I had planned on writing earlier but as always with this time of the year its fast paced. But now with the seasons winding down here in Wyoming I can take a few and tell you a little bit about how my season unfolded. There is a little bit of hunting to do. I can go for antlerless deer but I will be sharing it with rifle hunters. I hope to get out and cat hunt but that is only if a friend does not have clients. Anyway as always I try to slow down and savor the fall but it never seems to work. No matter how bad I try it seems to fly by as fast as a Blue Wing Teal with the first frost nipping on his tail feathers. Its been a very exciting hunting season with a lot to tell. I will break it up in to three parts kinda like a Lonesome Dove miniseries. Well sort of. You know I am kinda like Gus for I do like to sit on the porch and drink whiskey all day. So here we go part one hope you enjoy.
I will start with mid August. Upon returning from Denton Hill I had to play catch up with orders and other chores. Well I say catch up but I should say try to keep up. August 15th is the opener for antelope but I knew I would not be able to go till Labor Day weekend. I had to get a few things out of the way before hand. I had a ten day back country hunt planed for elk. Our trip would kick off on September 15th at that was just around the corner. The prep for that kind of adventure is a huge undertaking there is so much planing. Its part off the fun and with doing a good job hopefully everything goes smooth. First you have the fun stuff like building arrows and sharpening broadheads. Maybe buying a few new toys like the latest headlamp that's out. But then there is the dreaded work. The things most guys are not aware of involving 12 mile treks with live stock in to the wilderness. I have taken some of my buddies from back east and they have no clue of the undertaking before and after such a trip.
So one Saturday morning while having a cup of coffee I mull it over long enough to decide its time to get started. The first thing in order was to get the boys caught up before it got to hot out and put some fresh steel on there hooves. So I get my shoeing tools and anvil out put on my shoeing apron and grab the halter and lead ropes. Now I am a pretty proficient at shoeing horses and I can usually put a full set on in about a hour. That is if there is no beer breaks hence the morning shoe time. So I go in the coral and catch up the boys. I have two horses Biscuit Lips or Lips for short and Dubulous. Now these are there nicknames or affectionate names of course. There real names are Biscuit and Dubs. There never to hard to catch. Lips he would climb in your pocket if he could. Dubs has his little routine where he acts like he is not to sure if he wants to be caught but it is short lived. So there gathered up and we head to the lee side of the horse trailer for some shade. Now while one gets shod one gets to munch grass. Lips is the first victim for he is my personal mount out of the cavy. He is also my favorite.
Every horseman has that once in a lifetime horse Biscuit is mine. I know it and I treasure the time spent with him. Now not to say he does not have a bad day just like some of us. When those times happen I do call him names other than Lips but there scarce. You should hear my wife talk to him on those days. The only time its worse is when I have one of those days and shes talks to me! Lips is a special horse he was born on my folks place back in Wisconsin. He was orphaned at 6 weeks old and was bottle fed by mother and had a goat named Billy for a buddy. He loves people because of that which in some case can be a bad thing. But not with Lips I broke him myself and he is respectful towards people. For the most part I am the only one who has ridden him. Biscuit came in to our lives in the spring of 99 and I am very proud of the horse he turned into. He made his trip out west as a 6 year old with not much experience. He actually had never been in a trailer till I loaded him up to make the trip.
This horse went from only knowing his barn, coral, two other horses and a goat. He then was loaded in a trailer and dumped in huge pasture with at least fifteen strange horses. He never crossed water before and there was a ditch he had to cross to get from the dry lot to the pasture. He would not cross and he started loosing weight. I crossed him several times with a lead rope but he just would not cross when every one else was kicked out to feed. The lady who owned the pasture would call and say its been three days and he still wont cross. So I'd go over and walk up to him and say what are we gonna do you have to cross. I walk to the ditch with Lips just following no lead rope and we look at the water. I say Lips you gotta cross I don't know what I can do for you. The horse looks at the water smells it and puts his front feet in. He then stands there looking at the horses on the other side. It was almost magical he just goes like there never was a problem. I cheered him on as he met up with the other horses. I talked to the lady who owned the place latter that week to see if he was still crossing. She said it was amazing he now led the rest of the horses in and out every day. It was a huge change for him.
He turned in to a very confident horse that is very trusting. There is really nothing he wont do for you if asked of him. I truly believe he knows I would do nothing to put him in harms way. There is not a horse in the world that wont bugger over something but it seldom ever happens with Lips. I even had a very large Bull moose run by us a 5 yards and he never flinched. My wife's horse was not so understanding and nearly dumped her. Guess who was in trouble for that deal!
One of the things that I like so much about Lips is you can ride off with out him going crazy because all his buddies are left behind. This can be a real problem with some horses. They just wont shut up and all they want to do is get back to camp. He leaves willingly and has no concern of the ones left behind. I can get to where I am going tie him up and come back with no problems. It is very nice when hunting by yourself.
The first time I needed to pack out an animal I did not know which horse was going to be up for the job. So I took a chunk of elk hide and headed over to the horses tied to the trees. I thought I will give Dubs a try first for he was older and more experienced horse. Well he seen me coming and as I got closer I seen his eyes about pop out of his head. So I backed of so as not to cause a disturbance. Well lets see what Lips will do. So I walk over to him in plain sight so not spring it on him . He sees me coming and turns his head and sticks it right into the blood and fur. I say to myself oh shoot, well maybe not shoot. But any how this could be a problem. But I cant believe my eyes when Lips starts playing with the hide. Its like the fur is tickling his nose and he likes it. Perfect so I walk him over to the carnage. As he stands and eats grass I sling the meat over the saddle with out one iota of a problem unbelievable!
About a week latter I shot a Muley buck. So I go get lips and walk him up to the the deer. He is definitely interested and in his attempt to get his head on the deer he almost pokes his eye out! Again I say oh shoot! With this his head flies up, he then repositioned himself for as not to poke himself again and starts messing with the fur. Unreal! So Lips just stands there as I load him up with victim number two.
Now in the time I took to tell you about Lips I have finished him up and so its his turn to eat. What I have forgot to mention is my wife was helping me by holding the lead rope. I say was because because she is no longer going to help due to the fact I sometimes get crabby. I get crabby because it is never much fun holding up a leg attached to a 1000 pound animal while trying to nail a shoe on. In fact I get crabby just thinking of it. My wife dreads shoeing horses with me and threatens to call another farrier often. I will have none of that though and proceed with the program. So as she storms off to the house chanting words that should not be repeated I fetch up Dubs.
Now Dubs is a great horse he may lack the tolerance of an elk carcase but he makes up for it in so many other ways. I often take both him and Lips when I guide. He is the kind of horse you can put any one on and he takes care of them. From dudes to kids Dubs is the man. My wife gives riding lessons to a little girl that has a interest in horses. You can see he takes care of her and is the perfect gentleman. Biscuit and Dubs are great buddies. Lips is the leader Dubs the follower I can head down the mountain a foot with Lips in tow and Dubs just follows. There is never any bickering between the two they just get along fine. This is not always the case and if two horses don't like each other it makes for real pain in the ass down the trail.
I got Dubs from a buddy of mine up in Montana. My friend Rob Brooks owns a leather shop in Bozeman. Rob plays a lot of polo and old Dubs was tired of having his head jerked off and refused to play the game anymore. So I told Rob I would take him if he was willing to do a little horse trading no pun intended. Rob said what you got? I said how bout my saddle? He said that sounds fair and it was a done deal. Now a cowboy friend of mine told me never trade unless your on top. Now we all know when trading both people assume their on top or there would be no trade. Well I think I was the winner this time for the saddle I traded was the second saddle I ever built. So how good can your second saddle be? Any way Rob sold it in his store fairly quickly and we where both happy and that's all that matters. So that's the story behind Dubs. So if you excuse me I will finish him up so he can eat some grass.
Now that this dreaded chore is finished its time for a little celebrating. So I head to the house for a ice cold Miller Lite. So I am in a good mood now and I am humming a tune on the way to the fridge. I have to pass some one who is not humming the same tune. In fact its not humming at all. She reminds me of the episode I have all ready forgot about as usual. My ears do not like what they hear at all so I quickly slide past to the fridge and evacuate as if the house where on fire.
Now that I have put a safe distance between me and the burning house I enjoy my beverage of choice. I kick back on the wheel well of the horse trailer admiring my shoe job and talk to the horses. The great part is they seldom talk back and they never mind what you say to them. Wish life could always be this simple. So I finish up my beer and start with the next project.
Next is all the pack equipment needs to be gone over. I have some panniers to repair and get everything up to snuff. When I get that all situated its on to the camping gear. It was all put away in good order from last fall but I give it a once over. I pull out the tent make sure no vermin chewed a hole in it. Grab the wood stove make sure its good. Cot, sleeping bag, lantern,and the rest of the gear checked of the list and piled up ready to go. So there you have it part one. Hope you enjoyed and some of you get to see a little of what goes on with preparing for a hunt like this. I hope you have noticed my strong affection for my horses. They are single most important aspect of back country travel. Your life depends on them so I make it a point to put them first no matter what. With out there help venturing 12 to 15 miles in to the wilderness would be hard. Especially for extended periods of time. More than half the the thrill for me is being with my friends and animals in wild country. I also thank my wife who tolerates a lot.
Scott Teaschner
My wife cant tell which ones the horses ass can you?
Running the rasp.
Lips ready to ride.
Dubs trying out for the circus.
Lips back in 2008 with his first load of elk.
Topic: 2011 Bowhunting Season 3 Part Miniseries (Read 180 times)
