This year I drew a cow elk tag and again hunted the Cave Valley area.   Driving up, I begin to feel a calm and quietness as Mt. Grafton comes into view.  Rocky ridges surround me and the smell of sage brush permeates the air.

I was fortunate to fill my tag.  This was the first elk I have harvested and was completely amazed at the size and weight of such an animal.   There is no moving one of these like you do a deer.   You clean and quarter it right were it lies and pack it out.  Fortunately for me, the road was very near by.

I estimate I have at least 4 or 5 times the amount of meet from this animal as from previous deer.   As such, I’ve reached out to family to come and stock up as well.   Even with spreading the bounty around, I doubt we will have finished this off in a year and so, next year, I will probably just put in for points and not hunt… we’ll see.

Like last year, we spent a lot of time just having fun….shooting our bows,  plinking with our .22s, quading, fishing, and all sorts of other camping activities.

Quading through the trees — heading for the peaks to hike around and scout for elk.

After a successful hunt, we decided to head a little south and camp in Eagle Valley and spend some time fishing.  While there, I met a neighboring camper who was spending some time with his daughter, traveling from camp to camp, fishing and sort of hunting, but mostly just getting away with his daughter.

While talking with him, he mentioned he was setting up an aquaponics system.   Typically, no one ever knows what that means, but out in the middle of no where, the two of us happened to meet.   I told him about my system and experiences and he shared some of the things he had read and learned.   I was especially excited to learn he had some thoughts on why my system would grow so well, but not produce a lot of fruit.  More fish may be needed he told me, so, I will add more fish and see how it goes this season.

At Eagle, we would typically spend the late afternoon hours fishing.  The first few days, were pasted quietly floating on the water with my fly rod.  But then, after coming back from cutting firewood one day, my float tube had deflated.  It had begun to come apart at the seam.  As a result, I waded in for a couple of days. This wasn’t nearly as fun.

Lucky for me, before my tube had a problem, I was able to get some pictures and video.   The fly was able to attract a lot of rainbows, but also browns and large mouth bass.

The last night, I decided to trade my fly rod for an ultra-lite spinning rod and throw some spinners from the shore.  My goal was to limit and bring home fish for my girls.   As the sun started to set, the fish began to surface.  I couldn’t see what they were feeding on, but it was game on.   Nearly every cast would get a hit and hook up.   In short order I was able to bring in 4 rainbow and 1 big brown.

I look forward to next year hunting or not, the get away is the real prize.

See the entire gallery of pictures!

The post Cow Elk Hunt – 2014 appeared first on The Best Things In Life.

This year was really great! I camped with three friends, LJ, Don and Doug. This year only LJ and I had deer tags, and Don and Doug came along for the fun. While camping we enjoyed all sorts of activities.

Nearly everyday we shot our bows.

Relaxing around the camp and nightly campfire

We explored the Cave Valley cave. Deep in the cave there is a section with lots of names and dates going back to the early 1900’s. The Morris family has a lot of representation on the cave walls.

One of the days, we took out the .22s and played around with the dueling tree. It is always fun to burn through hundreds of rounds of .22 trying to best your opponent on the dueling tree.

Doug writes an outdoor column for the RJ and I thought it funny that one afternoon he spent his time writing his column while out in the mountains camping.

Cave Valley weather changes from day to day. One day it felt like it got up to 80°; others it barely reached 50°. Nearly every morning when we would get up, it was in the teens or low twenties. We even had a day and night with snow and rain.

In the area where we hunt there is an old rock house hidden among the rock out cropings on the mountain side. It looks like it was an old outlaw hideout. It affords a view of the entire valley so as to be alert to anyone approaching. From below, it is nearly impossible to see even when you know it is there. One afternoon I hiked up to the old house.

See the upper left corner

I then continued up to the end of the draw and hiked over the ridge and down the other side of the mountain. There is a great peace that comes when you are alone on a mountain, feeling a cool breeze whip across your face while being bathed with warm rays of sunlight. I took advantage of the time to reflect on how great God’s creation is and how blessed I am to have time to enjoy it.

While exploring the country we came across wild horses, elk, deer, antelope and coyotes.

As for the hunt itself, both LJ and I hunted opening day. We saw very few deer, but by mid-morning a group of buck passed between where LJ and I were hunting. LJ was hunting high and I was down low in the flats. Since it was the first day and they were all forky’s, we both elected to just admire the animals.

Monday was our second day for hunting and again it was very slow. Again I was low and LJ was up high. Doug and I parked ourselves out in a flat area in plain view with no cover anywhere near. After a long while, I saw some horns bouncing into sight from behind a parallel ridge about fifty yards in front of us. For a minute, my adrenaline really started to pump, but I quickly saw it was an antelope. This big guy walked over the ridge then turned up the draw and went straight to LJ and Don who were concealed in a patch of sage and buck brush. Once he reached the brush where they were hiding he began feeding; some twenty-five yards away from LJ and Don who were glassing in the opposite direction. Neither the antelope nor LJ and Don knew of the others presence. While Doug and I laughed at the scene a doe and two fawns popped up about twenty yards from us, spooking Doug and me. This time the joke was on us.

It wasn’t long after, I spotted a pair of antlers a few hundred yards out on the horizon heading straight for me. I quickly whispered to Dough, “I see a buck!” Doug then started to turn so he could see when I yelled as loud as possible when whispering, “Don’t Move! Stay quiet! He’ is looking straight at us.” A few seconds later he dropped behind a ridge and allowed me to bring my rifle up without giving away our position. Doug had now turned around and had his glasses fixed on where the buck had disappeared behind the little knoll. It seemed like we waited an hour for the buck to reappear. We scanned high and low, not knowing if he had turned up or down the draw he had dropped into. Then he suddenly reappeared still walking straight towards us. My breathing became heavy as I anticipated the moment. I watched through my scope for what seemed a very long time as he presented nothing but a head on shot. Several times he stopped, looked directly at us, then continued towards us. Doug and I remained as still as the rocks, never giving away our presence. Finally, when about 75 or 80 yards out, he turned enough to present a shot. I exhaled completely. paused and squeezed. The bark of my .308 broke the silence of the morning and the buck was down.

While this whole scene played out, LJ and Don watched from above. Don said he looked down and saw my rifle was up. He told LJ, “Paul has his rifle up. He never brings it up unless he sees something.” Then they spotted the buck heading towards us. Finally, Don said to LJ, “He just shot it.” LJ answered, “how do you know?” As soon as the words escaped his lips he heard the report of my rifle. Don had seen the buck jump when hit, a few seconds before hearing the shot.

I ended up taking several hundred pictures of a lot of beautiful scenery.  To see all of them go here.

The post Cave Valley Deer Hunt appeared first on The Best Things In Life.

The post Deer Hunt appeared first on The Best Things In Life.