Welcome to Wyoming: Part One -- If It Flies, It Dies

Four years ago I lived in Park City. 

I loved it there.  I've never been a fan of cold weather, but the gorgeous mountains kinda offset that for me.  And the summers, talk about...mmm...mmm...good.  There was also something exciting about living in a town that people flocked to for vacation--everyone always seemed to be in a such a good mood.  

When I married my husband a few years ago, he didn't want to live in Park City, or any city for that matter, and that was really hard for me at first.  He'd grown up in the wide open spaces of Wyoming, so in that respect, I could see how Park City wasn't very inviting. 

So we moved to Wyoming.  A place I had never lived before.  A place where the hunters go.  A place where people eat things like buffalo burgers, elk, antelope, deer, rabbit...you name it.  If it's wild, they eat it.  Really.

When we dated, my husband said, "I'm a hunter."

But I heard, "I love animals."

And not, "See that deer out yonder...scoot back a little in your seat so's I can kill it."

Not only that, but my daughter (from a previous marriage) and future tree hugger and animal activist, upon hearing my new husband was a hunter, got a hold of a couple of his hunting magazines and shredded them to bits with her bare hands.  She then hid the bits in her backpack to dispose of the evidence of her crime.  She hadn't planned on that course of action.  In fact, when she picked the magazines up off the couch she thought she was going to see pretty pictures of Peter Cottontail.  Imagine her shock when she found pages full of the dearly departed.  Bloody, no less.

I didn't grow up around hunting.  I'd never even dated anyone that hunted.  So, when we crossed the Wyoming State Line, I swear the sign said, "Welcome to Wyoming.  If you don't have a hunting license, get out."

The sign actually said this:

But my problem was, after the shredding of the magazine incident, my husband explained the "hunting lifestyle" to me.  So, all I saw was this:

And this:

As much as I was happy to be with him, I wondered if the hunting side of things would be a hard adjustment.  It didn't take long to find out...