A job done

Finally, the furniture for the computer room is finished. Got seriously delayed with the Little Theatre set building and the elk hunting season. But it is finished now and the furniture rearranged in the garage so that two cars can again be parked in the garage. Have soaked the deer

Hunt comes to end with unseasonably warm weather

Don and I called off the hunt because the roads had become so muddy that access to our area was not practical. We even stopped at the Arctic Cat dealer in Council and salivated over the ATV's.

Last Sunday we were out with two other hunters from Fruitland. Don had located some 70 head of elk in a brushy patch of timber. He could get close enough, but not able to get a clear shot. By the time he had walked back up the ridge to his pickup, the other two had left for home. Don and I barely were able to get through the snow up the first hill. As we traveled along a snow covered ridge (the wind was blowing hard, the snow was coming down in blinding sheets, and every thing was drifting over) I used the cell phone (there are two places up there where we get weak service) to call the Fruitland guys. We got them, but had to back up 50 yards to get adequate service so they could hear what I was saying. They informed us that we would have to put on chains to get through the first cattle guard. Don did not have chains for his pickup. Fortunately, the Fruitland guys had an extra set that fit and drove back to bring us the chains. We chained up an got out okay. If we did find cell phone service and were lucky enough to catch them in the other place where cell phone service is available and they had chains, we might have spent a night out on the ridge.

We would have had to ask David to take a day off work to come rescue us with my pickup which has a set of chains.

The next day Don purchased two sets of chains. On Tuesday we took a drive up to the hunting area, but could not get to it because of the deep mud created by the melting brought on by the 50 degree weather we have been experiencing until yesterday. Even with chains on all tires we could not navigate the mud and did not want to tear up the roads trying to.

Friday we made 100 pounds of sausage. I made another 50 pounds (my share of the 100) that is completely Michael and Charles safe. No Morton's Tender Quik.

Don left the house at 4 Saturday morning and was back in El Centro by 9 pm.

Bad news is that we lost the hind quarters of our elk. Gangrene had set in. Jane had commented that they did not smell good to her the first day we hung them up. I have never experienced this problem before and it is very disappointing.

We saw to it that the wild coyotes ate well and the magpies have been feasting on the boned out carcass.

YeeeeoooooooWWWWWW!

Papa Coyote