Rear End, Year End!

If you have plans to do something special in 2013, you only have the rest of today and all day tomorrow to get it done!  I just thought I’d remind you of that.

Looking back at my year, it sure had its ups and downs.  I suppose every year does, but this one seems special to me.  More UPS than downs in my year, but there were some very down times too.

My post is not about the downs however because downs are never good.

Good is always UP!  So here are some of my years highlights!

Weasel, Conner and I (among lots of others) helped with the United Wildlife Cooperatives youth fishing day at Strawberry Reservoir!  That was a very fun day to be on the ice and we tried like heck to get the kids onto a fish, but to no avail!  Thanks to everyone who helped that day!

Trapping got off to a late start due to the very cold temps and deep snow.  Very unusual for where we trap, but in the end, with Wapiti, Weasel and Breks help, we managed to bag 740 rats!  A very good trapping year!

I think the highlight of my volunteer work was with the United Wildlife Cooperatives, Youth Turkey camp and hunt!  Another year with lots of fun and meeting new people!  Several of the kids tagged out and it was fun beyond fun!  I hope to be able to enjoy those two weekends again this year!

And then on one of my own turkey hunts, I “almost” got one!  A very close encounter!  One in which I just knew I had the bird down, but in the end it was a complete miss!  This year!  If things play out like last year there should be at least 2 birds in the pot and maybe more!  We will see!  But I think Weasel and I have them figured out!

Our families rented a big old cabin in the Island Park area of Idaho and spent several days up there and toured Yellowstone National Park.  I’ll tell you, renting a local cabin is the only way to go on a trip like that.  For 12 of us to be able to stay each night and it only costing us less than $1,000 it was well worth it!  Lots of wildlife just outside the cabin.  Quiet and peaceful.  Very nice!

In the DWR drawings I drew out my Muzz Deer Tag!  Not a big deal, but still.

And then in the Antlerless drawing Weasel and I both drew out on the Deseret Land and Livestock Cow Elk tags!  This will be a year to fill the freezers!

While practicing shooting with our Pork Guns to qualify for the Cow Elk Hunt, I got a call that would really set off my years highlights!  I was a chosen one once again and ended up with a Limited Entry Bull Elk tag in the San Juan Mountains of Utah!  Life would not be the same for quite some time after that news!

Labor Day weekend found Bones and I in charge of the Willow Creek Free Trappers rendezvous!  It was a very fun event and lots of folks came and enjoyed the time!  It was especially nice to have Black Arrow and his bride, Shy Mouse there to help us enjoy the time!  30 Years by dang!

The muzz deer hunt was another memorable event!  A huge camp as usual and this year (2014) should be even bigger with more hunters slated to be there…women hunters too!  Come on girls get your hunter education behind you!

My deer shooting abilities seem to be in the tank and I missed another one this year…one that was “in the bag” and still I missed it.  For 2014, I’ll be doing a lot more practice with  different “bullet” this time!  Maybe a Maxiball, maybe a powerbelt.  I’m not sure, but my gun will be eating quite a few of both for practice!

And then THE BIG HUNT OF ALL HUNTS!  I found myself surrounded in the Blue Mountains of Southern Utah, a portion of the San Juan National Forest.  Wild game everywhere!  Including the game we were after….Bull Elk…BIG Bull Elk!  And with so many around it almost goes without saying we brought one home with us.  I’d show you a picture but then it would spoil your reading about the entire hunt on this site…just look under the category “Dream Hunts” to the right and read the day by day story as it unfolded before us.  THAT hunt was the capstone of the year for me!

The next big hunt was to fill the cow elk tag on the Deseret Land and Livestock property.  A fully guided hunt for both Weasel and I and after two very fun filled days of sliding and bouncing, we both ended up with our tags filled and the freezers filled as well!

And to close out the year, we are taking the Grandkids out for a day of ice fishing tomorrow, the last day of the year!

How can a year get any better than that?

I thank the Lord everyday for these blessings.

Bears Butt

December 30, 2013