When Bob announced a hunting trip to be made with only bows, arrows and pistols, Alex began to get suspicious. It was when Bob said that they would be out overnight that Alex felt like he knew what was going on. It was a semi 'survival camp'. His father was taking it easy on the rest of them. He was allowing a small amount of food for each person, and even arranged for a few gallons of water be placed at a preselected camp site.

However, everyone would be responsible for making their own shelter and bed. Bob agreed to get the camps fire started, but only because the others had things more important than that to learn. They were all given only a half an hour to get the things they thought they would need, and then Bob started marching them out of town.

From the moment she heard about it , Michelle was interested. She had no idea that Bob had already spoken to Maria about his plan, and she agreed to let Mike try it if she wanted to give it a go. Now as Michelle hurriedly got ready to leave, Maria spoke to her quickly and earnestly.


"Mike, I'm concerned about this hunting trip."

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Mike, there isn't much time so just listen to me. While you are gone I want you to pay more attention to the father than the son."

"Mother!"

"Don't 'Mother!' me. It's obvious to everyone, and we can talk about Alex later. Bob is taking all of you out to find out just how much you remember, how much you know, and how much you need to learn."

Hearing the seriousness in Maria's' voice she paused long enough to look her mother in the eye.

"Mom, believe it or not, that's why I'm going. I can handle myself in most situations, but I've never done anything like this. I think it makes sense. Having a trial run before you have to do it for real."

To the surprise of everyone but Alex, Bob set a very easy pace going out cross country. The two younger members of the group had to be told repeatedly to take it easy.

"Tom, Sam, are you guys in a race? Slow it down. Do you have any idea how much noise you're making?"

"No." They answered together.

"Well, you are. For that matter, everybody take a break. Get a sip of water and get comfortable. I want to explain some things."

Bob had placed them in more or less a straight line. So now they gathered around and they all found places to sit near Bob, refreshing themselves. After waiting for a few moments for everyone to get settled he continued, speaking softly.

"O.K. folks we need to make a couple of things clear. When you move through the brush, you have to do it quietly. You two fellows." He pointed at Tom and Sam. "You can't keep just walking along like you were on a street. You need to set your foot down, not just let it hit the ground. You have to look ahead of you and see where your next two or three footsteps are going to go."

"If we do that, we might not see anything."

"If you don't do it, you won't see anything. The whole point of this is to see your prey, before it sees you."

"How do we do that if we're looking down?"

"You look in all directions. It takes a little practice, but it isn't that hard. First you look down to see where you are going. The next two, three or four steps, and no more. That way you won't step on something or kick it. Which is what you have been doing. While you slowly take the next couple of steps, you look up, then to one side and then the other. Try to take in everything you can. By the time you've done that, you'll need to look down again for your next few steps. After that you just repeat it over and over as you move. Each time you look up and around, you are looking to see if anything has changed since the last time you looked.

Now you have to understand, The Lord made these creatures to survive in an environment that can kill them if they don't pay attention. That is why they always seemed nervous on the old T.V. shows. They are always on the lookout for something that might attack. That is why you move slowly, and as quietly as possible. You want to see them first.

But there is also hearing. You need to try to identify every sound you hear. After a very short time you'll learn to ignore the sounds of things that are of no interest, birds, insects, the wind in the trees and brush and you will be tuning in to the sounds that are unusual. I can't tell you of the number of deer and other animals I've seen, up close, simply by hearing them coming towards me and freezing in place. You freeze, because movement attracts the eye. If they see movement, they freeze until they can identify it. Then they either ignore it, or run from it. You have to do the same. You see, most animals are color blind, and they depend on detecting movement, not entire objects. Understand what I mean?"

They all said they did, and he gave them a chance to prove it by putting one of them in front of him on a rotating basis, until they reached the camp site. As they worked under Bob and Alex's instruction in building a simple lean-to type shelter, they all talked about how they had seen so much more wildlife doing it Bobs' way. The highlight being when both Michelle and Bob missed a couple of quick snap shoots at a deer with the bows.

The fire was small, but burned brightly that night. It lighted up the front of the three shelters. Alex smiled rather smugly to himself as he tended the fire. Once he had built it up a little, he turned and went back to the log he had been sitting on. He remembered this game from his youth. He didn't envy Tim, Sam, Tom. or Mike. They were in for a real workout. His father had always called it 'sneak attack' or 'indian attack'. The rules were modified for the circumstances, but were basically the same. After dark fell, and the fire had been built, Bob announced that he would be leaving the camp. He showed them a piece of paper with his name written on both sides. He folded it and put it in his pocket. Then he gave flashlights to everyone but Alex.

"O.K., it works like this." Bob started. "Your limit is the circle of light made by the fire. You stay inside that ring, and see if you can spot me. If you think you have, you shine the light on me and call my name. If it is me, I have to give up. If not, when you turn your light off you have to close your eyes and count out loud for five seconds. Sweeping the area with the light is not allowed. We are going to see just how good you can detect things at night.

In the mean time, I have to sneak in here and put that paper someplace that can be clearly seen from the fire. Then sneak back out without getting caught. After that, I announce myself and walk in.

Now since Alex has played this a few times, his job is going to only be tending the fire. He can't answer questions, or tell you if he sees something. Ready? Good. I get five minutes."

With that, Bob turned and walked out into the darkness. Alex enjoyed watching mainly the younger men run around the fire, suddenly stabbing into the night with their lights and calling out Bob's name. Only to turn the light off moments later and loudly count to five. He wondered if he had been so excited about this game, and if he played it this badly. Soon he decided that at first, he probably did. Even Tim and Mike had done it once each.

As he sat watching the fire, he first felt something around his ankles. Quickly glancing down he saw his fathers hand slowly reach between his feet, and place the paper with his name on it against the log Alex was sitting on. The hand then slowly pulled back, and Alex never heard his father leave. That was why he used to get upset with his Dad. He was so good at this game.

Alex waited for a good fifteen minutes before he spoke.

"Have you guys figured out that you should just give up yet?"

Michelle looked at him and said, "Have patience. Your Dad hasn't done anything yet. I think he's waiting for us to relax our guard and then make his move."

"Really?" Alex asked. "What makes you so sure?"

"I have pretty good night vision. If he had come anywhere near here, I would have spotted him, I'm sure."

"I think Mike is right. I haven't seen any movement in the brush, and I haven't heard anything moving out there."

"O.K." Was all Alex said as he picked up another piece of wood and put it in the fire. By this time, everyone looking for Bob had drifted towards the shelters. As Alex turned and walked back to his seat, he called out.

"O.K. Dad. Are you going to tell them where you are, or should I?"

Everyone looked past the shelters in the direction of his gaze. They were startled when Bob answered from behind Alex, on the other side of the fire from next to a bush he had been squatting behind.

"Well, I was having fun just listening to them, but I guess it's time I came in."

As he expected, Bob was greeted with a chorus of 'What the...Where did you come from?' and other such comments. It wasn't until Sam loudly demanded an answer that he said anything.

"Hey. Where's your paper? I don't see it."

Before Bob could answer, Alex said, "Right here." bent down and picked it up to show them.

"Bob, how did you get that thing there? I didn't see a thing out there." Michelle wanted to know.

"And I was really listening for you." Tim said. "We decided to each concentrate on one of those. I never heard a footstep."

"Let me start at the beginning. Once you get away from the fire and your eyes adjust, you can see a great deal. The trick is to not look at anything too bright. I didn't look at the fire, I watched you. From about fifty yards out, I could stand up and walk around as I pleased. Michelle, you said you didn't see anything. What were you looking for?"

"Mostly for some kind of movement, like the deer we shot at."

"That's good, but let me show you something. Look out here and tell me what you see."

Michelle looked in the direction he pointed and said, "I can see the trees, that open area, and I can even see that deer trail over to the left."

"Very good, except you didn't see one thing you believe you saw. You didn't see the trees. You see the shadows made by the trees you saw earlier, and call them trees. But look into the shadow. What is at the base of that tree? You can't see that, can you? I circled the camp in the shadow, until I noticed the shadow of the log Alex is sitting on is low to the ground, but it extends almost to those bushes. I stayed in the shadows the whole way. Which means the reason you didn't hear a footstep is because I crawled the last thirty yards into camp."

"But why didn't we see at least some movement?"

"First of all it is hard to see into the dark, as I've said. Secondly, do you feel that breeze? When I started to get close, I only moved when the wind would cover my movements and sound."

"Alex when did you see the paper?" Mike wanted to know.

"When he put it there about twenty minutes ago."

"And you didn't say anything? I mean I know you weren't supposed to, but I mean...Oh never-mind."

"Don't blame Alex. Blame me, I made the rules. Back to the subject. Looking and listening are fine, but everything changes after the sun goes down. You have to adjust for that."

"How do you adjust for what you can't see?"

"Alex? How did you spot me?"

"I saw your silhouette in the shadow of the bush you were next to."

"You see, you were looking for me. If it were day light, you'd be looking for part of my shirt or something. Alex knew to look for a different kind of trace of me. Chances are, if you ask him, he noticed a change in the shadows before anything else."

She looked at him and he nodded. "I spotted Dad about five minutes before I asked him to come in."

"Now suppose there hadn't been a breezy night. I would have done the same thing, just done it a little slower. One other thing. Since that is also the direction of our shelters, it broke up what you are used to seeing. That meant you would be less likely to spot something different, because everything is different."


BW, Vietnam Vet

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If you missed the beginning of this exciting series, it started with Overthrown – Death of America. You can catch up on all of the previous installments here.