Today's Failed Rescue: Lacey and the Mount

Tall Boy is a hunter. I knew it when I met him. Before Bam-Bam came along, he was basically gone to me from late September through November. He hunts with a bow, muzzleloader and rifle which gives him ample opportunity to be in the woods. There was actually quite a bit of discussion about my being able to get him to agree to a November wedding. He only agreed because we planned a night ceremony; he never would have agreed to a 10 am service. My only restrictions were that if he had a shot at a deer that morning (yes, he did in fact go hunting the morning of our wedding day) that he had to have it out of the woods and at the butcher by 2pm. Give and take.

In the 11 years we've been together, Tall Boy has actually shot two deer. The first, back in 1995 was a very small button buck that weighed in about what our golden retriever, Lacey, currently weighs. Not all that impressive. Certainly not mountable. He did have the hooves mounted in an upturned position and he uses it to display arrows and such.

His second kill was this past November. She was a nice doe that weighed in at 121 pounds. With his track record being as it is, he decided and I agreed that he'd get the head mounted in a nice shoulder mount that will grace our living room with tremendous pride. When she was laid out in the back of his father's Tacoma, I didn't realize how big the shoulder mount would end up but nonetheless, it is finished and has made it's way to our home.

He picked up the mount on Saturday, brought it home and put it up on our bed for the weekend because we were up at camp and it was at least safe there from the cat. Last night, upon returning home from camp, I moved the beautiful doe to the dining room table so I could sleep.

The move has traumatized poor Lacey.

She's been avoiding the great room, where the table is, all day. And, she's been growling quietly from whatever room she is in all day too. She'll be laying here next to me in the office and suddenly she'll grumble, even though the mount is not within viewing distance. Josey, the baby, has been barking at it sporatically but Lacey is just beside herself and it's killing me.

I tried like hell to get the deer up on the wall and in it's final resting place but wouldn't you know it, the stud finder died. Looks like I'll be getting a new one at Wally World tomorrow so as to not overload Lacey's anxiety level for much longer.

Imagine what will happen if he ever gets a moose......

The only part of all of this that is adorably cute is that Bam-Bam played "hunting" with daddy when he got up the morning. At one point as they passed by me on their way back outside, Tall Boy said to him: "But Buddy, where are you going to get the $1200 to pay the taxidermist for the three deer you've already got?".

***Note for those currently in a panic: playing hunting was completely imaginary. There were no real or play guns involved at all. Just "pretend" everything. Even to the point of pretend deer hanging from our trees out front. Neither one of us is ready for him to be playing with any guns (except water guns). To that end, I give you the accompanying video....