Coby is coming to get the meat, but will be coming in from the south trail, as it is a much shorter drive with his trailer. I don't blame him, but hope that I can convince my dad to take my truck the several hours around to meet him the next day. It's a conversation to be had at camp, not via inReach, as my hands are too tired to type.
Exhausted, we splash across the beaver dams, but talk excitedly about the hunt, recounting the day from sunrise to well past sunset. When we reach the end of the canyon where we start uphill, we take one final break, and then put our heads down, figuring we'll be to the truck in an hour. With a few minutes to spare, we arrive at the truck, and head to camp, pulling in around midnight.
My dad has a fire going, and we show him some photos and videos, knowing how badly he wanted to be there if we got a bison. He's very excited for me, and more than willing to drive my truck around, even though he'd love to head to the kill site in the morning with us. I wish he could have been there when the bull was shot, but he understands that we had to take the opportunity as we found them.
A quick meal and sleep, and I'm up- with daylight savings, I have several alarms set, but the glow on the horizon says I've got the right time. I walk to my buddy Jackson's tent- he had arrived the day before and had hung with my dad while we chased the bison- I ask if he wants to go cut up some meat, and he responds "yep!" immediately. Isaac, Jackson and I take off in Isaac's truck, parking in the same spot at the day prior. We've now done the "hill" twice, so we have much less issue heading down, and make good time. We've gone, light- no layers, no gun, no optics. Just snacks, water filter, and game bags.
We get to the kill site around 9:30, have a quick snack, and then get to work- We bag the meat that's already off the bone and I apply labels to the game bags. We shuttle them down to the shade along the creek, where they will stay plenty cool, as they had nearly frozen the night before. I skin the skull while Isaac and Jackson hang the quarters and bone them out.
Coby shows up at 11:45 as we wrap up the last of the cutting. What a good sight to see! He mentions he hadn't expected to hear from us this early in the hunt, but ensured he was there for me when I needed him, even taking the day off from a sheep hunt to come pack. He was a real class act and made the entire experience very easy and enjoyable. He even about convinced me to cash my Utah deer points in- but not quite. Coby comments that the hunting this year has been bit tougher, and notes that he didn't pass any bison on his 12 mile ride in. I'm not sure where the main herd has gone from yesterday, as we also don't see any bison on our way in, or later, out.
Coby and I use a rudimentary scale to ensure his mules are loaded equally on both sides- Lonestar the mule takes the heavy lifting assignment- Whole hide on one side, head plus meat on the other.
We watch as the mules ride out of sight, and I inReach my dad that he should plan for them to be to the truck around 4-4:30.
Back down the canyon we head.
