Here is my practice area in woodside hollow deep in the Ironwood forest. I live in the Des Moines metropolitan area but am lucky to have a few acres of woods to insulate me from the city so I can keep a few horses and shoot anytime I feel the need. My son and I have been practicing. I am shooting pretty good, and my son is going to pack my old redline super shrew takedowns this year. He has gotten good enough to take a longbow this year and leave the wheelbow at home.
This torture device is a necessary part of elk hunt preparation. The elliptical crosstrainer gives your legs a real good workout and is low impact on your joints. I hate to say I recommend it but it will help you get ready for the mountains. I abhor every minute spent on this thing but I have found that if I plug in Jermiah Johnson or Monte Walsh it is tolerable. I will have to listen to the Elknut DVD's once more before we leave.
This dude caught me by surprise the other day. His wingspan is nearly as wide as the 2x6 board he is resting on, approximately 5 and 1/2 inches. I didn't know what it was so I looked it up on the internet. This is the Imperial moth. They do not have any apparatus to allow them to eat. They emerge after midnight, breed the next day and then die within a few days. Mundane trivia that keeps my life interesting I guess. This is a large wild silkmoth that lays their eggs in the trees that are abundant in my woods. As large as it is I cannot imagine I have never seen on before.
I hang my tents from a pulley in the loft of this 120 year old barn. This keeps them dry, free of mildew. A couple of days ago I took them down, rolled them up and stuffed them into a duffle bag in preparation for this elk hunt.
Word of warning. I mess with horses every day of my life. I know horses. I cannot recommend what I am doing to anyone as a safe activity. Packing with horses deep into the mountains is not something you should try without some experience. I grew up around horses and have many years of experience doing this. I know what to expect from my animals and they know what to expect from me. They recognize me as the supreme ruler of their universe and look to me for comfort and guidance. I can't imagine taking someones rental horse on such a trip, would be asking for trouble in my book. Horseback backcountry elk hunting is about the most fun you can have with your clothes on, so if you must, you have been given fair warning.
I keep 12-15 horses at any given time. I have my old standby horses, ones I am training and others I am trying out. I have been upgrading for many years to get the good quality dependable animals I have now. I raise my own hay which eats into my time every summer, but its cheaper than buying hay. I put up 80-90 tons a year, about half of which is in this pile. Two more cuttings to go.
I have a couple of trailers. I was going to sell my old white trailer but it was getting kind of rusty here and there and needed some work. I wire brushed it with the angle grinder, and sprayed it with some primer and a couple of coats of light Ford Grey tractor paint. I also rewired the lights this week and it is still a pretty decent serviceable trailer. We will be taking 9 or 10 head of horses this trip and will need both of these trailers. The Hillsborough trailer can haul up to 8 horses and the older trailer can haul 4 head. We will not be crowded for trailer space.
I haul a fair amount of feed up into the mountians. I take two horses just to haul horse feed. Here I have a pallet of 30 bags of 12% sweet feed and 5 bales of pine shavings that I have already loaded into the trailer.
Topic: A hunting we shall go, 2009 Colorado elk (Read 5859 times)
