The Elk Hunt Week

Pretty much the last two weeks were spent up at the cabin for the elk hunt

We left Friday the 5th

Kennedy and I had a few things we had to do to get ready before we could leave

Some of it was shopping

Which included getting her Halloween costume

She wanted to be Spider Girl

I let her wear it around the house 

It was too rough and she crashed for a while

Chris, Todd, Hunter, Kennedy and I all went to the cabin Friday night

The hunt opened Saturday morning

Between us all had 3 spike tags and one cow tag

Todd filled his cow tag opening morning

It was SO cold to start with but warmed up finally 

We did a little cruising around looking for elk

We were on their private property so Kennedy rode up front with Grandpa for a while

She thought that was the coolest thing 

There was lots of hanging out by the campfire

Makin smores

Todd and Hunter left Sunday afternoon

We came down to hang the elk in the cooler and head back up

Monday morning Chris's friends from work were up in that area too and had a few cow tags

We brought them over to where we were hunting and they ended up filling two of their cow tags

Kennedy and I were off in one spot while Jason, Mike and Dillon were brushing an area

Jasons wife Tammy was across the hill from us watching another spot

The guys were brushing the trees down hill towards us girls so anything that they spooked should run down to us

Kennedy was sitting by me on a log and I turned around and she had found a piece of wood and was playing the violin

She is too much sometimes!

We didnt see ANY spikes

Saw a lot of bucks.. including the two on the left who were headbutting and playing

A TON of doe and fawns

Most doe had twins with them

A lot of bull moose

Ton of grouse

Antelope

A few nice bulls

But no spikes

Chris, Kennedy and her puppy Chocolate took a nap

We came home Wednesday to shower up and I had a softball game that night

We were eating dinner at 5:45 when my dad called

He said oh hey we are having a safety fair and cutting up cars, I bet Kenned would love it! You guys should come down.. it goes from 5-7.. so we hurried and headed to Ogden

Dad waited for Kennedy and cut up a car just so her and Kinlie could watch

They thought it was pretty cool

(He's the one in the white helmet)

and there was all kinds of other neat kids safety fair stuff

We headed from there over to our final fall softball game for a team I was playing on sponsored by BRB

Early that next morning we got started cutting up the three elk

Dad and Dane each got a nice bull opening morning out in Snowville

Elysha brought donuts

We turned on movies for the kids inside Liz's house before they all had to go to school and spent all day cutting and wrapping!

As soon as we were done we showered and headed back to camp

As usual Kennedy cant stay awake on the wheeler

One day we took a long adventure and ended up in Randolph

We saw some neat country and cool logging areas

I wore my furry hat.. it may be ugly but let me tell you it was SO WARM in the cold wind

They were doing a lot of burns in the area during the hunt which sucked

Mill hollow, they burned all of Elk Valley

It really messed up the elks normal habits and filled the air with so much smoke

It made my allergies twice as bad

But it did make some cool looking mornings

We would sit and watch the fire and smoke over the ridge when we were at camp

We could see the lights of the trucks and watched the helicopters drop in water

Kennedy had been making an elk call noise with her mouth

It was so funny

She started doing it over and over and over outside 

She ended up calling in a bull moose!!

Seriously!!

She was SO excited about that

You can see her on the wheeler calling and the moose in the treeline

Friday the weather was kind of sucky and we spent some time just hanging out at camp

Kennedy curled up in the recliner and was watching movies

I tried to wear the lucky elk hat for luck but it didnt work

We took a drive over to Elk Valley to see what they had burned

Saw a nice bull but no spikes

We came home empty handed so far

However we hadnt heard of ANYONE getting or seeing ANY spikes at all in the area we were hunting.. so that made us feel a little better! 

We still have a few more days until it closes but its back to the real world and work for us

We will be able to get in an evening hunt or two so cross your fingers we will get at least one!

Child of mine

Kennedy came into my room bright and early in the morning

You can tell how early because she still has sleep eyes

She informed me that she was dressed and ready for school and this is what she was going to wear

We had a softball game the other night

She had been sick (on Chris's bday) and it was cold

So I got her a hot chocolate and put 12 layers on her

On the way to the game she said

"Mom I have a frog in my throat. But the hot chocolate cut off its head. So its split open like this (she makes the motions with her hands) bu its body is still stuck in there wiggling (again motions with her hands) I need more hot chocolate to get rid of the rest of its body"

And the rest of the night told everyone she had a frog but its head was cut off

Chris's Birthday

Chris's bday was on Wednesday the 3rd

But that night he had fire drill and I had softball, my dad worked and his dad had meetings too

It wasnt a good day so I decided to have a little family party for him on Tuesday

Dad and Dane leave for the elk hunt Thursday and we have dinner with his mom and step dad so..

Tuesday it was!

You know that old saying about best laid plans..

Ashley came over just before 5 to help me get everything finished

Dinner was at 6 for everyone

Chris's pager went off at 5:02

10-51 PI MM 353 I-15.... and by this point thats all we heard

He was in his truck and gone

Didnt know if it was northbound or southbound

But most accidents if they even make it on scene with out getting cancelled dont take long

MOST

He was gone about 10 minutes before his phone started ringing like crazy

He forgot it and left it at home

His dad called to tell us he was just leaving SLC and was on his way

We told him Chris was on an accident but we didnt know northbound or southbound again...

About 30 minutes later his mom calls and asks if all her kids are ok because she heard there was a fatal northbound

Its now 6pm and everyone is showing up

Figured we might as well go ahead and eat because the food is done and they should be here soon

We ate.. and hung out..and waited

Dad didnt show up either but we figured he was on the accident

MM 353 is Willard Fire Depts area-Dads on Willard Fire

But Brigham has an automatic Mutual Aid-Todd and Chris are on Brigham Fire

Ashley is on Brigham Ambulance.. but she wasnt on call that night!

Well Todd calls hes stuck in stand still traffic

Its almost 7 and no Chris... No Dad...no Todd

Elysha, Dane, Parker, Kennedy, Kinlie, Ashley, Derek and Rylee and I were all just hanging out.. 

Liz left cause her friend was having drama

Chris and Dad were out on this fatal who Chris knew the wife of the guy and the twins were friends with his wife too and Ashley went to school with the guy.. and the guys brother in law was a trooper.. for that area.. who was working that night.. and went on the call

Dad and Todd made it to the house around 8pm

I had made spaghetti and meatballs, breadsticks and salad

We had no clue when Chris was going to be home because he was in charge of the truck he was on so he had all the paperwork so we ate cake

I left him the parts with the candles on it lol

He came home about 8:30 as everyone was leaving

His sister said to me its a good thing you understand and are used to this lifestyle coming into this family!

No kidding!

I had also made Chris a 'beer cake'

I made him sit down and open his presents 

Everyone was gone

The food was gone

Kids were in bed

And he'd been home 30 minutes ha!

He got a few camo shirts, some brush pants, a camo hat, a metal fire sign he wanted

And these two were my favorites I couldn't wait to give him!

A firefighter belt buckle and a rescue knife

The knife has a window punch, seat belt cutter and then the normal blade

The next day was Chris's real birthday

He had to work all day and Kennedy didnt feel good

Shes had bad allergies and the runny nose built up a congestion in her chest

She gets this every year at this time

She felt bad enough that she didnt even want to go on her field trip for school!!!

So she cuddled up in bed in her pj's with a movie and some hot apple cider

I made chicken tortilla soup for dinner in the crockpot

and did a second birthday dinner for Chris

I mean you HAVE to have something on your actual birthday!

Kennedy was only down for a minute and spent the rest of the day running around

She kept watching for "Daddy Chris" out the window and asking me about every 5 minutes if it was 4 yet.. starting about 10:30

)She asked the other day if he thought it would be ok if she called him Daddy Chris since he was going to be her step dad

It was so cute

I told her she could call him whatever she wanted but if she wanted to she could ask him if it was ok)

Table was set and waiting

She has to sit in the middle so she can sit by us both 

He opened the door and we started to sing happy birthday and had him blow out his candles

Then he was off to run errands and go to fire drill

Kennedy and I took a nap before my 9pm softball game

So the deer are shot.. now what??

***Just a warning these pictures arent 'graphic' they just show blood and meat.. so if thats not your thing feel free to skip! But its very educational!***

We take my deer, load it on the four wheeler after its been gutted and take it back to camp, put it in the truck and head down to hang and skin it

In both cases with both deer we take them to the meat shop and skin them out

Taking off all the hide and hair

Cleaning up any parts that were missed before and taking off the legs

Theres no meat on the lower halves

We cut a hole in the upper back legs and put it through the hooks onto the hoist

Then we can lift it up slowly out of the back of the truck as its skinned

The deer has been dead a while but there is still blood that comes out from where it was shot at or the meat was damaged

Thats part of why its important to get it skinned and uncovered

Then once the deer are skinned out they are placed in the cooler for a few days

The one is mine and the other is my dads

You can see there is a bit of a size difference also fat difference

After a few days we went down to cut it up

We placed them onto the scale to see what they weighed 

Dads was 130 lbs!!!

It was very dense and heavy

Zack stopped by for a minute so we put him to work helping the guys lift the deer up and onto the hooks

My deer weighed just over 70lbs 

Next we take the cold meat into the cutting room

Trim off pieces of fat and damaged meat

Chris's first time in the meat shop sporting his cute goatee he got to keep for a whole day

Dont worry thats not an actual garbage can

Its a meat waste container

Hunter is trimming up part of the deer

We cut off pieces and chunks

Make several different steak cuts, a few roasts, and cut the rest into chunks to make jerky, salami, summer sausage, brats or german sausage with

Then we wrap it up and take it home to put in the freezer

As for the rest of the deer this is where ours meet different fates

Dane takes the cape (head and neck area) from dads deer and cleans it up

He uses a flesher to take off all the meat and left over parts

Then he mixes up a solution and does a 'hair on' tan.. so basically makes the hair stay on but tans the hide so he can mount it

All the skin has been taken off the head of Dads deer 

The antlers are cut off

The body part on a mount is like a dense styrofoam body

Theres no bones or anything like that in it

The eyes are like a glass marble

The nose and parts are air brushed and the hide is sewn over the mount once its tanned and touched up

Dad will get a mount to hang on the wall that looks like a real deer

My antlers were smaller

I decided for a different option

I boiled the left over hair and parts off of the antlers after they were cut off

Its a bleach water mixture

Cleans them up and sanitizes them basically

Then I will show you the finished product when its done :)

While I was boiling these Kennedy was upstairs

She came down and said

Mom... you're not cooking us antlers for dinner are you!?????

Deer Hunt

Deer hunt this year we went up to the cabin

Left Tuesday after Chris got off work

Came back on Sunday

Dad came up Tuesday-Friday

Hunter came up Thursday-Sunday

and Grandpa Todd came up Sat-Sun

Opening morning we saw 2 NICE 4 points, about 4 2x2s, 2x3, 1x2 and half a million doe and fawns

Didnt take any shots opening morning

A lot of them weren't very close or able to get a good shot at

Some of them I passed up because, well, its opening day!!!

The next day the only bucks we saw was ONE small 2x2

That was it

I took a shot at a decent 2x2.. it was kind of a long shot for a muzzle loader.. 240 yards.. I missed

Hiked out this thick brush area and dad kicked up a big 2x2 and a 2x3.. 

One was running up the hill through the trees about 300 yards... I missed

And a few other shots that were a LONG ways out there

I know its a long shot for a muzz..but when you're watching the deer run off and over the ridge and know theres no chance of getting on him any closer I figured what the hell

Might as well aim high and take a shot instead of just watching it run away

Hail Mary's can happen

Dad left and no deer were bagged then

We did get some amazing sunsets/sunrises and wonderful scenery!!

We spent a good amount of time on four wheelers

The funny thing was the deer paid no mind to you if you were on a four wheeler or in a truck

But the second they saw a person standing there they were gone

Did some shooting

Some grouse hunting

Dad and Chris each got one

Lots and lots of glassing hills and looking around

We saw cow and bull elk, turkeys, antelope, a beaver, cow moose, bull moose, sat and listened to the elk bugle in the morning 

We ate and ate and ate

Consumed and entire large bowl of muddy buddies

And had some great family moments together!

Oh yeah and got a deer :)

Saturday night we were hunting and had kicked up a few deer

Nothing close at all

All long ways away

It was getting dark

Only about 45 minutes left to hunt

Kennedy and I were on one wheeler and Chris and Hunter were on another

There was one road we passed by several times but had never gone down

I asked Chris what was down there

He said nothing really just a few camp places

All the deer we kept seeing were moving DOWN and going low instead of higher where they should have been

I figured it would be an adventure and it looped around to another area I wanted to be just before dark

We headed down the trail

Chris and Hunter were a ways behind Kennedy and I 

I think he thought I was nuts for wanting to go down there 

Kennedy and I hadnt gone very far when there was something in the middle of the road at the crest of the hill

I asked Kennedy what is that?

She was silent

She knew

I thought it was just a doe but then it turned its head a tiny bit and I caught a glimmer of an antler

I stopped the four wheeler

Jumped off

Got my gun out of the scabber on the bike and kneeled down to shoot

Chris and Hunter are stopped a ways behind us at this point

I look back at them and then shoot

The deer ran about 30 yards and dropped

Kennedy was ecstatic!!

She was so so happy

Jumping up and down

Kept saying over and over you got one mom!! you shot him!

Chris was pretty happy too he gave me a big hug and was excited

The antlers arent super big but thats ok

It had a good size body so plenty of meat!

Chris gutted it and Kennedy and I helped

We came down hung the deer, spent the night and went back up on Saturday to spend the rest of the weekend until Sunday when we went home

Week before deer hunt

Oh its been a busy last few weeks!!

The week before we left for the deer hunt dad shot his Idaho deer in Pocatello Valley with his bow

We were all very excited for him!
Its a great deer!

After he got home from hunting we (him and I) had to build/assemble a shooting platform for his new shooting sled

I was reading through the instructions and they were cracking me up

So blunt and smartass

This was one of my favorites

Finished product 

The neat thing about this is you clamp it onto a solid surface

Then hook it all up

And press this syringe thing once its all sighted in and you shoot with out touching the gun at all

It was a little new for all of us and nerve wracking that first shot but its pretty neat

Makes sure your gun is zeroed in with out any human error

And of course we had to shoot it after too