"Don't squat with yer spurs on"

You know, the old country saying. I've actually never liked it all that much. I do not appreciate the slang spellings like "yer." Surprising, I know, when you think about where I come from. If you asked my youngest brother for the proper spelling of "your," this is probably what you would receive.

Regardless, I found out what this saying was all about this weekend. Desert style, anyway. Something like, "Don't squat in a pile of cactus," is more appropriate out here.

I guess I missed that memo in the Desert Dwellers' Welcome Guide.

Because it's exactly what I did this weekend. In a giant patch of prickly pear.

We were deer hunting. Brandon's dad and I both had tags for the first hunt of the year in this unit. Dean killed a spike the second day of our hunt during what Brandon calls "The Two O'Clock Stretch." (A common time for deer to rise from their bedding spot to stretch a little, maybe feed, maybe water. A five to ten minute window for hunters to have a mid-day shot.)

Brandon and I hiked over to take some pictures for him, help him bone out the meat, and then continue hunting that side of the mountain in attempt to fill my tag.

I was assisting by holding a leg out or something while Brandon worked the knife, and decided to squat down for better position. But I didn't look behind me.

Big mistake.

Immediately, I had sharp pains in every angle of my glutes. I started grabbing at the thorns, but obviously had visibility issues. I pointed my rear toward Dean and asked for help.

I think my father-in-law was less than thrilled about finding cactus thorns in my back side. He kept apologizing, but I assured him to continue saying, "No, it's fine. Really. Just get them. Please!"

So, another lesson learned about surviving in my new habitat. Always check behind you.