Robert quit filming shortly after the deer was truly gone from the area.
“I think that was a first, even for Montana,” Robert commented.
“I don’t care if it is a first,” the manager of the gas station grumbled, “the deer has ruined my business!”
Looking back through the open doors, I could see why the gas station manager thought so. The deer had made quite a mess when it realized there was nothing it could eat in there and that it wasn’t alone.
“At least it didn’t go through a window,” Officer Barnes told him, “that’d probably cost you more then what you have.”
The gas station manager only sighed and began to head in to his shop.
“Sure…” he mumbled, “sure… course I gotta put up signs now that say pre-pay at pump only… until I can clean this mess up.”
“At least it’s out,” I called after him.
That got a more affirmative nod from the gas station manager. He was glad to see the deer gone.
“And you both have my thanks for that,” he spoke after a moment, “hopefully it doesn’t wander back!”
And with the deer gone, Officer Barnes, Robert, and I returned to our patrol car. The crowd that had gathered to see the deer was largely gone already, and there was nothing we could really do at the gas station now that the deer was gone. The manager was left with a lot of custodial work that Officer Barnes and I weren’t assigned to do.
“Man… this should make for one hell of an episode,” Robert said in an excited voice, “you’ll get a whole “back to nature” thing as we have a tiger chasing a deer! Of course it’s with some obvious differences… but still… this as fairly exciting even if in a different way from the way people expect.”
“Glad you got a kick out of it,” Officer Barnes told him as we resumed our patrol.
“Obviously not in the sense that it was funny or anything…” Robert replied, “that poor manager’s got a whole day of work ahead of him… and that’s just cleaning up, reassembling, and restocking things… but it’ll give a sort of “nature” feel for the episode we’re taping for… I mean… tigers eat deer right?”
“Yes,” I nodded, “though the various Asiatic species of deer are largely different from the deer of North America. The only species that do live on both continents are Moose and Elk… known as Eurasian Elk and Red Deer in Europe and Asia… but they’re all up in Russia. Molly and I are Bengal Tigers… native to India which is much further south.”
“Of course,” Robert nodded, “still… I think this was a successful end to a good week of filming with you two. How much of it the editors will put into the episode I don’t know… but I think we’ve gotten a lot that will make for a good episode and will show that you guys are good cops.”
“Thank you,” Officer Barnes spoke in a tone that sounded uneasy with the borderline hero worship that Robert was giving him.
We ended up returning to the station where Ronald was waiting by the vehicle that they had both arrived in. He was parked near where Officer Barnes normally parked our patrol car at the end of a patrol. Once we parked, Robert got out to rejoin his partner. The two had alternated over the course of the past week when it came to filming, and with the last patrol that they were assigned to cover finished, they were reunited with each other again.
“Thank you again for letting us film with you,” Ronald spoke, “it’s been an honor.”
He then shook Officer Barnes’ hand and then my paw.
“It was no problem,” Officer Barnes answered.
“Hopefully it helps other animal people,” I added.
“We’re sure it will,” Ronald replied, “it should also show what your lives are like as officers and the things you have to confront.”
“Which is our real goal,” Robert added, “it was an honor.”
Robert then shook my paw and Officer Barnes’ hand. Then with a pair of quick goodbyes, they returned to their own vehicle and headed out.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“So, how did your day go, George?” Molly asked me when I returned home that evening.
Molly was seated on the couch when I returned, reading from a news magazine she had picked up from somewhere. The main article appeared to be covering the November elections, but that was still months away. I could smell and hear chicken cooking in the oven.
“I stopped by the grocery on my way home,” Molly spoke again, as she’d caught me sniffing the air at what would likely be our dinner, “mostly got some whole chickens… most of which are now cooking.”
“They smell good,” I said to her.
Molly nodded, “so, how was your day?”
“Pretty good,” I shrugged, “at least for me anyway. The National Geographic Cameramen feel they’ve gotten enough for the episode they’re taping for.”
“My husband, the TV star,” Molly smirked and nuzzled my shoulder as I sat down beside her.
“It’s a cops show,” I answered, “and I mean a copycat of COPS. I doubt I’m going to be attracting an acting career because of this.”
“I’m sure,” Molly replied, “anything exciting happen?”
“Just a deer looking for food…”
“Huh?” Molly asked curiously, “don’t deer eat out in the woods?”
“This one didn’t,” I found myself chuckling, “it went into a gas station and then made a mess when the manager tried to chase it out. Officer Barnes and I were called in to chase it out.”
That set Molly laughing, the magazine she was reading dropped to the floor.
“Oh… I’m sorry…” Molly apologized between giggles, “I know… I shouldn’t… be laughing… but… it’s hilarious!”
I gave a few slight chuckles at Molly’s enjoyment and waited for her to collect herself again.
“So, who was the brave officer that confronted the raging deer?” Molly then asked.
“It was me,” I answered her, “and it was doe that was more scared then raging. Probably only just became independent of its own mother.”
“So how’d your first hunt go?” Molly inquired.
“It wasn’t a hunt,” I answered, “I was just supposed to get it out of the gas station, which I did… and even if it was… I probably failed miserably at it.”
Molly gave me a very curious look.
“I stepped on a bag of Doritos or Cheetos or something…” I told her, “it was some kind of snack chip.”
Molly gave a slight chuckle at that. When I glanced over to her, though, I could see that her look had become far more serious.
“Do you plan to go hunting this fall?” Molly asked after a few moments, moving on to a more serious topic.
“If there is a day where I have a scheduled day off during the fall hunting season, I suppose so,” I admitted, “Leon and Jacki’s wedding probably killed all the vacation days that I have for this year.”
And that was a very instinctual thing on my part. A good part of me wanted to chase after the deer, even after the animal had been chased out of the gas station. It was a clear sign that the hunting instincts that had urged Molly to go hunting the fall before were also there with me. But I knew I couldn’t just play hooky to those instincts.
“I’m sure Officer Howard will give you the time off if you ask for it,” Molly spoke, “Though if you do… we’ll need to go over a few things first.”
I guessed that this was to be a lecture on hunting. I figured I’d be able to do alright if I got the chance. After all, Molly did, and no one really taught her.
“I know all the theories behind stalking and such,” I replied, “stay low, have the wind coming to you, use cover as best you can, be as quiet as possible, and approach the prey from the rear if possible.”
“I know,” Molly answered, “but experience trumps theory any day. I don’t think I could tell you anything about the specific motions that is new… but I can tell you where deer like to be on Michael York’s land… and different locations would require different techniques. I learned this last year. And you didn’t follow me on every hunt I did.”
I nodded, remembering back to last year’s hunting season. The fall and this year’s hunting season was still a couple of months away, but I went along with Molly’s lecture. Even if I couldn’t get the time off this year, hopefully some preparation would at least have me ready for the season after the coming one.
Molly then stood up and began to move toward the stairs. I slowly followed her. Once we got upstairs, she moved over to the desk and took a sheet of paper from our printer. While I changed out of my uniform and put on more comfortable clothes, Molly was drawing something on the paper. After a few moments, she turned and presented a map of Michael York’s land with both our cabin and his home and immediate ranch property on it.
“Okay, this is the area that Michael York has said we can hunt on,” Molly answered and motioned to the largest portion of the map, “and obviously hunting deer.”
I nodded. Molly then took the pen and made some hash marks across a large central area on the ranch land Michael York was allowing us to hunt on.
“This area here are his open fields,” Molly answered, “cover here is practically non-existent as much of it is hayed fairly regularly through the summer. Although if there’s a spot that hasn’t been hayed during hunting season you might get a shot a deer there. They’re mostly attracted to the stock ponds that have been set up there.”
“Might be best to drive them INTO the water there,” I commented, “scientists have documented a tiger in Ranthambhore National Park in India doing that extensively.”
“Really?” Molly asked surprised.
“Something about the tiger figuring out it was a better swimmer then the deer was,” I answered.
Molly slowly nodded, “anyway… if you ever hunt in here though… regardless of how tall the grass is… or using the stock ponds as a trap, it would be best to let Mr. York know you’re hunting there first and give him time to move his cattle either to a pasture you won’t be hunting in, or closer to the main ranch grounds.”
I nodded. Michael York had been very kind and generous to Molly and I when we first moved to Columbia Falls. The last thing I wanted to was spook his cattle. Molly then began drawing a different set of hash marks on the paper.
“This area has the best cover,” Molly explained, “it’s the sort of transitional area between the pastures and the main forest areas. The terrain starts to get a bit more sloped, but it’s the undergrowth that is here that will give you the best cover. The deer come to eat it, but they don’t eat enough of it to remove it. With some bait set up appropriately, you could set up a spot where you could easily sneak right up onto the deer… as there are plenty of bushes, grasses, a couple of deciduous trees, and wild flowers growing fairly tall here. The biggest downside to here, is that there are more pieces of fallen trees and such, and you don’t want to accidentally snap a twig or something.”
I nodded again.
“The rest is the main pine, spruce, and fir tree forest that grows throughout the area,” Molly then pointed the pen to the area she didn’t put markings on, “the cover is decent if you can use the bottoms of the fir and spruce trees… along with the rocks that are there… but because the conifer trees are thick here, there are a lot of pine cones, dried pine needles and dead wood on the ground. So you’ll need to be careful with your footing.”
“Where have you found them the most?” I asked, half curious.
“Mostly in the zone between the ranch’s pasture land and the main forest area,” Molly answered, “the main forest area is more rugged and they don’t seem to like the coniferous trees. They like the birch and aspen trees that grow in that transitional area where there are fewer coniferous trees there… but they can be found in all of the zones at some point in time.”
I nodded again.
“Above all, George… don’t get too overconfident or try to be too perfect,” Molly concluded her lecture, “the deer have very good hearing and will figure out you’re there if you try to do too much… and sometimes… you can get everything right and still miss. My success ratio last fall was about one kill in every ten tries…”
“Which is about the average for a tiger in the wild,” I commented.
Molly nodded and moved over to sit beside me on the bed.
“One last thing, if a white-tail or mule deer buck… or a bull elk turn with antlers lowered toward you, run away,” Molly spoke, “the fact that our front paws are hand-like might allow us to grab them by the antlers and snap their necks that way… but I wouldn’t want to gamble on that. Especially with bull elk. You have a dangerous job, George, the last thing I want is for you to get yourself killed hunting.”
“I will,” I promised her and nuzzled her. She thanked me for promising and nuzzled me back.