The Perfect Gift

Recently I've been dropping hints to my husband. Hints that don't need a super secret decoder ring to decipher. Flowers. It would be wonderful to be surprised with a bouquet of flowers as a nice gesture of how much my husband loves me. Normally I tell him not to buy frivolous things for me. We are after all trying to cross off all the items on our list for hunting in the back country, and these "items" are not cheap: bivy tents, a second set of range finders, new sights and rests for new bows, jet boil, new hiking boots. And the list goes on.

Flowers received on certain holidays are a bit cliche for me and I think it is absolutely absurd that the price for a dozen roses costs 3 times the normal price just b/c it is the thing to buy on Valentines day. This gal would rather receive flowers on a random day of the month and not out of obligation because of a specific calendar date. I want my man to simply be inspired to buy something sweet... just because.

So, the other day when my man called on his way home with a message that he had something for me, I was thrilled. Could he have picked up some flowers for me on his way home?

He walked in the door with a proud beaming smile on his face. Here is what he lovingly purchased for me:

A DVD field guide on De-boning Elk in the Field

We had a good laugh and crossed off another item on the hunting list.

Bighorn Sheep Dreams

Last Saturday I received my Colorado Hunting Regulations in the mail and also completed my taxes on the same day. A coincidence that these two events happened on the same day? I think not. With the anticipation of a small refund hitting my bank account in a few days, I will be submitting an application for a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep tag. It is my first attempt at one of these tags. Therefore, I'm trying to be realistic that the first year I probably won't be successful in drawing a tag, but a girl can dream. And a girl should be prepared just in case she does end up with a Bighorn sheep tag in her pocket. So, I've done a little homework to research these animals a bit and thought I would share. Here are some interesting facts about these magnificent animals...

1. It takes about seven or eight years for a ram to reach a "full curl" on their horns.
2. They are diurnal.
3. Bighorn have extremely good eyesight (can see up to a mile away), which helps in jumping on the rocky terrain - gaining narrow mountain footholds
4. This one cracks me up... "Males do not defend territories but rather engage in battles over mating access to a particular female." huh.

Even though Colorado is home to the largest population of Bighorn sheep (evidenced by the pic above that I snapped on the way home from my folks) it is still not an easy tag to draw. This may be due to some environmental factors that the Colorado Division of Wildlife has to consider in order to effectively manage the herds, e.g., parasitic disease, being susceptible to coyotes and mountain lions, or even falling from a cliff to their deaths due to the rugged terrain they live in. Yikes! Am I really going to be prepared for this type of hunt?! There is an "incline" near Pikes Peak here in Colorado that my brother frequents in order to stay in shape. He said that one time while he was making his way up the incline, Apolo Ohno actually passed him and was doing almost a full sprint with knee raises. That is pretty impressive - to even pass my bro in itself is quite the feat b/c he is in stellar shape. I may have to make a couple of trips up that incline this spring to get physically prepared; however, I don't think I'll be doing the "Apollo sprint" thing! I'll be happy to just make it to the top without puking my lunch. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep from Colorado Division of Wildlife on Vimeo.

Speed Goat Wannabe

Antelope are some of the hardest animals to put the sneak on. If you've ever attempted this, you know what I'm talking about. They have great eye sight and live on the open prairie. Those two combinations alone speak volumes toward the challenge of stalking these speed goats.

So, I've decided that for my next antelope hunt, I want a speed goat hat so I can be the decoy.

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Okay - I'll spill the beans. The accidental "trick shooting" incident that I mentioned in my last post occurred the other weekend during a 3D shoot in Denver. It really isn't that exciting. I really didn't intend to do any fancy shooting. Honest. I was just trying to hit the targets and look like I knew what I was doing. However, sometimes that results in some interesting shots.

Also, I am proud to say that no arrows were damaged in either shot. So, if you were to try and replicate the couple of interesting shots I took, you would have to do it as follows...

FIRST SHOT

Miss the neck of the mule deer at 30 yards by a centimeter, skim the arrow along the side of the wall, and bury it firmly dead center in the neck of the fallow deer at 40 yards.

Official Score = 0 points.

Points according to Emily = 5 points (all foam should at least equal 5 points)

SECOND SHOT

Shoot a Feral Hog at 35 yards completely through a fence without loosing a fletching, ruining a tip or nock, or breaking your arrow. I think I managed to squeeze my arrow through 2 of the boards in the above fence, but it sounded like it went right through the wood.

Official Score = 10 points.

Points according to Emily = 10 points +4 extra points for the cool sound effect

I think I am starting to get the hang of all these archery leagues and 3D shooting tournaments. There was a girls night last Friday at the local archery shop where about 30 gals got together for a potluck and night of 3D shooting. I'm happy to report that I didn't participate in any trick shooting and ended up shooting a 152 out of 165 points possible. Granted, the longest shot was maybe 25 yards, but I was still pretty happy with that. Hunting season is just around the corner - I will be ready!

Hide Dilemna

I've always felt it was a bit wasteful to leave a perfectly good hide in the woods. It is the dilemma I have each time we haul meat off the mountain after filling a tag. We are careful to bring back all the meat possible, only leaving a few scraps and pieces for the "camp robbers" to clean up. However, we typically leave the hide there with the remains. I usually pout a little bit because I really want to bring the hide back and have it tanned. This little dream dies a bit when I feel how heavy it is. We've never been able to justify the extra weight on our packs... until now.

There is a company in Minnesota, Trophy Hides, that turns your hides into beautiful things such as gloves, jackets, gun cases, etc. How cool would it be to sport a jacket knowing that it is from a deer or elk that you shot! What an ingenious way to display your trophy. Plus the best part is I read in a recent Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) magazine article that the owner of Trophy Hides is in the process of working out a plan to have convenient drop points where MDF members can drop off their hides and have them designated towards projects associated with MDF, which means that you are contributing back and raising money for mule deer management.

I've already informed my husband that when I shoot my Muley this summer that we may be taking the extra trip to carry out the hide. He's been given fair warning - no excuses this time. However, it will probably be my pack with the hide strapped onto it! That's okay with me.

I'm off to do more push-ups and shoot a few arrows in the basement. (I apparently need more practice after my "trick shooting" incident at the 3D archery shoot last weekend.)

P.s. I'm still working on tips & tricks post for fletching arrows. Maybe I'll be done by this weekend.