Saturday Chris and I had an alone date. We headed out west to try and get an antelope. The tag ended Sunday. Our family has a tradition/superstition that every hunt and fishing trip we take Raspberry Filled donuts with us and have a great trip. Its been like that since we were little tiny kids. Chris has always laughed at us for the tradition. Its small things like this that show he really loves me. He put them in the truck when we were getting ready just so that we would have a good hunt :)
We wandered all over just as the sun was coming up. The skies were beautiful!
We had a big fat zero on any antelope. We didnt see any coyotes or antelope. We even went to the places we saw them before but the had moved cattle and sheep into the areas. Dad and Phil were also out hunting in the areas looking for the same thing. We were going to contact each other if we found a big herd. By 830 we hadn't seen anything and neither had they. We saw a bunny or two along the side of the road and decided to get out and shoot since there were no antelope in miles!
We found a little hole full of rabbits!
For those of you thinking "what the hell, cute fluffy bunnies" let me explain something. Rabbits are an invasive species. A decent rabbit population of course helps keep the Eco system in balance. BUT an over run of rabbits creates all kinds of problems They DESTROY the ground. Their holes and tunnels cause the erosion and collapse. It hurts the vegetation and a good group of rabbits in the area decimate the vegetation... and there is that whole saying 'breeding like rabbits' it doesn't take long to have a TON in an area.
Jack rabbits are not good eating. They are more like a nuisance rabbit. You shoot those and leave them for the coyotes. Coyotes and mountain lions eating dead rabbits that are easy to get keep them from eating the baby deer and antelope. Its all about the circle of life here and keeping things in balance.
However cotton tails are delicious. There is a season on them so you cant shoot them at just anytime like you can jack rabbits. This is a cotton tail. We kept the cotton tails we shot to eat.
We had so much stinking fun! We froze to death, it was only 7 degrees outside, but it was great.
This is a jack rabbit. Theyre a lot bigger than cotton tails. I got it with Chris's pistol
We drove around for a little bit more glassing areas and trying to find any sign of antelope. We ran into Dad and Phil. We were following them on a road when Dad got out to chase some rabbits and stretch his legs.
We passed them and a couple hundred yards ahead we ran into another pocket of bunnies. Dad and Phil came to join us.
Chris and Phil were on the roads while Dad and I pushed through the brush
We had a blast and before you knew it, it was time to go!
It was 230. We had over an hour and a half drive home. And then had to be in Layton by 5pm for the Barton family party.
We made it! I had time to shower and do my hair. We got to Golden Corral right at 5! We had reserved a room and made it through the crazy crowd.
We had a great dinner and the dessert bar was a huge hit
Koree and some cotton candy
This is my dads side of the family. It also was an Ugly Sweater party
Liz and I helping Grandma feel tall. Her ugly sweater was a tree skirt she made and it was adorable!
Chris and I with Grandma and Grandpa and Mom and Dad
and Kyle and I
It was a great dinner. We parked way out in the parking lot because the place was packed and I didnt want my car to get hit. Well when we came out it was COVERED.. COMPLETELY COVERED in crow poop. And its not just runny. It was thick and frozen on my car. It looked ten times worse than this in real life. I had to stop at a car was on the way home because I was so embarrassed.
