Really Good at Hacking

By John O’Bryan

If you have never seen a grown deer skinned naked, then you will not understand the revulsion I felt when I saw two of them lying in the back of my friend’s truck.

The last time I had hunted for deer was long before this, in high school. After driving around most of the day with friends, we finally saw a very small deer. I jumped out of the truck with my bow and stood perfectly still at the edge of the clearing as the others drove off. The deer saw me immediately, but instead of being afraid, it walked up to me and stood staring from about ten feet away.

I couldn’t tell if it was a buck or a doe because it was so small, and I knew that to shoot it would probably be illegal—but maybe not, I told myself. I had never seen a deer while hunting. I drew the bow back, sighted down the arrow, and stared into its eyes, debating whether I could shoot this trusting animal. After a few minutes I lowered the bow, walked towards it, and it scampered off.

“Hack a leg off and get started.”  

Twenty years had passed, and I found myself standing in a friend’s garage, staring into a pickupful of dead deer, one of which I was supposed to cut up and bring home with me. I had no experience at hacking off legs or hacking anything, for that matter, and wasn’t sure how to begin.

Up until that point, my day had been uneventful. I had washed the car, helped clean out the garden bed, and was getting ready for a cup of tea and a book when my phone rang.

“I’ve got a deer here if you want it.” 

“A deer? Um. Sure. I guess. Is it cut up?” 

Jim and I had talked earlier in the week about him shooting a deer for me, but I was surprised at how suddenly it had happened.