The Day I Shot Gugenheimer

I think you begin to know you were raised correctly when a situation comes up and you choose to do the right thing instead of taking the easy way out. The story for today reflects one such situation.

The Day I Shot Gugenheimer

 

It was 1959 and I was 16 years old. Myself, Charlie, and Rocky decided to get our twenty two rifles and head for the canyons behind the Phillips Camp to go rabbit hunting. My dog Tuffy followed us as he fancied himself quite the hunter too. We had walked about three miles into the canyons and we decided to put a target on a tree to sight in our rifles. I took the first shot and shortly after, we heard a dog yelping very loudly. We ran to the area and found our neighbors weenie dog named Gugenheimer laying there on the ground to one side of the tree. It seems the bullet had ricocheted off of the tree and hit him in the butt. Gugenheimer often followed us on our field trips, but he was kind of a lazy dog and he was always about a hundred yards behind. We had no idea he was even there that day. I was heart broken that I had shot a dog. I handed Rocky my twenty two and carefully picked up Gugenheimer hurt butt side up and started home with him. Fortunately he wasn’t bleeding too badly. I was dead tired when we got home with him as it was mostly uphill. I had just got my drivers license and I had a 1951 ford. We loaded him in the ford and took him to the Vet in Borger. The Vet pulled the bullet out and dropped it in a tin pan. He patched him up and I paid the Vet with money that I had saved. That night, I was sitting out on my front porch and our neighbor came over and I told him the story. He was proud that I had taken care of his dog (even if I was the one that shot him in the butt). He offered to repay me for the vet bill, but I said I didn’t think I could let him do that. We settled on him paying half the bill and I think we both walked away feeling better. In a few days old Gugenheimer was himself again and life went on.

My old 22 rifle that I accidentally shot Gugenheimer in the butt with.

The Elephant Rock in the canyons near Phillips, Texas, not far from where I accidentally shot Gugenheimer.

Thank yoy for reading The Day I Shot Gugenheimer ,

Hawg Jaw Bill