COLD AND WINDY WITH A CHANCE OF DEATH FOR CHIZZLERS

The chizzler season has kind of started, early this year.  I was so anxious that Bounty Hunter 6 and I went up for a "hopeful" hunt on February 11th.  We were in 40º temperatures with a pretty good wind blowing.  We saw a few of the bravest chizzlers out and about.  We took aim and fired.  Bounty Hunter 6 has an AR-15 he built for just such sport with a stainless steel heavy barrel, a fine tuned after market trigger and a bi-pod.  It was wholesale destruction of varmints for him for about two and one half hours.

I am sorry to report we killed all the vermin we saw.  I don't think there are any left for seed.  Perhaps we ruined what could have been the longest and most productive chizzler season in decades -- I DOUBT IT !  We shot mostly .223 rounds as the little vermin were far from our shooting station.  The chizzler activity seemed to be between 100 and 250 yards from where ever we parked the truck.  I did get a few "sappers" that were trying to sneak in on us with my .22LR.  Now my juices are flowing and I want to get back to Iron County to hunt and help those in agriculture.  However, I have two projects to build, a house to sell, and a infinitely long list from the Supreme Commander to prepare the garden for spring planting in our very own agriculture, we manage about .00367 of an acre in tomatoes and zucchini.  I will post more news and photos as I can sneak away to hunt.

CHIZZLER FEVER so bad

I have CHIZZLER FEVER so bad.  I want to get out there and start the destruction right now.  I have to wait.  I have to wait a long time it seems.  At best the vermin will come out of hibernation in mid-March. 

In the mean time I am loading ammo.  I want to have plenty of rounds available for my hobby/passion/addiction when March rolls around.  Given the scarcity and price of .22LR rounds I suppose I will have to be hunting with the .223 Remington more this season.  I am planning on needing approximately 1,500 rounds of .223 ammo. to do my best to do my duty for farmers in Iron County.  I just have 1,400 more rounds to load . . . . .

6 X 6 BULL ELK on public land with an "any bull" tag !

I have been excited for a couple of months for elk hunt 2014.  I had prepared by sighting in my .338 Win. Mag. and getting all my cold weather gear out of storage.  I actually cleaned out my camper and put butane in the proper tank and water in the other tank.  I was ready to "party" with an elk.

Thurs. 10-2-14 I traveled to Roosevelt, Utah and spent the night with my son and his family.  I so relish visits with my son and his family.  I really enjoy wrestling with the kids and reading stories to them.  Friday morning I got up with elk hunting on my mind no more Diary of a Whimpy Kid for me.  My son and I took some time to buy food at the local super market and then headed to the mountains.

We found a fine camping place near where we had camped 4 years ago.  I had taken a 5 X 5 elk in a meadow near by and we were hoping to score again.  My son's friend came with his boy.  Clint and Trail were a great addition to the camp.  They had a wall tent complete with a small stove.  Trail and I were in charge of making a fire.  We would all sit around the fire Friday evening and verbally dream about the elk to be harvested tomorrow.  This was Trail's first elk hunt.

A comfortable camp

I must mention when Dax and Clint go camping the food is a big part of the equation.  I have seldom eaten so well while hunting.  I think I will always invite those two hoseheads to my hunting camps if for nothing more than the great food they prepare.   Clint can really cook and Dax is not going to be out done by him so we ate really well.  Elk steaks for dinner on Friday night to get us in the mood.  They were seasoned just right.  They were cooked perfect -- still some pink in the middle but heated all the way through.  To top it all off there were fresh made scones!  These were man sized scones not like the Relief Society would make.  Served with homemade peach jam.  It was heavenly.  Other meals included chicken cordon blu sandwiches and always fresh hot scones.  I could really get into the scones with every meal.

Everyone was in bed by 10 p.m. and wake up calls were set for 5:45 a.m.  Early up and excited we move out to our hunting locations.  We are all tethered by two-way radios.  I head to the west to the meadow where I had scored last time we hunted in this area.  Clint and Trail went to the center of a clear cut timber area directly north and Dax went to the east edge of the clear cut areas.  I walk briskly in the dark with a head lamp for a guide.  I get to the meadow and pick a spot to look like a bush for the morning.  I am waiting for a bull to walk into the meadow and enjoy the grass covered with frost.  I have a cow tag and will shoot any elk I see.  Bull, cow, or calf it doesn't matter to me.  I love the meat and my freezer is getting low on protein.

 The meadow with no elk this year

I hear a shot or two at 7:50 a.m. off in the distance and think some one has scored an elk.  At 8:05 a.m. I hear a shot and the telltale smack of bullet striking meat rather close.  I think Clint or Dax has had opportunity.  A minute or so later I hear another shot.  I figure it is a "finishing off" shot and calculate someone has a elk bagged.  The radio in my pocket beeps and Dax is excited to tell me he has a 6 X 6 down.  I am so happy for him.  I tell him I am coming over to help with it.  I get up and put on my backpack then head east.  I walk down a heavily worn trail covered with elk tracks and am thinking about Dax's good fortune.  I come face to butt with a cow elk who was surprised at me on "her" trail.  She has turned to run away.  I raise my rifle and then think Dax already has an elk down about a mile east of here.  It is only the first morning and I can shoot a cow later.  Besides she is headed down a very steep mountain and getting her out will be a task for an old man with a bad heart like me.  I pass on the "Texas heart shot".  Now weeks later I realize that was the only elk I was to see live on the 12 day hunt.  Crap-o-rama.

I hustle over to Dax's area and Clint with Trail have beat me to the location.  Dax hung an orange vest in the tree so we could find him.  We congratulate each other profusely.  To take a 6 X 6 on public land with an open bull tag is more or less a . . . .  MIRACLE.  This is just a wonderful moment.  I am as happy as could be and I did nothing for the event except to be here.  I am so glad for Dax. 

Bull down -- YAHOO! ! !

Trail wants to straddle the elk and ride him lots.  We take a significant number of photos.  We are all grinning like someone who just won the lottery.  The air is clear and crisp.  The comradry is flowing, and success is already in our camp at 8:10 a.m. on opening day of the season.

We have to cut the beast in two pieces to move it.  It is a "big" one.  We are all pleased with the size of the game.  It seems real healthy and we are thankful to have been blessed with this meat.  Fortunately we can get a four wheeler to within rock throwing distance to the animal so the pack out is not bad at all.  We take the animal back to camp and skin and quarter it.  Wrapped in a special game bag it is cooling in the shade.  We all eat some sandwiches and take a short nap.  Later that evening we go back out to hunt for its twin brother.  No luck this evening.   Back at camp after dark more scones and excellent food.  I am so glad we are eating so well.  Food in this camp is lots better than MRE's and ramen noodles, my usual hunting fare.  SCONES with home made peach jam rock!  I want more scones.

Sunday morning we head out again for another bull, or cow in my case.  No animals are seen but a group from Washington State fill up in Dax's position from the day before and score a 5 X 5 bull.  Good for them, but Clint should have had that 5 X 5 shot I think.  {Public land means the dang Public will be there when you don't want them to be.}  We help them load the 5 X 5 and congratulate them with our fingers crossed.  Back to camp mid-morning.  We listen to LDS General Conference on the radio, eat lunch and have a nap.  In the afternoon we listen to conference again then Clint, Trail, and Dax have to go back to town for work Monday.  I am left alone in camp to defend against hopefully an onslaught of elk for the next few days.

I don't mind hunting alone.  I really enjoy the quiet and the mountains and the clean air.  We have had a full moon every night.  It is so bright it is gorgeous.  The stars seem brighter than ever and it is so quiet up here.  I love every thing about the 9,800 ft. elevation except for the lack of oxygen and the cold.  I wear my thermal underwear all the time.  I sleep in a sweat shirt with a stocking cap on my head.  Yes, there is a heater in my camper but still I wear all the warmth I can.

I hunt for several days alone and see no elk.  I drive around to some camps in the afternoons and don't really see any elk hanging.  Maybe the elk have read the hunting proclamation and have all moved on to the Ute Indian Tribe lands where they can't be followed or hunted.  {I hate that when the elk learn to read.} 

I look down on the Unitah Basin and can see Gusher, Ballard, Roosevelt and other towns.  It is really cool to be up on top of the mountain.

 Part of the Unitah Basin

Dax calls it Mountain Church and I agree.  One can feel closer to the Creator with these surroundings.  It is a spiritual experience to enjoy the magnitude of nature God has made for us.  I am so glad to get to go out to do this.  I am so blessed to have been in a group that harvested an elk.  I am blessed to have two sons that appreciate nature and enjoy it as much as I do.  Life is good, even if it is cold and I can't catch my breath hiking.

EXCITEMENT IS IN THE AIR, HOLD THE SNOW PLEASE

The Utah "any bull" rifle elk hunt is just one month away!  I also have a cow tag this year.  I am starting to think about elk hunting all the time.  I can't help myself.  I just love getting out and being in nature with my son -- trying to find a bull or a cow for the freezer.

I need to go shooting some.  I haven't pulled a trigger for over 10 weeks.  I need to practice my rifle skills.  Who knows, maybe my rifle has grown mold in the barrel?  Maybe my scope has lost its eyesight?  I need to practice.  I also need to walk to the park or to the intermediate school or to Cool Canyon and back everyday or two and get in better shape for the opening day of the hunt.

Some photos from days gone by elk hunting:

I hope to have more results photos to post soon.  I know I will have a great time!  With harvest or without -- any day hunting is better than a day working.  Days with family just make the whole camping, hunting, outdoor experience even better.  I am so blessed to be able to do this.

WORK GETS IN THE WAY OF HAVING FUN

You won't believe it, but work does get in the way of having fun. I am trying keep this house  construction going and haven't had time to go hunt anything for weeks.  I haven't even been able to go target shooting.  I am worried my chizzler harvesting skills are deteriorating at a rapid rate.  I am concerned my rifle barrel is getting 'moldy' through non-use.  I am just depressed about it all.  I envision the chizzlers in Iron County multiplying and replenishing themselves in the farmer's fields to the level of no or hardly no alfalfa to harvest.  {Agriculture is such a hard way to make a dollar.}

I need to do my job and thin the chizzler herd.  Bounty Hunter 6 didn't help the situation one bit when he went off to California to work fighting fire also.  Heck, let it burn.  All the medical marijuana growing in the foothills will just add a pleasant layer to the pollution in Cali.  I hesitate to go hunting alone but can do it.  I really don't know of anyone that is hunting the little profit eaters right now.  I hope to get this house thing under control and go North to do my duty for my friends the farmers.

I haven't even had time to take any photos lately.  I am on the job at 7:00 a.m. and completely worn out by 2:00 p.m.  The heat is really hard on an old man like me. 










I look forward to weeks to come when I can leave home base in the early a.m. and go hunt in Iron County then return home to work on the house project at 10 -- 11:00 a.m.

P.S. I did draw a buck deer rifle tag for the Pine Valley, Utah unit this fall.  I came in the mail last week and I am glad to have something to look forward to this October.  Maybe I will have to take the old bear killer .30-06 and go on another trophy jackrabbit hunt to practice up in September?

QUICK TRIP BUT . . . LOTS OF FUN.

Bounty Hunter 6 is in town for just a few days in between fighting fires.  He took me to lunch Tuesday and we had a great conversation.  I asked if he would like to go hunt some chizzlers just for a short time in the morning and of course he said "YES!"  He is one of two guys that like to hunt the little varmints more than I do.  The next morning we took off on a quick trip to Iron County to see what damage we could do to prevent alfalfa crop shrinkage from the chizzlers and help the farmers make more money.

We arrived in a good location at 9:10 a.m. and set up two squirrel-o-matics in the back of my truck.  We started to shoot almost immediately.  We fired for about 2 hours and then the critters kind of were "shot out".  Bounty Hunter 6 had fired just over 100 rounds and I had fired maybe 75 rounds.  As I looked over the target area for Bounty Hunter 6 there were dozens of bodies in various poses of death at distances from 10 yards to 175 yards.  The wind started to really blow and even the birds, e.g. crows = 'nature's undertakers', were not flying due to the wind.  We packed up and headed home.

The short hunt was do to the fact that I had work to do and Bounty Hunter 6 had to get ready for another round of flying to keep California from totally burning up.  My best shots of the day were at three big old crop destroyers at 160 yards.  Not bad if I do say so myself for a little .22 L.R.

CLEAR -- NO WIND MORNING

Took off this morning at 8 a.m.  My son was with me and we were on our way to Iron County to help the farmers lower the vermin eating up the profits in their fields.  It was a great time to drive and talk about all kinds of topics and get together one on one with my son.  I really enjoy the trip to and from the hunting area a great time to converse, share ideas, and not be interrupted. 

We arrived and and set up the squirrel-o-matic in the back of the truck.  We started seeing chizzlers right off.  I could tell the varmints had been shot at recently as they were moving real quick and trying to get in their burrows and into the concealment of the grass or alfalfa.  My son said they seemed far away for our .22 l.r. firearms.  I told him not to worry as the closer targets would be back out in a few minutes.

 Rusty on squirrel-o-matic

Once we got set up and started to get serious about shooting the little rascals began to pop out of their hiding places and run into the dry plowed up area between the alfalfa and the rough desert terrain.  Chizzlers would stop and look all around in the dry no-man's land and then the carnage started.  Rusty was the first to fire and hit one on his first shot.  Many more were to follow the example of their leader on his way to Valhalla alfalfa.

{NOTE:  This kid is a naturally excellent shot. I asked him if he had practiced shooting lately.  He replied the last time he went shooting was with me.  I think it was 18 months ago.  Crap-o-rama, I practice shooting almost weekly and try to shoot better all the time.  He can shoot as well as me and sometimes better than me and only shoots when someone takes him.  He owns no firearms.}

We acquired targets and made them do the break-dance of death, plop and flip flop in the air, separate into multiple pieces, and just permanently retire for about 2 hours.  We were shooting bolt action .22's and the pause while loading our magazines was the only reprieve they got from us.  Rusty got into it.  He started to snicker from time to time when he would make a long shot.  I was truly impressed as he toasted them at from 30 to 116 yards.  I took my laser ranger finder and as we did a quick verification body count I ranged back to the truck to get exact distances.

I got a few at distance and was really please with my "luck."   I got a double at 124 yards.  I was more lucky than good on this one, yet the chizzlers were still laying there dead as heck even after the "luck" had all dissipated into the atmosphere. 

double

I also got a herd bull at 156 yards for my longest confirmed hit of the day.

There was little or no wind and we really scored well for the farmers.  We packed up at 11:00 a.m. and headed back to St. George as my son had a lunch appointment.  We had a great time and I will always remember going with Rusty to do something I like to do.  He told me he had a good time and that was icing on the cake!