Thursday September 21, 2006

Okay, the last two weeks have been killing me. I am really regretting the choice to not go elk hunting this year. For the past two years I have spent ten days in September elk hunting with my bow. For the past two weeks I have been waking up to crisp, cool, hunting weather. Driving home tonight from a night class I've been taking for work, I had the windows down, it was cold, and I could almost smell the decomposing leaves of Fall. I haven't gone a single day since I shot my elk two years and 4 days ago, without atleast looking at a picture of that amazing animal. Today on my drive home I realized that on this day for the past two years, at this exact time of day, I'd be sitting on a cot in a canvas wall tent, making sure I had all my stuff packed to go home. I would be making sure that all my practice arrows are out of the target, wondering how I'm going to get all this stuff back on the plane with me so that I have it for the bow opener in VA in two weeks, thinking about how I can't believe a TEN day hunt seemed so short. Then as my friend Jason turns off the lantern, I'd lay in my cot, watching the flames from the pellet stove dance on the canvas walls, and strain to hear just one more bull elk bugle before I left. The first year I actually heard numerous bulls bugle through the night. One particularly vocal bull decided to hang out a mere couple hundred yards from camp and he ellicited bugles from a few others in the area. 3:30 am would come too quick and my last moments in Montana would be spent staring out the window of a pickup truck at the few lights that are visible along the road and the tops of the mountains silloutted by the moonlight.
So right now it is 12:30am on friday Sept. 22 and I'm wide awake and bummed out. I was going to start transcribing my journal from that first year when I shot "The Legend", however I left my journal with my dad in May so he could read it. I'll have to wait til I see him again. Deer season is right around the corner....stay calm, pick a spot, and follow through! Oh, and don't forget to call and tell me about it so I can expect fresh pictures in the morning!
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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

September 15, 2006

Okay, I realize I never posted my Elk story this summer, like I said I would. The only person to reply to me was Bill, and he has heard the story a thousand times, so motivation wasn't too high. I also have been slacking on the recent hunting stories. On Sept. 2 I hunted the Virginia Dove season opener. We met out at one of our company's wetlands around 4:30 on that saturday. Nobody was expecting a real good shoot, since it's been two years since the wetland was seeded. I figured everyone might shoot one or two, which we did. I however capitalized and the others didn't. I think there were 9 of us out there. Everyone else seemed to be more interested in socializing and drinking beer, my trigger finger was giving me more grief than my beer gut. I managed to limit out, with one that I couldn't find. I put it down real good, but it was out in the wetland in the tall grass. I looked for a good 15min., shot a few birds that flew over while looking, and couldn't find it. I eventually got Thunder (the chocolate in the picture) to come over and help me, but even she couldn't find it. I think the total for the group was around 25-26, including my 12 bird limit. I haven't been out since, but I have been watching my hunting area for deer (without much luck). This summer the landowner put about 200 head of sheep in my favorite field, and there are about 75 head of beef in the big field that I hunt (good, but not my favorite spot). I do have permission to go into the woods, but not very far, and it is right in prime bedding area for these deer, so I am going to get up in there this weekend and do some distant observation to see where these deer are going, I know they didn't leave. I'll try to keep everything posted up to date from here on out. I am going to set this journal up so I can email stories off my blackberry, right after it happens!