Bison Hunt, Part I

There’s this bison ranch in west Nebraska,
not all that far away from the Pine Ridge,
most of the time they make money off meat,
though when the weather gets colder than a fridge

they like to offer folks a private hunt,
to take a bison, just like the old days,
it really is quite an experience,
but the price is much more than I can pay.

Now every year they hold a lottery,
raffle off three hunts to those who apply,
for six years I had tried, always came up short,
until this year, one of those hunts is mine!

That’s how I found myself inside of a truck,
driving across frozen sand hills, serene,
ace crunching loudly beneath the tires
and I gaze out upon a frosted scene.

In the truck sits one Bob Walking Bear,
a Pawnee, finally getting to chance
to hunt buffalo like his ancestors,
so excited there’s a shake in his hands.

They leave one ticket for the tribes every year,
and Bob was lucky enough to win the draw;
the other is a Michigan deer hunter,
a gruff fellow known as Arnie McGraw.

There’s also a guide who calls himself Gus,
who helps us find bills they want to remove,
they’ve marked out old bulls and cows for the hunt,
the health of the herd as a whole to improve.

Arnie was the first to go out and stalk
on the ranch’s ten thousand-acre spread,
Bob and I remained inside of the truck,
we heard the shot, and towards the sound we sped.

Arnie stood over an older-looking cow,
while the rest of the herd rumbled away,
Arnie had made a fine hundred-yard shot,
for the gruff hunter it was a fine day.

He had a slight grin upon his bearded face,
and while Gus called for the butchering truck,
Arnie started field-dressing the large beast,
much meat was the big reward for his luck.

Gus left Arnie to await the vehicle,
then motioned Bob and I back to our own,
as he drove, he said,”We’re heading for the spot
where several of our old bulls like to roam.”

A mile further down the snow-crusted road,
we cam to a cottonwood grove by a creek,
Gus motioned us both to follow him out,
and down towards the timber we did creep.

We crouched low at about fifty-yard’s space,
settled in for a chilly half hour,
then we saw a bull with a broken horn
lumber out, a grizzled vision of power.

This old bull has sired numerous calves,
but Gus said now his health was in decline,
he motioned to Bob to shoulder his gun,
behind the shoulder the cross-hairs aligned…

CONCLUDES IN PART II.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2019



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Be the first to comment on this poem. Encourage this poet.

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Reflection on the Important Things

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad