Looks great! Little full… Lotta sap…

Little full. Lotta sap. Wife was born on odd year so she picks on odd numbered years, myself on even since I was born on even. I like this one. This was first year I took a chainsaw, had to do a lil trimming but looks good now. Decorating today I’m sure.
Gotta run that by the missus, I was born on an even year and she was born on an odd year, but she gets to pick every year. LOL
 
Our sweet girl asked for her own bedroom tree and was successful in picking a beaut

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Then the girls masterfully picked a tree that was just the right height and width

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All dad did was cut the trees down and gently remove a part of his bumper 😂 luckily it snapped back on, albeit not perfectly and was part of the bumper I was planning on replacing.

Christmas tunes are on and decorating begins
 
Our sweet girl asked for her own bedroom tree and was successful in picking a beaut

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Then the girls masterfully picked a tree that was just the right height and width

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View attachment 304491

All dad did was cut the trees down and gently remove a part of his bumper 😂 luckily it snapped back on, albeit not perfectly and was part of the bumper I was planning on replacing.

Christmas tunes are on and decorating begins
Thanks for heads up on baby tree @MtnElk .😁
 
Went and grabbed ours this morning. Under "winter storm warning" but was completely opposite on mountain and enjoyed blue skys and nice temps. Sheep everywhere and even a few bison, might have to break out good camera a day this week and go get some pics. Daughter got my fierce hunting dog his own puffy for this winter, i am pretty sure i heard one of the rams walking around laughing at my dog...41556.jpeg41554.jpeg
 
Didn't make it up last weekend when there was no snow so we ended up settling for these around 5500 ft.

High pressure area, but it's managed for opportunity so there were plenty of options. I ended up making both the kills for our tree and my parents. Some might say that's party hunting, but it's how my dad always did it, and how his dad always did it and you don't mess with tradition dag gummit.

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My fathers all time favorite free range tree (1971?) happened when he lopped off a bottom limb off of a 50+ foot tree and turned it into our tree. As this limb was putting out branches horizontal to the ground it became almost a two dimensional tree flat against the wall, saving space in our small living room.

He reminded us every year about that flat tree and all that space he saved.
 
When I was a kid my mom had a thing for getting a cedar tree (more like a bush) off of our family’s place in the Texas Hillcountry. Not much of a trunk on them so a lot of digging n cursing by my pop. Anyone who knows the area….tons of rocks n not much dirt. To make the outing more “festive” one year….I; being maybe 5 or 6, thought it would be appropriate to get a big double handful of cedar thorns off the ground n dump it rt down the “plumber’s crack” of my pops!!! Oh boy!!!! The memories!!!
My wife's family used to do the exact same thing just north of the hill country. Kind of funny. None of them realized at the time that they had terrible allergies to the juniper! :rolleyes:
 
A first for the fiancée and myself getting our own tree. She’s never even had a live tree before. No one must cut trees here compared to your guys cause we cut this one in the ditch and we only tracked two miles down the road.

Congrats. We’ve got a lot of road hunters around here. We call those ditch twigs.
 
Had to venture out late season today as my wife has been out of town. Trophy potential was limited as my oldest boy is at college and he is the best packer-can’t exactly quarter this type of game. Little snow in the northern Black Hills made tracking difficult. We hunted hard and finally notched our tag. IMG_1514.jpegIMG_1516.jpeg
 
I was able to secure permission since I know a guy (Me), and was able to take a pretty healthy one right on the edge of the food plot last weekend. We've been able to sell some landowner tags to help cover the costs of maintaining the acreage also :) 20231206_185414.jpg
 
wow! Some of you guys cut 20+ year old trees 😂😂😂😂

Round here, on my permit, they can’t be over 12’!

Here’s the difference of last years and this years. Had to really put my 🌰 🥜 on the table and lace the boots up extra tight.

A little hint: the further you drive, the less you’ll have to walk! the big ones still hang out by the road!
 

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I quit participating in the annual slaughter of innocent baby conifers several years ago. My Walmart special is fuller than anything I ever drug in out of the mud anyway.


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Not a particularly interesting tree. One thing I miss from before the fire is the decades of decorations made by the kids and other decorations given by special people, many who are no longer here.
 
You western guys are lucky to be able to pursue your trees in a natural environment. Our herds are tightly regulated here in the east, that leaves high fence establishments as our only real opportunities.
The wife doesn't have any qualms about the ethics of high fence hunts and is a bit of a score junkie, although symmetry is usually the final deciding factor before she pulls the trigger.
My work is done, the trophy is mounted, lights are hung and anti cat measures are deployed. She and the kids will get to the ornaments later today20231210_120208.jpg
 
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