The fall of 1946 was upon us, with the thoughts of going deer hunting, a few times, but they would only be for one day at a time. The fall weather was pretty cold this year, with some frosts already. The hills above Boise had received about eight inches of snow and the temperature was in the middle thirties. We were up early on a Saturday morning to do the chores and get everything done at home, before we could head out. Dad wanted to go to the Stack Rock area because there always seem to be deer around there somewhere. Mom packed a good lunch of sandwiches and coffee, with milk, for us kids. We loaded into the old Ford car and away we went to Cartwright Road at the upper end of Dry Creek.
Cartwright Road goes from Dry Creek to Horseshoe Bend and at one time, had a toll gate on it to charge freight wagons a fee to use the road as a short cut, between the two towns. After winter sets in the road becomes a muddy mess. The road was not good that day, but had dried out some after the recent snowstorms to hit the area. Up around Stack Rock, the snow was still on the ground and was about six inches deep yet. Dad drove the old car up the road as far as he could, before the snow stopped him. This year the hunt consisted of Dad; Mom; Harold; Ethel, Harry; and myself. Harry was not old enough to hunt yet, so he stayed at the car, with Mom and Ethel.
Dad had borrowed 30-30 rifles for us to hunt with. There seemed to be lots of deer tracks everywhere so we figured it was only a matter of time before someone would find a herd of them. We walked around in the snow for several hours without finding a thing.
Now walking around in snow in an old pair of shoes seems to cause them to get wet and cold fast. I was about as cold as I could stand and it was time to build a fire from sage brush, and anything else that would burn and warm me up. Dad always had us carry matches with us when out hunting for this reason. I found some dry grass under some sage brush, and with some dry sage brush, I had a fire going in no time. I warmed up my feet and dried out my shoes as much as I could.
Dad and Harold had gone out ahead of me. When I stopped to build the fire. I could see where they were headed so I would cut down around the hill below them, hoping to kick something out of a timber or brush pocket. As long as I kept moving my feet stayed warm even though they were getting wet again. Dad and Harold were up on a ridge above me when I went down into some brush.
Over on the far hillside I saw the movement of some deer going out ahead of me. I ran to the top of a small hill to be able to see them better. There were four white tail does zig-zagging up through the trees about a hundred yards away. Distance is hard to judge looking across a small valley, it may have been farther than it looked. I sat down for a good rest and tried to hit one of them. I must have shot four or five times before they went out over the top of the next ridge. One time I thought I had hit one from the way she acted. I went over to where they were when I was shooting at them to check for blood but there was none to be found. I followed their trail up and over the top but they were gone. As I started up the ridge and I spotted Dad and Harold coming down to me to see what I was shooting at. They were disappointed that had not hit one of them, but they could understand. I’m not going to hit every deer that I shoot at.
By now the day was about half gone; time to head for the car to have some lunch and dry out. The three of us went up the ridge to stay out of the heavy brush because it would be drier and easier for walking, we were back at the car in no time at all. Mom was waiting for us with lunch ready. She had heard me shooting and was hoping we had a couple of deer with us. After lunch Dad would decide where to go for the rest of the day. We would make another trip up around the hill for an hour or so and if nothing shows up, we would head for home.
Back at the car again, Dad thought we had better head out. The roads had thawed out quite a bit and were very muddy now. Dad wanted to get to the main Dry Creek Road before dark in case some problems pop up. By the time we arrived at the ranch east of Star it was time to milk the cows and do the rest of the chores. We had a good time even though I could not hit one of the white tail does. We would go out again before the season closes. if the snow does not get to deep the hills.