Hardware Ranch

 

On President’s Day Andrew and I decided to drive up to Hardware Ranch to see some elk.  We also took up a canoe to switch with Andrew’s brother and a couch his grandparents were giving his brother and sister-in-law, so we didn’t drive 2 1/2 hours just to see elk.  On our way there we stopped at a trapping store so Andrew could buy some more traps.  Right when we stepped out of the car it smelled like skunk and as we got closer and closer to the store so smell just got stronger!  So we pretty much smelled like skunk the rest of the day and inside our car definitely smelled disgusting.

We were a little worried it would be really busy at the ranch on a holiday, but it was GREAT!  We didn’t have to stand in line at all and we only waited about 5 minutes for our sled to fill up! 

Those little specks in the distance are the elk!

The sled was a sled with wheels because there was so little snow on the ground.  I think there was more mud than snow on the ground.

The horses that pulled our “sled”!  They were really pretty and they were huge!  Andrew kept telling me to get closer and when I did he yelled, “Watch out they bite!”…it sorta freaked me out haha.  I have like 4 layers of clothes on in this picture because it was soo cold!

Andrew excited to have his picture taken haha I kept trying to take more but he wouldn’t let me.

We got really close to some of them!  All the little kids on our sled thought it was really cool that the elk didn’t run away from them…I didn’t want to burst their bubble and tell them they’re just habituated to the sled because they know it brings them food haha.

Our driver told us this guy is 9 years old, then he told us elk usually live 9-10 years….so he’s pretty much a goner in a year….so sad because he was one of the biggest bulls there and really cool to watch!!  His antlers were huge!

We forgot to zoom out our camera….whoopsie!

Our driver told us there was 370 elk there!!!!  Holy Cow!….or Holy Elk!

They said last year they had over 600 elk here!  The winter hasn’t been bad this year so not that many have come.  We’ll have to go again when it’s a bad year so we can see lots more and maybe some bigger bulls!!

Fishing!

 

A few weeks ago we went fishing with our friends and dogs.  We headed up the canyon and ended at Starvation.  We loaded up the sleds with all our fishing gear and walked down to the lake.  Our dog Gus practically dragged me down the hill he was so excited.  Anywho…We fished for awhile and I caught nothing for like 3 hours….very exciting…hahaha.  Andrew on the other hand kept getting some bites and about ten minutes in he caught a pretty nice rainbow. 

      

A little while later Andrew and Eric walked off to find some more places to drill some holes.  I was patiently sitting by pole praying for a bite when I heard a splash and I looked up and Andrew’s pole was GONE!  I yelled to him telling him his pole was gone.  He ran over and sure enough some fish took it down the hole.  Eric grabbed his pole and fish finder and put it down the hole and a few minutes later he had hooked something.  He brought it up and he had snagged Andrew’s fishing line on his hook!  So he started reeling it up, and here comes Andrew’s fishing pole!  Andrew grabbed it and then he reeled in the fish that took his pole down the hole hahaha.

Here’s the fish and pole that were down the hole haha not a bad size fish!

And then later in the day I caught a fish too!…Well sorta…Andrew hooked it on his line but let me reel it in because I got no action the entire day..total let down.  I usually out fish Andrew when we go fishing, so he was really proud of himself that day haha.

It was a really nice day, but then it got super cold and started to snow so I put Andrew’s camo coat on and I got roasty toasty.

When we got home that day we were driving past the field across from our house and this beauty was in there!  A really nice 4 point.  Andrew put out a salt lick trying to get them to stay there so he could go get his antlers once they fall off, but no luck yet.