Making Tag Soup Really Sucks. Or Does It?

At the end of Montana’s hunting season there is usually at least one or two tags that went unfilled in my license bag. This year I spent so much time helping other people fill tags that I forgot about my own.  I didn’t mind.  Helping people enjoy hunting and the outdoors is as much fun as pulling the trigger.

The seasons’ memories are long and diverse like the 65 year old hunter from Michigan who I called a 6 x 7 bull to about 40 yards.  He carried a rifle his Grandad bought for him over 50 years ago on that hunt.

Or the big horn sheep my wife Kate shot while I sat with our son in the truck but later hiked up to her and her trophy to quarter and pack.  A short time later she filled a doe tag and this time Kaden got to help drag the deer and then turned it into burger.

A few days in Idaho trying to bag a big buck with a friend of mine were spent punching through snow up to our knees. We saw a few deer and spent a lot of our time catching up.

Bagging a couple geese with my son was enjoyable but his excited reaction was priceless. He yelled “yeaaah!” When I returned with the kayak loaded with geese.  How can the outdoors get any better than that?

I passed on three bucks this fall and then wished I had shot the biggest of the three, he was a young 5 x 5 that on most years I would have shot in a heart beat, but this year I decided to hold out. But I had a doe tag too and that one was filled with a muzzleloader.

Looking back on the seasons memories I can only smile because of the smiles I helped put on other peoples faces, and the miles I put on my boots.  There are more hunting and fishing opportunities awaiting and I know that next year will be different.

How different? Who knows?

The events of this season for me, are sealed and the memories made, now I’ve just got to figure out how to make tag soup.

Fortunately, I have a lot of ingredients this year.