The best week of the whole year, THE DEER HUNT. This year I drew out down in St. George, so the boys and I took a trip down there to go get the big one. We left on Friday morning and got to my parent's house that afternoon. We got everything ready for the next morning. The boys got to play with Grandma and Grandpa and also the great grandparents. I got the boys off to bed early because we were getting up at 5 am to get on the mountain. Both boys were so excited they had a hard time sleeping and going to bed. Saturday morning at 5 am came and both boys were way excited to get up and get ready to four wheel and find a deer.
Opening day we went up to Utah mountain out by old highway 91. We had a big group go up the mountain. My dad and Tiffany's dad came, along with both brother-in-laws and two nephews and one niece. We got up there before light and started up the mountain in search of the big one. Our first stop was up about 2 miles and we walked around for a bit. Colby and Logan were excited to hike and see deer. Clint and Clay went on a long hike and we stayed close to the four wheeler just in case the boys got tired. Logan had fun singing and talking to Chelsie. He was so random on his songs and comments he would say. Chelsie got a good laugh with him. Then it was off to another spot. We saw a lot of does at first but no buck until later in the afternoon. For lunch we stopped at the normal stopping place, the big cottonwood tree near the wash. It used to be a nice camp site until it got washed away. The boys were hungry and thirsty so it was a good time to stop. As for Logan he was well hydrated, he peed 6 times in like two hours and three more times at lunch. I could not get frustrated because he was not dehydrated and sick. Tiff and I got the best gifts ever for the kids last year and this trip proved their worth. I brought their Camelbacks with us and that way they could drink when they wanted and I did have to stop and get water bottles out every time we stopped. What a great investment.
The boys had a good time riding with both Grandpas and me. When the night was getting closer they were getting tired so they wanted to ride with me and that was it. I had to tell Colby he needed to go with Grandpa Farnsworth because we were going down a hill. He was not happy at first but he understood he did not want to get hurt, so he went with Grandpa Farnsworth a little unhappy and then her cheered up as you can tell from the picture below.
The day was getting closer to ending and no one had shot a deer yet. Then Clint with all-seeing deer eyes said he saw a herd of deer on the side of the mountain. It had lots of does and three small bucks, a small two point and two spikes. Branden said he is going to shoot it because he has a dance next week and is not able to make it out next weekend. So out he went in the brush up the hill to get his deer. He posted and BOOM went a shot, and down came the deer. We were all excited for him. As the majority hiked up the hill after the buck, my dad and the boys and Terry and I took off to see if we could see anything else. No such luck, so we headed back and saw them hauling the deer down the mountain. I took the boys out in the brush to show them the deer. Both of them were way excited to see the deer. One of the boys said this was the closest he had ever been to a deer. It made the first day of the deer hunt for them. Around 5;30 pm my dad was getting tired and I could also see it in my boys eyes they were exhausted, so we turned around and headed back to the trucks to head home. On the way we saw a lot more does but no bucks.
That night we had pizza at my mom and dads house. Fun learning story to remember for Colby. While we were waiting for my dad to get the pizzas, Colby was sad and not happy about eating pizza, so we had a conversation on how important it is to not hurt people's feelings with not eating the food. I explained to him it was important to try a little at first before you say you don't want it. Also to not get a lot of it and then waste the food. People work hard to provide food for people and it is not nice to say you are not eating that food. He understood and we went to the house and he ate the pizza like a champ. We also had pizza again at the Morwood house and he was about to get upset again and I reminded him of our conversation and he once again ate the whole pizza with out any issues, Proud of you Colby.
Here are the little troopers once again all in their orange. We skipped Sunday and went to church with the grandparents. Then we went out with Sean on Monday morning out to the Turkey Farm road. The boys were not as easy to wake up this morning, but once we got going they were ready for another day of hunting. We got to a fun place to see if we could see anything. We started to hike and we saw a good size three point, but it was still dark so we had a hard time seeing it once it mixed up with the other does. We kept hiking and then we saw more deer ahead of us but we could not catch up with them. So instead we walked up a little further and then decided to turn and make a loop back to the four wheelers. The boys were getting tired and they were getting fox tails in their socks and shoes, so I was getting tired and on edge. We kept hiking and we were not near the four wheelers. I was thinking I cannot get lost with the boys so I kept trying to walk where I thought we should be, but no luck. Sean mentioned he thought we were further North, so we turned around and found ourselves facing Pine Valley. I thought this is not right, the four wheelers looked over St. George and the sun was coming over the east of them. So we turned around and headed South. The boys were wearing out fast, so I asked Sean to stay with them so I could find my barrings. I was getting nervous, so I knelt down and had a prayer to help up get out of here. I remembered I have my compass on my phone so I pulled it out and found SW and started walking. Sean said we needed a GPS to find out where we are sometime back and then it hit me I have my phone with a Google map. I figured it would not hurt to see if it worked. I found Sean and the boys again and then type in trail 885 and it found it and guided us back to the trail. What an answer to a prayer and at the end it was an amazing teaching moment for my boys to let them know that God is real and He answers prayers when we are in need.
The rest of the morning we road and saw nothing at all. There was a storm brewing over us so we hurried back to the truck just in time before it started to down pour on us. We wanted to go out where Terry was at but they were getting poured on also where they were at, so we called it a day. Instead we went and saw Great Grandma Morwood and give her her new table and hang out. Every time we wanted to go out and hunt the lightening would strike and then the thunder, so we did not go out the rest of the day.
Here we are on Sunday night at Grandpa and Grandmas house carving pumpkins with Traci, Sean and Jonathan. The boys had a great time make their own pumpkins. Colby thought he was such a big boy to cut his own pumpkin with Dad's help. Logan loved to get on the great grandparents' walkers and sit on the front. Grandma and Grandpa Maxwell loved to push them along.
During dinner on Monday, I made Chicken Alfredo with broccoli. Colby was not to sure at first until we had fun with him and he made a hot dog Alfredo sandwich and then he ate all of it. He called it a Chicken Noodle Sandwich. It was a fun weekend with the boys and family.
We went out Tuesday morning with Tiffany's dad and had a great time. The boys were getting harder and harder to wake up each morning, but they were real troopers again. We went out to the Turkey Farm area again to see if we could find the big one still. Lot of fun four wheeling but no deer. The boys brought their guns this time to hike. Colby was shooting at everything. Logan passed out on the Four wheeler so we left him as we looked over Diamond Valley and the surrounding area.We saw more does and one tiny spike. But no luck that day. We needed to get the boys back to Grandma Morwood's house so they can play with their cousins and have pizza. Here are the boy cousins ready for bed. Grandma decided to put them in one bed and I thought to myself that is a bad idea no one will fall asleep and how long will they last together. They had fun playing around.
Wednesday morning was the day we were suppose to go home, but Terry convinced me to go out one more time so we can see if we can find his deer he shot the night before with Clint. The boys were tired of hunting. so they stayed at Grandmas house with cousins. Terry and I headed out around 6 am for a last ditch effort to get me a deer. We went up to the same area I went up with the boys on Monday and we saw a lot of deer but all of them were does. So we got back on the 4-wheelers to see if we could find the deer he shot. After looking around for a bit, we had no luck finding it not even a sign of blood or anything. We headed up the road a bit more and ran into a guy in a razor. He said he saw two nice bucks in the trees down below, a three point and a 4x2. He said the 4x2 is bigger than the three point. I said to Terry lets try it out, so we did. Terry walked through the trees and I was walking up to the top of the hill on the other side of the wash. As I was starting to crest the hill, I saw a lot of deer lying down under a tree and there he was the 4x2. They all got up once they saw me and took off. I thought no they don't, this is my last chance. So I aimed and shot it on the run. Down it went and I was way excited. I called Terry on the radio and told him I got one. I walked up to the buck and saw I shot him right in the neck. Nice shooting with open sights again. Good old lucky 30-6. This buck was hands down a lot bigger than the other two deer I have shot in the past. We cleaned him out and headed back home ready for the dirty work.
I went and got the boys because I knew they would be excited to see it. When they got to see it both were like wow we got one. It made the whole week worth it. We had such a great time. I was glad to have such a fun time with my boys and get to know them more. We made some amazing memories that I will never forget. I also hope they also made some fun memories that will stick with them. I am grateful to be a dad and teach my boys how fun it is to hike and be in the outdoors. I cannot wait until the next deer hunt to have more fun with my kids.
As I was driving down to St. George I had to take this picture of my truck turning over 60,000 miles. The truck did an awesome job while we were there and coming back. We did not leave St. George until 8 pm and got home at 4 am. Needless to say I thought I could drive the whole way nonstop, but I was wrong. I was just as tired as Colby and Logan. I pulled over twice to sleep and one stop was for about an hour and a half. I was exhausted from the whole week.
I promised Colby I would have him home for his pumpkin paint day at school, so we did it. They also had fun little activities through out the week and one was mustache day. Colby was not sure at first, but then he wanted one after he found out he might win something. Emily was not even afraid to get one she was way excited for it. The whole week was so much fun.
The kids look pretty good with mustaches, don't you think? We had a great boys week vacation. Now on to butchering our deer...
