Kansas 2007

I got in a bit of a hurry and ended up with a smaller buck than I hoped for. It was opening morning at 8 am when I first saw a deer. It was 450 yards and moving on the sky line, I never had time to set up for a shot. He was a good buck, about the size I end up shooting 2 hours later. I was hunting on Bill Rowe’s 280 acre parcel located a couple of miles east of Cedar Vale. We had looked at this property in the spring and I had selected a general area to sit. Below is the view from my stand. The open lane in the middle, angling slightly to the left, is an old pipeline.

I heard three shots behind me, the second shots of the day. I stepped off to my right about 10 feet to get a better look in the direction of the shooting. Glancing back in the direction I had been watching I spot a deer, the second one of the day, walking across my shooting lane. A quick look through the bino's confirmed he was a buck. I went back to where I had been sitting for the last two hours, picked up the forked stick I had been whittling on, and sat down for a 315 yard shot. (I had ranged to the location earlier) Time from seeing the deer to pulling the trigger was about 3 seconds. The sight picture looked good but it was a long poke and I had rushed the shot. In addition, we had 10-15 mph winds where I was sitting and the speed across the shooting lane was anyone’s guess. I lost sight of the deer at the shot.

The land owner was sitting in his truck above where I shot. He drove down to where I had shot from and we put together a plan. He drove back above the trees and when I saw him in position I hiked over to where I had shot. The buck had gone about 20 yards and was just inside the brush. Impact was exactly on the point of the shoulder.

The image below looks back to where I was sitting and image was taken about 20 yards above where the deer dropped. The red circle is where I was sitting. The open lane in the middle is the old pipeline.

This was a great area to hunt. In hindsight I should have sat on the opposite hillside looking back toward where I had sat. Looking north would have provided a better view and would have kept the sun out of my face. A view looking north from 20 yards above the kill spot is shown below. Bill’s property line is only 20 feet north of where I sat.

Later the same day I see two deer in Sarah’s folk’s backyard. They tell me they don’t see deer very often but have plenty of sign. The very next day I spot three deer in the yard and one is a bigger buck than the one I shot. They live inside the city limits, no shooting allowed.

I paid $100 to have the skull European mounted but the taxidermist, Kevin, does an awfully poor job. He does show me his 25th in the state whitetail, a 200+ buck plus two more exceptionally nice bucks on his wall. He also tells me the property across the street is public land and has a 200-class buck that no one is hunting.

Idaho Deer Hunt

My brother Dale came out for a late season deer hunt. While driving along the Salmon River I spotted this buck standing in a guy's driveway. We stopped, Dale got out, chased the deer across the river, and using my .284 shot the buck. He shot it once through the shoulder and then through the arse. We'll never know the reason for the second shot, maybe he didn't want us eating too much venison?

Saturday Deer Hunt

Last Saturday Rick and I went deer hunting in the hills somewhere south of Sun Valley. We drove the jeep as far up into the hills as we could. Check it out. I circled the jeep in yellow.

We spent Friday and Saturday nights in Ketchum. Leaving town, we drove past the Sun Valley ski resort, and there was snow - all the way from top to bottom!

Puzzles

Rick's brother Dale came to visit us - for deer hunting season. But Rick and I were sick and the weather was nasty, so we stayed home and did jigsaw puzzles! I know, hard to believe. But it turns out the three of us are puzzle maniacs. I was thoroughly surprised by our dedication.

The first puzzle we did, the only one in the house, turned out to be a Christmas gift from Dale some years back. It was terribly hard. Just look at the pieces!

We worked long and hard on this one. Do they look like brothers?

Rick's glasses didn't work at all for me, but I thought they were pretty cute.

We finished the puzzle in one day.

So I immediately went to the store and bought another one. This puzzle was better suited to Rick's glasses.

We made great progress the first day, but Rick felt better and the weather cleared. There was hunting to be done (but that's another story for Rick to tell.) So we didn't finish this one so quickly. But we did finish it!

October Leaves

I took these photos of our back yard in early October. I was sitting on the back deck enjoying a beer on a warm sunny day after work. The trees looked so pretty. I felt compelled to take some photos using my cell phone camera.

That's our dog, Berlin.

The leaves are almost all gone now. Rick and I have raked leaves on three separate occasions so far.

Thousand Springs Festival

Last weekend Rick and I went to the Thousand Springs Festival near Hagerman, ID. We waited all year for it because last year we just happened to find it -- but at closing time. This is a small festival, but the art is nice (watercolors, photos, baskets, leather works, sculptures, glass, etc) and they have live music and food. Our favorite exhibit was the slightly disturbing metal sculptures of http://www.artisan-forge.com/sculptures.html.

The festival is held at the Thousand Springs Preserve, which is a spectacular place where springs (thousands of them, really!) gush out from the cliffsides. These are some of the larger springs. It was so windy that day, the water was blowing back up the cliff!

My favorite part is where the spring water gathers into a creek that runs through the middle of the festival. The water is the clearest I have ever seen. There are green plants growing underwater that glow when the sunlight hits them.

The Flying Pig Ranch

Beth Ann, co-owner (with husband Michael) of The Flying Pig Ranch (est. 2007), threw a big camping party and BBQ to celebrate Michael's 50th birthday. Complete with T-shirts, a horseshoe contest, and individually-boxed cupcakes, it was fantastic.

By Saturday evening, we had erected a small city of campers. Here is a view from the hillside above.

So many family and friends were there, and a good time was had by all. Thanks for a fabulous party, Beth Ann, and Happy Birthday Michael!