speaker 1: Grandpa needed to make every shot count so he would

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Speaker 1: get super close to his prey and not miss. In fact,

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Speaker 1: he would never miss and made every shot count, putting

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Speaker 1: down wild game on the table. Whenever needed, Her and

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Speaker 1: her brothers would have to walk a couple miles from

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Speaker 1: their house to the bus stop. It kind of seemed

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Speaker 1: like one of those old stories parents always tell about

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Speaker 1: walking up hills both ways and ten feet of snow

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Speaker 1: something like that. But many times they would see fresh

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Speaker 1: cougar tracks in their own tracks as they walked home

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Speaker 1: from school, so they lived in a pretty wild place.

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Speaker 1: When she was about eight years old, she found something

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Speaker 1: that looked like a spent rifle cartridge that was filled

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Speaker 1: with something. So she found a horseshoe nail and went

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Speaker 1: to work digging out the contents so she could make

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Speaker 1: a little whistle out of it. Then tragedy struck it exploded.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't a rifle cartridge at all, but a dynamite

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Speaker 1: blasting cap. It had blown off all of her fingers

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Speaker 1: except for her pinky and her thumb and part of

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Speaker 1: her palm. Now, for some reason, the surgeon who worked

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Speaker 1: on her decided it would be best to take off

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Speaker 1: what remained of her hand and just leave her with

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Speaker 1: a stub right at the wrist. She was haunted for

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Speaker 1: years by the ghost limb and was finally able to

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Speaker 1: find relief after a long time. It took her quite

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Speaker 1: a while, but she adapted and there wasn't much of

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Speaker 1: anything that she couldn't do other than use a traditional

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Speaker 1: pencil sharpener. She could cook, she could clean, she could

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Speaker 1: do just about any task. Now. As a teen, they

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Speaker 1: moved to Idaho, where she met my dad and they

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Speaker 1: got married and began to raise our family. Now, not

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Speaker 1: only was I influenced by stories of elk hunting from

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Speaker 1: my dad and my uncle Edgel, my mom's stories had

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Speaker 1: always captivated my imagination. Fast forward to me growing up

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Speaker 1: in a tiny north central Idaho town. I was the

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Speaker 1: youngest of two brothers and sisters, and all I could

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Speaker 1: think about was hunting. For as long as I could remember,

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Speaker 1: I would walk from our house out into the woods

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Speaker 1: at probably ten years of age and go exploring during

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Speaker 1: summer break, sometimes alone, sometimes i'd be accompanied by some

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Speaker 1: of the neighborhood kids, and I couldn't wait to pack

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Speaker 1: a deer hunting rifle. Now, right now, you're probably thinking

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Speaker 1: there's no way we would let our ten year olds

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Speaker 1: wander around the woods by themselves. But times were different,

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Speaker 1: and my mom would encourage me to get out of

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Speaker 1: the house and explore the outdoors. I would leave the

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Speaker 1: house without telling her my plans. I would grab a

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Speaker 1: hatchet or a double bitted axe, and I would go

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Speaker 1: whatever way my feet would take me, looking for adventure. Finally,

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Speaker 1: at twelve years old, I got old enough to hunt

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Speaker 1: and found myself hunting with my dad after school and

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Speaker 1: on weekends, which consisted of driving the old backroads in

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Speaker 1: his pickup road hunting. It seemed like he'd spent plenty

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Speaker 1: of time hunting on foot, or beating the brush as

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Speaker 1: he would call it, and was pretty much over that

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Speaker 1: kind of hunting. He'd had the pleasure of hunting Idaho's

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Speaker 1: backcountry right after World War II when he moved to

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Speaker 1: the country. They would pack in with horses into places

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Speaker 1: the elk were thick and the people were few. Over

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Speaker 1: the years, more people found those places, and they'd set

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Speaker 1: up outfitter camps and big hunting camps, and I guess

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Speaker 1: he just wasn't able to find the same solace in

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Speaker 1: those places that he did in the beginning. He and

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Speaker 1: I saw lots of deer on her little trips, but

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Speaker 1: he never would let me shoot because of various reasons.

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Speaker 1: Looking back, I'm pretty sure he didn't want me to

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Speaker 1: get one. He just enjoyed driving around the old logging

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Speaker 1: roads and soaking it all in. When I turned thirteen, though,

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Speaker 1: I made up my mind that I wanted more. I

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Speaker 1: wanted to feel the dirt under my feet and carry

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Speaker 1: that rifle through the woods and hunt for deer on foot.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to see all the hidden secrets in the

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Speaker 1: dense Idaho timber. So my dad bought me a Savage

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Speaker 1: one ten seven millimeter Remington Magnum. I felt like it

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Speaker 1: was quite possibly the most powerful long gun in the world.

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Speaker 1: It didn't and it felt like it. It didn't have

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Speaker 1: a recoil pad, and it kicked like a mule. Now,

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Speaker 1: with my dad having to work and not be able

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Speaker 1: to get home in time, this is where my mom

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Speaker 1: came in. I couldn't drive, so I would have her

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Speaker 1: take me hunting in the morning before school and after

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Speaker 1: school as well, and most times I would just go alone.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes she would drop me off and meet me at

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Speaker 1: the predetermined pickup spot, or sometimes she would even accompany

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Speaker 1: me on the hunt. Imagine dropping your off your thirteen

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Speaker 1: year old to wander around the woods by themselves, no

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Speaker 1: cell phones, no GPS, no on X maps, sometimes not

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Speaker 1: even a flashlight, armed only with a seven mm magnum

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Speaker 1: and a pocket knife. Every time she would pick me up,

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Speaker 1: I would recount every detail of the adventure. She hung

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Speaker 1: on my every word and asked lots of questions. I

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Speaker 1: think she got the hunting bug herself and would sometimes

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Speaker 1: go along with me. I absolutely loved hunting by myself,

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Speaker 1: feeling small and insignificant when alone in the woods, but

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Speaker 1: when my mom would go, it was a completely different vibe.

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Speaker 1: I felt like a tour guide showing her all the

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Speaker 1: secret places I had found. She wouldn't carry a gun

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Speaker 1: during those early years, just followed me around and enjoying

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Speaker 1: the hunt. After a while, I became successful at killing

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Speaker 1: deer by myself, and also I took some deer when

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Speaker 1: she was with me. I actually killed some pretty nice

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Speaker 1: bucks with my mom in toe one big white tail

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Speaker 1: buck in sub zero tempts before school one morning, and

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Speaker 1: another a big mulei on a rainy Saturday afternoon, where

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Speaker 1: she acted as my hunting dog, pushing a large nasty

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Speaker 1: brush patch in a deep canyon. She was also there

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Speaker 1: waiting in the truck when I called in and killed

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Speaker 1: my first archery bull, Elk at fifteen years old. She

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Speaker 1: heard the whole thing play out as the bull and

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Speaker 1: I exchanged bugles after the shot. I stayed at the

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Speaker 1: scene while she went home to get my dad to

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Speaker 1: help me retrieve my bull. After lots of prodding for me,

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Speaker 1: I got her to buy a deer tag and carry

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Speaker 1: a rifle. My mom was a natural with being in

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Speaker 1: the right place at the right time for animals. One

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Speaker 1: time she was with my best friend and now my

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Speaker 1: brother in law, Randy, which I've had on the podcast before.

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Speaker 1: We were rattling and a giant white tail buck came

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Speaker 1: running in and almost ran her over. He was too

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Speaker 1: close at about five yards for her to shoot. As

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Speaker 1: she her rifle, he spooked off and ran away. Another time,

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Speaker 1: while I was still hunting the big timber, I put

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Speaker 1: her in my favorite spot to sit and wait for

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Speaker 1: a big whitetail buck to cross. At last light, a

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Speaker 1: huge old buck walked out, nose to the ground. She

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Speaker 1: raised my dad's old three hundred savage, sent her the

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Speaker 1: crosshairs on his vitals and squeezed the trigger, but it

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Speaker 1: wouldn't go off. The safety was on. She slid the

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Speaker 1: safety off, but this time she put her finger in

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Speaker 1: between the trigger guard and the trigger. No matter how

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Speaker 1: hard she pulled, it wouldn't go off. Looking down, she

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Speaker 1: discovers her mistake, with the buck now only fifty yards

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Speaker 1: broadside and still walking slowly. At this point she was rattled.

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Speaker 1: She jerked the trigger, the gun goes off, and the

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Speaker 1: buck didn't miss abeat, she racks another round in it

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Speaker 1: and misses again. At her dismay, the buck continues his pace,

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Speaker 1: just walking out of sight and out of her life forever.

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Speaker 1: She hadn't touched to hair. Needless to say, I was

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Speaker 1: crushed when she told my dad and I the story.

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Speaker 1: I can't imagine how disappointed she must felt, though she

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Speaker 1: acted like it was no big deal. Then there was

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Speaker 1: the Mountain lion incident. Through the summertime, my mom would

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Speaker 1: take long walks in the woods and would blow on

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Speaker 1: an elk call, which sounded nothing like an elk when

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Speaker 1: she blew it, And as she'd walk along, she'd blow

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Speaker 1: the call, hoping to see some wildlife. And she'd seen

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Speaker 1: some deer and elk come out to investigate her calls,

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Speaker 1: so figuring the call might draw at a big buck

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Speaker 1: She started blowing the call one day as she sat

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Speaker 1: on a log pile waiting for a deer to come out.

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Speaker 1: After about thirty minutes of intermittent calling, she called and

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Speaker 1: caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She

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Speaker 1: slowly raised the rifle and readied herself for the shot

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Speaker 1: at the deer colored creature. Then she noticed the tail.

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Speaker 1: This deer I had the longest tails she'd ever seen.

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Speaker 1: It was a mountain lion. It walked up to about

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Speaker 1: fifteen yards and curiously looked her up and down, and

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Speaker 1: then just wandered off. When she recounted the story to us,

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Speaker 1: I cried out, Mom, why didn't you shoot it? Her

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Speaker 1: reply was quiet, yet stern, because I don't have a

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Speaker 1: cougar tag. I grew up, moved away and start a

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Speaker 1: family of my own. We'd go visiting on the weekends

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Speaker 1: and go hunting, and we'd always arrive really late at

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Speaker 1: night because it was a long drive, and she would

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Speaker 1: sleepily greet us at the front door and ask, do

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Speaker 1: you want me to cook you some elk steak? Laughing.

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Speaker 1: I'd turn her down most of the times, but every

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Speaker 1: now and then we would accept her offer, which made

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Speaker 1: it really happy. She could cook elk and deer steak

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Speaker 1: like nobody else I know, coupled with her mashed potatoes

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Speaker 1: and gravy. Her meals were simple yet delicious, and I'm

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Speaker 1: just going to tell you can't buy food like that anywhere.

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Speaker 1: One year, I had a week of vacation to hunt

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Speaker 1: elk in Idaho's back country, and she wanted to go along.

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Speaker 1: So she bought some new hunting boots and clothes and

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Speaker 1: was excited to go. We hunted an area that her

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Speaker 1: dad and brothers had hunted back when they very first

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Speaker 1: moved Idaho back in their day. She said, how my

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Speaker 1: grandfather yearned to be able to call an elk in

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Speaker 1: He tried all sorts of homemade bugles, experimenting with cutting

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Speaker 1: down twelve to fifteen inches of pipe, then notching at

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Speaker 1: about two inches from the end, and plugging it with

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Speaker 1: a piece of wood that had just had enough relief

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Speaker 1: to blow some air into it and make a whistle.

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Speaker 1: You guys have probably seen these before. It would make

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Speaker 1: a loud elk like whistle, but it never really was

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Speaker 1: a very good call. Man. I wish she was here

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Speaker 1: today to see the kind of elk calls we got

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Speaker 1: he would probably be amazed. Well. Her and I had

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Speaker 1: a ball just hiking into all those old hell holes together.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't easy hiking either, especially for her because she

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Speaker 1: was well into her sixties at the time. We had

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Speaker 1: a couple close encounters that year, but I wasn't able

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Speaker 1: to bring home a big poll. The whole time, I

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Speaker 1: was imagining my mom packing out a front shoulder out

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Speaker 1: of that steep drainage at least one time, and I'm

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Speaker 1: pretty sure she'd could have done it, and I think

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Speaker 1: she would just approve that she could. She kind of

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Speaker 1: had a never give up type of attitude. My mom

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Speaker 1: had always been my biggest cheerleader in life. No matter

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Speaker 1: what I set out to do, she was always there

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Speaker 1: to encourage me and applaud my accomplishments, no matter how

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Speaker 1: small they were. She was also my personal photographer. She

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Speaker 1: always had a camera, which didn't always make my dad happy.

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Speaker 1: He's one of those people that when a camera come out,

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Speaker 1: he would make himself scarce and he didn't even want

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Speaker 1: to look at the camera. We have a photo album

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Speaker 1: filled of pictures of my dad looking away from the

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Speaker 1: camera because he didn't want to be in the picture.

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Speaker 1: But nevertheless, She always had her camera with her, which

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Speaker 1: was nice because she could take pictures of me on

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Speaker 1: my successful hunts. So I've got quite a few nice

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Speaker 1: pictures of me and bucks and elk that I've harvested

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Speaker 1: over the years. And I wasn't for my mom, you know,

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Speaker 1: I just wouldn't have any pictures. I really miss my mom,

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Speaker 1: and I wish my dad and her were still here

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Speaker 1: to watch my family grow and enjoy their grandchildren and

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Speaker 1: great grandchildren. And I really appreciate what she gave to

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Speaker 1: our family and feel lucky to have had that opportunity.

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Speaker 1: Enjoy your mothers as much as you can while you

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Speaker 1: have them. Make sure you show them the saving love

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Speaker 1: they gave to you, because someday they won't be here

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Speaker 1: to receive it. Now, the Turkey season's kind of whining down,

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Speaker 1: I thought i'd talk a little bit about that. I

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Speaker 1: was lucky enough to draw a tag in Kansas and

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Speaker 1: hunt with our good friend Randy Milligan at his farm.

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Speaker 1: I'd like to tell you the story was full of

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Speaker 1: ups and down and a lot of hard work. But

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Speaker 1: this year, well, typically that's our Kansas hunt. It's not

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Speaker 1: usually a slam dunk. I see, especially for me, it

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Speaker 1: seems like I always have to struggle right to the end,

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Speaker 1: but this year I tagged out on the first twenty

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Speaker 1: minutes a season. Now, I'm not sure how many of

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Speaker 1: you have tagged out on opening day before, but it's

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Speaker 1: kind of a paradox. On one hand, I'm super jack

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Speaker 1: that I tagged out, but on the other I wish

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Speaker 1: I was still on the hunt for the big one,

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Speaker 1: whether that's a Turkey year elk or deer. But this

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Speaker 1: time I was pretty lucky because I was able to

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Speaker 1: continue on the hunt because I was running a camera

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Speaker 1: video camera. Jason Phelps had to film me and he

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Speaker 1: got about twenty minutes of being a cameraman under his

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Speaker 1: belt this year, and then it was on to me.

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Speaker 1: So that was really fun. What's up next for the

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Speaker 1: rest of the spring. Well, I'm headed out soon for

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Speaker 1: Alaska to go coastal black hunting with Caleb Stillons. This

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Speaker 1: will be my very first time in Alaska, and I

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Speaker 1: look forward to the adventure. I'm not sure. I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure what to expect, but I have a suspicion that

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Speaker 1: my rain gear is going to get a major workout

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Speaker 1: of me. Well, thanks for listening, everybody, give your mom

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Speaker 1: a hug and a kiss, tell her how much you

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Speaker 1: appreciate her, and we'll catch you on the flip flop