Back in March one of our readers, Alex, had read our stories about some of our hunting experiences we have had in what we call the Hilton. After a few emails and conversations back and forth we were able to point him in the right direction and below is his story of success.

No Vacancy – The Hilton is Full

The morning was cool, but it was already apparent that it would be another warmer than normal late
September day. On this occasion I decided to enter the Hilton, in a more round about fashion and to
walk slowly, listening for the calls of the many bulls I had seen and heard the day before. It was only the
second day of the hunt and little did I know, as I started down the well worn trail, that my journey would
be coming to an end.

After drawing a Utah, limited Entry Muzzle Loader tag for the Central Mountains Nebo unit, I was
pumped. However, reality soon set in that I was going to be hunting an animal that I had never hunted,
with a weapon that I had never hunted with and in an area I knew nothing about. Without a lot of time
to scout, I turned to the internet and researched for any information I could find on elk hunting and on
the Nebo unit. I was able to get in contact with several individuals who were very helpful. One of those
individuals was Jason Jacobson of addictedtohunting.com. It was Jason who told me about an area that
he and his fellow, self described “hunt addicts” call the Hilton.

I was descending into the Hilton for the second day in a row and the pessimistic thoughts of the average
hunter were beginning to return. I could not believe that I could have another day like the day before
and I began to worry that I had squandered my chances. I wondered if I had put enough pressure
on the area to single handedly push the elk out. Opening day had been one of the greatest hunting
experiences I had ever had. The elk had been extremely vocal and active in the morning and though I
had gotten in close, I was unable to seal the deal.

I started opening morning by traversing the ridge to what I now call the bear clearing, a small clearing
on the top of the ridge where on an earlier scouting trip I had a close encounter with a bear. As I
approached the bear clearing I heard the distant call of a bull elk. I walked to the edge of the ridge to
examine a lone spike bull that was on a hill off the back side. As I was looking off the ridge, I heard a
quick high pitched bugle behind me. I turned and slowing went in the direction of the call. As I was
working my way through the aspens on the far side of the clearing two rag horn bulls trotted out of the
pines and were followed by a decent five point bull. I brought up my gun and began the internal debate
of whether or not this was a good opening morning bull. Before I could make up my mind, the bull was
out of site. Desperate for another look I blew on my cow call. The bull immediately returned the call
with a bugle and began to work his way back towards me. I then decided to further encourage him with
another call. This was too much. The bull stopped in his tracks about 50 yards away. There were plenty
of aspens and pines to obscure any shot. The bull warily worked away from me and went back into the
pines from which he had originally emerged and I followed.

The area had been well traveled and was full of fresh sign. I worked my way to a more open area and
sat on a log. After about ten minutes, I heard a branch snap, and then another and another. The wind
had changed and the stampede was on! I could not see all of the elk, but the thundering noise made it
apparent that this was a large heard. I attempted to run parallel to the herd and worked my way back to
the top of the ridge. I then spent the next hour or so, trying to determine where they might have gone.

I dropped back into the Hilton and descended into the drainage. I stood there feeling a bit dejected
and wondering if I had made a mistake by passing on the five point bull. It was at that moment I heard
a distant bugle from a hill that was close to the main highway. I couldn’t help but think it was probably
just another hunter, but I decided to investigate anyway. I climbed the low hill and began working my
way through nasty, eye level scrub brush. All of the noise I was making made me believe that if a bull

had been there before, he wasn’t around anymore.

I eventually stopped to rest and have a short conversation with my wife; yes the Hilton does have cell
reception. While recounting the morning events, I heard another bugle and the raspy tone told me to
get off the phone. I hung-up and noisily worked through the scrub brush to the edge of the hill. While I
was looking off into the drainage, I heard another call to my right and behind me. I had walked right past
him! I slowly worked back to a cow trail where I could actually see farther than ten feet. After getting
into this position another bugle came from the edge of the hill. He had walked right past me and was
now where I had just been! I slowly fought my way back through the brush and as I peered over the
edge of the hill I could see the top few points on the antlers of a large mature bull, less than 20 yards
away. He must have seen me as well, because he immediately turned and began crashing through the
brush and off of the hillside.

I began after this bull but stopped when I heard another bull that was bugling and moving in the
opposite direction. I followed the second bull for about a half a mile before his calls stopped and the
Hilton finally fell silent.

Later that afternoon I returned to the Hilton with Tyler, a young man and expert elk hunter from my
brother’s local church. We descended below the clearing to where the elk stampede had occurred that
morning. While discussing our options we heard the bugle of a mature bull. Tyler was able to call the
bull in close, but could not coax him out of the pines before the swirling winds of the Nebo gave us away
once again and brought the opening day to an end.

As I continued down the trail the next morning, I listened carefully for any sign that the elk were still in
the Hilton. I descended to where the trail came to an intersection and then turned left to climb to the
top of the ridge. Just before the trail’s summit, a lesser used trail breaks off to the right and follows
the ridge line above the Hilton to the bear clearing. I followed this trail along the ridge and wondered
if I was pushing my luck. I had already been to the clearing three times and had seen or heard a bull on
each occasion but now the Hilton was dead silent.

My heart leapt as I heard the beautiful call once again. The bugles were coming from the aspens on the
east side of the clearing. Determined not to miss another opportunity, I stopped to check the wind and
come up with a plan. I decided that instead of going straight toward the bull’s call, it would be best to
continue on the main trail until I was completely downwind.

I donned my camo mask, primed my muzzleloader and continued down the trail into the clearing. When
the calls were due east of me, coming from the exact place I had seen the smaller bulls the morning
before, I started through the trees. Then, I felt the wind swirl and heard the snap of a branch. Afraid that
the elk had caught my scent, I let out a cow call, waited about ten seconds and let out another. To my
surprise the second call was answered by a long raspy bugle.

I continued my advance until I could see some cows directly ahead of me. I worked to my right and
entered a small bunch of thick pines in the center of the aspen grove. I moved to the far edge of the
pines to where I could see some cows. I could not go any further without the risk being seen, so I took
a seated shooting position and let out one last cow call. This time the bull emerged from the herd,
advancing at a quick walk towards me and to my left. The trees were thick enough that there were very
few effective shooting lanes for a moving animal. I calmly chose a shooting lane well in front of the bull,
took aim at the empty space and waited…not even watching the bull’s approach.

The approach took maybe 5 or 10 seconds, but the wait seemed like an eternity. As soon as his shoulder
blade was in my sights, I made a slight adjustment and gently pulled the trigger. The gun erupted and I
watch through the smoke as the bull bucked, turned around, ran about ten yards and nose dived into
the ground.

As I look back on the entire sequence, I am amazed at how calm and collected I was, but after watching
my first bull fall all semblance of composure was gone. I reached for a tube from the quick loader on
my belt and dumped powder pelts and sabot on the ground; it took everything I had left to get the load
from a second tube into the barrel and properly seated.

As I examined my bull I could not believe what had just happened. I had single-handedly and successfully
stalked and called in a mature bull. Not only that, when it mattered I was patient and made a clean shot.
I immediately called my wife to share my experience. She was getting the kids ready for school and
promptly announced, “Daddy got an elk.” A party instantly broke out on the other side of the phone and
listening to their screams of joy was the best part of my entire day.

The field dressing and the packing out of the bull is another lengthy story in and of itself. However, I will
say that the gutless field dressing method is really a two person job and is quiet exhausting when done
alone. My greatest accomplishment of the day was probably flipping the beast over, all by myself.

I would like to thank Matt, an individual that I met through the forums on the Utah Wildlife Network.
Matt was one of the people who had offered me assistance and was coming up that afternoon to help
me out in the evening and the following day. Although I had already shot my elk, Matt still came and
helped pack my bull out. I would also like to thank Jason, without his direction, none of this would have
been possible.

So this year my new wife of 9 months decided she would love to experience Archery hunting by my side. I have told her many tales and she was able to see the excitement it brought me and she wanted to experience it first hand.

This year has been a very strange one to say the least. The weather seems to be running a few months ahead and the opening weekend was one of the hottest I’ve ever had.

This year has been a busy one so we couldn’t get the time away like I wanted to head for the back country and really pursue Elk free of any other hunters. So for Labor day weekend we decided to hunt a more local location only an hour and a half away. I had hunted this area the weekend prior and had actually bumped a bull down on the face of this hill we never saw him but he attempted to bugle as he took off from the thick pines.

So this weekend my plan was to drop down into this little pocket and just set up and let them come to me. So my wife and I headed down into the pines found a great spot and set up. This area has a lot of sheep in it and a bunch of herd dogs running around. After we had settled into this spot I heard one of the dogs bark towards the top of the hill and soon after a crashing sound that could only be Elk coming towards us. I rocked up on my knee and sure enough a bunch of cows came through the clearing right in front of me. I hadn’t had a chance to pull out my cow call so I let out my best vocal impression and she stopped 20 yards in front of me and looked my direction. It was at this point that I realized I failed to pull my bow back with all the excitement. So I attempted to pull back but it was too late she saw me and took off. We tried to pursue but they were long gone. I was bummed. I always feel that an archery hunter will get one chance a year to fill his tag and he needs to play things perfectly or he may have just gave up his chance.

We returned to our spot and after 20 min my wife motioned to these trees in front of me. I looked up and this real nice 3 point buck walked out 15 yards in front of us and was walking right to us. All he had to do was go behind a tree in front of him giving me a chance to pull back and he was done for. He went behind the tree and I pulled back and all of a sudden he turned and took off back up the hill. I still have no clue what happened I felt I played that one by the book I had the wind in my favor the tree blocking my movement… Who knows what happened but I didn’t get a shot off. So now I’m really feeling like crap. Two opportunities and not one shot.

I realized that we were only 1 hour into the morning and the activity had been crazy. So I decided that I wasn’t going to sit down that I needed to be ready. It had only been 20 min since the buck came through and I heard movement through the trees. I could see several cows working up the hill above us. I decided to step up on this trail because last time they went right through the clearing above it. Sure enough they started to cut across the top of the clearing the first cow stopped and I could see the tip of her nose in a pine tree 60 yard up the hill so I pulled back. She came trotting into the opening and down towards me. She was about 30-40 yards away and turned broadside to me I put the pin behind the shoulder and released. I watched as my luminock disappeared into her body right behind the shoulder and she took off running up the hill. My wife then watched as the adreniline rushed through my body and I got the shakes real bad. After she realized I was OK we went up to where I hit her.

I was a little shocked there was no blood. About 5 yards up I finally found a drop of blood and then heard what sounded like a cow call followed by a crashing thump. I was pretty sure that was her going down but decided to track the blood to be sure. We could not find any blood and I knew I drilled her. After about 40 yards of tracking my wife was standing at the last spot of blood and I was working up the hill scanning for the next sign when I saw her down in a clump of trees. Time for the happy dance… I had hit her right through the heart and then hit the opposite shoulder and she had broken my arrow in half inside of her. She had ran up hill so her cavity was filling with blood and not bleeding much.

I headed back up to camp and my brother was there and was able to come assist in cleaning her out and then we had to quarter her and pack her out. I was the only one with a meat hauling pack so I put a hind quarter and then the backstraps and tenderloins in while my brother dragged out a front and the other back quarter. My wife turned her coat into a pack and hauled out another front quarter. What an experience after it was all said and done my wife started asking about getting herself a bow. Pretty excited for more hunts to come.

Our good friend Mike O’Reilly of TimberHawk backpacks recently wrote an interesting article about hunting for cow elk in big bull country while you are waiting to draw out for a limited entry tag.

I have never thought of doing this before, but I like the logic behind it. You can still tag a cow to get the meat you desire, while basically scouting the area and seeing the big bulls so that once you do draw out you are ready to go after the big bulls. I really enjoyed this perspective and it has made me re-think the way I hunt Elk.

This year I will still buy my any bull statewide tag because we have our hunts planned already, but next year could be a good year to get a spike/ cow tag and go hunt in an area that I would like to draw out a limited entry tag. I like the idea of being around the big bulls and being able to call them in and interact with them, rather than bugling in hunter after hunter on the public land.

You can read the article here.

I have dreams that I am going to drive up to my favorite hunting spot one year and it will be just like this. I would love to go check this out someday!

OK I got this in an e-mail, not sure it’s true so check out the photo’s and let me know what you think.  Here’s the story that came with it:

Big Bear shot Saddle Hills Alberta, Sept 20/2010

These two gents were calling elk in the Saddle Hills when this big guy slipped in on

the caller the Shooter spotted the bear 8 yards from the caller and dropped him with 5 shots out of

his 338 Rem Mag. Farmers in the area knew about the Bear but weren’t able to track after it had killed

3 horses, 5 cows, 13 sheep and a pen full of chickens on several different homesteads in the area.

Fish and wildlife had bear traps set up in the area but notice on surveillance video that when ever a

he would enter his hump would hit the top of the culvert trap slowing him enough that the trap door

would wack him on the head before he was all the way in.  Check out the scar tissue on his face..

Bear weighed in just under 1300 pounds and would have stood 11 3/4 feet tall on its hind legs..

Whoever said that deer are helpless?  This story is hilarious!!

Why we shoot deer in the wild (A letter from someone who wants to remain anonymous, who farms, writes well and actually tried this)

I had this idea that I could rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it.  The first step in this adventure was getting a deer.  I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.

I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope.  The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back.  They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up – 3 of them.  I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me.  I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold.

The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it, it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope  .., and then received an education.  The first thing that I learned is that, while a deer may just stand there looking at you funny while you rope it, they are spurred to action when you start pulling on that rope.

That deer EXPLODED.  The second thing I learned is that pound for pound, a deer is a LOT stronger than a cow or a colt.  A cow or a colt in that weight range I could fight down with a rope and with some dignity.  A deer– no Chance.  That thing ran and bucked and twisted and pulled.  There was no controlling it and certainly no getting close to it.  As it jerked me off my feet and started dragging me across the ground, it occurred to me that having a deer on a rope was not nearly as good an idea as I had originally imagined.  The only upside is that they do not have as much stamina as many other animals.

A brief 10 minutes later, it was tired and not nearly as quick to jerk me off my feet and drag me when I managed to get up.  It took me a few minutes to realize this, since I was mostly blinded by the blood flowing out of the big gash in my head.  At that point, I had lost my taste for corn-fed venison.  I just wanted to get that devil creature off the end of that rope.

I figured if I just let it go with the rope hanging around its neck, it would likely die slow and painfully somewhere. At the time, there was no love at all between me and that deer.  At that moment, I hated the thing, and  I would venture a guess that the feeling was mutual.  Despite the gash in my head and the several large knots where I had cleverly arrested the deer’s momentum by bracing my head against various large rocks as it dragged me across the ground, I could still think clearly enough to recognize that there was a small chance that I shared some tiny amount of responsibility for the situation we were in.  I didn’t want the deer to have to suffer a slow death, so I managed to get it lined back up in between my truck and the feeder – a little trap I had set before hand…kind of like a squeeze chute.  I got it to back in there and I started moving up so I could get my rope back.

Did you know that deer bite?

They do!  I never in a million years would have thought that a deer would bite somebody, so I was very surprised when ….. I reached up there to grab that rope and the deer grabbed hold of my wrist.  Now, when a deer bites you, it is not like being bit by a horse where they just bite you and slide off to then let go.  A deer bites you and shakes its head–almost like a pit bull.  They bite HARD and it hurts.

The proper thing to do when a deer bites you is probably to freeze and draw back slowly.  I tried screaming and shaking instead.  My method was ineffective.

It seems like the deer was biting and shaking for several minutes, but it was likely only several seconds.  I, being smarter than a deer (though you may be questioning that claim by now), tricked it.  While I kept it busy tearing the tendons out of my right arm, I reached up with my left hand and pulled that rope loose.

That was when I got my final lesson in deer behavior for the day.

Deer will strike at you with their front feet. They rear right up on their back feet and strike right about head and shoulder level, and their hooves are surprisingly sharp … I learned a long time ago that, when an animal -like a horse – strikes at you with their hooves and you can’t get away easily, the best thing to do is try to make a loud noise and make an aggressive move towards the animal.  This will usually cause them to back down a bit so you can escape.

This was not a horse.  This was a deer, so obviously, such trickery would not work.  In the course of a millisecond, I devised a different strategy.  I screamed like a woman and tried to turn and run.  The reason I had always been told NOT to try to  turn and run from a horse that paws at you is that there is a good chance that it will hit you in the back of the head.  Deer may not be so different from horses after all, besides being twice as strong and 3 times as evil, because the second I turned to run, it hit me right in the back of the head and knocked me down.

Now, when a deer paws at you and knocks you down, it does not immediately leave.  I suspect it does not recognize that the danger has passed.  What they do instead is paw your back and jump up and down on you while you are laying there crying like a little girl and covering your head.

I finally managed to crawl under the truck and the deer went away.  So now I know why when people go deer hunting they bring a rifle with a scope……to sort of even the odds!!

All these events are true so help me God… An  Educated Farme

OK so this is a similar story, just as funny, got to add it.  Read on for more laughs:

Pocket Tazer Stun Gun, a great gift for the wife.

A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Tazer for their anniversary submitted this:

Last weekend I saw something at Larry’s Pistol & Pawn Shop that
sparked my interest.
The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little
something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a
100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer.

If you think education is difficult, try being stupid!!!!

A little off topic but us rednecks can be sentimental at times… This was a good story, true or not countless things like this have happened and hearing it makes me even more grateful for all I have and the time we live in!!

This is what Christmas is all about…
Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.
It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn’t been enough money to buy me the rifle that I’d wanted for Christmas. We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible.

After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn’t in much of a mood to read Scriptures. But Pa didn’t get the Bible, instead he bundled up again and went outside. I couldn’t figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn’t worry about it long though; I was too busy wallowing in self-pity. Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. “Come on, Matt,” he said. “Bundle up good, it’s cold out tonight.” I was really upset then. Not only wasn’t I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see. We’d already done all the chores, and I couldn’t think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one’s feet when he’d told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn’t know what..
Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn’t going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up this sled unless we were going to haul a big load. Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn’t happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. “I think we’ll put on the high sideboards,” he said. “Here, help me.” The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high side boards on.

After we had exchanged the sideboards, Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood – the wood I’d spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. “Pa,” I asked, “what are you doing?” “You been by the Widow Jensen’s lately?” he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight. Sure, I’d been by, but so what?
Yeah,” I said, “Why?”
“I rode by just today,” Pa said. “Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They’re out of wood, Matt.” That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him. We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a big ham and a side of bacon. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. “What’s in the little sack?” I asked. Shoes, they’re out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the woodpile this morning. I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a little candy.”
We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen’s pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn’t have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to saw into blocks and split before we could use it. We also had meat and flour, so we could spare that, but I knew we didn’t have any money, so why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us; it shouldn’t have been our concern.

We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door. We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, “Who is it?” “Lucas Miles, Ma’am, and my son, Matt, could we come in for a bit?”
Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all. Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp.
“We brought you a few things, Ma’am,” Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out one pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children – sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last. I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn’t come out.
“We brought a load of wood too, Ma’am,” Pa said. He turned to me and said, “Matt, go bring in enough to last awhile. Let’s get that fire up to size and heat this place up.” I wasn’t the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and as much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too. In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks with so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn’t speak.

My heart swelled within me and a joy that I’d never known before, filled my soul. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference. I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people.

I soon had the fire blazing and everyone’s spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn’t crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. “God bless you,” she said. “I know the Lord has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us.”

In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I’d never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.
Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.
Tears were running down Widow Jensen’s face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn’t want us to go. I could see that they missed their Pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.
At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, “The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We’ll be by to get you about eleven. It’ll be nice to have some little ones around again. Matt, here, hasn’t been little for quite a spell.” I was the youngest. My two brothers and two sisters had all married and had moved away.
Widow Jensen nodded and said, “Thank you, Brother Miles. I don’t have to say, May the Lord bless you, I know for certain that He will.”
Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn’t even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, “Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn’t have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that, but on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand.”
I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Now the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen’s face and the radiant smiles of her three children.

For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensen’s, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life.

A friend of mine was out hiking the trail by the equestrian center in Draper. He took this photo:

Now on October 6th this guys daughter was on the same trail with some friends and a mountain lion was growling at them. Freaked them out pretty good. Between the two stories I’d say be careful!! There are definately some cats up in that area and I’d be careful up there!

So I got an e-mail claiming the photo’s were of Big Horn Sheep and taken over in WY, it came from my grandpa’s cousin who lives in WY so I didn’t look into it, thanks to a reader we found the correct story.  These are Ibex Goats and are in Italy.  They are crossing a dam and eating something from the cracks as they do.  I’ve also added some video’s of it.  I’ve always heard Big Horn Sheep are tough to hunt, that they can climb into insane spots and stay high on rocky areas, I have to say the Ibex Goat looks to be a tough hunt too.