Hunting Trip, 2007

Okay, a few discloures before the actual post:
1. This is a very long post. It chronicles 9 of the 12 days we were gone.
2. It is about hunting, so if the idea of killing an animal is bothersome to you, don't read it. Just know it was a great trip and go on with your life.


Now that those things are out of the way, enjoy this post:

Sunday, September 23, 2007
We left Cowdrey, Colorado and drove to Riverside and Encampment, Wyoming. For the first time ever, Jason let me drive the truck hooked up to the trailer for about seven miles on a dirt road. I did fine, though I was very anxious. He didn’t have any complaints. After driving through both Riverside and Encampment, we stopped at a convenient store and made the purchases we needed: Potatoes, gas, archery and habitat stamp and a couple of Sodas. We then went a grabbed lunch at the “Bear Trap Café and Saloon.” After a few bacon cheeseburgers, we drove a few miles back to the access we needed to find a place to camp. Around 4:30 p.m. we finally found a suitable location. It took us a bit longer to set up than either of us anticipated or wanted, but everything was up and out. However, by the time we were ready to go out for a quick drive around the area, the sky had cleared up and it was no longer raining. After getting all geared up and sprayed down with Carbon Blast, we had less than an hour of daylight left. Before leaving camp, Jason said a wonderful prayer for me in my first hunting, asking God to bless me with harvest and to guide my arrows so that I either missed the animal completely or hit right on target to kill the animal, not leaving a wounded animal in the midst of my poor shot. Leaving Sadie in the trailer, we hoped in the truck and followed 4092b, the road we are camped off of, out to 409. Following that for less than 100 feet, we turned left and drove that for about 8 miles. We saw a total of six deer, all doe, but felt like it was an area we could hunt. We returned to the trailer about thirty five minutes after sunset. Two cans of soup and a salad each served as dinner. We did share communion together, sharing with each other what Christ’s sacrifice meant to us (Jason-hope; Me-connection) and what we thought about when we thought of the blood Christ shed (Jason-the pain and how weak we humans are compared to what Christ endured; Me-the pointlessness and unjustness done to Christ and why God bothered to set things like he did). By 10:00 p.m., we were in bed anticipating a full day of hunting together.


Monday, September 24, 2007
I overslept by about ten minutes. After a very quick shower and a breakfast taco each, Jason and I geared up and headed off hunting. It was cold and cloudy to start the morning. We started our typical competition of deer spotting with me in the lead 6 to nothing, including one buck which was a small forked horn.. Jason then spotted a doe and two fawns. We apparently crossed over into Colorado and the Routt National forest without knowing it. At least ten miles past that point, while I was driving, I spotted a very nice three point buck. We drove another 50 yards and began stalking him. With a light snow falling, we headed up the hill about 100 yards. I had a great shot opportunity, but while I was moving to gain a better position on him, he spotted me and took off. I was very frustrated and sad. Jason drove us home where I fixed leftovers and we took a nap until about 3 p.m. We woke up to about two inches of snow on the awning, but the sun was peeking out of the clouds. We took off driving in the truck again and throughout the afternoon, I spotted another eight deer, but no more bucks. However, coming around the bend of a rough road, in the midst of some free range cattle, Jason spotted two very nice bucks. One was at least a three point and other was at least a forked horn. Both bucks were bigger in the body than either of the two bucks I had spotted earlier that day. Jason backed the truck up to a pullout and parked, we geared up and headed up to try and catch the deer feeding. We stalked them for about 250 yards covering 150 feet in elevation. Sadly, we never were able to relocate them and we walked away empty handed. After reaching the trailer, we had dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Jason was taking the trash and grease out for me and Sadie decided to be stupid and not stay in the trailer. Jason told her repeatedly to get back in and she wouldn’t. Instead, she took of running. She did eventually come back in, though Jason and I were still very angry with her unwillingness to obey. Overall, it was a great day of hunting even though neither of us shot an arrow at a buck. However, things looks promising.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
This mornings hunt did not go well. I did not sleep well through out the night because I could not breathe. It felt like a weight was on my chest that would not lift. Jason decided we were heading up the road we came in on, back towards town. I struggled to stay awake and enjoy the hunt. Throughout the day we saw a total of fifteen deer-Jason saw ten, and I saw five. Of Jason’s ten, 2 were bucks and of my five, two were bucks. We returned to the trailer and ate biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, bacon and eggs. Jason then went on an hour and a half hike and hunt while I took a rested and did dishes. He returned and took a nap. We then went back to the area we saw the bucks the night before. We were less than a quarter mile from where we saw the bucks and Jason had just asked me if I was looking downhill on my side of the road. Not a minute later, I see this nice three point buck feeding. Jason pulls the truck up about 25 yards and we get out to see if we could stalk him. He was about 115 yards down the hill and there was very little cover for us. However, he really didn’t seem interested in us at all, so we decided to make a go of it. We crept down the mountain behind a tree until he was about seventy five yards away and sat for about 15 minutes. He was feeding, and about every 35-45 seconds he would look around, though he was not over curious. He did hear something that got him edgy in the woods behind him, which was across the way from us, but he never spooked. Jason and I were developing a plan and neither of us were watching him when he disappeared completely. After searching the landscape for him, Jason found him bedded down with his head away from us. That was when Jason decided I was going to go stalk him on my own. I cautiously started my stalk. I would walk no more than about two yards and stop to make sure he wasn’t tracking me. I ranged him three or four times, though he was hard to range because he was just at the shadow of the forest. I finally made it down to my comfortable yardage, 30 yards, and he still had no clue at all that I was stalking him. I went ahead and took a few more steps knowing the closer I could get to, the more confident in my shot I was. I was squatting down at 28 yards and took a breath in. Apparently, he heard me because he whipped his head around and nailed me dead on. For about thirty seconds, though it felt like 5 minutes, he stared at me. When he stood up, he didn’t take off, but continued to stare at me. This gave me the chance to draw and settle in on him. However, being the inexperienced, anxious, nervous, adrenaline hunter I am, I apparently go trigger happy and released an arrow about 6 feet above him. He then took off and about 5 seconds later, huffed. He huffed two more times before appearing on the other side of the trees. He looked back at me before he took off over the other side of the ravine. We hunted a little more, but never got close enough to anything to matter. We returned to the trailer where I fried Jason a pork chop, made mashed potatoes and corn. It was impossible to eat a fried pork chop. The thought of it just about made me sick. I think I was still filled with adrenaline and I was still having a very difficult time breathing. After taking three ALIEVE and praying with Jason, I went to bed to read, which lasted all of about five minutes I am told.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
So, I woke up at 2:00 a.m. feeling great. I desperately wanted to wake Jason up and tell him, but decided that was not the best option. So I went back to sleep until Jason’s alarm went off three minutes before mine at 4:57 a.m.. We discussed the day and got up and on the road about twenty five minutes later than we wanted. Sadie and I slept to the spot we were hunting, until Jason almost hit a fawn. We arrived at the spot where we saw the three point buck on Monday and quietly began a stalk. Less than 15 yards from the truck, we busted out what we thing was probably a doe. We walked another 85 yards or so and took a stand. We sat there, bored, cold and without seeing any deer for about 35 minutes. We then decided to take a walk through woods a little bit. I saw some fresh sign, but nothing else. Jason saw nothing. We headed back to the truck where I let Sadie out. She and I played for a few minutes and then we all loaded back up in the truck to go for what ended up being a very long drive. I was saying to Jason that I figured Sadie and I made too much noise for any deer to be in the area when I spotted my first buck of the day. Jason drove a few yards up and then went back to see if he could get a better look and to see if anything else was with him. The answer was that nothing was with him and Jason never really got a good look at him. We slowly wound our way to the main highway, highway 70, that leads to Encampment/Riverside. Jason decided we would go ahead and to Saratoga which was eighteen miles away. While I was driving, we saw hundreds of antelope. We were about five miles outside of town when was saw 5 or 6 deer feeding in someone’s field. In broad daylight, with no cover anywhere close! Anyway, we stopped at the Ranger Station, used the bathroom and had some questions answered. We then headed into town, got gas, ice, a few snacks and ate lunch. We ate lunch at the “Warm Spring Café.” Jason ordered and was able to actually get a chicken chimichanga that he was said was really good. I attempted to get a homemade chile rellano, but they were out so I ended up with a Mexican Torte with red sauce (layers of corn tortillas with meat, beans, olives, and onions). It was good, but not great. We did get chips and salsa which were good, but my taste buds have been deadened by whatever is making me sick, so I didn’t think it had that much flavor or spice. Jason tells me differently. We then hit a payphone, because I forgot to grab the cell phone, and called Jason’s dad so I could tell him my “Great Stalk/Horrible Shot” story. He was very happy for me, though sad that I didn’t get a buck. His response was actually, “Well, Jason has flung a few arrows over a deer. Don’t worry about it.” We headed out of town and back to the wilderness area, again seeing hundreds of antelope and a few hunters this time. At one point of time, Jason wanted the two of take the four wheeler for a quick drive. However, we figured out that some how, the rear shock is no longer functioning as well as it did before and the two of us cannot ride together. He was sad and frustrated, but took it for a thirty minute spin, while I alphabetized the C.D.s Our ride home lasted forever and we finally ended up back at the trailer around 8:15 p.m. Deer count for the day was Jason, 20, with 9 bucks and Ginger, 14, with 5 bucks. Oh, yeah, we saw this one forked horn buck on the road. He stared and stared at us, so I decided to see if I could shoot him. I got out of the truck and he casually stepped across the road. I walked down the road to him and finally spotted him. I had an arrow knocked, but that was as far as I got. He stared at me for about 15 seconds, then ducked his head down to eat. I took a step while lifting my bow to draw on him. Those movements, slow though they were, were enough to startle him and he turned around and ran off. Oh, well, there are still many days left in our season and at least I didn’t loose an arrow this time.

Thursday, September 27, 2007
Jason had to drag me out of bed this morning. I didn’t want to go hunting at all. However, he convinced me that I needed to go, so I did. We drove up to the area I missed my big buck at. We glassed for a while (looking through binoculars at opposite hillsides), but didn’t ever really see anything worth going after. We eventually made it back to area we wanted to hunt. Jason almost immediately spotted a nice 5x6 Bull Elk (too bad we weren’t in Colorado or he would have been gone!) and not far behind him, a spike Bull Elk. While glassing the hillsides some more, we spotted lots of deer. There was a forked horn deer not far from the road and Jason suggested I go after him. It meant walking the road for about ½ mile. Apparently, not 35 yards from the buck I was going after, I caught the attention of another buck in the trees that I didn‘t see. He had me pegged, but didn’t spook, just watched me. I turned the corner and as I looked up, the buck I was going after had heard me walking and was looking right at me. I stood still for a count of forty five seconds before he started feeding again. It was when he started feeding again that I realized I had two bucks at less than 45 yards from me. I took three steps forward and again I caught their attention. They moved up the hillside another 10 yards, but I was able to walk while they did and closed the distance to about thirty yards. One of the bucks gave up and took off, but the other continued to stay and watch me. He was standing broad side to me and I would have had a perfect shot at him, however, an Aspen Tree was covering up his vitals and I was scared that if I took a shot, I was just going to injure him. I took one small step forward and that did it for him. He and his buddy took off over the ridge and were gone. Jason drove the truck to pick me up and said that he was making a bunch of noise (using calls, starting the truck, etc) to try and distract them from looking at me, but they had no interest in him at all. We headed back down and Jason took the quad while I headed back to camp and cleaned up. I added water, did the dishes, emptied the grey water, sorted and bagged dirty laundry and swept under the rugs. About the time I was finishing with that, Jason showed back up. We had breakfast for lunch (biscuits and gravy, again) and then he read and took a nap while I showered, read, and took a nap. Jason had is watch alarm set for 2:45 p.m. and when it went off, he turned it off and rolled back over for about ten minutes. We both got up and hit the road about 3: 15 p.m. We were headed out to the highway, with plans to go hunt a different area and then go to town for gas, water, and to empty the trash. However, about a quarter mile from camp, Jason said that there was a buck less than 40 yards off the road. I climbed out of the truck and Jason took off. I started casually walking down the road while putting an arrow on my bow. I looked up and the buck was looking over his left shoulder at me. Then I spotted a doe who was also looking at me. Standing still yet again, I gave them time to decide what to do. The doe decided to move on, but didn’t run away. The buck bent down to feed. I took a few mores steps and got off the road and which point, the buck turned and looked at me over his right shoulder. I again stood very still while he decided what to do. After about thirty seconds, he turned broad side and bent down to feed again. I lifted my bow and drew back. When I was taking aim at him using my thirty yard pin, he looked at me. I released my arrow and hit the buck two inches up from a perfect shot. I think I could have passed out! I had hit a buck! I stood and watched him struggle for a minute, then I ran up the road, arms in the air, jumping up and down until I saw Jason. He sped backwards to me and was astonished when I said I got him. I shot him about 3:30 in the afternoon. Jason cleaned him off a little bit and positioned him so we could get some pictures. I then headed back up to the truck to put my stuff away while Jason field dressed the animal (removing all his innards). After taking a few more pictures, Jason, with a little assistance from me, dragged my buck up to the truck. We ran up the road to a place where I found a pocket of cell phone service so could call my father-in-law, my mother-in-law and my mother to tell them that I had harvested a buck. We then went back to camp, hung him and skinned him. Jason then spent about 1½ hours getting the hide ready to tan and I cooked dinner. Tacos, with beans and rice. Total deer count for the day was Jason-12, 4 of which were bucks and me 8, 2 of which were bucks.

Friday, September 28, 2007
I got a buck, so I earned the privilege of sleeping in. Jason, however, was still hunting so he left around 6 a.m. I spent the morning doing my puzzle book and listening to a book on tape (more on that later). He returned and had breakfast then took a nap. We left the trailer around 3 p.m. and drove all over the national forest. We never really saw anything that Jason wanted to go after. We ran into town (since we never made it there yesterday) and got the things we needed. We then hit the trailer for a dinner of BBQ Chicken, pasta and salad. Due to his morning run, Jason was way ahead on deer count. He saw 17 deer, 7 of those being bucks. I on the other hand saw 6 deer with one being a buck.

Saturday, September 29, 2007
After I fixed him a homemade egg mcmuffin and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for his hike, Jason took off from the trailer around 5:45 this morning. I read for about an hour, then fell back asleep for about an hour. After getting up and eating breakfast, I again set to work on my puzzle book and finished my book on tape. Jason returned to the trailer around noon and we sat here for about forty five minutes. By then all the snow had melted. We then took off to go find him a buck. I dropped him off at the top of Black Hall Mountain and two hours later picked up him up on the road. He saw a doe bedded down, but nothing else. We drove around, looking for deer for a couple of more hours. Unfortunately, we now have a few things working against us. For one, the weather has once again turned wet. We are experiencing a mix of snow and rain, with the clouds overcast. This often times means that the deer will not feed out in the open, choosing instead to stay in the timber. The other thing working against us is that rifle season opens on Monday (9/31) so the national forest if filling with rifle hunters galore. This will also push the deer further in the timber as they drive around, scouting and getting to know the area. We finished with day with spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. Deer count for the day- Jason, 7 with 1 buck, and I saw three deer, no bucks.

Sunday, September, 30, 2007
We went to sleep to the sound of a gentle rain, but woke up to a blanket of snow all over the ground and trees. Sunday brought another early wake up for Jason. I didn’t sleep much longer after he left which ended up a good thing since he was back before nine because of the snow. I had just given up and fixed myself a breakfast taco when he pulled up. So I fixed him breakfast and Jason went for ride on the four wheeler. After he returned we set to work on butchering my deer. Neither Jason nor I expected it to take as long as it did. At 4:00 p.m., Jason quit cutting and took off to go finishing hunting while I finished wrapping he rest of the meat. He saw some deer, but nothing he wanted to take. After Jason made another trip to town, we had venison tenderloin, fried potatoes, corn on the cob and salad. We both ate ourselves silly to say the least. By the time I had three bites of meat left, I was about to explode, but I refused to throw out any of my deer meat.

Monday, October, 1, 2007
Jason again took off pretty early to go hunting, but this time with his rifle, not his bow. He spent all day out and hiked something like 6 miles. I spent the day enjoying my last day at camp and began some packing. I had a fight with the tarp and the wind, but in the end, the tarp was dry and folded and I sat back down in the trailer. I had used different objects around campus to weight down the tarp and the wrap around for the pop up tent we use for our shower so the wind wouldn’t take off with them. One of the things I had used was a propane tank Jason had filled last night. Well, I set it back down where it was supposed to be and the next thing I knew it sounded like it was about to explode. Apparently, the man who had filled the tank did not properly tighten the bleeder valve (a valve they use to bleed the tank while filling it to prevent it from exploding) or it was loosened by vibration during the ride. Anyway, after I set the propane tank down, and the bleeder valve all the sudden lets loose. I freaked out! I immediately picked up the tank and moved it away from the trailer. Then I couldn’t figure out what to do. Finally, after a few minutes, I located my handy dandy screwdriver kit and got a flat head screw driver available to tighten the valve. In the process, I think we lost almost half a tank of propane. It was a little intense. Anyway, as I said, Jason spent all day out hunting. He pulled into camp around 7:00 p.m. with a small forked horn buck with eye guards. He decided to go ahead and take small because he didn’t want to waste the tag and wanted the meat. So we once again set to butchering and wrapping the meat. All day, it had been windy and cloudy, but never really rained at camp. It took us about three hours in the wind to butcher and wrap the deer meat. It then started sprinkling. Jason began packing up more of camp while trying to decide if we should go ahead and leave camp, fearing the rain would turn into snow, again and leave us snowed in. While he did that, I fixed him an omelet. He quickly ate his omelet then went back outside. It took about 35 seconds for him to decide we were leaving as soon as possible because snow started falling. An hour and a half and four inches later, we had camped quickly packed and hooked up to the trailer. We hoped into the truck and said a desperate prayer asking for safety and guidance as we attempted to get out. We were camped down in a little hollow, so Jason was going to have take his 2 wheel drive attached to a trailer up an incline before being able to drive up the hill to get out of camp. To put it gently, it did not go well. I jumped out of the truck to make sure Jason did not hit a tree, but could back up and get more of running start. He did, but turned left on the road we needed to go right on. This led us down to a dead end where Jason was able to turn around. This again gained us a running start since we were at the bottom of the hill. We were able to get past our road, but not by much. I again jumped out to assist him. However, the minute he released the brake, the trailer slid into the ditch making it impossible to move. Fortunately, at that time, Jason remembered that his father had given him a set of snow chains for his tires. He was able to get those on and they provided enough traction to get us out. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t smooth sailing by any stretch of the imagination. About every 45 seconds to a minute, I was petitioning the Lord for continued protection. And He was gracious and good to us and provided our passage to the wonderful, dry town of Encampment. What should have taken no more than 30 minutes, actually took an hour and twenty minutes. We filled with water again, found a place to park and crashed for the night.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007
After getting less than five hours of sleep, we again woke up, repacked and hit the road. It actually was smooth sailing from there to Amarillo, though it took 13 hours. We pulled in right on time at 10:00 p.m. even though we thought we would be late. We were glad to get home into our California King Bed (a great improvement from the bed in the trailer). All in all, it was a great and wonderful trip. God blessed us more wonderfully in our travels and our hunting.

Jason has loaded pictures onto a different computer, so I will post pictures later. This post was long enough anyway.