Elk Hunting a la Rice Men

Elk Hunting in Arizona...
In fact, hunting...or fishing... in Arizona...
Is NOT easy.
First step: The Draw
Months ahead, paperwork is filled out and submitted...
Usually on the very last day applications can be turned in.
We are Rice Men, after all.
Anxious waiting ensues...
Until a valiant soul gets on the Az Game and Fish website
And announces that the results are published.
More anxious waiting ensues...
Website cannot handle that many men, and sometimes women, at one time.
Rice Men were successful.
More anxious waiting ensues...
Finally, the night before the hunt comes
And
In Rice Man Fashion
Mom madly prepares and packs meals and grub box
Yes, the ol' Grub Box...a very large and very sturdy plastic box
Once a gift to young Doran for scout camp use
It attended all of our big camping trips...
Full of dishes and towels and plastic bags and seasonings
And unknown aged peanut butter...and other toxic things Kayty and I tossed.
The left early in the morning.
The looked and looked.
They hunted and hunted.
They ate and ate. I make some darned good Elk Green Chili Burro Meat...

It must have been doggone cold! These guys are ALWAYS hot! Seeing them in warm hats makes me wonder how cold it got!

Doran brought his chainsaw, making for nice fires!

Saturday afternoon...
No calls yet...
Must mean the Elk won this battle...
So I headed to Thunderbird Park for a hike.
I just got to the base of the trail
When my phone rang.
It was Amber. Ethan had gotten one! (Awesome for a mom, because all of his brothers had shot an elk already. He just always ended up hunting on the snowed in hunts or the dry summer hunts...
I continued my hike.
On the way down, I got another call.
Doran had gotten one!
At first, I wondered if it was a mistake...Maybe Ethan hadn't gotten one.
But a call to Dad cleared it all up.
Two Sons + Two Elk = Two Very Proud Parents.

I made sure we had enough freezer bags and paper.
They arrived.
They butchered.
They ground.
I packaged and labeled.
They took it all, in neat white packages to their homes.
They took big smiles on their faces too.
Nothing like that.
It's a Rice Man Thing.
And I am so glad I understand!