Layton
Bags a Taurus
I learn the most interesting things sitting at the dinner
table having coffee at Roseen’s Corner.
The other night I dropped in unannounced, crashed Trapper’s 70-less-one
birthday party and heard the following story.
It was a wild party, the Swedes are also celebrating the
start of the
lutefisk season. For some reason celebrating the start of lutefisk
season does not include actally eating lutefisk, anyway, the details
were somewhat fuzzy but this is what I
heard that night.
Layton Oslin was renowned around Wannaska for being a dead
shot, no mean feat for an area known for having its share of good
shooters. He wasn’t just one of those
shoot-from-a-bench-rest good shots; he was known for those shots where you
stand-on-both-hind-feet-and-hit-‘em-in-the-neck-at-a-dead-run-so-you- don’t-ruin-the-meat dead
shots.
One year he was hunting within
his home area with the family hunting party, he’d driven to the stand area with
his grandson in his brother’s spanking new Taurus. Since Layton
had already downed three deer with his patented skill with an -06, the grandson
was supposed to do the shooting on this stint.
They were posted on the southwest corner of a woods, a strong north wind
prompted them to stand on the leeward side of the Taurus for shelter. As one would expect in an area with a glut of
deer, one was flushed out by the drivers and started running past the posted
hunters. Layton figured he should shoot since the
grandson wasn’t quite up to the running-shot level of skill. He whipped into his classic off-hand stance
and shot twice but the deer ran past unharmed.
This confused Layton
somewhat; this hadn’t happened to him for longer than anyone could
remember.
A little later, the driving hunters came out of the woods,
they expected Layton
to have a field dressed deer ready to haul home. Layton
was at a loss to tell them what happened, he took some good-natured ribbing
but, after a bit they loaded into the car and headed out. On the way, they met another pickup bearing
some other members of the hunting party. Being at the right level, someone in
the pickup noticed that there was a bullet hole in the side of the car above
the driver’s window, another powder burn beside it and a nick in the top of the
car.
Layton
had shot the Taurus. He had a passing thought that maybe he could save his
reputation, however it became rapidly apparent that this one would be a little
difficult to live down.
Layton
had been shooting with a scope from behind the car, as he leveled on the deer
and shot the first shot, he had skimmed it across the roof. It had ricocheted off the top of the car and
over the deer. The second bullet had
entered the car but one of the interior cross pieces caught it, you know, those
Tauruses were always pretty tough.
After Layton
got home, things got worse. He received
a “hands on the hips” lecture from wife Marie, much to the delight of his
hunting buddies. It is one of the
defining moments for the Oslin clan, Layton
doesn’t know how much the repair cost, his brother was mum about the cost. The brother lives in Los
Angeles, he said the car survived that city with its drive by
shootings with no bullet holes, he’d no idea it was in peril in Roseau County. It must have been second nature to a resident
of that city to just to fix the holes and forget about it.
Its said that after he found out he’d shot it, in an attempt
to save face, Layton swore the Taurus was one of the SHO’s, you know, the one
with the DOHC Yamaha V-8, mag wheels and a leather interior but his brother
says it was just a Plain Jane rental model with a stock V-6, plastic hubcaps
and cloth seats.
One of Layton’s
friends was a sports announcer for the local radio station, during his hunting
report he just happened to mention this: “Layton Oslin bagged a 3,000 pound
Taurus in Wannaska on Sunday.”
The gifts he got for Christmas next were things like blaze
orange covers to fit a Taurus and a stool to stand on for shooting. Some time later he bought a new pickup, soon
thereafter some bullet hole decals appeared on it, he’s yet to figure out
whodunit and no one has claimed credit for that one.
In an area of legendary characters, Layton Oslin is two
shots ahead of the rest.
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