Don't worry guys.... I'm still alive, just been preoccupied with a work trip to the other side of the world.
Between moving in January, numerous house upgrade projects, and spending time with the family before this trip, I have spent exactly zero days in the woods this year. Heck... the last time I shot my bow was when I killed that deer in AZ. Working out is the only hunting prep I've been able to do so far. I have a pile of new hunting gadgets and gun parts waiting for me on my reloading bench, and I can't wait to start tinkering.
If everything goes ok with me getting home on time, I should be able to take the entire month of September off from work. My hunting plans aren't set in stone, but I'm thinking I'll do a long road trip/hunting trip with the wife and kids. I might try to sneak an Idaho and/or Oregon elk hunt into the 2nd week of Sept. I also drew an awesome NM 2nd archery season elk tag for 15-24 Sept. I hope to do some scouting and familiarization over Labor Day weekend, but I might be going in there blind.
I don't have any solid plans for October yet, but I'll most likely fit a Barbary hunt in on one of those weekends. Oklahoma whitetail and Idaho mule deer/bear/elk are also potential options, but my schedule is too unpredictable at this point to really say one way or the other.
November I will be committed to a long arduous archery hunt in northern Arizona. I have no idea what to expect for that hunt since I've never hunted elk that late in the season and I've never hunted in the area before. I imagine it will be a long hunt, full of glassing, and will be mostly uneventful. It could be awesome, but it could also be miserably boring... I guess we'll have to wait and see.
December has zero hunts on my schedule, but we are planning on having the 3rd annual Hualapi Bow Bash javelina/deer AZ combo hunt in January. It's just too much fun to pass up.
I also have a jan/feb rifle javelina tag in NM. I haven't done any planning for that hunt, but I know a few spots to start looking for them.
To summarize, here are the tags I have in my pocket so far: NM archery elk 15-24 Sep, AZ archery elk 14-28 Nov, NM rifle Javelina Jan&Feb. I also have an Idaho Sportsman's package, but haven't figured out if/when I'll be able to make it up there to hunt.
As far as personal goals for the year go and what you can expect from me... I don't really have any goals, and I probably won't hunt as much as I have the last 2 seasons. I'll fit hunts in where I can, but I'm going to start dragging my kids along on more of these adventures. I also have a few DIY projects I'll post about as they progress. Lastly, I'm going to change my writing style a bit from last year. The goal is to tell enough of the story with photos and snippets of the story (or humorous shenanigans) as they happen to give a general idea of how the hunt is going, and follow-up with a well-written story to tell the full story, which might delay the story posting a little. Hopefully that's not an issue.
I'm always excited to see what the next season has in store, and I've been doing as much as I can out here to be prepared for the hunts. I'm ready for another fun year, and I can't wait to get home and get it all started.
