UnHarvest Party Nonsense

We were finally able to get the family and friends over for a couple of hours today to hang out, eat soup and share a couple of laughs at what may now become our annual Harvest Party. I'm hopeful that each year will bring cause to celebrate the fact that we've actually harvested something during hunting season. This year was different though - since hardly any tags were filled, we called our get together an "un-harvest" party.

There were several party poopers who didn't arrive in costume attire as required. However, my husband was a good sport and was "Boog" from the movie "Open Season".

How could you not chuckle a bit at the sight of this:

Happy Halloween everyone.

I'm off to catch some zzz's so I can get up early. There is a mountain lake filled with Kokanee that is calling my name.

Good Mail Days

Not all mail days are good mail days. Usually getting the mail means sorting through the junk mail, and organizing the bills to be paid. Yuck! However, today was a good mail day because nestled amongst the yuck mail was my new arrow wraps. I'm so excited to get these beauties on my arrows. The company I ordered these through has been great! They allow you to customize your wraps for no extra charge. If you are looking for new wraps, I would recommend that you check out BattleDrum's website.

Slowly but surely I'm getting all of my equipment color coordinated and these new wraps will help with my ensemble. Next on my list... colored bow strings. I have to decide which colors though - orange / white, OR orange / teal, OR teal / white. Any advice?

I'm loving the ORANGE! :)

Fishing Video Highlights

Here is my latest video montage to torture you all with...

(Pause music at bottom of the page first - I'm going to have to kill the regular music on my blog if I keep this video nonsense up.)

Mountain Fishing from Emily on Vimeo.

Fishing Mountain Lakes

What a great day! Cheeks are kissed by the sun. Fish is in the cooler. Dogs have welcomed me back home with slobbery kisses. And my bed is now calling my name (after a quick blog update)

This morning seems like a distant memory. Before the first rays of sunlight crested the horizon, we were headed to a mountain lake shore to find out if the rumor was true: the Kokanees are spawning. So, spurned on with hopes that we would snag a salmon or two, the fishing crew piled in the truck.

Breakfast consisted of coffee and waxy donuts

Snaggin' Hooks were loaded in tackle boxes

Upon reaching our lake, we decided to drive around the entire lake to find the ideal spot where the fish would be spawning. It turned into a little adventure in itself, and several conversations took place as to which end of the lake was the inlet or the outlet. It's all good though - I got a nap in and also enjoyed the scenery:

After coming to one side of the lake (that truly was the outlet) with no access to the lake (damn - literally), we decided to head back to the marina (where we started). Since the wind had picked up considerably by this time, we found a cozy little cove and proceeded to fish for... trout.

Before we even got settled in, I got the first bite of the day. It was short lived though - as I saw my rainbow peek through the shallow waters, she just as quickly stole my hook and swam away. Bummer! I'm glad I didn't know then this would be my only bite of the day. However, even if I had this tid bit of knowledge, I still would have sat on that shoreline all day listening to the water lap the rocks and soaking up the mountain sunshine.

The husband was able to reel in his rainbow, and instead of stealing his hook, she stole his heart.

What a great fish!!

After catching a few trout, we switched to snaggin' hooks and moved to a cove by the marina where several others were reeling in salmon. Unfortunately, we didn't connect on any salmon today. It did befuddle me a bit that we were only 20 yards from another group who were snagging Kokanee on every other cast - or so it seemed. I don't understand how their buckets were overflowing with fish and ours were.. ahem... empty. Oh, well. I guess that is the way it goes sometimes. It was fun to see all those fish though! I'm now excited to get back up there to try and fill my bucket with salmon.

Proud Owner of a Used Butt

Last week at our archery league shoot, the owner of the shop offered us the opportunity to buy a "Block" target. He was replacing the ones at the shop and selling the used ones that were still in really good shape. My husband gave me the eyes that said.... "Please, honey, can I have one? Please." How could I resist?

As we were loading up the large target into the truck someone made the remark, "you are now the owner of a used butt". Wait. What? Not really knowing what they were talking about I simply said "thanks". I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that type of comment. I knew they were most definitely referring to the target, b/c umm.... doesn't everyone already own a "used butt". I'm not going to explore this any further than that.

Anyway, curiosity got the best of me and thanks to my handy dandy little google option on my computer, I now understand. Here is some interesting history regarding Archery Butts and here is a pic of my personal used butt:

Deer Mischief

The deer are misbehaving around here...

Hunting Video Highlights

Relivin' some of the good times so far this year....

(Remember to pause the music at the bottom of the page)

Hunting Season 2009 from Emily on Vimeo.

Archery League

We joined an archery league last week. Partly out of the need to kick the work day blues. Partly out of me needing to graduate to my other bow. However, I honestly didn't realize what I was getting myself into. It is all so official. There is the whole being timed and having to straddle a white line thing. It is more natural for me to shoot sitting down than trying to straddle a white line. What's that all about? At our house we are more used to shooting out the back door. Or shooting at a bug infested bucky in an open pasture.

If you have never shot in a league before let me warn you about a few things:

• Be prepared for having to shoot really close to someone else. Bring gum.
• It is quiet. You must resist the urge to laugh or speak while shooting.
• You can NOT touch your arrow when scoring.
• Do not move from straddling white line position while your neighbor is at full draw.
• No farting in line to distract your neighbor. (No, I didn't do this - but may try it next time.)

With all these rules and regulations, I was really nervous at first. Plus my husband kept giving me the eye to "pay attention". I was able to pull myself together though and did really enjoy the evening. Everyone was so nice and I'm looking forward to the next eight weeks of shooting.

Oh... and I ALMOST beat my husband's score. I think he was a little nervous at first that the wife would out shoot him. ;)

Lucky Charms

We all know about the crazy notions that sportsmen do in order not to break a winning streak or to bring them good luck. Some of the more interesting ones that I found or know about include:

• Fish won't bite if a barefoot woman passes on the way to the dock (what?)
• Cowboys don't wear yellow in the arena
• Baseball players spit in their hand before picking up the bat
• Football fans hope for a Lambeau Leap
• Some don't shave
• Some don't bath
• Hockey players tap the goalie on his shin pads before the game
• On and on it goes...

I'm curious though - What is up with the bad hygiene ones? I don't get that. I'm wondering if there are any of these crazy habits or superstitions out there when it comes to hunting season. Come on, I know that we all have our little quirks. I'm going to 'fess up to one of mine....

Knee high aqua ski socks....

I know what you are thinking: Sexy! Especially when paired with my red fleece long underwear.

Obviously, wearing these beauties this year didn't help me any. However, they did keep the toes warm during the September archery season snow storm:

Happy hunting to those of you who still have tags to fill.

Un-Harvest Party

In honor of not filling any of our big game tags so far this year, I thought it would be appropriate to host an Un-Harvest / costume party. What does that mean? Basically - bring your own meat!

The party is just in it's planning stages so I need some help from you all. This is what I know so far. There will be a pumpkin carving contest for the kiddos and I suppose the adults also. You must come dressed as your favorite big game animal. That's all I've thought of so far though. I know the combination of being dressed as a moose, caribou or bear and trying to carve a pumpkin could get interesting. This in itself could provide all of the entertainment needed for the evening. However, I'm sure there are other great ideas out there for throwing a fall / harvest party. What else should I throw in the mix? Help a girl out and send me your ideas!

I'm not sure if my husband is going to go along with my party idea. We shall see....

Estes Park - Elk Fest

Every October the town of Estes Park, Colorado has an Elk Festival timed to coincide with when elk are in the rut. What is truly amazing about Estes Park, besides the fact that it is nestled in a gorgeous valley surrounded by Rocky Mountain views, is that the elk seem to live right in the middle of this tourist town. It is not uncommon to be shopping downtown and see several elk in the downtown park or down by the fall river that runs behind the shops. The picture taken below was taken a couple years ago when my family spent a weekend in Estes during the Christmas season - notice the lights on the trees next to the elk.

Last weekend was the Elk Fest at Estes Park. Unfortunately, I was unable to go. However, while I'm thinking about it, I just wanted to mention it for those who are unfamiliar with this wonderful event. If you are ever in Colorado during the month of October, I would highly encourage you to make your way on up the Big Thompson canyon towards Estes Park. Plus the good thing about going to Estes in October is that the town isn't as crowded as during the summertime.

Coming Home Empty Handed

I've been procrastinating adding this update. It just isn't as much fun adding a blog post when your hunting season has come to a close and there are no animals taken. Nothing to take to the taxidermist. No meat to stock the freezer with. Nothing to show for all your hard work. It was our year to get skunked. Stink!! And to top off all that stinkyness (I know - not a word), my husband caught a cold and then shared it with me. Oh... and the husband also sliced his bowstring somehow which now needs to be fixed. Luckily it was on the last day and it wasn't sliced all the way through, but it was enough to make him nervous to pull back on the bowstring. However, he did let us know that if a bull happened to make an appearance on that last hunt he would still let an arrow fly so we had better duck because there may be pieces of his bow flying through the air upon touching his release! (I really don't think he would have - I'm sure he would have dropped back and become the caller so that his sweet wife could take the shot.)

Looking back over the last month, I can't saw it was all for naught. We covered a lot of ground this year and saw a lot of beautiful country. Friendships were strengthened. Time was spent away from office cubicleland. (I know it's not a word.) New hunting areas discovered for high altitude Mule Deer. (Evidenced by the monster Muley shown below) And let's not forget... I have a few more hunting stories in the bag to share with you all.

On the eve of our last day of elk archery season, we hiked several miles hoping to find elk. However, upon reaching an open meadow our last ditch attempt at locating elk became a crazy bugling contest on the side of the mountain. (There have been times when we've been goofing off making obnoxious elk calls, that a bull has actually responded - granted it is usually a younger bull that is just curious as to what in the world is going on.) Take a listen and you will see what I'm talking about: