Well, hopefully, this morning’s hunt will be exciting, but not like last nights…
I’m back in the ridge blind this morning.
Things are looking a little overcast, clouds in the sky so no full moon lighting up the hills. It’s quiet and cold. One thing we haven’t talked about is the weather changes here. At night the temperatures are in the 30’s and very low 40’s but during the day the temps have been in the 80’s! Talk about a temperature swing! It’s all about layering your hunting cloths so you’re not too hot or too cold. Anyways, it’s below 40 degrees out but the sun is coming up on an overcast day. It’s one of those mornings that you just feel like everything is going to connect for a perfect hunt… Guess my feelings got hurt. Nothing. No deer, just one small Rabbit.
(You'll have to look hard to find the little guy).
Even overcast it’s a wonderful place to be in the morning…no cars, no desk, and no phone (in the stand). Oh well, I pack up and head down the mountain. On the way I decide to do stalk on this side of the creek, we kicked up a deer on the “Bill” tour and there are lots of deer sign. I slow walk the ridge edge of the open field (by where I parked the quad) and head down the 2 track that leads to the high blind.
Where it cuts up the ridge I turn towards the water and move slowly out… Nothing.
I do have a nice size Hawk circling overhead letting me know he sees me. I head back along the water, walking quietly and looking for movement…Nothing. Seems like today is going to be the “Nothing” day. I’m almost back to the quad when I realize that the broadhead is missing from my arrow! It was on tight when I was sitting in the blind… I took the picture with my bow just before I started my last stalk heading towards the quad. I did have to push through some fairly heavy slashings on the way to the quad while I was stalking. I held my bow behind me to keep it from being caught.
I guess that the broadhead must have run up against a couple of limbs and spun off. I tried to find it but talk about a needle in a hay stack! I’m more upset about leaving a sharp broadhead on the ground or stuck in a limb than I am about losing it. Not looking to be a good day so far… On the quad, over the river (through it), through the woods and back to “grandma’s” house we go…
After meeting up with Mike, who didn’t see anything either, we decided that we’d take a drive down the road the other way on the quads. 
While we were driving, we watched a storm coming across the mountains. After a couple miles and seeing lightning, we decided it would be smart to turn around and head back (we don’t always do the smart thing…).
While we were driving, we watched a storm coming across the mountains. After a couple miles and seeing lightning, we decided it would be smart to turn around and head back (we don’t always do the smart thing…). 
We got back to camp and within a couple minutes it began to pour…hail! It started dumping marble sized hail! …and I had left my gear on the back of the truck… After running out and being pelted to no end I realized I left the keys (with the remote for the truck) on the quad…here we go again… ouch. I should have worn a helmet. Mike and I watched it hail for a good 30 minutes then it turned into straight rain for another 2 hours. Thunder! You have got to experience thunder in the Rockies!
(The sunny spot on the mountain is about were my blind is... now to get to it...)Talk about sticking your head in a cannon barrel! Now, we figured that we could still have an opportunity to hunt. A couple of the blinds even have roofs over them. Our biggest concern was for the level of the water in the river… We picked out 3 rocks we could see from the cabin window and as they quickly disappeared under water we realized that crossing was going to be out of the question. Lunch was Venison hamburgers, might as well sit and enjoy the weather… The rain stopped around 3 o’clock so I convinced Mike that we should take the quads down to the crossing I have to use to see how bad it was. A bit of information… Quads are a requirement (or at least a life saver) in this type of hunting. The right kind of quad makes a difference… Mike’s work horse style quad works great, especially in the mud and getting through the river… My nephew’s racer style quad is a different story… It’s a 2 wheel drive manual transmit ion, high sprung suspension speed machine, great for the sand dunes and Michigan’s trails. When we picked it up it was completely coated in mud. I should have used that as a clue. I don’t have mud flaps. That’s what the body on top is for…to stop the flying mud… get the clue now… yup. It was an interesting drive down to the water. A mile of mud. Flying mud. Good thing we were just checking and I didn’t have all my gear on! Did you know that small tires with neat little “H” symbols are excellent for throwing mud up over 8 feet in the air? .. me neither. How about that mud from the rear tires can fly forward over the back of the quad and hit you in the face? … me neither. At least I had my Gortex coat on and could just turn the hose on that to clean it. My hat was another story. Ok. We’ll be taking a break tonight. Time to catch up on some writing and looking at the pictures I’ve taken so far. (I spent an hour with the water hose getting all the mud off my quad and I was nice and rinsed off Mikes too)
Next – Friday, the last hunt.
Next – Friday, the last hunt.
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