The Stump and the Mule

I’ve been scouting out places to hunt this season and the other day I came across this old Cypress stump.

 

I already have so many ideas of how I can repurpose it but I have no ideas on how to get it to my truck.  It’s down in the bottoms so I can’t take my 4-wheeler down there to it.  If I still had my hunting mule this wouldn’t be a problem. 

 

 

I must’ve been around 20 when I bought that mule.  He’d been retired from The Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs but mules can live up to 40 years so he still had a lot of life left in him.  His name was Mickey and he would load up in the back of my truck like a dog.  I wish you could’ve seen the looks we used to get when I’d drive down the road or stop for gas with that mule standing in the bed of my truck.  It’s not really something you see around here everyday. 

 

I’d take Mickey to deer camp, pack my deer stand and supplies on him and ride him to my hunting spot.  As long as there weren’t any mosquitoes he was fine.  One time I took him hunting, tied him up and positioned myself in a tree.  Well, it was a humid day and the mosquitoes were really bad. I could hear a ruckus in the distance but I ignored it and stayed in my stand.  At the end of the day when I came down to go back to camp, that mule was gone!  I figured out that the mosquitoes covered him up and the ruckus I heard was him trying to get away from ‘em.  But I’m several miles into the woods, it’s getting dark quick and I had to get all my stuff back to camp.  It took forever to walk back and with every step I took the stuff got heavier and I got madder.  Well, I finally made it back to camp and do you know that mule was standing there watching me with what I’d swear was a grin on his face.  I wanted to kill him!  But I was too tired, too sore and too weak to lift my gun. Now I’ve never claimed to be a smart man and the fact that I took that mule out again the next morning is proof because (and I’m sure you’ve already guessed this) that mule left me again!  I sold him not too long after that trip.

 

 

Now about the Cypress stump, I’ve used them before as table bases. They’re texturally interesting and it adds a natural element to the décor. Use a wood burner to personalize it or carve your initials in it. Make it a one of a kind conversation piece.

 

 

You can also put polyurethane on them to keep them preserved and use them outside.

Or leave them in their natural state to add interest to your landscaping. Hammer a nail in it and use it to hang an outside lamp or a welcome sign on.


 

 

Do you have more ideas? Leave a comment and share them with me.