Ferry Basin
by Levi Morigeau
 
ST. IGNATIUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
 


"We took the liver out of the deer and hung it on the fence post. We put cigarette ashes in it and said a prayer. "

 

When I was nine years old my dad and I went hunting at Ferry Basin. It is near Dixon, Montana. I used to live in Dixon and we went there a lot then. It is a rocky basin with a lot of grass. The grass is usually over your head. You can hardly see the deer. The grass is brownish yellow and the wind blows it around. There are very few times when other people are there at the same time we are.

The first time I ever went hunting, we drove up to the Basin in my dad's four wheel drive truck. It was early in the morning because we knew the deer would cross the road early and we wanted to get there while the deer were there. It was just starting to get light. We had to be very quiet opening our door so that we wouldn't scare the deer. My dad shot first, he missed. Then I shot and I missed.

We walked to the next hill chasing the deer. We crossed into private land so we couldn't shoot there. We went back into Ferry Basis and found more deer. My dad shot first again. He got one. The rest started running, so I shot at them. I hit one in the leg. It fell down, but then it got up again and began to run. We went after it. I shot it again and I snapped it in the neck. It fell down and I had to go over and slit its throat and drain its blood. My dad gutted his and I gutted mine. I had helped my dad gut deer before, but this was my first time doing it alone. I had trouble because the vocal chord wouldn't come out. We took the liver out of the deer and hung it on the fence post. We put cigarette ashes in it and said a prayer.

Ferry Basin is one of my favorite places because it is the best hunting spot in the world.

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