Blue Tongue found in Alaska Hunter

  A hunter in Alaska has been found with a bad case of blue tongue. Let me tell you how it happened.

  I woke up early, sipped a couple cups of coffee, and waited for daylight to reach silvery fingers across the ocean.
  Fog laid heavy across the channel blocking the islands just a mile away. The big volcano was no longer sitting in its usual place, being replaced by a smoky layer of fog.
  I had planned on hiking the mountains behind town in search of my first deer of the season, but fog was one element that keeps me off the steep hills.
  Daylight was chasing the darkness across the ocean when I thought I'd better take a look behind our condo and up the hill, just to make sure the fog was covering those mountains as well.
  I could hardly believe it. Bare hills greeted my sleepy eyes.
  I hurried back inside and jumped into my hunting clothes, grabbed the rifle, and raced to the truck.
  I was late getting to my usual hunting spot, but I certainly needed the exercise as much as getting a big buck.
  Rain had soaked the Island for the past three days so this was going to be a very wet hike. Nothing new to hunting in South East Alaska. It is always wet when bushwhacking through the thick underbrush. Thank goodness for Rivers West rain pants and coats.
  I staggered my way up the steep mountain. It is nearly a 3,000 foot climb to get to the hunting area, and my legs are so out of shape from a summer of just riding waves.
  A hike that usually takes me about an hour dragged into the second hour and still I was not over the top. I was sweating like crazy and constantly fogging up my glasses. I stopped near the top to clean my fogged lenses once again. Glasses cleaned, I reached down to get the gun when I did a double take.
  Blue Berries! Everywhere I looked was blue berries.
  "I need the rest," I told myself as I munched happily on handfuls of the tasty little berries.
  Hunting put on hold, I grazed my way slowly up the mountain. Who needs breakfast when you stumble into a loaded berry patch.
  I did make it to the top. Deer were everywhere, but the bucks were well hidden due to my late arrival.
  I had fun calling in eight does and fawns, four of which came close enough to hit with blue berries if I would have tossed them.
I made it back to the truck and discovered something crazy. Blue tongue!
  In the wild deer herds blue tongue is a terrible killer. Many of the western herds of deer have died due to the dreaded blue tongue.
  Today the blue tongue was not a killer. Instead I smiled in the mirror at my blue lips and tongue.
  I'll worry about the big buck next time. Today was the enjoyment of marvelous wild berries I love grazing my way up and down the mountains this time of the year, munching on blue berries.