Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Ted Goes Hunting

By Adrian Telizyn

In the far northern woods of British Columbia in the early 1980s, the hunting regulations were seldom enforced. BC Rail section and train crews never went anywhere without a good rifle. One never knew when a trophy moose might pop up.

There was a fellow named Ted who worked on the Fort Nelson section gang under a foreman named Jesse Dhillon. Ted liked a good deer; he would often dismount from a speeder, let the section run ahead, and go hunting. Jim McKay was the roadmaster at the time, and he detested it when his section forces hunted on company time.

One day, the section came back into Fort Nelson with an animal draped across every speeder. Jim was furious! But the men were confused. All the assigned work was done, and the men had the resulting extra time to hunt. What was the problem?

Jim walked up to Ted.

"Don't you ever shoot a deer on company time again," he ordered.

The next day, the section departed town on their speeders. Jim was determined to catch them in the act. Around Elleh, a trophy moose stood on the tracks in front of the gang. Ted jumped out of his speeder and shot it. The moose ran away wounded. Ted had to catch up and finish it off.

He told the section foreman to run ahead without him to Ekwan, clear the approaching train, and then come back to get him. Ted caught up to the moose in the bush, finished it off, and cleaned it.

The northbound train went by. Then Ted heard Jim's dreaded voice on the radio.

"Hello foreman Jesse Dhillon.… I need to get by your gang at Ekwan"

Ted hid himself and his moose in the bushes and waited. McKay's speeder went by without noticing him. McKay made it to Ekwan, where he satisfied himself that the men were not hunting on company time.

Suddenly, he noticed that Ted was missing. "Where is Ted?" he demanded.

Jesse Dhillon wilted under the pressure and told Jim where he could find Ted. Jim sped off northward. He found Ted standing beside the tracks with is dead moose and began his tirade.

"Are you finished yet?" asked Ted.

"Why?" stormed Jim.

"Because you told me not to shoot another deer on company time. This here is a moose."

Mezack

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