Mica Man
Well-known member
I got to spend some good daddy daughter time with my oldest this past week. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving started at 1:30 in the morning as we left our house and drove 300 miles south of our house in Coeur d’Alene to the 45th Parallel.
We made it there just after shooting light and stopped briefly at a generous landowner’s house. They had kindly given us a key for a gate which allows access to public ground through private property. We drive up the road and arrive at the gate. Daughter jumps out to unlock the gate for us to pass through, and I glass the opposing hillside. Bright, glowing, palomino bodies in the morning sun fill my field of view! I pull out the spotter and verify that there are eight branch antler bulls feeding on an open hillside thousands of feet off of the valley floor. We study them briefly and then quickly drive up the road to the base of the mountain and park.
We grab gun and pack and head up the mountain. Rutting mule deer distract us as we slowly gain elevation. Blue sky and warm sunshine on our faces as we climb to a saddle to glass. Not long after arriving, we spot a bedded bull and realize we need to move higher on the mountain. More climbing and we find ourselves at a good vantage point. The pack is laid out and my daughter gets in position to shoot. Shots ring out and my daughter has her bull!
Celebration and then thanksgiving for the animal that offered itself to us so we can feed our family and friends. Grip and grins and then the work begins.
We pack it on our backs to the truck waiting for us somewhere on the valley floor. Wonderful success and memories to last a lifetime!
We made it there just after shooting light and stopped briefly at a generous landowner’s house. They had kindly given us a key for a gate which allows access to public ground through private property. We drive up the road and arrive at the gate. Daughter jumps out to unlock the gate for us to pass through, and I glass the opposing hillside. Bright, glowing, palomino bodies in the morning sun fill my field of view! I pull out the spotter and verify that there are eight branch antler bulls feeding on an open hillside thousands of feet off of the valley floor. We study them briefly and then quickly drive up the road to the base of the mountain and park.
We grab gun and pack and head up the mountain. Rutting mule deer distract us as we slowly gain elevation. Blue sky and warm sunshine on our faces as we climb to a saddle to glass. Not long after arriving, we spot a bedded bull and realize we need to move higher on the mountain. More climbing and we find ourselves at a good vantage point. The pack is laid out and my daughter gets in position to shoot. Shots ring out and my daughter has her bull!
Celebration and then thanksgiving for the animal that offered itself to us so we can feed our family and friends. Grip and grins and then the work begins.
We pack it on our backs to the truck waiting for us somewhere on the valley floor. Wonderful success and memories to last a lifetime!
