Top Secrets On Huckleberries and Elk

I truly love living in Idaho, The Pacific Northwest... it has a nice ring to it, as does, The Panhandle.  I have lived here almost sixteen years; it feels as much like home as any place has in all my years of living. However, there are a few codes I haven't yet cracked and probably never will.  There are secrets some will learn of from the very beginning.  This will happen naturally to them or they just happen to be in the right place at the right time.  Oh, and it matters if you know someone that knows someone else that can give you the inside scoop on whats what.

There are two specific areas that I have yet to learn what's what and that is:  Where does one find these six gallons of huckleberries and meals of morel mushrooms that others so easily find and later brag about.  And if they are easy to find, why are those that find them not open and helpful about where they are found?  If someone like myself asks specifically the Question Whom No One Dares Asks, the answer is shrouded in vagueness, accompanied by lowered eyes and secretive smiles.  What I have gleaned from this, is that it is not considered proper etiquette to ask People Who Know, these types of questions.  Do not worry, I am not easily discouraged, I continue to pick puny huckleberries each summer and try to farther my education on them by seeking out more forthright council.

Which brings me to the second area.  My husband used to have time to hunt. Now, my son is taking over the tradition while his dad fills his hours with schooling and work and such.  But, now I get to watch my son try to find that elusive hunting spot wherein dwell The Elk.  The Deer are many and easily taken.  Those, I find, are not such a conquest. However, the thought of fifty pounds of The Elk in my freezer would be as equally welcome as six gallon of huckleberries.  That is, if The Elk could be found.

 What I have found in this situation is, you have to be a part of a family of men who like to hunt.  It also helps if these men know other men who own a lot of land or better yet, if they themselves have land on which to hunt.  Someone like my son, who at the moment is all alone in the land of hunting, will have to depend on a kind soul to give him a little bit of advice and maybe someone he knows, will know someone who knows someone that has property he can hunt on, as long as that person who knows that other someone is along to make sure the hunter stays on the specified piece of property. Oh, and there may or may not be elk on that specific piece. But whatever you do, it is not polite to ask where that someone got their elk.  Many are called, but few are Chosen...  You either got it or you don't.  If it is meant to be, The Elk and Huckleberries will find you.