By: Bears Butt

As we approach winter we are likely to be seeing more wild game animals crossing the roads.  Please be mindful of the signs posted along the roadways…they are there for a reason, just check this site out:

http://now.msn.com/fargo-woman-complains-about-deer-crossing-signs

Only in North Dakota folks!

Bears Butt

Oct. 16, 2012

Written on October 16th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

I was doing a little research for one of my supporters for the muzzleload antelope hunting proposal and found that the latest record of economic data about hunting and fishin in Utah is as old as 2006.  That is the latest info available on line.

In this day and age it’s amazing we don’t have 2011 information available.  I don’t get it.

Anyway, for all of Utah hunters of big game, and this data includes out of state hunters as well (another thing that boggles me is why can’t they show residents in one column and non-residents in another?) we spend an average of $1,099 each for hunting  big game.

That number includes Food and lodging/Transportation/Equipment and Other trip costs.

Looking at my own list:  Food = $52, Lodging = $100 (est. tax and registration and wear and tear), Transportation = $150, Equipment = $20 (replenishing powder, ball and caps mostly) and Other trip costs = $80 (5 cases of cheap beer and some Halloween candy).  $402 total.

Now add in the $10 application fee, $30 combination hunting license, $ 35 deer tag and the grand total is $477.

Looks like I need to get a part time job to off set my set wage.

Bears Butt

Oct. 16, 2012

 

Written on October 16th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

Felix Baumgartner…the name in the news…For those of you who don’t know who this guy is, he is the crazy guy that jumped out of a capsule from nearly 24 miles in the air.  He had 5 different records he wanted to break yesterday (Oct. 14, 2012), but he only broke  some of them.  It’s not his fault that he didn’t break all of his record attempts, but he sure did something that no other person on earth has ever done.

Me…I get really dizzy when I stand too close to the edge of a cliff that doesn’t have a railing to keep me from falling off.  I inherited it from my mother I guess, as she used to say her feet would get really cramped when she was riding close to the edge of a road that had a drop off on her side.  She said it was like a bird clinging to a tree branch.  Well, I know exactly how she felt, because my feet do the same thing.

So, here is Felix Baumgartner, standing on a small platform, 24 miles above the earth and he is going to fall forward off of that platform  and dive headlong toward the ground.

The space guys said he would not have any control over his plummeting for several thousand feet because it was like being in a vacuum up there and no matter what he tried to do he would have no wind resistance or anything that would help him recover from tumbling or turning or anything.  That sure is a comforting thought.

He trained to fall forward in such a way that he would just go straight down, head first and not twist or turn or tumble or any of the ugly things that would cause him not to go straight down headfirst.  This was not his first jump from a very high distance.

Why would a man who seems to have a lot of things going for him want to do such a thing?  REDBULL!  I’m certain he has nothing to worry about financially the rest of his life and neither does his wife and family.  He secured every need they may have in the future when he put his head down and let go of the handles of the craft he was riding in.

One of his goals was to be the first man to break the sound barrier and not be sitting in an aircraft…..how do we know if he did it?  Well, I’m not any sort of scientist, but from my research, if the temperature outside is 60 degrees Fahrenheit and you went 720 mph you would break the sound barrier.  And at minus 50 degrees Fahrenheit you would break it at 680 mph.

As I watched the tv and his balloon was taking him ever so much higher, the reporters gave us outside temperatures etc.  At about 70,o0o feet the outside temperature was hovering around minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit and at 120,000 or so feet it was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, warmer up higher than lower…Weird huh?

So, Felix jumped from the capsule and plummeted headfirst through many tens of thousands of feet of distance and at some point in his descent he reached 840 mph.!.!.!.5, 280 ft in one mile X 840 mph = 4,435,200 ft per hour / 60 min in one hour = 73920 ft. per minute / 60 seconds in one minute = 1,232 ft per second….That my friends is faster than a bb can travel out of my Redrider bb gun!  In fact, that is traveling at a speed of 4.1 football fields per second!  Correct me if I’m wrong, but without a helmet and a facemask on, his face would have looked much like No Grimaces face smashed up against the window of the trailer during a muzz hunt.

So, with your head down rocketing toward the ground at 4.1 football fields per second how do you get yourself slowed down in order to pull the ripcord of your parachute and safely come down to earth?  If you are going 4.1 football fields fast and pull the rip cord, you are going to be watching the lower half of your body falling away from your upper half in about 3/10ths of a second.  Well, I saw him go into some sort of twisting and tumbling act.  I guess that would help break up any aerodynamics that you would have created with your hands stretched down along your sides and your toes pointed toward the safety of  the vessel you just jumped out of.  Anyway, that is something he did and then he acted as if he was a flying squirrel and held his arms out and spread his legs and let the space suit he was in spread out like a sheet and he glided along looking rather cool, in my opinion.  Now here is a guy who has just fallen over 120,000 feet at break neck speed and suddenly he wants to have his forward motion come to a near halt, so at about the 8,000 foot above earth, he deployed his parachute and glided and guided himself to the safety of the good old earth on which we all need to keep our feet firmly planted.

The camera showed him come to a full stop and then he knelt down on both knees and kissed the ground.  Without knowing the whole story I’m certain he said a prayer thanking God for safely returning him to earth and then wished he could get out of that stinking space suit he was wearing.  I’m sure it was filled with bodily fluids of every sort.

Here is a link to the final few minutes of his flight…you can put your own spin on it all, you just read mine.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/video/2012/oct/14/felix-baumgartner-skydive-space-video

Bears Butt

Oct. 15, 2012

Written on October 15th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

I just looked at the calendar and even though it isn’t my dream hunt, I am allowed to go on it, the problem is it is still six full weeks away!

I’m sure No Grimace and Baby Boy are more excited than I am, but still…..

Bears Butt

Oct. 15, 2012

Written on October 15th, 2012 , DREAM HUNTS
By: Bears Butt

Today, Weasel, Conner and I attended this event and even though it rained some and was cold and windy we still had a blast!  Thanks to the ones who pulled this event off, you guys do alot for the young shooters and hunters in the Northern part of the state!  Thanks!

Let me tell you what I learned:

We were asked to go on a safety trail hunt.  We were given a gun and shells and all the things one would take on a hunt of this nature.  We were even given a four wheel drive atv machine to ride.  Our game animals included turkey, bear, big horn sheep and deer.  During the course my guide kept score on what I did correctly and incorrectly while we hiked along.  I was allowed to ask as many questions as I wanted during the course.  The total score for the course if you came through with a perfect score would have been 150 points.  My score…65.

65!  Why so low?  It was explained after all three of us were back at the beginning of the course.

First off, I removed the gun from the front seat of the pickup while the barrel was pointing in my direction.  Of course I sidestepped the barrel and lifted it high up before I removed it…but I started with minus points right from the get go.

Secondly, we were on a hunt where other hunters were hunting and I was required to wear blaze orange, which I did not have, but I could have borrowed a vest from the guide.  I didn’t ask…therefore more minus points.  And we haven’t even left the truck yet!

At the trail head, read a sign, “hunting by permission only” and a phone number which I told myself I need to write down for future hunting on this land.  Behind the sign was an atv.  My guide told me I could load the gun before we entered into the trail head, which I did.  When we got to the ATV, he said we were going to take the wheeler on our hunt and to prepare for the ride.  I unloaded the gun, strapped it to the wheeler in the gun carrier and put on my helmet.  I was feeling pretty good at this point, but then I did not know about the minus points I had accrued at that time.

Oh, ya, and since I did not ask my guide if we had permission to hunt on this property, I lost more points when I crossed that sign…UGH!

Later, we saw a turkey and I asked if I had a turkey license, my guide said I did and then was this a shot I could take.  I said no, because I could not identify the bird as a male and so we went on.  Later I learned I got plus points on my decision.

I was told after the walk, I had passed on picking up some trash that was laying alongside the trail from the hunter ahead of me.  Minus points.

A bear presented itself.  I had a license and I shot the bear!  My guide skinned it and all was well.  Plus points for a good shot and everything was safe.

20 yards later I was standing on Interstate 80 and up the road was a very nice big horn sheep…I passed on the shot because the animal was in the road….heck I was in the road…plus points.

Soon I saw a very big buck standing just on the other side of the fence.  Pass on the shot because the truck was just on the other side of the buck..plus points.  And so we crossed the fence and went to the beginning point.  Yes I unloaded the gun, and handed it across to my guide who had crossed the fence just ahead of me…plus points.

And so, 65 was my score.  Always remember to handle guns from the butt end and not the muzzle, wear blaze orange when required, make sure you have written permission to hunt property that does not belong to you, pick up others trash that you find along the way.  Oh, and it does not hurt to know how to judge how far away the animals are…I lost several points do to my inaccurate judging of distances, which I was asked at each sighting of game.

A fun time shooting shotguns and 22’s for me.  And the Weasel and Conner stayed to shoot muzzleloaders and Bows.

A great organization to support and it’s all for the youth we are all counting on to carry on our hunting and shooting sports!

Good work guys!

Bears Butt

Oct. 13, 2012

 

Written on October 13th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

The local paper out of Brigham City is printed and then delivered on Wednesday each week and of course it’s a delight to read.  Small town news is the best.  There is certainly the ugly stuff that goes without saying like someone lost a bike or someone else was picked up for public intoxication or even worse sometimes.

But then there is the good stuff about the local communities that make up the county of Box Elder.  Promontory news, Willard happenings, Perry news, Corinne stuff and Honeyville things.  I love to read about all the goings on in those towns.

How the local folks went to visit with each other or even took the ride into town to have a bite at a favorite restaurant or pizza place.  How Mable and Harry made the trip to Wendover or Gertrude finished her latest painting.  And best of all to know that all the cows got rounded up off the summer ranges and are now safe at home.

THAT my friends is true down home news.

The absolutely dedicated writers of those small town news happenings should get paid more than they do (volunteers).  It would not be easy to find out what would be interesting for people to read about their towns.  They make a ton of phone calls, visit folks, go to town meetings etc. etc.  Not a job I would want.

Last Wednesday, as I was shuffling from page to page and reading all this good stuff low and behold there is an article about a barbershop I love to go into to get my hair cut a couple times a year (and I’m do right now).  Wyatt’s Barber Shop.  The headline read “Brigham City’s Last Bastion of Manliness” by Mike Nelson.  A great story Mike!  Thanks!

But what really caught my eye was a small picture in the article of a man’s hair being cut by the owner Ralph Wyatt.  I took a double take on the man sitting in the chair.  Looks familiar…a scruffy white beard, balding head, all serious looking.  And of course having been in that chair myself, he was holding very, very still so that Ralph didn’t make a mistake on the hair cut and have to cut more than he wanted off the sides, cuz their ain’t much to be cutting off in the first place.

Here is a picture of that picture.

 

Well, I’ll be!  I said to myself!  That there is my friend Magpie sitting there!  Says he has been having his hair cut at this place for over 10 years!  I had no idea!

Sure enough it is Magpie, even says so under the picture…”Ralph trims Doug Eames…”  We all know Doug Eames real name is “Magpie”.

And now I know what the window sticker on my car means.

Wyatt’s BS!  Right there on top.  I always thought it meant Wyatt’s Barber Shop, but since Magpie frequents the place the BS must stand for something else.

It’s still a great place to go visit and learn what is going on in and around town.  Most of what you hear there can’t be printed and so the newspaper guys don’t go in there to get their news.  They might go in there for a hair cut, but they leave their paper and pencils in the car.

Drop in there sometime and give them a try.  They actually do a pretty good haircut.  Their number is listed on that sticker, but I don’t think anyone ever calls them, they just drop in.  Where are they located?

Oh, ya, on 7th South just a part of a block East of  Main street there in Brigham, North side of the road.

Bears Butt

Oct. 12, 2012

Written on October 12th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

This one speaks for itself!

Bears Butt

Oct. 12, 2012

Written on October 12th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

Last week Sherry was talking with Beth, one of her co-workers and talking about Inspiration Point, Beth said she had never been there.  That was all it took for us to plan a trip up to the top of the mountain.

Inspiration Point is the end of the road leading from Mantua into the Willard Basin and to the top of the mountain.  There is only two peaks up there that are higher in elevation, one is Ben Lomond Peak, the other Willard Peak.  You have to hike to each of those two.

The road up to Inspiration Peak is very rough!  Much like it was before they graded it three years ago.  Slow going and bumpy as the dickens.  But we made it without incident.

Normally on Oct. 11 it would be very cold and windy up on top of the mountain, but t0day it was balmy and rather calm.  If it was cold Beth would have had a bundle of coats on, here she is just wearing a blue sweater.

My picture taking prowess is terrible, I should have had Willard Peak in the background, but I missed it.  Oh well, another reason to go up there again.  You can see a small portion of Ogden in the background on this shot.

And since they both work at Smith and Edwards, here they are pointing down at the top of the store.  Trust me, it’s down there.

This is the view looking north along the Wasatch Front and Brigham City is in the background, lower left of the Wellsville Range (the farthest range out).  You can see the back and North side of Willard Canyon just beyond the pines.  A real pretty scene.

And for the duck hunters out there, you can see just how much water there is in the Bear River Bird Refuge and in the Willard Spur of the Great Salt Lake.

And here is a closer look at the Willard Spur.  Not much water fellas.  Unit 5 is beginning to fill as you can see the puddle in the middle area but just out from the dump channel of Willard Bay, there sure isn’t much in the way of ducky water.  Pretty dry.

I expected to see more wildlife than we did, but I forgot my binocs and spotting scope.  I did see a Mountain Goat, but could not get a still enough picture of it to post it up on here.  We did see a doe and fawn and a small flock of turkeys, oh ya, and a weasel!  It was a fun day.  We took a minute in the basin campground to have some lunch.

 

Bears Butt

Oct. 11, 2012

Written on October 11th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

It’s that time of year for pumpkins, ghosts, goblins and candy!  Trick or Treat!  Smell My Feet!  Give Me Something Good to Eat!

Please enjoy the celebration responsibly!

Bears Butt

Oct. 11, 2012

Written on October 11th, 2012 , Uncategorized
By: Bears Butt

I’m writing this tonight because I will be busy in the morning getting ready for a trip to the top of the mountain with Sherry and Beth.

October 11 is “National It’s My Party Day”!  YES!  What a great day!  You can celebrate with others or by yourself and it’s all OK!  It’s YOUR party day!  Go for it!

If you work in an office and need to keep the noise down you can paint a face on your finger and show it to your friends and have it dance around and make funny faces on your own face and the whole office will get a big old kick out of it.  I would suggest you not use the middle finger however and for sure, if you do use your middle finger, don’t show the boss your art work.  Just sayin!

It’s YOUR party day!  Enjoy it.  It only comes around once each year on Oct. 11 and it begins at midnight and lasts until just short of midnight.  You have 24 hours to have a blast enjoying YOUR party day!

Don’t fall for the trap of singing that stupid song from the 60’s, that is a waste of time.  Make up your own song and sing it loud and strong all the while dancing around and showing everyone your finger.  It’s YOUR party!  Go for it!

Bears Butt

Oct. 10, for Oct. 11, 2012

Written on October 10th, 2012 , Uncategorized

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BearsButt.com | Stories, Ramblings & Random Stuff From an Old Mountain Man

Just some of my old stories, new stories, and in general what is going on in my life.