Hoss and the Deer

By Tennessee

Warning: This is a sad story.

Hoss loved all kinds of animals. He had a big heart. He was going hunting with Adam. It was hard for Hoss to kill a deer, but in his heart he knew a man had to feed his family. He just hoped if they saw a deer Adam would shoot first.

Adam and Hoss left at daybreak. They went far back into the woods and hid behind some trees and waited for a deer. They waited a long time and then heard something.

Adam said, "Be very still, Hoss. There’s a deer."

Adam aimed his gun, but when he was ready to shoot he saw a baby deer. It’s mother watched them. Adam could see the fawn, but Hoss could not. Hoss had the deer in his sights. He shot and hit the deer. He had tears in his eyes when he said, "I got it."

Adam sent his brother a surprised look. "Hoss, that was a mother doe and she had a fawn."

"I didn’t know," said Hoss. Tears ran down his cheeks.

Adam said, "Come on, Hoss."

They ran to where the mother doe was. She was dead, and Hoss sat on the ground and cried.

Adam suggested, "What if we try to catch the baby deer? Without it’s mother the baby will not live."

Hoss said, "I can’t, Adam. I shot its mother."

Adam said, "Listen to me, Hoss. The baby deer needs you. You could raise it and then set it free when the time is right. Remember what you did with the wolves?"

Hoss and Adam tried to catch the baby deer, but it ran. Finally Adam decided the fawn would only come to its mother. He and Hoss walked off and watched the mother and in time the baby deer walked over to its mother. Adam slipped behind the deer and put his coat over the deer’s head.

Hoss said, "Easy, little buddy. We’re not going to hurt you." He picked up the baby deer and talked to it, keeping it calm. "Easy, little buddy," he kept saying.

When they got home Hoss put the fawn in a pen and saw it had blood on its leg. He saw a spot of blood on his shirt. Hoss said, "Adam, I think the baby is hurt."

Adam tied up his horse and came to look. "I think you’re right, Hoss."

Adam went to get some fresh water and clean rags. He ran into the house and asked Hop Sing and Little Joe to come help them tend the deer.

Hop Sing said, "Baby deer is so little. We need to keep it warm. It needs milk every two hours."

Little Joe asked, "Will it live?"

"I don’t know," Hop Sing said.

Ben came home right after Hoss cleaned the deer’s leg. As he looked at the deer, Hoss asked him, "Can you tell if it’s male or female, Pa?"

"It’s a male deer, son."

"What do you think I should call him?"

"Hold on, son. This is a deer, a wild animal. It belongs in the woods. When it gets old enough, we’ll have to turn it loose."

"But Pa¾ " Little Joe started.

"Son, it’s not right to make a pet out of a wild animal."

Adam cleaned the meat of the deer Hoss had shot, salted it, and hung it up in the smokehouse. Hop Sing knew it would be difficult for the boys to eat deer meat right now so he cooked fish for supper.

Hoss and Little Joe warmed milk and fed the baby deer every two hours. They put hay and a horse blanket in the deer’s pen to keep the baby deer warm. It got cold that night and Hoss was worried about the deer so he got up and went to check on him many times.

After a week the deer would come to Hoss and lick salt out of Hoss’s hand. Hoss cleaned the deer’s pen and spent every spare moment with the deer. Hoss had trouble sleeping. He had nightmares about shooting the baby’s mother. He would wake up with tears in his eyes and then fall back asleep and have the same dream again.

One night Hoss began to shout, "No! No!"

Adam jumped out of bed and woke up Hoss.

Ben was sound asleep but he startled so much when Hoss yelled that he nearly fell out of bed. He ran to the boys’ room. Little Joe was awake too. Ben opened the bedroom door and asked what was going on.

"Sorry, Pa," said Hoss. "I had a bad dream."

Adam asked, "It was about the mother deer?"

"Yeah," admitted Hoss.

Ben said, "Hoss, son, you didn’t know it was a doe with a fawn."

"No I didn’t, Pa. I never would have shot if I’d a known that. Pa, that little baby has no mother because of me." Tears filled his eyes. Little Joe was crying too.

Ben sat on Joe’s bed. "Boys, we’ve talked about this. Sometimes a man needs to hunt to feed his family. It’s an important part of nature."

For two months Hoss took care of the deer, feeding it every two hours and then every four and finally every six as it grew.

Ben told Hoss it was time to start thinking about letting the deer go back to the wild. "The longer you keep it, the harder it will be on both of you, son."

"But Pa, he’s too little."

"No he’s not. He’s almost a yearling. He can survive on his own. You took over for his mother and now it’s time to let this deer go, son."

"Ok, Pa."

Hoss and Little Joe put a rope around the deer’s neck and led it to the woods where Hoss had found it. They took off the rope and the deer ran off.

They heard a gunshot. Big Dan was out hunting.

When Hoss saw what had happened he dropped to the ground and cried. Little Joe did too.

Adam and Ben heard the shot and came to find out what had happened. Ben put his arms around his two crying sons.

"Hoss . . ."

"No, Pa! It’s dead. You told me to turn him loose and look what happened!" Hoss started to run.

Adam looked worriedly at Pa. "I’m going after him," he said.

Adam found Hoss at the lake. "Brother, are you ok?"

"No, Adam. I shot that little deer’s mother and if she would have lived none of this would have happened."

"Hoss, Big Dan told me once that if a deer knows you need him he’s willing to give his life for you. He’s right."

Ben and Little Joe caught up to Adam and Hoss. Hoss was still crying and Ben said, "I know how deeply you feel these things, son. You are a kind and sweet person with a big heart. You are so much like your ma." But put his arms around Hoss and held him tightly, much as he’d often done when Hoss had been younger. "Big Dan didn’t know. He’s sorry."

Finally Hoss nodded. "I know, Pa. Let’s go home."

Hoss put away the baby deer’s pen. He thought about the two months he’d taken care of the little fellow. He’d had a lot of fun watching the deer grow. He’d try to focus on the good times of those two months, he decided.

It took a month before Hoss was back to his old self. It was longer before he would eat deer meat again. He kept the little pen. He decided that if he found another animal to rescue he’d try again.

Hoss still thought about the baby deer but when he did he remembered the happy times he and his family and the deer had had together.

The End