Walking Out

You have a good year?

Uh, yeah. Sure

well, you sure grew some.

This year we have a moose tag.

A moose.

Yeah. I got

one picked out.

A bull.

I stalked him for two weeks.

Up there.

At the crazies.

Way up.

There's still

plenty of time to scare up

some grouse before dark.

Come on, David.

Put your legs into it.

Let's go!

We're burning daylight.

Remember, David, what did

I tell you about grouse?

I don't know.

Grouse are stupid and slow.

Not like ducks or grebes.

They even sound stupid.

Not like a quail, huh?

Come on. Let's hear

your best quail.

I really don't remember how.

Of course you do.

You were getting good

at it last year.

Louder.

Louder.

Loud enough for me to know

where you are

if we get separated.

It's how hunters say, "I'm here"

without tipping off the prey.

Your mother.

How is she?

Uh, I don't know.

She's... Alright.

Are you friends with her?

Am I friends with her?

Um. Yeah. I guess.

Is she still a beautiful lady?

I don't know.

What do you mean,

you don't know?

Of course you know.

Yeah, she's still a

beautiful lady, I guess.

She tell you

any messages for me?

Yeah. She..

Said that I should..

I should send you her love.

Well, thank you, David.

That's kind of you to say.

The next one's yours.

We're not going home

until you get

your first bird.

Now!

Find him.

Get behind him.

Come on up on him.

Come on up on him.

You blinked.

David! David!

It's alright, relax

and get your dinner.

Come on.

Breathe.

Safety.

Don't close your eyes.

You can't quit.

It's hard, I know.

Then it gets easier.

Alright?

All of a sudden

it gets very easy.

It's not easy.

It'll never be easy.

You'll get a bird.

I know you will.

Just use your muscle memory.

Easy, easy.

You hit him.

- You sure?

- Yeah, I'm sure.

You winged him.

He faltered and dropped.

I don't understand it.

You crippled him.

He couldn't have gone far.

I probably just didn't hit him.

You hit it, David.

I don't know how

you couldn't see that.

You never leave

what you shot behind.

If you had a dog, we could

find it right away.

We had a dog when I was little.

Why don't you have one now?

Since you're..

You know...

Already alone.

Isn't that what dogs are for?

I don't know what

dogs are for, David.

All I know is I don't give

that much love

to a creature

who would only live

a dozen or so years.

That bird must have

run off and hidden itself

to die in the darkness.

I'm sorry.

You used to sleep like a puppy

in the crook of my arm.

I remember that day.

It's like a memory of a memory.

Yeah.

That whole damn set-up

was your mother's idea.

She even got me to put

gunk in my hair.

That's a good picture

of grandpa.

- Did you take that?

- Mm-hmm.

You remember him at all?

Your grandfather?

I remember his funeral.

Oh, wasn't his best day exactly.

That's all I really

remember about him.

That and his face scratching me

when he kissed me.

Oh, yeah.

- Sandpaper.

- Yeah.

He always smelt of pipe tobacco.

Gunpowder.

Jack pine.

What about those moose?

What about moose?

Are they stupid and slow,

like grouse?

No.

No, moose are different.

They're regal.

Up in Alaska they get so tall

a grown man can walk

under a moose's belly

and never touch fur.

Oh, yeah. You'll see.

So... Why kill them then?

If they're so... Royal?

Well, they make 600 pounds

of delicious meat.

A winter's worth.

It is way better than

a Thanksgiving Turkey.

I told mom I'd call her

when I got here.

Well, you won't find

a signal up here.

Should have called her

from town.

About time you cut loose from

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