East Mountain Road

My little brother has a muzzleloader deer permit, so we went up on East Mountain to look for deer. We didn’t see any deer while riding but this was the first time up there. It was a a nice place to ride around. We took the atvs but the road was in fair shape.

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The trees were all a blaze with fall colors. Looking up Cottonwood Canyon Road.

The first overlook we stopped at was looking across Straight Canyon toward Horn Mountain.

We then road around and stopped at a small pond we thought was Snow Lake but it wasn’t.

We turned around and followed another road that lead to a radio tower and from there we could look down into Huntington Canyon and the 20 foot to the other side we could see down towards Orangville and Castle Dale.

After we were done and got the atvs loaded up and gave my brother a nice slap on the back.

… While out hunting tonight he shot a little two point buck, his first deer.

Coal Wash Attempt

Today we got together and met at Fuller’s Bottom and headed toward Coal Wash. First up was the river crossing.It wasn’t bad getting into the river but getting out the other side was rough. It was really muddy and I had to attempt it three times before getting up and over. Everyone else made it out in one try.

After that the rest of the way wasn’t bad with a few muddy washes to cross. As we were nearing the intersection into Coal Wash, we had one more wash to cross but this one had been flooded badly. It was full of mud and sand. We got out and looked it over and decided not to try it. We had to turn around and go back.

After turning around, we took a different road back to the river. This was a little bit longer but had better views. This road traveled along a canyon.

View into Salt Wash

We stopped and hiked over to see a pit house.

Fourteen miles later and we were back to the river. Crossing this time was much easier. Link to a short video at the crossing.

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Pronghorn Hunt

We left Friday after work to go and spend the weekend at the base of the Boulder Mountains. We arrived at 7 and set up camp. Soon the stars were out and we were cooking dinner by the light of the campfire. It was a bit chilly during the night, I think I slept for maybe 2 hours. We were up at 6:30 and on our way to find the antelope. Just as the sun began to rise, we spotted a small herd with a nice looking buck. My little brother jumped out and shot him. He didn’t go down and he had to take another shot which knocked him down. After a few pictures and bloody hands, he was hanging in the tree at camp before 9.

One tag down and 2 more to fill. We left camp and after riding around we saw a lone buck. My dad took a shot and was high. The buck ran and we followed and tried a sneak. We didn’t close enough before he spotted us and ran off. Back to the truck and onto a rough road. Around 11 we approached a small pond and there was a doe and a buck getting a drink. My turn to shoot but before I could, he started running. I let of a shot and down he went. Upon closer inspection, I had hit him in the guts and was in for a stinky job.

We drove into Loa to buy some game bags and some food we left at home. Back at camp we started skinning the two. There were a lot of bees checking out the raw meat and making it tougher to skin both animals. After that was done, we went out for an evening hunt. Just as we were getting back to camp, there was a large herd across the road. My dad took a long shot and was just behind the buck. When they heard that gunshot they were gone almost as fast. Saturday night wasn’t as cold and I was able to get a good night sleep.

Up again at 6:30, just me and dad went out. Kirt stayed to tear down camp and prepare to go home. We rode around looking for some pronghorn. As we neared the spot where I shot mine, we saw a herd run over the hill. We hiked up top only to see a large group of other hunters. The herd had ran west to another hill. We got back into the truck and took an even rougher road towards the antelope. We topped  the hill and there was the herd we a big buck wearing a blue collar. The antelope must have seen us stop because they were gone before we could get a gun out. After driving along another rough road, we approached the main dirt road and there stood a good sized buck. We started to sneak towards him but was spotted and off he ran towards the road. We ran back to the truck and drove as close as we dared. My dad shot and hit him in the front shoulder. He ran up a small hill and fell. When we got closer he took off into the trees and fell again. This time he didn’t get back up and our hunt was finished.

I have been elbow deep in cutting up the meat and have finally with it all today. To celebrate, we barbecued up some steaks and some corn on the cob. I have heard people on both sides about how antelope doesn’t taste well and others really like it. After taking my first bite into the steak, I have decided that antelope make for a good steak. Next I will be making some into jerky.

A shot of us posing together.

Labor Day Trip

On Sunday, we left to scope out an area for our upcoming antelope hunt. We were checking out an area near Parker Mountain. We drove to Loa finding geocaches along the way. In Loa we stopped at a small restaurant, were I had my first buffalo burger. The buffalo tasted a lot like beef but different.

Soon we were in the area we wanted to hunt. We drove about a 100 mile loop and only saw 2 bucks. We stopped at a nice overlook that had some old cabins nearby.

After checking out the “plains”, we drove up into the Boulder Mountains. We stopped at Posey Lake and tried some fishing. We didn’t catch anything but a lot of moss. We drove through the campground looking for a place to set up a tent but decided against it. So we drove back down the road and found a good place to camp. During the night, coyotes were out and making a lot of noise. Which had me worried because the dog doesn’t like to stay in one tent. He likes to go to each tent and check on everyone. After a while the coyotes quit howling and stayed quiet.

We got a late start in the morning and wasn’t out of camp until 9. On the ride home we saw a couple of herds of antelope, there was one that was wearing a bright orange collar. As we neared Loa, we found some more geocaches hidden among the rocks.

After leaving Loa, we drove past Mill Meadows Reservoir and up onto Mytoge Mountain. On top there are some nice views of Fish Lake, I couldn’t believe how big Fish Lake was. After having lunch on top, we followed a jeep trail back down. It was a rough road that required 4 wheel drive and high clearance. I bottomed out a couple of times with no damage.

We stopped and found some more geocaches along the highway and then turned off on the Fremont/Gooseberry road. It is some pretty country there but it soon turned to construction. It looks like they might pave the road all the way to I-70. The drive back home was uneventful, except a couple of geocaches along the way back home. In total we found 38 geocaches and 2 no finds.