Thanksgiving in IL

We got back to CO on the 28th of November after our visit to IL for Thanksgiving. We had a good visit and a safe drive both directions.

Isaac killed his first deer, a little buck, on the last day/last afternoon/last half hour of the shotgun season. We were both exited. Jacob and I both shot does the last morning of the shotgun season, and I killed a doe with my bow on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Sean was in a tree about 10 yards from me when I killed the doe on Friday. That is one of the few times, if not the only time, I've been able to kill something before he had a chance to shoot. Good thing I didn't choke the shot.


The archery doe is the third consecutive doe, in as many years, that I've whacked on our Thanksgiving trip to IL.

My late season rifle cow tag starts on the 15th of Dec. I'm ready to pack the freezer w/ elk meat.

6 days to Thanksgiving visit

We will be pointed east in less than a week. The drive will start wednesday afternoon and we'll arrive close to noon on Thursday. We will be staying at David and Gretel's first. I take the easy road and let Heather worry about when and where we stay.

Isaac is exited about his first deer tag for the shotgun season that starts on friday. I have a doe tag for the shotgun season and then a bow tag that I can use the following week.

CO season is over.......looking towards IL

Bow season has been over for almost a month now. The rifle seasons are in full swing (2nd season now), but my rifle cow tag is a late season tag that is the last week of Nov. and Dec. 15 to Jan 15. We plan to be in IL the last week of Nov. over Thanksgiving, so I won't hunt here in CO until Dec.15. Matt calls it a "haystack" tag because that is what a lot of the elk are trying to get to at that time...........a rancher's haystacks. I've been in withdrawals since season ended w/o a single tag punched.

We took the kids fishing last weekend and had a nice time. A lakeside campfire always adds to the fun. I believe the weather is about to take a permanent aim at winter soon, so we may not get to do too much more fishing. Hopefully we can get some good ice fishing in this year.

We should start driving eastward on the evening of Wed. November 18th and arrive in IL on the 19th. Isaac and I will both have antlerless gun tags and I'll have an archery tag also, so we should get plenty of deer hunting in while we are there. We will head back to CO on Saturday the 28th.

Last weekend approaching

The last weekend of elk season is approaching and I have not loosed an arrow yet. It has been a really tough season for me. The first weekend started out well, but all of those elk have been pushed to parts unknown. I hope to invest in some horses in the years to come, so I can start hunting farther away from the roads and still be able to pack an elk out w/o losing any meat.

Mom and Dad have been here for a little more than a week and will be leaving this Thursday morning. I was unable to put Dad on a cow, but he has caught quite a few fish. I think this will be his last elk tag for a while. We'll miss them quite a bit after they leave.

Not sure if we'll make it home this year at Thanksgiving. Furlough days at work have required a little tightening of the budget. We are going to try to make it, and I've scheduled the days off, but.............we'll see.

Elk Season (opening weekend)

We had a good opening weekend. We did not get to pack out any meat or antlers, but we came very close to killing a bull that I had been watching with a large herd. I made a conservative guess on his score while watching him through a spotting scope for quite some time. We originally were thinking 300" and maybe 320, but after having him at 65 yards we both decided he is a solid 320. However, considering all the opening weekend pressure in the area, it is ulikely that we will find him again. We had a few other smaller bulls close also. I would have taken any one of them given the right opportunity.

Isaac and I made it out for a short scouting trip on Saturday. We found a little fresh sign and a little old sign. Nothing to get too exited about, but a nice day out anyway. Isaac is doing pretty good keeping up with me now, so after the first weekend he'll probably hunt with me quite a bit.

I have not updated this in quite a while. I've been uploading photos to Facebook instead.

Summer is nearing its end and I am preparing myself for the beginning of elk and deer season in four weeks. Isaac and myself spent part of the last weekend scouting for elk and plan to continue that right up until season starts on the 29th.