turkey hunting

 Kyle went on a turkey hunt up by Cedar!

All his brothers and his dad went, it sounded like they had alot of fun!

Kyles Sheep Hunt

Kyle had a ewe sheep hunt, the girls were so excited to go with him on this one!

We went out after Grace got home just to look.
As soon as we got out there there was a bunch of sheep so Kyle decided to see if he could get to them. The girls and I stayed back in the 4-runner and watched!

The girls had so much fun and I am pretty sure Kyle has passed the hunting gene on to them. They sat there and watched him gut it, asked questions, touched. They are huge tomboys, who love pink, glitter and dress up!

500 posts! and my Big deer!

I had 2 deer tags this year, one Utah muzzle loader that I was not looking forward to, and my Nevada rifle tag that I was a little more excited about.
But hunting with young girls is hard and I really don't like to leave them for more than a night, it is usually harder than it has to be.
Even after alot of complaining from me, and me being sick, we decided that we would leave the girls with Nancy and then go up to Alamo for the first night.

We left Wednesday after Kyle got home, I pulled the trailer and Kyle followed me in the 4-runner! We found a little camping spot and then went to bed knowing that morning comes early when you are hunting! 

We really didn't expect to see anything there in Alamo, but we still went for a ride. After awhile of only seeing cows, a big deer ran up a mountain and caught up with his friend. So after talking about it, we decided to chase him.
We for real hiked up a mountain about a mile, and couldn't see any sign of deer. So then we hiked down and decided we would go up to a different spot where we knew we could at least could see a few deer! 

We got there about noon so we had lunch and set up the trailer. Then it was hot and we were bored so we decided to go to our spot to see if we could see anything in the spotting scope.
So at 3:18PM we got into the 4-runner, I was defiantly not  expecting to see any deer out. We got about a mile down the road, turned a corner and a buck and a few does were standing in the middle of the road.

Kyle yelled to me to get out, get the gun, get the shooting sticks, and I just don't work fast, So Kyle grabbed everything and told me to sit down and shoot!
So I did!! 

He didn't run to far and he was right off the side of the road!
To say I was happy is an understatement! It was a super fast, really easy, short hunt, but really it went so much better than I thought it would! And even though I am so happy and proud, I am pretty sure Kyle is more happy and more proud!

I also have now shot a bigger deer than all of Kyles brothers and my dad, Kyle has me beat but only by a few inches!  

Marysvale

I drew a deer tag, it was a muzzleloader tag, I hate the muzzleloader and the cold!
But the girls were so very excited to go to Marysvale for the last time of the year, so we took Grace out of school a day early and made the trip down!

When we got to Cedar it was SO cold, it felt like winter, and we are not use to that! Just a few days before we were in swimming suits playing in the irrigation water!

Friday morning we woke up at the crack of dawn and went for a ride. Its started out great cause we seen a herd of elk in the road, but that was it for the animals we seen for the weekend. I am convinced that the deer live where people cant go in Marysvale now days!

We got snowed on, rained on, seen lots of cool thick fog, and seen lots of beautiful fall colors!

The girls stayed over at Grandma Helens for pretty much the rest of the weekend, what would we do without the basement where they watch TV and play weebles?!

Kyle and I got to go to Monroe to see Stephanie and cute baby Kyx! I am so glad that I got to go visit for a few minutes and get my baby fix!

We only seen 1 buck, it was freezing, and I ate everything in sight, but it was a fun weekend!

Grace goes hunting!

We really havent been home all summer, and when we are home we are either cleaning up from being gone or packing up to go again!

This week was no different, Kyle has a cow elk tag and took grace up for a night! She was so excited to go hunting with him! They left Thursday about noon and got home late Friday night!
Since Grace wasnt here to entertain the twins, they had to figure out how to entertain themselves. So they pushed their beds together and asked to watch a movie on my computer! They wont let me move their bed back either! 

Grace said she had alot of fun.
She shot at some rabbits, climbed trees, seen a cool nest up one of the trees, seen lots of elk and deer tracks, seen a cool cave, and had alot of fun being with dad. She was bummed that they didnt kill one, she thinks she needs a real dead animal on her wall. Kyle really has done a great job at turning my little girly girl into a huge tomboy! 

Kyles cow elk hunt

Kyle drew a cow elk tag this year and we decided to make a fun family weekend trip out of it!

Grace was sick awhile back, then Alaynna got it bad and we thought maybe she had strep and we werent going to be able to go for the weekend, but she got better and we went!

Back when Kyle got his 4-runner he decided that would be our hunting vehicle, but i had to learn how to drive it, (it is a stick shift)!
My first lesson i never got into first gear, my second and third lesson didnt go to great either and so i gave up!
As this hunt got closer kyle really wanted me to learn how to drive this stinking thing, so we started lessons again!
I did get alittle better, but still cant get into 1st gear while on a hill, just ask the 3 cars that were behind me by McDonald's or the car that about hit me while i chugged out into the road!
We did make it to eagle valley without to many problems!
Kyle, the twins, and Josie were in the truck with the trailer, Grace and I followed him in the little black, stinky, no radio, gutless, 4-runner!

We got there late Thursday night and were trying to find a camp spot in the dark. We would drive up the main road, kyle would get into the 4-runner and then we would take it on the littler roads looking for an empty camp spot.
There were none, so that first night we just slept off to the side of the rode! Well we were in the trailer with our eyes closed, the girls didnt sleep good so that ment that Kyle and i also didnt sleep good!

Kyle got up early Friday morning and went out looking, but didnt see any cows so he came back to get us!
We went for a little ride and found some pretty yellow leaves, i think it was my favorite part of the trip, I love fall!
After our ride we found a little better camping spot and ran around getting dirty head to toe!

As the day went on, Addisons voice sounded sicker and sicker! I had a feeling she would be getting this crap that we have had so I brought all my oils and drugs that I could fit into my purse!
After eating lunch and taking a little nap we went back out to try and find Kyle a cow.

We got out and ran around alot and didnt see one elk or deer, we did see alot of wild horses, Alaynna really wanted to bring one home with us!
By the time we got back to the trailer, Addison was coughing and couldnt breathe!
It was another long sleepless night. After getting up for the 32nd time Kyle rolled over and said, "we are going back tomorrow."

So Saturday morning he got up early and tried one last time, didnt see a thing again so he came back, loaded up, and got on our marry little way!

It was a long, sleepless, cold few days, but believe it or not we still had fun! It was really nice to get a shower and sleep on our own beds though!

My Paunsaugunt Hunt

When The Utah division wildlife called me and asked if I wanted the Paunsaugunt management tag, I was pretty excited! I said “yes” so fast she kinda laughed and then told me all the rules and the price of the tag and then I decided I better talk to Kyle about it!

When I called Kyle he thought that I was just being funny, but then after a few minutes and me knowing a lot about management deer he got pretty excited to! 

We had just spent the last two 4 days weekends elk hunting and we had only been home for one day, so we were ready to sleep in our bed for a few days, but we were both still excited!

My mom was nice enough to come over for the whole week and watch the girls. The girls were so excited for grandma Merri to come over so I wasn’t to worried about leaving them, but it was still hard.

We left Tuesday morning but had to stop in St. George to do some shopping for the week and find some orange, cause Utah is the only state you have to wear orange, and I think that rule is a stupid one! By the time we got all the things we needed done in St. George and on the road we were kinda late. Neither one of us had ever been to the Paunsaugunt so we didn’t know where to camp or what to expect. Luckily Kyle has a friend that lives in Kanab that helped us out a lot. 

After we got the trailer set up, we went for a little ride to see if we could see anything and get a plan for the next day. We didn’t see any deer and decided that we were to high up, so we would go back down a little and try it in the morning. 

There is sand everywhere, and that is not what we are used to so I was scared the whole time we were in the truck that we would be stuck, so most of the time we rode the 4-wheeler, early in the morning, when it is freezing.

That first morning we rode the truck for a while but then when it started to get light and we were scare we were going to get stuck,  so we got the 4-wheeler out, at 11*, it was cold, really cold! We didn’t really see a lot of deer and it was so thick that unless the deer were right off the side of the rode we knew we wouldn’t see them.

We were kinda nervous and didn’t really know how to hunt the area, we had just came from hunting elk where you go find a high spot, glass, then make a plan. This was not like that, it was more like road hunting and Kyle was just frustrated and I was just tired! So after no luck that morning we decided to go down to Kanab, eat at wendys, call the girls, and talk to Kyle friend.

After talking to Mark, he told us where to go, so we went and tried it! It was in the middle of the day so we really just were going for a ride, but as we were driving we seen lots of deer tracks and decided to get the 4-wheeler out. We didn’t really think we would see anything, so we were not at all ready. When we turned a corner there was a huge deer in the middle of the road, but the time we got off the 4 wheeler, got the gun out, made sure he was only 3 points, he was gone! So we got back on the 4-wheeler and started to drive and then seen him and 3 friends in the trees, so we got off and tried to run after them!  We of course did not catch them, but got more hopeful! 

Thursday morning we went back out to Nephi Pastures and went on a long ride, I may have feel asleep on the 4 wheeler this day! We only seen a few and, well, I am slow I was told! I would have to jump off the 4 wheeler, get a bullet in the gun, then try and aim, all before the deer ran off the side of the road into the thick trees!  Needless to say we didn’t have much luck! 

Mark decided that he would come out and show us around where he liked to hunt on Thursday night. So we just rode around by the trailer till it was time to meet him, then got in with him while he drove.

We seen one big deer right off the side of the road so we stopped to see if he was only a 3 point. The deer was perfectly still while we looked at him at like 20 yards away. His head was just at the right angle that you couldlnt tell how many points he had, right when we decided that he was a decoy poaching deer he got up and walked away, he was to big for me to shoot anyways.

We seen a few more but they also had one to many point for me to shoot.  Mark is a little bit of a crazy driver, so we were happy to make it to the truck in one piece and we were glad he took us out and showed us where to go.

Since we had seen some big deer out where we were we decided to go back out in the morning on Friday. As we were riding on the 4 wheeler we seen a group of deer, so of course we jump off and got the gun ready, and these deer were still there, so I tried to get a good shot on the one that was a small 3 point, but for some reason I shot really low. But the deer  just slowly walked away, so I shot again, and totally missed again.  After this I really wanted to give up, I think I had had to much hunting, but Kyle just told me to get back on the 4 wheeler and we would look for more deer!

So we did.

We rode down the road a little further and we seen more deer, so we jumped off and Kyle told me to get ready, so I took the safety off and as I took it off, the gun also went off, right in front of Kyle. The deer did not move, but I bawled for a good 2 hours and Kyle just told me it didn’t hit him and to stop crying. But I just kept crying, Then to make me feel better kyle told me, “it wouldn’t have killed me, it would have just blew my leg off and made it so I couldn’t work or do anything I loved, like hunt," all while laughing. I did not laugh!!

After missing a deer twice and then about shooting my husband, I was over hunting,  so we put the gun away and just went for a ride. While riding around we seen a deer that was still in the velvet and almost black, he was pretty cool looking. We also seen Doyle Moss from Mossback riding around.  We decided to go back to the truck and wait for my dad and troy to get there since we weren’t seeing much and I still didn’t want to touch the gun. We were not paying attention when all of the sudden someone came up right behind us and honked. It scared the crap out of us! When we looked back, Troy and my dad were having a good laugh!

Since they were there we rode around with them for a while then they decided that they were going to back and get Jayden and come back in the morning! 

Me and Kyle rode around till it was getting dark and then started to go back to the truck. When we were almost there Kyle seen a deer. He was just far enough away that it was really hard to make sure he was only a 3 point. After sitting there with the gun on him for a few minutes, he slowly got up, turned the only way we didn’t want him to and walked into the trees. We were pretty sure that was the deer that Doyle was looking for, and we tried to find him again, but the trees were just to thick and he was just to smart!

On Saturday  morning, we all got in the xterra and went on our way. We seen quite a few, but we let them get away. Then after only about 30 minutes of riding around we seen a nice 2X3. So I got out, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

But this time I shot his foot. Yes I know, I probably should have quite when I almost shot Kyle! So we looked for him for a few hours, but we finally decided that there was no way that I shot him good enough to get him down, and there were about 100 more deer with him so it was impossible to track him.

After we found my dad, who decided to take off with no cell phone or radio, we went off for another ride! We seen a few more bucks that as soon as we saw them, Dad, Troy, Jayden, and Kyle all jumped out and put the binoculars on it and would go back and forth on if it was a 3 point and if I should shoot it! By the time they decided on if I should or could shoot, the deer had wondered off into the trees and was impossible to find again!

We rode around all day laughing, looking for deer, and eating, it was so fun! When it started to get later in the afternoon we made our way to the area that we had seen a huge 5 point the day before. We were just bebooping along when Kyle yelled, “get out there’s a huge one.” So we all jumped out and I was getting a bullet in the gun when they figures out it was the 5 point we seen the day before. Then my dad says “oh my god, theres one right above it.” Then Kyle yells “get that gun ready” so I did! While I was trying to find it in the scope my dad keeps saying” it’s a 3 point jess”, while troy keeps saying, “it is WAY bigger than a 3 point”, While kyle says, “look at the huge 2 point”, all while I couldn’t find any of them in the scope!

Then I found the 2 point and I was trying to get steady, when they decided I should shoot off the hood of the xterra, as soon as they turned it off, every last deer ran into the trees!

We were all still pretty happy cause it was so cool see the huge 5 point and the even huger 7 point so we were still talking about it and going to try and go get behind them to see if we could find them again. Then as we turned the corner the huge 5 point a a few does were about 20 yards away, just standing there letting us watch him. A little further up was the huger 7 point and his does, we watched him for awhile then decided to leave and see if we could find anything I could shoot.

We were just going down the road when Kyle seen the 2 point, we got out and went looking for him but just couldn’t find him in the thick trees. So we just kept going down the road.

At this point it was getting dark and my hopes of killing something were dwindling.

Then we turned up the road and there was the 2 point again, Kyle and I jumped out and I said a little prayer, aimed, and shot. But he ran off, Kyle took the gun and started running. Me, Jayden, and my dad were behind Kyle about 100 feet when all the sudden he just started screaming! When we finally caught up to him my huge 2 point was dead under a tree! Kyle was so happy, I think he almost cried, my dad picked me up and hugged me and Jayden was giving me high fives, it was pretty funny seeing how they all freaked out! I was also pretty excited when I seen that I had shot and killed him in one shot and didn’t wound another animal! 

Really this was the funnest anniversary trip we could have went on, If you ever get the chance to hunt on the Paunsaugunt, even the management tag, take it!  We seen so many deer and laughed so much, but after hunting for about a month straight we were ready to come home, sleep in our own beds and listen to our girls scream!