First Ever Hunting Experience

I had never been hunting until the weekend of October 22-26. I wanted to experience this time of year by being in the middle of the action instead of being left home wondering if my husband was ok. I still don't understand what the hyp is all about. Why do grown men get so excited over seeing some deer? I don't know if it is the fact that I am a woman or just a normal person that gets excited over normal things? Either way, I did enjoy the time I spent with my husband, brother and brother-in-law, and father-in-law. Yes, you read correctly, I was the only girl. We drove for almost 7 hours just to the bookcliffs then another hour trying to find "the campsite". I still don't understand why we passed up other good campsites just for one Dan had been to before but couldn't remember where it was exactly.. Once we got to the right place it was getting dark so we had minimal light to set up camp. Levi and I shared a tent and the other 3 shared another one. Thank goodness!

At the break of light we were out of our sleeping bags and ready to get on the trail. We spent the morning just driving around on the fourwheelers and spotting a lot of doe and quite a few buck. The men spotted some good looking bucks and so we hunkered down a hill away to check them out. One was a few inches more wide but the other one had better looking forks. We watched them through our binoculars and a spotting scope for almost 2 hours until the men decided it was time to get closer. At that time Levi, Cody, and I head off on a fourwheeler and then on foot. Levi wanted me right by his side when he took the shot and I was happy to oblige to his request. Once we got pretty close Jake called us and told us the deer were on the move. Levi and I stayed on top of the hill to wait and see where the deer were headed while Cody went to scare them out of the trees. I spotted the deer headed up the other side of a little valley and were 258 yards away (I cheated and used the range finder). Once we decided which one he wanted to shoot, he took the shot. Maybe next time I won't be right next to him. My ears rung for almost 10 minutes after the shot. Plus it scared me and I shook so bad I didn't even see the buck go down. We made our way over to find the deer and found him only 3 feet away from where he was shot. Levi's shot hit him perfectly! They had to gut the deer right there and I had no choice but to be right there and witness that. GROSS is the best way I can describe that. We packed it on the fourwheeler with us then went on our way back to camp. It started to rain so we decided we'd leave the next day.

Devin, Levi's brother, was hunting in the bookcliffs as well but on the Colorado side. We decided to go over there and help him out. That is one ride I never want to go on again! It was a 7 hour drive which should have been only 3. Now let me explain why the huge delay... We went on the mountain roads instead of going back out to the interstate and driving into Colorado that way. All the roads we had to go on were at the top of the mountains and in fog with wet roads. Not a relaxing drive in any way! Once we got to the top, we obviously had to get down but the only way down was going on extremely thick, muddy roads which weren't safe at all. To top it all off, those roads were on cliffs with a lot of switchbacks. Before driving down we had said a prayer all together for guidance on knowing which road was the right one (none of them were marked) and a safe drive down. I don't think we stopped sliding around once on the whole drive and I didn't stop praying either. There were many times that I thought we were going off the edge and will roll thousands of feet before we come to a stop. Not a pleasant drive for how beautiful the land was around us! These pictures kind of show the road, the fog, and how high up we were. We finally made it!! I could actually breathe again! Dans nerves were absolutely shot after driving so we had to take a break just to be able to breathe and think all of this through. We stopped in a little town called Mack to get some gas. I have found out that Colorado roads are marked weird! We passed 10 8/10 road and 1/2 road. Thought they were funny though! We met up with Devin and Tiffany and went to their campsite to set everything up. It was storming when we got there so I hung out in the trailer with Tiffany and Deagan while the men set up the tent. I had to sleep in the same tent with the 3 guys which was kind of weird. Worst night ever! Our air mattress had no air in it anymore, horrible storm, extremely windy, and I kept hearing scary noises (most likely my imagination). It was still storming by the time they wanted to get up and go hunting so we slept a little more. We all got packed up and ready to go in the trucks but only made it halfway up the mountain. We weren't ready for another scary ride! Only Levi, Cody, Devin, and Jake went back up on the fourwheelers. Dan, Tiffany, Deagan, and I stayed back at camp. We got Dan's truck unlocked after trying for over and hour. Background.. he locked his keys in his truck the previous night. He was smart enough to bring a spare just in case we lock ourselves out in the mountain. But... the key was in the truck as well. Good times! A fter the men got back we had some lunch then Dan, Levi and I headed for home. Wahoo! It took us 8 hours to get back to Morgan. I am so sick of long rides! We stayed at Megan and Nate's house (sister and brother-in-law) so I wouldn't have to make the drive again in 6 hours.

Overall it was a great experience. It taught me a lot about prayer and faith. So many of our prayers were answered. We were truly blessed while being in the magnificent mountains that our Lord had created for us. So grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!!