Grass not growing under our boots

Things are still going great. Shoulder operation is scheduled for June 20 and we’re doing our best trying to get it moved up. That’s putting recoup time real close to the 1st of October. That being said, we’re still staying active and on the mountain.

Surprisingly we’re still seeing more pairs of birds than usual for this time of the year. Maybe because it’s cooler than normal and scent is better.

But most of our time isn’t trying to find birds. We’re in the mountains for various reasons right now and if the boys find some birds I honor them by going to their point. Conner enjoys shed horn hunting and we always take the dogs while searching. Here’s Amaia, Conner’s girlfriend coming off the mountain with her golden, Remmy, and Conner’s lab, Blaze. The way Conner likes hiking the mountain he picked the right girl.

She was keeping the dogs with her while Conner was checking out the rattlesnake den. It’s been very cool and there were none out sunning themselves.

And we’re getting prepared for some of Conner’s future adventures. Building a bear stand. I helped him and his buddies pack material in and begin the building process. We had to pack the material in about a mile because of the deep snow. It was tough going for this old fart but the 22 year olds kept smiling through it all.

They’re building a king sized stand so I can take a nap while waiting for a bear to come in. I’m not shooting, but will have fun with the camera.

In between the bear baiting and horn hunting we’ve been chasing some turkeys. We’ve been having some great success, especially since we’ve been taking some of Conner’s high tech video equipment in for filming. He has become quite good with the camera and I think he enjoys that almost as much as he enjoys hunting. The really cool part of the turkey hunting is all of the different places we have gone and found birds. Amaia and I are hunting with shotguns but t everyone else seems to prefer their bows. I must admit they are good with them. I was first to connect, with Conner and Wyatt along to help me pack the bird out.

Amaia got a great opportunity but didn’t connect. Here she is setting up the camera while Conner is preparing to call.

Still in another new location we filmed another great hunt with a friend of Conner’s from Nevada. He’s an elk guide in Nevada and his video of him smoking a very good bird is on you tube under Ruby Mountain outfitters. I had a tough time keeping up with the two of them, but the excitement kept me going.

Another friend of Conners, also from Nevada, teamed up with Conner on these two good Toms I called in. Shooting a turkey without a blind is tough because drawing the bow back at the right time is so critical, but they got it done. I had never been to this location before but we had lots of birds interested in us.

They got this one on video also but I haven’t seen the finished product yet. This is one of my short takes with my unprofessional camera.

It’s hard to describe how much fun I’m having, even without my dogs being there. One more of our success photos.

So, life is being great for me and the best part is knowing that the chukars are doing so well so far. Let’s hope for the right amount of moisture over the next month and a half to keep the good times coming for our favorite birds. Plus we still have turkey tags to fill. Especially Amaia’s. Never seen a young lady enjoy the mountains like she does.

A p.s. to add. Although I failed to get pictures of my lovely bride, Kudos to her for taking many of the hikes with us. I think she’s got tougher as we have gained age.