Monticello weather for today:

Morning sunshine, turning to partly cloudy throughout the day.  Highs in the mid 50’s, lows tonight right at freezing!  Light breezes.

We had our meeting yesterday to decide on all the stuff for the elk hunt.  A big decision was made NOT to take the atv’s (toys).  I sure hope we don’t regret that decision.  They would have given us more flexibility and maneuverability in some of the tighter spots but on the other hand it would have caused us to split up and we don’t want that.

So, it looks like two rigs will haul two trailers down and 3 guys will sleep in each of the trailers.  That will make it nice and not crowd us up.

Another great decision is to take Trackers dining fly down for comfort from any foul weather and it will add the bit of ambiance that is always nice in a camp.  We are meeting up on Wednesday to make an addition to it which will also be a nice thing.

On past dream hunts we have used EZ-Up canopies to cover the cooking area.  This modification will put a large tarp over the cooking area without detracting from the ambiance.  Nothing like a good elk hunt to get the brain thinking about how to make things better in camp!

This hunt is adding another dimension to my thinking and I guess I should just relax a bit and not over think the whole thing.  But it’s in my nature to worry some and make sure we have all the bases covered.  The biggest thing with me is how long to plan to be down there.  The hunt goes from Saturday through the following week and ends on Sunday.  It should not take that many days to find a shooter size elk and from the information I’ve been given by the experts in that area, a bull elk can be killed any given day…will the one that shows itself be big enough?  I guess we will see when that happens.

The days between our leaving and now are going to be dragging along and just like the hunt we just finished, it will be over before we know it.  That’s how they all go.

So, the six of us are going to be on the hunt from Thursday through Sunday and then half the crew have to leave to come home.  Monday morning will see Wapiti, Soft Ball and Edjukateer heading North on Highway 191 while Tracker, Weasel and I stay to keep trying to fill that tag.  Unless of course the tag gets filled on Saturday or Sunday…then all of us will be cruising North.

The three of us have made plans out to and including Wednesday.  If the tag is still unfilled by then, we will make a command decision at that time to stay or go home.  Time will tell and no matter what, it will be a very fun hunt with good company and in country filled with ancient ruins, hieroglyphics and beautiful landscape.  Red rock country contrasted with pine covered alpine ridges, canyons filled with aspens, trailing down to low country oak and eventually into the desert that the Moab area is known for.  I can hardly wait.

18 days!

Bears Butt

Oct. 20, 2013

Lots of computer problems all of a sudden!  I had to go back and restore my system way back to Oct. 5….Virus?  Old system?  Tree fell on wires?  Sometimes I think smoke signals would work better.

This morning Weasel and I hit up the Lee Kay Center in SLC, where he quickly qualified for the cow elk hunt coming up on Dec. 3 of this year!  Fun times again!  We were very surprised at the number of people at the shooting range shooting.  We expected to be about the only ones there and to our surprise we had to wait for a lane to come open.

Today started the general season deer hunt in Utah…lots of folks up and down the mountain trying to fill their tags and all the while the deer are hiding deep in the brush.  Good luck to all of you out there trying!

Monticello weather:  Sunny, high 53, light breezes like yesterday.

Today is also the day we meet to discuss the details of the Elk Hunt (Dream Elk Hunt)…It will be a good time for sure.  Just a small group with lots to discuss!

So, you see old Bears Butt has a lot of things going on in his little life.

19 days and counting!

Bears Butt

Oct. 19, 2013

Another chilly day on the Wasatch Front!  And what about down South?

Monticello weather for today calls for:  Partly cloudy this morning and then clearing with a high of about 50,  light NW breezes and a low about 30 tonight.

That sounds like a very nice day!

Yesterday I poured over a map I printed off and needed a magnifying glass to even read it.  But I did find out some interesting things about the area of the hunt.  It’s actually not too far from where I think we will be camping over to a staging area I was told about and if the weather continues to be nice like it is, the elk just might be hanging on that mesa.  So the plan is in place to maybe go over there one day during the hunt and check things out.

Of course if Dennis is right, the elk will be down and in the cooler before we even have time to pop a beer.

Speaking of beer, did I tell you he saw a Black Bear during his muzz deer hunt?  Again, if the weather remains mild, we just might get to see one of them critters ourselves!  That is something on my bucket list and this area is just the place to make that happen.  The conservation officer down there told me that they would all be hibernating by the time my hunt comes around…we will see, maybe a big old bore will still be out hunting up berries.

21 days and counting!

Bears Butt

Oct. 17, 2013

Very cool morning!  Frost on the pumpkin for sure! And that is for Willard!  How about Monticello?

Sunny today, High expected to be 47 with winds WNW (that’s West North West), 5 to 10 mph…pretty nice day ahead!

I added 10 more situps to the routine this morning.  The first 10 were pretty easy and so I decided what the heck!  And did 10 more.  Ya, they were a bit shaky toward the end, but I got em dun!

More map study yesterday of the elk area.  I found a couple small ponds too..of course right now they might not have any water in them, but at least I know where they are and if I don’t have my elk down before then, I’ll make it over to have a look at them.

Both are near one another and both at the heads of draws with very tall trees around them.  They look like perfect elk sanctuaries quite a ways away from the nearest road or atv trails and tucked away where most people would not care to look.  I’ll mark them on my gps today.

Who’s thinking about elk anyway?

22 days and counting!

Bears Butt

Oct. 16, 2013

It’s getting colder outside and the old Bears Butt is getting all bundled up in his new capote!

The workout this morning was just over 30 minutes.  12 minutes at 5 to 10% incline with a minute on each one going up the scale and one more coming down the scale, all at 3.5 mph…not to bad, but the sweat was pouring off me by the time I got back down to 5% !

Then it was decrease the slope to 1% and increase the speed.  Again one minute at 5, 6 and then two full minutes at 7 mph.  I’m not much of a runner and so right now 7 mph is just about my max.  I’m a little afraid to go to 8 mph for fear of falling on the treadmill and killing myself.  I think I’ll stick with 7.

As for weight…well I have never considered it to be a problem, but I have  been 9 pounds lighter than when I started for the past 4 days.  I guess that means I’ve lost 9 pounds!?!

The 10 situps I incorporated are still a bit tough to accomplish but part of that is do to the fact that my feet come up off the floor.  This morning I put them near the edge of the couch and was able to get my toes to push hard enough against the couch to assist me.  Is that cheating?  I think not.

23 days until we head for the San Juan Mountains of Utah!

I’m watching the weather down that way and noting the conditions.  I think I will start to show you that on here beginning tomorrow.

Bears Butt

Oct. 15, 2013

Today I broke away from the pre-programmed workout on the treadmill and made up my own routine.  30 minutes is pretty standard and should be plenty to get me into shape for the hills and with the incline part available on the treadmill, I decided I need to concentrate on my legs a little more.

So, with that, I set out to work up to the 10% incline for a pretty sustained period of time during the workout.  Well, that was my goal anyway.

What ended up to happen was I warmed up for the first 10 minutes, walking slowly and building up to a speed of 4 with no incline.  Then I settled in at 3.5 mph and jumped the incline to 7% right at the 10 minute mark.  Following the lights on the “laps” I went 1/2 lap and then increased the % to the next half.  At 10% I went one full lap around the track and then started back down in one half % decreases back down to 7%.  By this time I had done 15 minutes of incline workout, or half my total time.  My legs really feel it and so I must have made a good choice.

I think I will continue to do something on this order for the rest of the time until the hunt begins and I’ll try and increase the time spent at the 10% level.  The pre-programmed settings like a speed of 4 mph, but my short legs have a tough time at that speed when the incline is over 5%.  I have to jog to keep up.  But 3.5 is a good speed that allows me to keep up and still do the steeper incline.

It’s all part of what Todd Black told me to do…Get my wind and get my legs under me….This hunt is not going to be that easy according to him both mentally and physically, but if I don’t have to worry about the physical part so much, I should be able to handle the mental part.  Now I just have to start thinking like a big old bull elk.

I wonder if Winemaker would go along with what I think a big old bull elk thinks about?

Bears Butt

Oct. 14, 2013

Lots going on around my house right now, but the main thing on my brain is…You guessed it….the elk hunt!

I decided I needed to add situps to my routine, and so after the 30 minute tread mill ordeal I did my normal stretching and 30 push ups and then popped over and did 10 situps…ya, only 10, but it wasn’t that easy.  Some of you may know this, but when I was in the 7th grade (Jr. High School) I set a new school record for the number of situps at 1,047…Don’t ever try that!  It surely is not worth it.  So, 10 today is a good number!

Again I spent a good portion of yesterdays time on the internet looking at elk related stories, videos etc.  I really think I have what I’m going to call…”ELK FEVER”!

Another thing I realized yesterday is that during this hunt, I am the only one in the group that is forced by law to wear hunter orange…booo…for me!  Great for the others.  I guess that is so the law guys can tell who has the tag and who is  there to help out.  Hunter orange is no big deal, I can dig through my old stack of hunting clothes and find something that resembles it.

Bears Butt

Oct. 12, 2013

OK, the muzz deer hunt is well behind us now and it’s time to get serious about the next hunt on the docket!  San Juan Elk!

I was off my work out routine until this week and it sure doesn’t take long to lose what you worked on.  I did the mild workout on day one and when I got to the 30 pushups…well, numbers 26 through 30 took some doing!  The next day it was the hardest workout…the one that has me running at a speed of 7 mph and climbing a hill of 10%…I sure could feel it in my calves after that.

Back on the computer it’s once again time to scan over the satellite images of Google Earth to become more familiar with the country and the roads and trails weaving in and out of the elk hunting terrain!

Today, Dennis is coming over to discuss more about the hunt.  I’m hoping he gives me some pointers as to where he thinks we should set up camp.  I’d like to look that over on Google as well and become familiar with atv trails etc. in and around that spot.

It might seem premature to be as excited as I am about this hunt, but I am thinking it is going to be my best and probably only chance to shoot a bull elk and that is why I have a tough time sleeping….there is always a thought in my head about that big old 7 or 8 year old bull toting a head dress of 6 points on each side….

Always dream’in!

Bears Butt

Oct. 10, 2013

Anxiously waiting for my big elk hunt and I’m studying the maps and all the information I have been given so far by some of the best people around.  It’s amazing to me just how much information people I don’t even know are willing to give.  And with voice inflection and the overlap of information from each of them, you just have to believe most of it.

With that said, Sherry and I have decided to go down ahead of the hunt and check some of it out.  Besides seeing a family of cousins that live in that area and one in particular who says he will put me on a big bull elk.

We are currently working out the details of what dates to go down there and right now it looks like I will be sacrificing a day or two of my muzz deer hunt for this trip…it will be worth it.

I have studied the maps on the internet until my neck hurts (I have to wear magnifying glasses) and being that close to the screen takes its toll.  I have a lot of the names of the mesas and roads memorized and where the turn off are etc.  So most of that will be common stuff once I’m in the vicinity.  But seeing the terrain first hand will be of great interest and should yield a lot of additional information for me to digest.

I’m stoked!  And to think Sherry is willing to go and check it out too is a bonus!  We have always wanted to go down and visit with these cousins and this will be a short and quick visit, but we will be with them most of one day and all of one night, so that will be good.

In the meantime, there is preparation for the muzz deer hunt to keep my mind a little occupied.

Bears Butt

Sept. 10, 2013

You already know this but I’ll tell you again in case you missed it, I have a limited entry bull elk tag for the San Juan unit in SE Utah and I’m very excited about it and the potential to kill a nice bull elk, something I have only dreamed about.  With that said and looking all over the internet for stories of others hunts in that area, there is a very good chance I might get a shot at a bull in the 350 class.

What do the antlers on a 350 class bull look like and what do the numbers mean anyway?  The Boone and Crockett club set up a scoring sheet that compares measurements from one side of a bulls antlers to the other and any difference between them gets deducted from the total score.  They will measure the length of each of the tines, add that to the total length of the main beam (crown on head to the tip of the farthest point), then there are some circumference measurements added in for mass and other stuff I don’t know about “yet” and then you add the measurements from each of the sides to get your total.  So a 350 bull is a dandy.

In my search I found a series of videos on YouTube from an expert named Jay Scott and these videos show you a pretty good length of video of a single bull elk and you get to see all the angles of the antlers in order to field judge the animal.  Then he comes in with his “guesstimate”.  I need lots of practice at this field judging and you can bet I’ll be watching these videos a LOT before I head for Monticello in November!

This series is a good bunch to watch on a day when it’s raining or snowing outside and you can’t do anything but stay indoors.

I hope you enjoy them like I have.

Copy the link and paste it up!

Bears Butt

Sept. 8, 2013