While some of you around the country are starting to receive inclement weather, this is from my only hunt action since the spring - the quail opener in AZ last Friday, when temps hit 97. Mmm, mmm - October!
Despite driving to a brand new spot farther from home to find a more dog-friendly area - without so much cholla cactus - and getting on the wrong end of a Google Maps foul up, Sam and I had a good time walking the desert washes even though we didn't turn up many birds before it got too warm to hunt. It was my first day off in 5 weeks, so it was good just to not be inside, looking at a computer!
The start to the season has been slow, but there is still time left. The conditions have been less than desirable so far with no significant change in sight. It has been very hot, dry for months and the animals are hard to find. Hopefully it will all change soon.
The picture is of the Needles located in the upper Kern River valley of the central Sierra Nevada mountains about 40 miles north of Lake Isabella.
To most, it`s just a meadow right on the Montana/Idaho border. But to me, it`s where I killed my one and only elk...and I`m hooked! I`ll never forget this place, and hope to see it again next year!
My favorite view: the one off the back porch after a day of chasing elk unsuccessfully..
The sun is setting on the Elkhorns while the moon rises above them. When it's clear and the moon is full as it has been the last few nights, you'd swear the moon is rising as a result of it's own power to defy gravity, as opposed to being a result of earth's rotation. I imagine it ripping out of the earth somewhere in the Tizer Basin, leaving a giant crater where a new moon will grow for tomorrow evening.
In this photo alone there are State Lands, BLM, National Forest including Inventoried Roadless Area as well as motorized areas, and a proposed wilderness.
Black Canyon, Crow Peak, Bullock Hill and the gateway to the Tizers - The playground of my youth and the future playground of my two children.
My Dad and I in central WY, taken just moments before we located a herd of elk in the timber across the valley. No matter the outcome, hunting with him is always awesome.
Nothing quite like an Arizona sunset with bulls bugling in the background. We were treated to quite the lightning show after sundown. Early season archery 2014.
Another beautiful Arizona afternoon...of course with bugling in the background. Sometimes I think it's harder to find areas without elk than without elk. Early season archery 2014.