Welcome to this country life. I'm your host Brent Reeves. From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living, I want you to stay a while as I share my experiences

and life lessons.

This country life is presented by Case Knives on Meat Eater's Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor

podcast the Airways have to offer.

All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate.

I've got some stories to share.

Safety first, always.

I didn't get to cover all I wanted to last week, so we're back again with some more safety concerns and a lesson that I will never forget.

If there's one thing you take away from these weekly ramblings, I hope it's

this one. That's why I'm sharing it today. But first I'm going to tell you a story.

It was beyond dark on a moonless night. I was alone patrolling near where I'd grown up in the north end of Bradley County.

Working for the Sheriff's Office in rural counties will have deputies working alone, a lot.

The only time two or more of us were on duty at one time at night was on the weekends

when the call volumes increased.

We lived by that old Texas Ranger Creed of one right, one ranger.

That wasn't out of bravado, it was out of necessity.

We were a small department covering a big area with a budget you couldn't operate a roadside stand with,

three deputies for 649 square miles.

We worked alone. A lot. It had been a quiet night with only the music radio keeping me company.

The dispatch radio had been ominously quiet, and I was heading to the house.

This is usually the time when everything goes berserko.

That's when nine calls all at once come in, wrecks, fights, thievery and other sculled-duggery type behavior that requires

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