Another Hunt

I know you are probably getting tired of all these hunting stories and pictures. But the season is almost done. Plus I remind Jon that not all years are going to be like this. Next year he will have a son around, and he wont be able to leave us so much. Needless to say Jon has been soaking up as much as he can.

Dad had one elk tag left that was only good the last week of October. So of course he invited Jon to come along. Now it was a Hare tag - which means they could shoot a cow, bull or spike.

Sage and I missed this experience and went to Portland instead.

The funny thing is that this hunt lasted about an hour and a half!! I know right. Dad and Jon left camp heard some elk, followed them, sat and waited. Now I can not give this story justice for 2 reason: 1) I was not there, so it is all second hand 2) It is just something that you have to see for yourself.

As Dad and Jon were sitting there, they kept seeing elk coming out of the trees into an open clearing. This is not just like 10 elk, a lot more kept coming out. So Dad and Jon were showing patience waiting for the one they wanted. (they decided that they would shoot a bull). Enough had come out that they thought there window was closing. Just as they thought this, they heard a load noise and some of the elk scattered. It was a big bull that was crashing his antlers against the trees. And guess what happened...more elk came out! So they took a shot at one that was a really good size (or at least they thought) and it went down. A few elk scattered, but not enough.

Now Dad and Jon did not want to spook the elk since the local rancher and friend were hunting the next day. So they just sat there. They sat for like an hour watching all these elk around them. Just behind them 40 yards were 2 cows laying down. Now Dad guesses that there was around 100 elk!! That is just amazing.

After waiting they finally got to go check on their kill. I would say it was a nice 6-point kill, if I do say so myself.





So what do you do the rest of the trip when you have completed the hunt the first day?? Come home early!! They were home by Friday, which mom and I were not quite ready, but it was nice. Than we spent Saturday cutting up meat. It was nice to end the season filling all tags. I do not know the last time Dad did that. And we are fully aware that it will probably never happen again.

Duck Hunt

Sage got her first duck!!!

Jon has been out a few times, but never got something. So Tuesday morning before he left for his big game hunt, he decided to go duck hunting. All they got was one duck, but that is OK (we don't really need more). Sage actually went out and retrieved the duck. I think she had fun!!

Baby's Room

Jon finally let me paint a room in the house!! So we started with the baby's room. The colors are amazing and the picture really does not do it justice. On the top is a kind of pale green, than a creme strip and ending with a milk chocolate.

We chose these colors cause they match the bedding. If you really want to see what adorable bedding we got go here: http://www.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=532530&SearchedProduct=t

We will be getting the crib shortly, and slowly start adding things to the room. When we get more "stuff" I will post anyother picture.



One thing I want to add is that I love that this is done. It is really starting to feel like we are having a baby, and the room is really bringing a spirit into this house, making it more like a home. LOVE IT.

Fall Fun

My dad always goes hunting the first weekend in October. Since we live so close he invited Jon to go. And we all know that he would not say no. After that I got wrangled into going, with a role of "camp cook" (appealing I know).

For that weekend we had 3 tags, 1 mule deer and 2 cow elk. We did not have to fill all three out this trip. One did end that weekend, but they could shoot all 3.

Dad and Jon hunt in the mornings and than evenings. Which was nice that I was not alone all day.

The first morning hunt they came back and had shot a 4 point buck. That is a decent size, but good/big for the area. The funny thing was the pursuit of the weekend was the elk, and if they happen to see deer than that would be great. The fact that they got the deer first was kind of a laugh. But hey on a positive note we could have left that day, because we had gotten something.



Jon and the Buck



Skinning the Buck (notice Sage and how bad she wanted to help)

The rest of Friday and Saturday were uneventful. It was hot during the day, so we knew our time was quickly coming to an end for we needed to get the Buck home. Jon and dad did some clear cutting. They were cleaning pine trees that had been infected with mistletoe. It is a nasty flowering plant that lives in/on the pine it has sticky seeds that it shoots out. Jon was fascinated with the seeds. And by the end of the day Jon and Dad were covered with them.

We did spend some time at the pond. Sage just loves swimming! And dad had a project to start on.



Sage taking a break from swimming. She has this thing where if she is out of the water long enough she needs to roll in the dirt.



Jon waste deep in the yucky pond ( I do not think anyone else has voluntarily gone that deep in the pond). And of coarse Sage is right there to help him.



Here are our onlookers. The cows stayed in the shade, but had to check out what this little animal was and why it kept jumping in the pond. They would not take their eyes off of her.

Sunday morning our last morning there, the last shot to get the elk. And lo they were successful with 2!! I wish I could relate the whole story. It was an amazing sight apparently. Dad and Jon were sitting by the fence watching for some elk. They ended up seeing about 70 of them. And a bull came walking by them, about 40 yards away! Jon said when they shot the first elk, some ran away, others ran towards them. Some did not even move. With the elk running towards them it made for an easier shot for the second one.



Dad and an elk



Jon and an elk

It was a pain getting the elk back to the truck. Dad and Jon both drove an ATV and I drove the truck in as close as I could. Than we had to use the ATV's to bring out the elk. But we did it

I will have to say I think Sunday was the quickest camp had been broken and everyone packed and ready to go.

Jon and I felt a little bad that we were sending dad with all this meat to cut up, but you know when someone is that good, you just gotta let them do it.

It has been an amazing year that my father has been able to fill all his tags that he has so far this year. And my family is set with meat for a long time, this will for sure help out the grocery bill.