Well folks, this is what we have been waiting for for a whole year!  Less than 2 hours until we pull out of town and head for the hills!  This also begins “the shortest week” of the year.

We just finished the longest week and the longest day but now everything except the frozen things and the last minute packing is done and then unhook the electrical cord from the trailer and hit the road!

It’s gonna be a wonderful week according to the weatherman and I sure hope the rain from yesterday and last night hit the ground up where we are camping otherwise it will be a dusty bugger.  Much similar to the year the old Dry Dog came dragging the Old Muskrat back into camp with a broken toy….DUSTY!

Wish us luck!  And to all of you heading out for a similar hunt, GOOD LUCK to you!

Bears Butt

Sept. 25, 2012

We leave for our muzz hunt tomorrow morning and today has been coined “The Longest Day”, will it be?  It appears to be quite a busy day with lots of last minute stuff that needs to be done.  And so, let me start your day with the report from our Forward Observers.

Tracker and Bones headed off and placed their camp in the area where the rest of us will be crowding around them.  They spent Friday and Saturday nights.  Some of you have heard the report from Bones about the number of yellow jackets in the area.  We are used to them and they are gathering for their annual attack on the Pasole.

Her report was very encouraging as was the one I posted about yesterday via the text message I received the night before (Thanks Slicker and the Misses for that text!).

Some of you received her email with the pictures attached, but for those of you who didn’t that is why I am posting her report up here.

She and Tracker saw a “very good buck” according to Tracker when they were on one of their treks.  No pictures were taken, but for Tracker to say it was a good buck, then you know it was at least a 4 point.

The rest of them were a bit smaller as you will see in the following pictures.

A buck for Dry Dog

A buck for a meat hunter

My kind of buck

My kind of buck with my kind of shot presented…posed picture.

And so, there you have the report from the Forward Observers.  These three bucks escaped the bow hunters and are now waiting for the Willow Creek Free Trappers to descend down upon their turf and package them up for the ride back to home!  RUN BAMBI RUN!

Bears Butt

Sept. 24, 2012

Today marks probably the last day to get all out things in order for the muzz deer hunt.  But then it’s Sunday and some have other callings in life.  As for me, all my stuff is still sitting in various piles here and there and only need to be hauled out and piled into the truck for the ride up to camp.

I got a text last night and the ID did not say who it was from but the message read something like this:

We only had an hour or so to check things out, but we did see 10 head, all does and fawns, but we know that somewhere close by are the bucks.  See you Tuesday.

WOW!  A good report even though no bucks were seen.  I know that behind every tree just out of sight were the bucks snickering with one cloven hoof held tightly against their lips…”I can see you, but you can’t see me”….a quote from Gattlin I might add.

And then this very morning my cell phone rings and it is the voice of the famous Magpie on the other end….”Hey Butt, the quakie leaves up on Baldy have all turned yellow…just thought you would like to know.  I’m heading into work to do some last minute jobs so I can take the week off.  See you Tuesday!”

With the very smoky situation to the atmosphere around here lately there would not have been any way to see the quakie leaves slowly turning their autumn yellow color and so with todays clear morning sky, of course the sudden view of a stand of quakies up on Baldy would stand out contrasted against the surrounding oak in red.  Great observation Magpie and thanks for that report.  Everything is two weeks ahead of normal and we can expect to have falling aspen leaves before next weekend.

Do I sense more excitement this year than in the past?  I think not.  It’s been a very long week for us all and pretty soon we will find ourselves faced with Tuesday morning and the trip up and over the crest of the famous Wasatch Front, to our camp destination!  Who is excited is ME!  63 years old and as giddy as a school kid.

If it wasn’t Sunday, I’d mow the lawn today.

Bears Butt

Sept. 23, 2012

As the time slowly ticks away toward the beginning of the muzz deer hunt 2012 I look to my left and see my wife staring off into the distance with no expression at all on her face.  I just finished telling her about my conversation with Magpie about something doing with the upcoming hunt.

She does not acknowledge I have said anything.  Suddenly I realize what is happening.  It’s “the other side of the longest week” coin.  Her side.

Oh yes, it’s real.  There is more to this hunt than just my not being able to put all things into the trailer or the back of the truck.  To not be able to load the beer and ice into the cooler before Tuesday morning at 7 a.m.  To have to store a large bag of food in the freezer until it’s time to leave.

Much more.

The rifle leaning against the trim of the door.  The stack of things in the garage that must be skirted around to get to the car.  The bag of clothes with the zipper open, on top of the bedroom dresser.  The boxes and bags in the sun room, next to the door.  The lists on the counter in the kitchen.  The long extension cord stretched across the lawn from the outside plug to the trailer.  Everywhere you look  is a reminder of the upcoming event.

The conversations each night as we relax from the days scurrying around.  Me trying to accomplish “one more thing” on the list.  Something that needs to be in the trailer and I won’t need between now and then.  Her, trying her best to stay out of my way and not have to listen to my age old story of “what if I forget something”.

She is longing for the 8 a.m. hour of Tuesday to get here.  It’s a very long week indeed, but she has had to listen to this for at least two months while I prepared the camp trailer for my honored guests.  The remodel of the trailer has long been finished and yet I have another task that I think will improve upon it.  She stopped me from doing that last week and now, does she wish she hadn’t?  I would be busy outside with that and not constantly pacing up and down the stairs, to the bedroom, into the closet and out to the garage or sun room.  Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle.

Well, my dear, only 4 more days, and it will be on day four, that at 8 a.m. I will give you a loving kiss goodbye and jump into the truck for the long drive to camp.  Only 4 more days.  Hell, it was 4 days ago and it was only Monday of the longest week!  What is happening?  Still 4 days to go!  Oh my God!

Bears Butt

Sept. 21, 2012