The Hearst Shadow

This is a True Tale from when i was a young teen, and a family deer hunting trip that turned into a weekend that we didn't know if we would live to talk about.

"In the woods, logic is the first thing that betrays you. It's a city-slicker emotion, a fragile thing that belongs in rooms with baseboard heating and four solid walls. Out here, where the pines grow thick enough to choke the moonlight, logic is just a fancy way of lying to yourself. Pat was a man who lived by maps and internal compasses, so he was convinced-with the kind of grim certainty that precedes a disaster-that there was a creek at the bottom of the draw. He figured the water would lead us out to a fire road or maybe a county line."