More photos of fishing and elk

I got a few more photos of the fishing trip and Eric's cow from Eric. The fishing photos are foggy due to the amount of moisture we had coming down.

Ice Fishing

I loaded Isaac and Boyd up this morning and headed to Green Mountain Reservoir. Olivia had a ski lesson with her 2nd grade class at Vail, so her and Heather's day was already planned. I was running behind as usual and it was dumping snow from Leadville to Climax Mine on 91, so we didn't make it to Silverthorne to meet Eric and Ashton until around 7:45. He piled all their stuff in the Tacoma and off we went. We were packed in the truck like sardines (two adults, three kids, and one lab).

I think we drilled the first hole some time around 8:30 (maybe a little later). We started off in 42 ft of water and Isaac had his first laker on in about 15 minutes. I don't think I had even started fishing. I've gotten used to the fact that when I take the kids fishing the whole day is about keeping their lines in the water. Ice fishing adds additional challenges because I also have to drill quite a few holes with the hand auger.

Ashton had one on soon after and a few fish were missed in the next half hour. It seemed like the bite was gone, so after 3 (I think) fish were landed we drilled some more holes a little farther out. Water was 62 ft in the new location.

We got a few bites pretty quick. Actually I didn't. I was trying to get the kids all set up, move all the gear, and keep Remi under control. Remi had never been on the ice and he wanted to get one of those things flopping on the ice so bad that he was about to go crazy. A dog dragging an ice auger that I thought had him staked down into the midst of 5 people with ice rods out can make quite the comotion.

I finally managed to get my tube jig w/ sucker meat in the water after at least one or two fish had already been landed. It slowed for a little while then a lot of fish moved in and we spent around a half hour with someone always trying to set the hook on a fish. A lot of fish were missed, but we managed to land quite a few.

By around 1pm all three boys had their limits, I had landed 2 and realeased one, and Eric had landed two of his own fish. None of the fish were very big, but the kids had a great time and Boyd went on and on about every fish he pulled through the ice being "huge". The snow had came and went several times and wouldn't have been too bad had it not been for the last hour of heavy wet flakes that soaked all of us. Good thing it was so warm.

These were the first lakers any of us had caught. I did not get to land too many fish myself, but the gear packing, hole drilling, dog chasing, cooking lunch, and non stop assistance to Boyd took it's toll on my time. I had to help him set the hook on his fish, so the rod handling with both of us having our hands on the rod made for a quite a few missed fish. DOW was also on the ice today and checked us and the other fisherman we could see. Boyd wanted to make sure he saw all three fish he had landed at that time. Boyd handled those fish so much that I don't know if the smell will ever come out of his gloves and coat.

I did not pack my camera out into the weather, so Eric got a few pics that I don't have and I took a couple in the back yard and one before the fillet knife came out after the kids had taken their shower and I got all the fish smell off of them. The day turned out great since all three kids had such a good day.

Last Day Cow

My plans to kill a cow during the first part of the late cow season did not work out. Myself and Eric made it out about 5 times from Dec. 15 to January 15.

Eric killed his cow last Sunday afternoon after we slipped in on what we thought was four cows. It turned out to be about 30 elk and several of them busted us after we jumped some deer that ran past the herd. We charged up the hill to try and suprise some that might not have been too spooked and Eric got a standing 100 yard shot. I missed my shot at a 220 yards after she started to trot away. I could not get steady after running through the snow for 75 yards. When I finally did, she started to move and I missed. I followed a while to make sure of the miss then we got to work on Eric's cow. He shot her at 3:30 and we had meat packed and loaded in the truck by about 9pm.

I had said I wasn't going back out after we got Eric's, but the elk returned and I decided to give it a try. I glassed from the road and found some of them bedded on Tuesday and planned for a Wednesday assault, but could not find them Wednesday morning. I decided to not hike in if I did not know where they were. I glassed again Weneday evening and had almost decided they were gone until I drove back by on my way home and spotted the herd. So, plans were made for a last day Thursday hunt.

I arrived at the glassing location and watched the entire herd of 25 or 30 make their way up the mountain. They bedded quite a bit higher than I had hoped, but 4 or 5 stayed behind and we spotted them bedded on another ridge in a more approachable location. Eric dropped me off at 10am and I was on the phone with him at 11:30 declaring "dead cow".

I managed to crest the ridge across from them without detection. As I was trying to get into position to see them I noticed one of them had spotted me. I found a rest and took her while she stared from approximately 150 yrds quartering to me. The Remington 7mm mag dropped her in her tracks. She was a small cow, I believe a calf in 2007, but I'm not sure. The two other elk I could see before I took the shot were smaller calves from 2008 and the other two that stood after the shot were larger adults. I would have preferred the larger cows for the extra meat, but I was expecting everything to fall apart pretty quick and wasn't willing to take the chance on the last day.

We had a more difficult pack with this cow and had to make a second trip after a Burger King break. I shot the cow at 11:30 am and we had her packed and in the truck by 9 pm. So much for filling the tag early.

New Year

The new year has showed up faster than the last. I guess it comes with age. Hopefully 2009 will be a good year.

Sean, Jennifer, Jacob, and Lane were here over Christmas. We all had a great time with them here. Sean and Jacob were sick part of the time, but I believe they took it home with them and none of us got sick. We had fun skiing a couple days and played the new Wii a lot. They got to see plenty of snow and lots of cold....real cold.

David and Janet will be here on the 13th, so were looking forward to their first Colorado visit. I should have the new basement bedroom finished when they get here. The shower may not have the tile installed, but the drywall should be finished and painted.
David plans to ski some at Ski Cooper. I'm sure we can get a couple days in if he wants to.

I've done a poor job of taking and posting photos lately. I've got some from Christmas to post, so maybe I'll get them up before too long. I've got video of Sean, Jacob and Lane skiing that should be fun for anyone to watch.