WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:09.720 I've never told this story to anyone. Government men said 2 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.480 they'd place me in a military prison and seize all 3 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:16.920 my family's property. If I did not wanting to see 4 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.120 my family lose the homestead, I've kept my mouth shut. However, 5 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:24.960 my doctor recently gave me a pretty sad outlook. Seems 6 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:27.480 I only have a short time here left on earth. 7 00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:31.399 The family no longer has any interest in the home place, 8 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.039 so I figured it was time. I want to get 9 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:38.159 this story out for all the world to hear. I 10 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:41.679 was born in southeast Kentucky in nineteen sixty four to 11 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:45.640 a newly married young couple. I actually think they married 12 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:49.560 because Mama got pregnant with me. Not long after that, 13 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:53.880 my father was drafted and sent off to Vietnam. Mama 14 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.240 and me stayed with papau down at the head of 15 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.640 a holler. Mama passed away while I was still ins 16 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:04.840 so the arrangement worked out fine with Paul. Paul having 17 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:08.239 a woman around to take over Malma's housework and cooking 18 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.840 were just the ticket. My days were spent playing with 19 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:17.400 my cousin Scott, who everyone calls Scooter. My father was 20 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:21.400 the youngest of seven brothers, and Scooter's Daddy was the oldest, 21 00:01:22.120 --> 00:01:25.599 even so Scooter was a month younger than me. Being 22 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:29.079 so close in age made us naturally close in all things. 23 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:33.599 The years passed in a hazy daydream of woods and 24 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:37.480 streams and rocky hillsides to explore and conquer without a 25 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.359 care in the world. And then, one hot July day, 26 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.200 the year Scooter and I were set to start school, 27 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.760 a couple of soldiers showed up at Paupaul's door in 28 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:52.159 their dress uniforms. I thought it was my dad. He'd 29 00:01:52.200 --> 00:01:55.000 been gone since before my memories were formed, so I 30 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.480 couldn't have known that these men were not my father, 31 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.079 but the bearers of bad news that my father wasn't 32 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:05.480 ever coming home. We didn't even get to bury his body, 33 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.360 just an empty pine box meant to represent him. I 34 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:12.879 guess it was fitting. He'd been absent from my world 35 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.039 and life, and now he was absent in death as well. 36 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.240 School started and it wasn't easy for me. I mourned 37 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:24.240 never having known my dad more than I mourned his death, 38 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:26.840 but Scooter was there for me and helped me get 39 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:29.840 through it. Now I was finally beginning to adjust and 40 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.800 move forward when one day, as we were getting off 41 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.000 the bus. Papa was waiting for us at the stop. 42 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.280 This was something he never did now. I could tell 43 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:42.680 by the look on his face that he was worried. Boy, 44 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.240 I got some bad news for you, he said, looking 45 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:50.560 right at me. Your mama has run off. Apparently she'd 46 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.560 gotten daddy's insurance check, packed her suitcase, and drove off 47 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:58.719 in the old truck. I never saw her again. To 48 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.039 this day, I don't know if she was alive or dead. 49 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:04.159 I can't even remember what she or Daddy either one 50 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:07.919 looked like. I guess that was the best thing that 51 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.360 could have happened to me. There's no telling what my 52 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:13.639 life would have been like with her. Pap Paul could 53 00:03:13.639 --> 00:03:16.800 have sent me to an orphanage, but he didn't. Instead, 54 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:19.400 Scooter's mom and dad took me and raised me as 55 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:23.680 their own. I quit calling them Uncle Ruths Shaw and 56 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:26.759 Aunt Annie, and I started calling them mom and Dad. 57 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:29.840 They were my parents, and they never treated me as 58 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:34.719 anything less than a son. Life was tough in those years, 59 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:37.719 and Dad worked hard, driving a coal truck and sometimes 60 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:41.759 lumber rigs, but he didn't make much money. Scooter and 61 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.120 me rarely got new clothes. We tended to wear our 62 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:49.319 uncle's old clothes that were stored away at Pappau's. Our 63 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:53.439 genes were generally full of holes, almost never the right length, 64 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.280 and always out of fashion. We took some ribbing for that, 65 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:00.280 but a few bloody noses and black eyes soon taught 66 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:02.800 the bullies that we were nothing they wanted to mess with. 67 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:07.719 The next year was the first time that I remember 68 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.039 Dad closing up all the windows and setting bars to 69 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:14.800 hold them in place. For the next month and a half, 70 00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:17.839 we were not allowed to leave the yard. We had 71 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:21.319 to use the chamber pot or bucket after dark instead 72 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:24.879 of going to the outhouse. There was a well at 73 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:28.600 the edge of the porch, but once everything fell, neither Scooter, 74 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.079 me nor our sisters were ever allowed to be out there. 75 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:38.040 If we heard the coyotes howling. Even Mom wouldn't go outside, 76 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:41.000 and Dad brought all the livestock into the lower pasture 77 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:43.240 next to the house and moved all the chickens to 78 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.720 the coop closest to the house as well. Six weeks 79 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.680 or so later, about the time it got to be Halloween, 80 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:54.519 the coyotes would quit howling and things would go back 81 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:59.800 to normal. This was the routine every year. Right after 82 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.759 schools started, Dad would spend a week locking down the 83 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.600 house and moving livestock. All the neighbors did the same, 84 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:11.040 all because of a pack of coyotes moving through the area. 85 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:14.360 We would occasionally lose head of livestock or a dog 86 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.519 wouldn't come home. There always seemed to be a tree 87 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:20.120 limb that fell on the chicken coop that time of year, 88 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.920 with a few hens coming up missing. One early mid 89 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.160 July morning, the year I turned twelve, our oldest sister 90 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:32.319 Ella came tearing down the road in her ragged old 91 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:35.800 truck as hard as she could run it. She'd gotten 92 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:38.399 married the year before, and she and her new husband 93 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:42.240 lived in a trailer across the haller. She pulled into 94 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.920 the yard and Dad ran out to the truck. Minutes later, 95 00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:48.360 she was headed back down the road and Dad was 96 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.720 coming back up to the porch where me and Scooter 97 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:55.319 were standing. Back then, Papaul was the only one in 98 00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.000 the holler with the phone, so this was the only 99 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:02.519 means of communication. We had. Boys, get you guns and 100 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:05.920 meet me at the truck. He told us we'd both 101 00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:09.879 been giving Stevens four tens for our tenth birthdays. It 102 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.439 must have cost a fortune. To get us both guns, 103 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:15.519 and our birthdays being only a month apart. I can't 104 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:18.639 imagine how much Mom and Dad did without to make 105 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:22.480 that happen, but it's a tradition in our family, and 106 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:27.000 Dad was never one to break with tradition. We listened 107 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:30.720 as Dad explained to Mom that Ella's husband Bo had 108 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:33.720 gone squirrel hunting last night and he didn't come home. 109 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:37.560 It wasn't squirrel season, but back then, hunting seasons were 110 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.759 easy to overlook when one had an empty stomach. Ella 111 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.240 couldn't come to the house last night because her truck 112 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:47.519 had no headlights and she didn't dare walk it. She 113 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:51.519 just sat and cried all night. We got our guns 114 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.879 and we headed to Paul Paul's. When we arrived, our 115 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.439 uncles were all there waiting for us, along with as 116 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.839 many of our cousins who still lived in the air 117 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.040 and were old enough to handle guns. All told, there 118 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:08.160 were probably thirty of us. Everyone was carrying shotguns and 119 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:12.000 had pistols strapped to their hips. Papa A walked over 120 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.160 to Scooter and me and handed us five forty five 121 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:20.399 long coat cartridges to use instead of shotgun shells. We 122 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:23.279 all knew both secret squirrel spot was at the top 123 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:25.519 of the ridge where the beech nut and red oaks 124 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:29.079 grew near the big rocks. He was careless to leave 125 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:32.560 all his cigarette butts and spent shotgun shells laying around 126 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:35.120 when he was done for the day. He was the 127 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:37.720 only one in the family who owned a twenty gage. 128 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:42.040 My dad called it a lady's gun, since there wasn't 129 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.600 a tree or rocking those hills that we didn't know. 130 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.279 Wasn't long before we discovered his spot and started hunting 131 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.000 it as well. Of course, we were all smart enough 132 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.160 to pick up our shells and not leave signs of 133 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:58.439 anyone having been there. We marched up the mountain like 134 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:02.920 a small army in Sir of Bow. Thirty minutes later 135 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.040 we were standing in the middle of the rocks. In 136 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:08.519 a few minutes after that, cousin Leroy found Bow's gun. 137 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:11.600 The barrels bent all the way back until it was 138 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.800 touching the other end. Then Uncle Barry turned to his 139 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:18.800 brothers and he urgently ordered them to get the boys 140 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:22.759 off the mountain. Now he'd found a boot. It was 141 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:25.920 Bo's boot, and Bo's bloody foot was still in it. 142 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.759 I was still trying to imagine how Bow's foot could 143 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:31.519 still have been in the boot when I heard the 144 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:35.559 coyotes howling all around us. They were so loud, but 145 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.960 we couldn't see him. Suddenly we were headed back down 146 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:41.759 the mountain, but my mind was still on the boot. 147 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:46.480 Had something biting his leg into had it been twisted off? 148 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:51.320 How did Bow lose his foot? We got back to 149 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:54.879 Paul Paul's and someone called the state troopers. They showed 150 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:59.120 up with bloodhounds and a game warden. Dad and his brothers, 151 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:02.080 along with some of the other cousins, took the officers 152 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.000 up to the spot where they found the boot. The 153 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:07.919 troopers turned loose to hounds, but they started whining and 154 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.480 they refused to follow the trail. They ran back down 155 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:14.080 to the cruisers and sat and waited to be let 156 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.279 back inside. They all came back to Paupov's house, where 157 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.919 the game warden began preaching to all of us about 158 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:24.120 hunting out of season. He claimed it was a bear 159 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.759 that killed Bow and drug him off. Dad, clearly upset 160 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:30.960 by the game warden's words, walked him back out to 161 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.120 his car. We could all clearly hear him tell the 162 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:38.279 game warden that should he ever speak to his family, 163 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.240 that way again, he would be wishing that it was 164 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:44.840 a bear that had hold of him. He also told 165 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:46.960 him not to ever come on the property or speak 166 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:49.759 to his family again, or it would not end well 167 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.600 for him. There might not even be a boot left 168 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.679 of view to find. Dad said, me and my brothers 169 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:59.559 drag you up on that ridge. Our family wasn't known 170 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:02.559 for being bad or violent, but we were tough and 171 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:07.000 we knew what it took to survive. Dad spent that 172 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.080 night sitting on the front porch with a shotgun. There 173 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:12.759 weren't many deer in that part of Kentucky back then, 174 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:16.480 so no one felt the need on a rifle. A 175 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.600 shotgun was all we had. The next day, all the 176 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:22.919 uncles were busy getting the livestock rounded up and closing 177 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.399 up the house. We even parked the tractor against the 178 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.960 cellar door. Once we secured our house, they went to 179 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.440 Papas's to do the same. Then they went to the 180 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.879 next to ken down the road, and so on and 181 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:40.320 so on. The entire community batten down in just two days. 182 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:44.480 That year, we buried Bow's foot next to my father's 183 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:48.639 pine box. Ellen moved in with Paupaul, and she never 184 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:52.000 once went back to her trailer, not even for her clothes. 185 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:57.720 She just started wearing Mamaw's clothes. That year, we lost 186 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.600 some cattle we never found them alive or dead, and 187 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:06.440 our neighbors and cousins lost animals as well. Uncle Barry's 188 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:10.279 big german shepherd, Goliath, was found dead hanging about twenty 189 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.759 feet up in a tree behind his barn. He was 190 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.240 missing his legs and his head was twisted completely around, 191 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.960 with the spine broken in half. The poor dog's head 192 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:25.600 was just hanging from the torso by its skin. At night, 193 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:29.200 our house was pelted with rocks and sticks that kept 194 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:34.080 us awake in our beds. Dad was so upset that 195 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.960 the coodes had come over a month early that year 196 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:39.720 and that he had not been prepared for him. Kept 197 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:44.120 asking himself what signs he had missed. The next year, 198 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:47.159 he was ready early, but the codies came back at 199 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.519 their normal time. There seemed to be more of them though. 200 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.600 That was when he finally told me in scooter the truth. 201 00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:02.000 It wasn't coyotes we'd been protecting ourselves from. It was well, 202 00:12:02.039 --> 00:12:04.559 I had no idea what a booger was, so Dad 203 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.320 tried its best to explain to us that boogers were 204 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:12.200 part man and part beast. Every year since our ancestors 205 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.679 came to the valley, the biggers would come through and 206 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:19.039 kill either livestock or people. Our forefathers were some of 207 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:22.679 the first settlers to venture through the Cumberland Gap, and 208 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:26.120 no booger was going to run us off. It was 209 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.840 their house that we had heard at night when the 210 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:32.279 windows were boarded up. They were the ones who threw 211 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:36.559 the rocks and sticks at the house. Dad warned us 212 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:39.120 that they were always watching us and would grab anyone 213 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:42.039 who wandered off alone or got too close to the woods. 214 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.240 They were the reason we used the chamber pot at 215 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.279 night and never ventured out on the porch for water 216 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.440 after dark. We had a lot of calves born that year, 217 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.960 more than we'd ever had before or since. Dad herded 218 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.200 them into the barn at night with the heifers and 219 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:03.000 barricaded them them in. One night, we awoke to what 220 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.000 sounded like a train running through the building full of 221 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.840 dry two by fours. The next morning we discovered the 222 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:14.320 barn doors completely ripped off of the building. Five of 223 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.120 the calves were missing, and one of the heifers lay 224 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:22.240 dead in the barn. Her intestines were completely gone. The 225 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:25.000 other cattle were huddled up next to the house or 226 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:28.600 down at Paul Pau's. That was a rough year. We 227 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:33.279 lost several more head of cattle before the boogers moved on. 228 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:36.080 One of Paul Paul's bulls was killed. Its head had 229 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.600 been torn off its body and dropped over one hundred 230 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.440 yards away, right in the middle of the road. It 231 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:46.080 was a devastating loss, and people brought heifers from all 232 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:49.919 over to breed with his bull, trading hogs, goats, sheep, chickens, 233 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.519 tools and guns for the right. One time, someone even 234 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:57.320 traded him five pheasants, which he loved in a big, old, mean, 235 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:02.600 loud peacock. Over the next few years they came back, 236 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.200 but they were never as mean as they'd been from 237 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:10.399 nineteen seventy six to seventy eight. Eventually, Scooter and me 238 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:14.159 graduated school and we went straight to the recruiter's office. 239 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:17.679 We planned to always be together and to have each 240 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:21.159 other's back, but somehow we ended up in two different 241 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:26.120 branches of the service. Scooter ended up in Special Forces 242 00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:29.960 and I became a sniper, although I never had to 243 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:34.679 use the skill in battle. Man was I good at it. Meanwhile, 244 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:38.440 Scooter became a regular badass. He got to where he 245 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.200 could creep up on anybody and put them in a 246 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:45.919 hole that Hulk Hogan couldn't escape. But until then he'd 247 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:49.559 never bested me at wrestling, and after he honed his skills, 248 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:53.440 I'd just lie down to save energy and give up. Well. 249 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:56.759 During our six to eight years of military service, both 250 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:00.240 Scooter and I sent our money home. We sent he 251 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:03.600 signed our checks and sent them to Dad. The army 252 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:05.919 fed us and clothed this and put a roof over 253 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:09.360 our heads, so we didn't need it for that. We'd 254 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.000 never had spending money growing up, so we wouldn't have 255 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:16.000 known what to do with it anyway, And unbeknownst to us, 256 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.440 Dad was putting all that money into bank accounts for us. 257 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:25.440 Scooter was discharged in nineteen eighty nine. He'd fallen in 258 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:28.960 love while on leave, and he married a woman named Susan. 259 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:32.440 He brought her back to our little valley to settle, 260 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.000 about five miles from Dad and Paul. Paul's and I 261 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:38.360 stayed in for a couple more years until I was 262 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:41.399 involved in an attack during the first weeks of desert 263 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:46.360 storm and was sent home on a medical I ride 264 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:49.639 back in Kentucky in October of that year. The boy 265 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:53.799 was excited when Dad showed me my deposit book. I 266 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:58.399 had nearly two hundred thousand dollars. I was rich, and 267 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:00.639 by the end of the week, I'd purchase to brand 268 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.000 new F two fifty and a Yamaha three point fifty 269 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.559 Big Bear. To my surprise, Scooter had the same quad. 270 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.440 We decided right away that we'd hit the deer woods 271 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.960 on opening day back at the family farm. We still 272 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:18.679 had our stands there from when we were in high school, 273 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.120 and the boogers would have been gone for over a month 274 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:26.320 by then. That Saturday, two weeks before Thanksgiving felt like 275 00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:29.840 it would never arrive. I had purchased a Browning three 276 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.200 to eight and picked up an Army surplus sniper scope 277 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.840 for it. I must have looked over one hundred of 278 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:38.399 them before I found one that I liked, and I 279 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:41.279 had it sighted in within five shots, and I was 280 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:46.039 ready to go. The day finally arrived and I picked 281 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:50.120 up Scooter at four thirty am. We hit our quads 282 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.519 in the middle of a big honeysuckle thicket and we're 283 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:55.799 slipping up the mountain before five, and by five point 284 00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:00.600 fifteen we were seated in our stands. We always set 285 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:04.279 our stands within sight of each other. He liked a tall, straight, 286 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.799 white oak on the top of the ridge, and I 287 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.880 much preferred an aar looking twisted old tree on the 288 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.160 flat about one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards away. 289 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:16.960 The morning was so quiet we could hear a nut 290 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:20.880 drop from a tree one hundred yards away. Nothing was 291 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.880 moving as we waited for the sun to rise. Sometime 292 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:30.079 between six thirty and seven, the calm was shattered all 293 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:33.240 at once as a young buck barreled down the trail 294 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:37.359 right at me at breakneck speed. It ran past my 295 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:41.039 tree stand without slowing down. Just as night was beginning 296 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:45.119 to fade in today, I glanced over at a scooter 297 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:48.599 and saw a couple of doughs moving toward him. They 298 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:51.079 were acting nervous, and they looked as though they'd been 299 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:54.960 running for quite a while. They kept looking behind them 300 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.240 as if they were being chased. So I followed their 301 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.519 line of sight down to the flat, where I could 302 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.839 see movement in the shadows of the woods. I couldn't 303 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:06.440 see him clearly, but I knew it was a troop 304 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:10.039 of boogers and we were in the middle of their hunt. 305 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.519 I turned to yell to Scooter, let's get out of here. 306 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.839 But before I could get the words out, he shot 307 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.319 and I saw a big dough fall to the ground. 308 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:23.440 He hadn't even moved yet when I saw something huge 309 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.359 moving in on him from his blind side. This thing 310 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:29.559 was tall enough to reach up and pull Scooter out 311 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.920 of the stand. That stand was fifteen feet off the ground. 312 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:36.720 There was no time to yell. I simply pulled the 313 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:40.240 browning up, put my crosshairs on the creature's neck where 314 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:43.160 the base of the skulls should be, but there was 315 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:47.519 no neck. I prided myself on always taking neck shots 316 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:51.319 and training, I knew that shot would bring down anything 317 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:55.839 and everything without so much as a twitch. I had 318 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:58.160 to look for the next kill shot at the temple 319 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:01.759 right behind the eye. I knew if I went center masts, 320 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.400 I might not take out enough vital organs to keep 321 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:09.720 the beasts from reaching Scooter before dying. With the mechanical 322 00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:13.200 precision that comes from years of training, I pulled the 323 00:19:13.240 --> 00:19:17.000 trigger and watched as the booger crumbled into a lifeless heat. 324 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:21.720 Scooter spun around just in time to see the creature 325 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:24.559 hit the ground. He was trying to get his safety 326 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:27.039 belt undone so he could get down from the stand. 327 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:29.880 I never used one because I had a lot of 328 00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:32.759 limbs to bounce off between me and the ground. The 329 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:36.079 hills and hollers came to life with howls unlike anything 330 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:40.640 I could ever have imagined. Rocks and sticks were thrown 331 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:44.799 at us from every direction, and more roarers, even deeper 332 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.640 and louder, answered the first howls. They were moving in fast, 333 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.240 and Scooter hit the ground and ran toward the quads. 334 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.599 All was seconds behind, having jumped down from the tree. 335 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.519 We climbed onto the quads and I saw all two 336 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.480 huge buggers coming at us from just two or three 337 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.160 hundred yards down the trail that we'd come up on. 338 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.799 We had a millisecond to decide stay or fight or run. 339 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.960 I don't think Scooter had any faith in the damage 340 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.039 his little two forty three would do to one of 341 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:21.880 those things. He started his bike and I followed suit, 342 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:25.319 and we took off, flying down the trail toward Uncle Berry's. 343 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:28.440 There was no way that we'd be able to make 344 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.319 it to Paul, Paul's or Dad's without going through the buggers, 345 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.160 and I never dreamed those bikes would come off that 346 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:38.240 mountain so fast. All the while we could hear what 347 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:41.279 sounded like a herd of elephants running through the woods 348 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:45.000 all around us. It was balls to the wall when 349 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:49.119 we hit the edge of the woods. Richard Petty and A. J. Foyt, 350 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:52.480 running shine and being chased by revenuers would have had 351 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:56.519 a hard time catching up with us. Our lives dependent 352 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:00.240 on how fast we could make those bikes go. Uncle 353 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:02.960 Barry was already at the fence with his rifle in hand. 354 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:07.920 He raised his rifle and he shot past us. As 355 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:11.559 we reached him, he yelled getting the house, and I 356 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:13.960 noticed that his house was all boarded up and his 357 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.759 livestock were in the corral. That's when I realized the 358 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:20.400 buggers had come late that year and we hadn't known 359 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:23.839 about it. Both Scooter and I had lost our weapons 360 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.759 on the way out, so Uncle Barry ushered us inside 361 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:30.319 and armed us with two of his You boys really 362 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:33.599 stirred up a hornet's nest this time, he said, I've 363 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.119 been hearing them cruiters yelling like a bunch of angry 364 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:38.599 demons coming from the pits of hell for the past 365 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:43.319 couple of minutes. We didn't have time to respond. The 366 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:47.599 house was under attack. The boggers were pounding on the 367 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.279 sides of the house and testing the window coverings in 368 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:53.759 the back door. Seemed like they were on every side. 369 00:21:53.880 --> 00:21:57.559 Even on the roof. We could hear the helpless cries 370 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.359 of his cows. His big draft horse was in a 371 00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:04.240 fight for his life. The dogs were now silent as 372 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:07.359 they were either dead or had run off, and our 373 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:11.519 sense of security was ripped away with the roof. They 374 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:17.359 were inside now throwing furniture around upstairs. We knew we 375 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:19.119 were going to have to make a break for it. 376 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:24.079 Uncle Barry yelled us to get in his truck. Keys 377 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.440 are in the ignition, He said, no, I'll bring up 378 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:28.960 the rear. We didn't know Uncle Berry was going to 379 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.279 stand his ground and give us a chance to get away. 380 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:35.359 We heard five shots from a shotgun, choosing that weapon 381 00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:38.519 over his rifle. Being so close to them. Between the 382 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:41.720 cursed words he was throwing at them, I could tell 383 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:44.119 when he threw a shotgun aside and switched to his 384 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.200 forty four mag His last words were run, boys, Run. 385 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:52.240 We knew in our hearts that Uncle Barry was no more. 386 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.119 His old Chevy was well cared for and ran like 387 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.559 a race cars. We tore down the road and out 388 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:02.440 of a hull. We pushed that truck as hard as 389 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:04.839 it would run, and all the while fighting back the 390 00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:09.319 tears that stung our eyes. Scooter was driving, and I 391 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.920 took the duty of gunner watching the rear. Didn't seem 392 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:15.839 like they were chasing us anymore. I couldn't see him 393 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.880 coming down the road anyway. Scooter pointed down the road 394 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.359 and he said, look up ahead, I see Dad coming 395 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.759 down the road at us. We got within one hundred 396 00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:29.000 feet of each other when a big tree came crashing 397 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.599 down on the cab of my dad's truck. We could 398 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:36.240 only hope that he'd managed to get down in the 399 00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:40.000 seat far enough to survive the hit. We hadn't even 400 00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.359 come to a stop when something hit the side of 401 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:44.720