Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

5 things on your bucket list

I should add get a friggin' limit of chukar, it's only f-in' 6, but it could honestly happen any day (though I've been saying it for almost 10 years). It all boils down to getting a little too excited when they flush, and not hunting a bit further south.
F'k'n the single most achievable goal that I simply can't achieve. It's beyond embarrassing at this point.
 
Bucket list do change as you grow older but not all on the list changes.
1st, enjoy the rest of my life with my wife now of 34years.
2nd, watch my kids raise our grandkids and sit back and tell the wife we did a great job raising our 3 daughters.
3rd, spend time with the family in the great outdoors, even if it's watching the son-in-laws shooting the trophys and not me😂
4th, archery spot and stalk 20yard kill cinnamon black bear.
5th, one more trophy bull before I die, but don't we all hope for one more trophy.
 
I've had the ideas bouncing around my head since I was young. My grandpa was able to do all these dream hunts so the stories, pictures and mounts really drive me even harder (also made my list significantly bigger).

Here are my highest on the list... Just need to stumble into a few million $.

1. Go to Tajikistan for a Marco Polo sheep. Incredible adventure just getting to the area you're going to hunt let alone the actual hunt.
2. Hunt Brown Bear on Kodiak Island
3. DIY Moose in Alaska within the next 2 years
4. North American Grand Slam (Dall sheep in AK, and Bighorn in the Unlimiteds in MT)
5. Red Stag in New Zealand

Honorable mentions -
1. Big 5 in Africa ($$$) edit: (more so cape Buffalo, leopard, and hippo. Elephant and rhino if they have a problem one)
2. Mountain Caribou
3. Grizzly in AK or BC
4. Countless Elk
FYI,
My guide at Moremi in Botswana said they have a yearly elephant cull program. I am not sure if hunters can join or not, might be worth the research.
 
So, I've had a bucket list for a really long time, basically since I was able to create a list in excel. My Mom was big on the bucket list, she had one when she graduated college, and finally checked the last one off about 7 years ago when they went to Africa. In her mind she'll die content with her life having set out to achieve a set of goals and then following through on the choices and decisions, effort and struggles necessary to check those boxes.

I have a bit of a different take on lists. I don't ever want to check them all. There should always be more I want to do, something to look forward to.

There are currently 46 things on my list and I haven't updated it in years. There are clearly things on there that I really don't want anymore. And there are things on there that will never happen. But every time I check one off I try to add two more. A few that HT might find entertaining

1. Publish a book
2. Tarpon on a fly, DIY (I had several chances in Belize in 8th grade, but was too nervous, the fish were too big, like "me" big, and all I brought was 12 lb tippet)
3. Kill a big bull in WA
4. Month long wilderness trip, maybe river trip
5. Wild and native steelhead on a skated dry
...
6. Maximize the amount of days I get to see my wife in a bikini- it still gets me every time.

I should add get a friggin' limit of chukar, it's only f-in' 6, but it could honestly happen any day (though I've been saying it for almost 10 years). It all boils down to getting a little too excited when they flush, and not hunting a bit further south.
IDK why, but recently I really want to build a cabin, in the woods, with a great view, backing public land. No elec, water, just a wood stove.

I have zero skills necessary to accomplish this task. At our first house I decided I wanted to build a shed. I framed up a wall, and asked a buddy to come over and help me tip it up. He looked at it on the ground and ask, "where's the header?" I responded, "What's a header?"
And basically hasn't improved since then. I've knocked out a couple more sheds, doghouses, and a wood shed, all with rather large errors/omissions that I discovered once I was done (eg, the wood shed literally blew away into the creek one breezy spring day because I didn't even attempt to calc the forces from the wind and the approximate weight of the structure).
 
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1. Bighorn sheep…Lower 48.
2. Sable…Africa
3. Blackbuck…TX
4. Fallow deer….TX
5. Grow old gracefully…too late!
MTG
 
1. Certain mt sheep area
2. Certain Wy elk area
3. Moose anywhere in mt
4. Alaska caribou
5. Antelope island mule deer
 
1. Get a couple riding mules and wear out every wilderness trail in Wyoming.
2. Get an unlimited montana ram before expiring.
3. Travel somewhere outside of North America.
4. Raise a few more labradors.
5. Do an epic wilderness float trip somewhere like the northern Yukon.
5.1 Go to a NASCAR race
You come down here sometime and we can knock the Nascar race off the list. Charlotte has a spring and a fall race.
 
Top of the list

1. Eastern Turkey ( taken all except E. )

2. Explore the Northeast (never been there) and see Fall colors and hunt Black Ducks.

3. Hunt Pacific Eider at Nelson Lagoon AK

4. Return to Hawaii to hunt upland birds.

5. Hunt King Eider out of my kayak.

And whatever big game tag that I can draw
 
I'm feeling inspired to do some halibut/salmon fishing in Alaska this year! Never been, so I'm looking at boat charters and trying to find a good one to use. I found one or two in this thread, but if anyone else has a favorite that they'd share I'd really appreciate it.
Filled the freezer back up, totally worth it and would go again

IMG_0237.jpg
 
Pretty nice halibut! Where did you end up fishing?
Thanks, yea I found a day charter in Homer (Maverick charters) that did well for me. Once I got into it, it was more straightforward thank I thought. It's just tough to know what questions to ask when I knew nothing at all, but it all starts to get clear quick. I did four days with them as a solo and met 5 other random new people every day. It was interesting because everyone has roughly the same story, the day goes roughly the same every day. The captains probably feel like they living groundhog day all summer :LOL:
 
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