Deer Season 2012

Jantzen and I had general season deer tags this year. We went out opening day and had a fun time, but, for the most part, just hiked our little feet off. We saw three bucks first thing in the morning, tried to get Jantzen on a real nice 4 point, but, they had been shot at earlier or something because they were moving fast. We tried to get closer without any success. We hunted up to the top and pushed a nice 4 point off his bed and he ran off over the top before we could get a shot. Next, Jantzen spotted a real nice 4 point that we had spooked out of his bed, and I shot at it as it ran through the trees. Jantzen said that I missed it by at least 10 feet (thanks Jantzen!)

That evening we hunted up another draw, only to see 2 moose. We were a little frustrated, but, not without hope. I went hunting with a friend on Monday, to a spot that he took me to (that doesn't happen very often), and right off spotted a couple of little bucks on the point about a mile to the north. They fed into the trees, and we decided not to go after them. We hunted along to the south, me along the ridge back, Ross through the trees. I got up to the next point, about 1/2 mile away, and spotted some deer feeding out of the trees. There were 2 smaller bucks, with several does, so I tried to get Ross' attention because as he said, "if it has antlers, I'll be happy, if it forks, all the better". As I tried to get Ross' attention, a really nice buck stepped out, and I tried to get a shot, but, all I could see was his back side, and I couldn't get a good enough rest to get a shot. He walked into the trees and Ross stepped out. We put a sneak on the little bucks, and Ross made a great shot! We packed him out and went home.

Jantzen and I tried a couple of other evenings, with no success. I hunted up over Porcupine Creed and saw a real nice buck that got pushed off by some does and a bull elk that I spooked. 

So, Friday, Sept. 28, we didn't have school, one of my scouts had his Eagle project up at Sheep Pass, at the head of Smith's Fork Creek, so, I took Jantzen up to where Ross and I had gone. We set up on the same point that Ross and I had started on about 15 minutes before daylight. As we sat there, Jantzen spotted a satellite flying past. I believe it was the International Space Station. We watched fly clear into the area of the sky that was getting daylight. Next, Jantzen and I watched a covey of 8 blue grouse feed out onto the ridge below us. Then, Jantzen spotted the first deer of the day. It was a nice little forked horn. I then spotted 5 more deer below him, at least 3 of which were bucks and one was a nice little 4 point. Jantzen said that he wanted to chase them, so off we went. We got up close to where they had been, and I asked Jantzen what he thought we should do. He thought we should work our way down to the trees below us and see what we could see. As we got close to the trees, I could see the bucks below us. We snuck down closer, but the brush was too tall and Jantzen couldn't get a shot. The bucks saw us and walked off. We went to follow, and another little buck trotted by. 

I told Jantzen to get ready,so he laid down across my packframe and waited. We waited for about 20 minutes and watched that little buck and another feed back and forth until, finally at 250 yards, one turned broadside. Jantzen took his time and finally squeezed the trigger. The buck jumped and then slowly started walking off. The other buck high tailed it out of there, so I knew Jantzen's buck was hit. However, it was moving into the trees, so I told Jantzen to shoot again. He did, and the buck jumped and moved into the trees. We gathered out things, and walked toward where the buck had gone into the trees. We had a great blood trail to follow and about 30 yards into the trees, we could see Jantzen's buck laying there!!!!! We jumped up and down and hugged and celebrated! 

We gutted and packed him out to the truck and spent the rest of the day helping Bailey Johnson with his Eagle Project.                                                                      

The next morning, I left the house by myself, Jantzen was tired and I figured he could use the rest, at about 5 am. I had decided to go up Porcupine Creed to try to find the buck I didn't get last week. I was at the trailhead in my sandals at 5:15, and was across Cottonwood Creek, in my boots and heading up the trail by 5:35. I hit the top about 6:30 and headed up to the west. I spotted 3 smaller bucks and some does, and 2 moose. Nothing that was close enough to chase that was interesting, so, I followed some fresh horse tracks up the trail. I hit the top and followed just below the top to the south to the end of the ridge. I heard a couple of shots, but didn't see any new animals.  

I got to the end of the ridge, and a deer trotted up to the ridge top about 350 yards down from me. It was a nice 4 point and I decided that it was the buck I wanted. I rested over my backpack as the buck looked at me, trying to figure out what I was. He never did, as I squeezed the trigger and he ran down into the draw below. The last thing I saw was my buck rolling down out of site! I grabbed my stuff, and headed down to where I last saw him. There he was, piled up in the bottom of the draw. 

I gutted and skinned him and put half on my back and took packed it up and over to the saddle at the top of Porcupine Creek. As I unloaded and prepared to head back for the other half, a friend of mine, Ryan Merritt, rode up on his horses. They had been hunting up there that day and had actually pushed my deer to me. He asked how things were and I told him about my morning. He asked if I wanted a horse, and I asked if he would just pack 1/2 my deer and back pack for me. He asked if I wanted him to take my rifle too. I told him where my keys were hid in the back of my truck and we went our separate ways. I was back to my deer 30 minutes later, and to the truck 1 hour and 30 minutes after that! I got in the truck and was home by 3:30 pm!! Now, Jantzen and I have to cut up the deer, so we can start elk hunting next weekend!!           Woooooo-Hooooooo!!!!

This is Jantzen's 1st match last night here at Star Valley Middle School. The boy he wrestled was from Jackson and Jantzen started a little shaky but came out in the end.. He took all three rounds, but ended up beating the kid by points. Once again, the video is not the best during the first round, Emily showed up just at the beginning and I can't watch and video at the same time. She did all the rest after the first round.
Round 2 of the match.

Mule Deer and Mountain Goats

Last weekend when we were traveling to Jackson to watch Jantzen wrestle, we saw these two bucks next to the highway. They had moved about 1/4 of a mile down the highway on the way home. Just thought I would share some photos of the bucks. Jantzen said he would like to shoot a buck like either of these opening day next season!



























We saw elk, deer, and these mountain goats as we drove from Home, to Jackson and back.

This was Jantzen's 3rd match in Jackson last weekend. I tried to upload his 2nd match, but it was too big or something. Anyway, this is a fun match to watch, he is showing a bit more confidence and shot first in every match he wrestled that day! Up to this point, he hadn't shot on an opponent.

I apologize for the video skills, I am not that great anyway (just ask Schuyler and Jamie about their wedding video), and adding Jantzen wrestling to the mix, it gets worse fast! Jantzen did a great job He is really learning a lot this year and it is showing!

Jantzen Wrestling in Jackson, WY

This is Jantzen's first match in Jackson this past weekend. Up to this point in the season, he was 3-3 overall. He is in 6th grade and doing quite well. In this match, he is wrestling a boy from Pinedale. Jantzen has really improved in intensity and is starting to feel what he needs to do. Still a little inexperienced, but coming along really well. He ended up 3-0 this weekend, his best weekend ever! He is really enjoying it and having a great time. He has had a great learning year and is developing very well!

Antelope season 2011

I was lucky enough this year to draw an antelope tag for the 5th time in 6 years! I have been applying for antelope tags since my friend Johnny went to Iraq and my wife suggested I try to fill as many tags as possible to help their family if needed. Not being one to argue with my wife, I decided that I would put in. Well, that is a whole different story, but, is one that leads to my antelope hunt this year. I have very much enjoyed antelope hunting, and this year was the best one yet! I have had great hunts with Jason and Tyler and have even gone by myself and taken Jantzen, Addalee, and Jacob with me, however, this year took the cake! I took the whole family, including Lucy, with the intent of camping and enjoying the time as a family. We got up early and left about 1 1/2 hours before daylight (all of us crammed into the front of our 3/4 ton pick-up (which only has a single cab). We had Lucy in the back along with all of our camping gear and headed for Daniel Junction. We got there a little later than I had hoped and took a wrong turn to boot, but, crossed over into the unit and saw a really nice antelope buck right off of the highway. I decided to pass him up and continued up to where Jason, Tyler and I drove a couple of years ago and shot a couple of bucks and 5 does one day (that was a great day with Jason finishing the day with a hail-Mary of a shot that killed his buck and filled his last tag and me shooting an almost identical buck because I followed Tyler's directions). We automatically started seeing more antelope, but fewer than I had hoped, and started trying to decide which one to shoot. Emily was a great consultant, I had described the qualities of the buck I would like to shoot, and though, no expert, she kept me in the right path to getting a nice buck.

We spotted one that was very dark on the face and neck, but convection currents prevented me from really seeing how big he was. Finally I decided I wanted to shoot this buck, but missed and the buck was last seen entering southern Canada by some illegal aliens. Antelope can really run! We continued on and spotted a couple of more antelope bucks in a grassy meadow in the bottom of the draw where we were eating our lunch. We decided one of them was worth going after and tried. As we got closer, the antelope pushed up the and stayed a steady 400 + yards away. We continued to follow with the hope of finding a close enough shot. As we came up over a rise, we spotted a buck on the horizon about 350 yards away. After some debate, I decided that it was the buck I wanted. I got out of the truck, found a nice rest and squeezed the trigger. The antelope dropped in his tracks, laid there for a minute, then got up and ran off! I jumped in the truck and followed in hot pursuit with the kids riding on top of our camping supplies.

As we came up over the next rise, there were antelope running EVERYWHERE!! At least 5 bucks and at least as many does were running like crazy! We finally found the buck I had shot as it was slowing and didn't follow the rest of the group. I had Emily take the wheel and I took off on foot after the antelope while she drove up and around to try and head him off. I walked about 1/2 a mile and found my buck standing about 200 yards away. I laid down and shot him and he went down with just one more shot. I called Emily on my cell phone and she the kids and her walked over to see and help take care of it. On their way over, Emily, Jantzen, Addalee, and Erick each found a shed antelope horn! We had never found those before!

After taking pictures, I had Jantzen and Addalee hold legs while I gutted it out and quartered it. While we were cleaning it, Erick and Addalee were kind of standing off a little ways and had their shirts pulled up over their noses because they didn't like the smell. Then all of a sudden, Erick started gagging and wouldn't have anything more to do with it! It was the funniest thing! So Emily took Addalee and Erick back to the truck and I stayed with Jantzen and Jacob and took care of the rest of the Antelope.

We gutted, skinned, and caped the buck and I tied it all on my pack-frame and headed for the truck. It was a hot miserable day and we were happy to get to the truck! We washed off all of the meat and put it on ice in the cooler and headed for La Barge Creek to find a camp-site.

We finally found one after discovering that the road was blocked and we were going to have to drive the 150 miles around to Kemmerer and on to Afton, and settled down for the night. That is when we realized that I had left the propane tank at home! So we cooked over the fire and had a great dinner and breakfast the next morning. We were also entertained by a pack of coyotes that decided to serenade us for the evening until I shot my shotgun into the dark in their direction. We woke up the next morning to a bull elk bugling in the distance, ate breakfast, and went down to fish La Barge creek. We went to the dam where fish were jumping like crazy and fished for an hour or so. Jacob finally hooked and landed the only fish we ended up catching-a dandy 15 inch cutthroat trout! We turned it loose and headed for home. It was a great weekend and my buck ended up being about 15 3/8 inches tall and scoring around 78 inches. Not a monster, but it was the most fun I have ever had antelope hunting!!

Trapping with Jantzen's Scout Group!

Jantzen, our oldest son, is in 11 year old scouts in our ward. The boys asked their leader, Ryan Merritt, if they could be go trapping and learn how to trap pine marten. If you don't know, a pine marten is a member of the weasel family that is about 2-3 feet long, and look like the picture to the left here. Pine marten enjoy eating squirrels, birds, rabbits, mice and other animals. Ryan is a guide and a trapper and is very accomplished at both. He talked to me to see if I was interested in going along and helping as a second adult. I thought this would be fantastic as Jantzen and I are trying to do some trapping of our own this year.

We met Ryan at his house 3 weeks ago and went up to a place that he had chosen and had success at before. We got on two of his snowmobiles, one boy on each and one on the back of the 'dog sled' behind one of the snowmobiles. We went up, set up 4 traps, and headed home. Using beaver meat, some scents and some other attractants, a box, and a 120 conibear trap.

We went back a week later to check the traps. At the first box, we were empty. I was ready for that, Jantzen and I have been completely unsuccessful. We went on to the second trap, and we had one. Hanging on the pole Ryan had set up was a good sized male pine marten. We high fived, replaced the trap, re-baited, and went on to the next trap which was actually the 4th trap that we had set.

Jantzen, one of the other boys, and I had set when Ryan had taken the 3rd boy out to meet the boy's dad for another appointment. As we pulled up, I thought I could see a marten hanging. Sure enough, there was a female pine marten in this one! We reset and moved on. The fourth and final trap was empty, but we were very pumped and ready for more!

This picture shows Jantzen with our second marten. Hopefully we will be able to catch more like this one!

This last picture is of Jantzen and one of his friends in his scout group with their first 2 marten. That is a pretty good success rate! Week two of the trapping showed a little less success. We only caught one pine squirrel (after setting up 2 additional traps). Not a great week, but, the boys are excited and ready to do more!

I am really enjoying this trapping thing. It would be great to be successful in our trapping, but the best part has really been spending time with Jantzen. We have yet to catch anything, but we are hopeful and are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to continue learning and working to get better!

2011

Emily and I have been busy chasing the family all over for soccer, wrestling, family reunions, and other such fun stuff for the past couple of years. Yes, I know we are terrible at this whole blogging thing, however, we are now
on a morning schedule for church, maybe we can do this in the afternoons when we are home?! We'll see. I am going to try to post some pictures and videos and see if I can figure this out.

This is a photo of the kids at Halloween at the Rock Church, our community 'Trunk r' Treat'. Jacob is a mad scientist, Jantzen a Dwarf, Addalee is supposed to be Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, and Erick is a dragon witch something. The kids had a great time and got TONS of candy!! We went to two trunk r treats and then hit some houses in our neighborhood.

This is our family picture for this year. We try to get one every year and this is what it turned out to look like this year. It snowed and got cold way earlier this year than normal, so that is why we have snow in the picture. We have a hard time getting a good one because we do them ourselves, but we were pretty happy with this one.

Because we do the pictures ourselves, getting a pic with Lucy our dog when all of us look nice along with her is well, difficult. So I added a picture of Lucy. Lucy is our Springer Spaniel. She is a wonderful dog that loves to hunt but doesn't like to fetch a whole bunch. I am still working on that one, hopefully I can break her of whatever I did to mess her up. Still, she will be 2 on Feb. 1 and is a wonderful asset to our family.

The first few posts are probably going to appear to be scatterbrained, but I want to try to give you an idea of what life has been like for a while and share pics with our family and friends. Hope you enjoy!