Thanksgiving/Elk Hunt

Dear Elder Nielsen,

Well this past week was very busy.  Sorry I did not get this email off to you in time, but I left Sunday afternoon to Las Vegas, and I did not get to my hotel room until about 11 pm.  And I noticed that you had already sent your letter, so I decided to write your letter this morning.

Well here we are  a week later and I never got a chance to finish your email, so I will write 2 weeks in one. So the Monday before Thanksgiving, I took off from work the entire week to go elk hunting so we could get mom's elk before I left for Vegas.  But on Monday, we did not have to do the papers, and mom made arrangements with the Gouldings to take the kids to and from school and to keep Addie with them while we were hunting.  So we were able to get on the road by 4:00 am. We decided to try to go to that place where you and I and Bob went (north of Montello) near that Guzzler where we think that Smith kid took that big bull with his bow and where we were hiking around and I found those elk sheds (1 being about a 340 bull). I did not remember how to get there but we took the Gamble Canyon road near the Gamble ranch and we drove back in there about 7 miles and a dirt road took off to the left and we took that road.  We followed that road a ways and we got up to a high point on the road where we could see all around us and the sun was just starting to come up so we could see.  I started glassing a grassy burn area about 2 miles away and I could see elk moving through the burn area.  So I got my spotting scope out and was glassing and I spotted a pretty nice bull  (about 310 or so) near the edge of the burn and working his way into the juniper trees.  while we were sitting there another truck drove up from beneath us and took a road that went right up there near the edge of the burn and stopped.  I thought They see that bull and are going to kill it.  So I told mom lets get over there in case they chase the bull in our direction.  We were on one side of the mountain and there was a draw and the elk were on the other side of the mountain near top 1/3 of the mountain. So we booked it over so we were in position to watch the elk move.  While the hunters were sitting in their truck, we glassed another 15 to 20 move through the bottom of the burn into the junipers.  We could not see antlers, but some some of the elk were a lot blonder than the others so I thought they were  bulls.  But the hunters never got out or shot.  They must not have been able to see them.

So mom and I sat there and glassed the other side of the mountain for about 1.5 hours.  We spotted 6 large bulls moving through the junipers following each other.  1 of the bulls was a rag horn bull, but the others were all shooters.  So we watched them move through the junipers, we would see them every now and again as the junipers were pretty thick, like Ely.  We also saw cows and calves moving through with some spikes in the group. I also saw a herd of 6 elk with a nice bull with them right at the top of the mountain.  So we had about 6-8 nice bulls and 4-6 spikes and rag horns on the other side of the mountain.  We were trying to watch as see where they were going to bed down and then we would make our move.  Most of the big bulls disappeared but we saw one bed down.  So we thought we could hike down the mountain and go up through the burn area and over the top and then come back over where the bulls were laying down.  The bull we saw laying down was about 200 yards from the top.  But come to find out where they were bedded, they could see us on the where we were sitting and they could see us from every position.  So we are trying to sneak where they couldn't see us behind trees etc.  We got over on the other side and I saw a little hill I wanted to see how far away the elk were so we hiked up there and I could see a really nice bull bedded down and 1 rack of another bull, but I could not see him.  But they were still about 800 to 1000 yards away still.  The bull was looking right at us every time we moved or peeked over the ridge.  So we still had not gotten over the top and I wanted to get over the top and I had a couple of land marks that would tell me where the elk were. So we got to a point where I thought was the top and started walking out in broad day light and I got glassing and we were still on the same side the elk were and they could definitely see us.  Mom said she wonder why I was walking out there when we were so careful to that point, but she did not say any thing.  While we were sneaking through the junipers, I spotted 3 spikes and a cow.  I ranged them and they were 299 yards away.  I asked mom if she wanted shot one, she did not feel very confident of that shot standing up.  And with a 350 bull or better bedded down 800 yards away. I thought we could get closer and get a nice bull.  I could only see 2 but I know there were 5 or 6 other nice bulls in that area.  So we backed tracked and went over the top and came over where my land marks were and we were taking 3 steps and glassing to see if I could see them.  We spotted a cow that stood up and then bedded down again about 200 yards away.  So I thought if she is still here, the bulls should still be there.  But we hiked around all day in there and never saw or heard one elk after that.  So I don't know where they went.  But that was a great area.  Tons of trees that were shredded by bulls this year.  That would have been a great area for archery.  

We got back to the truck about dark.  We had been stalking and hiking all day long.  I wanted to go hunting every day but mom had not make arrangements for cross guarding or the kids.  This was harder than I thought not having any teenagers at home to drive the kids around. Kevin and Amber and Erin got here on Tuesday afternoon.  A big snow storm was suppose to hit Tuesday night and Wednesday.  It snowed about 6 inches here. We had a good thanksgiving.  Every thing turned out well.  Kevin was a nice guy. We had made plans for DeeRay and Ryan to come out and help us hunt on Friday.  I talked to Bob Hayes and he said the Moore exit area got dumped on with snow.  He said it was 18 inches to 4 feet. Some drifts were over the hood of their truck.  To have chains etc.  I don't have chains and neither does DeeRay. So I did not feel comfortable with them coming all the way out here if we might not be able to hunt.  It is a good thing as my truck had a dead battery.  I spent the day changing batteries on the truck.

We went out again on Sat.

To be continued.... next letter

Love DAD

Happy Birthday Elder Nielsen!

Elder Nielsen,

You probably celebrated your birthday yesterday since you are 15 hours ahead of us.  This was a hectic week.  At work, there were issues that would come up and prevent me from doing what I had to get done.  I had a big report that was due on Friday.  But I got it done and sent it off.  I am still behind in my class in grading.  I am trying to get all caught up. 

On Wednesday night we had the a capello group from BYU called vocal point come sing at the convention center.  There are 9 guys and they are very talented, but the sound was not that great.  They had a guy b-bopping and with him and all the other noise, you could not hear the melody singer.  But they all had great voices and could sing very well.

On Thursday, I went to go play bball, I have been playing for about 2 weeks now, but I had an extremely difficult time breathing.  It was like I was short on air.  It happened like that the very 1^st time back, but I thought it was because I was out of shape.  It got a little better, but on Thursday, I could barely breathe. I am not sure what is going on, if I had something wrong with my lungs or what.  I have a cough, but no other signs of a cold.  I went to work, but I was exhausted.  I get out of breath just walking from my car to my office.  I came home from work and slept for 3-4 hours woke up for 2 hours and slept for another 3 hours, and then went to bed.  I felt better on Friday morning, but my lung capacity is still not where it should be.

Friday Carly had a game and they beat a team that beat the other team that beat Carly’s team.  I hope you can follow that.  Carly did not play much, but she played well when she was in there.  She is a good passer.

On Saturday, mom and I got up at 3:50 am and got the papers out and then we got all ready to go and went elk hunting.  But with day light savings, it was starting to get light by the time we left the house, so we were 2 hours late and missed the miracle hour.  We tried to go to that area down low where Chelsea got a shot at that huge bull.  We never did find that area.  You cannot get up Division Canyon where we went with Chelsea as it has those 4 foot deep wash outs where the tires go.  That is where you and I tried to get the 4 wheeler up last year. Bob Hayes told us we could get up division coming from the lower side, so we tried that.  We took the 4-wheeler up and found a guzzler called the Cotton Thomas Guzzler.  All the water was frozen solid, but we did see fresh Mountain Lion tracks within the last 2 days. We hike around the guzzler for about a couple miles, found a lot of elk sign but nothing extremely fresh. But there was some good country. We drove around trying to explore roads to see which one lead to Division canyon, but never did find it.  We heard some shooting down below us, but we never did see an elk. There were tons of camps along the main road.  I guess there are 80 tags given out and we probably saw 50 of the hunters and their buddies.  The only elk we saw was a small 6x6 which would score around 250 on the back of a side by side.  I think those were the guys below us shooting.  They said there were 5 other bulls with the one they got.  And they said they saw someone else take a nice bull.  It was a beautiful day on Saturday about 53 degrees. Next week it is supposed to snow on Wed, and the high is going to be 30 degrees.

Anyway, this is becoming more of a nightmare than an enjoyable hunt as we had to leave carly and addie home alone all day and summer had to find a ride to her bball games.  We did not think about no one being home to take care of the kids or get them to school with mom and I out hunting.  So we are trying to make arrangements for tomorrow to go again.  Mom said she did not bargain for this and she is going to shot the very 1^st legal bull she sees, (if we see one). So far, we have not been so lucky.

I guess we decided to stay here for Thanksgiving and Amber and Erin will come to Elko.  Chelsea, said Brian needed to know to plan for buying food, etc, and we would not know if we were coming or not until mom got her bull.  We only have this week left to hunt as I have to go to Las Vegas next week for training.  So we will see what happens.

Our internet is down and has been since Thursday.  They said the 1^st time they could come was Monday and we will be out hunting, so who knows how long we will be without the internet.

We hope you had a great b-day.  We will give you another do-for for your b-day.  Keep working hard and rely on the spirit to direct your thoughts and actions and you will be blessed.  We love you and always pray for you.  Addie and the girls sang you happy b-day today.  Have a great week.

Love Dad.

ps: Fallon beat Moapa Valley for the state title.  It was a close back and forth game.  Utah got beat by UCLA, BYU won I think, and Ohio State #2 in nation and undefeated got beat by Michigan St.

Another week passed, where is the time going?

Hola Elder Nielsen,

We are glad to here that you have a new Filipino companion and that you are adjusting to your new area. This was another fast week.  I had my accounting class on Monday night and that was a long day getting home after 10 pm.  Carly had a pal game on Tuesday and won 34-4. Again, how fun is that for both teams?   On Wednesday it was Veterans day and I had the day off from work and we went to the parade that day.  It was cold during that parade.  I spent the entire day cutting up Summer's doe.  On Thursday, at noon I had to fly to Las Vegas for a RPAC committee meeting on Friday.  I am GBC's representative on the retirement benefits committee which is a committee approved by the Chancellor of NV system of higher education. So I flew to SLC and the flight from SLC to Las Vegas was over booked so I volunteered to get bumped and take a later flight for $500 in Delta bucks to use on other flights within a year.  So I need to figure out a place to fly before the end of this month as I have another $600 that will expire the end of this month.  Any suggestions?

Any way I had to fly to Los Angeles and then to Las Vegas.  But the LA flight was over booked, and they were looking for volunteers, but they could not get me to Las Vegas before my meeting on Friday.  Otherwise, in LA they were giving American Express cards worth $500 that I could use any where.  I really wanted that one, but it could not work.  The plane had a flat tire and I did not end up getting to Las Vegas until 10:30 pm at night.  

On Friday I walked from my hotel pulling my suitcase 2.5 miles to my meeting.  Our meeting lasted all day and then I got home to Elko around 10 pm.  On Sat. we went out to Spring Creek to watch Summer play bball.  She had games at 8 and 11. So we were out there for 1/2 of the day.  I did not watch the game, but BYU got beat by Missouri 20-16.  Summer just told me that.  Missouri had only won 3 games all year.  Utah who was ranked 10th got beat by Arizona in double overtime.

We listened to the Elko vs Moapa Valley football game on the radio and Elko lost 17-0.  But we were inside the 10 yard line 4 times and could not score.  We had it at the 2 yard line on our 1st possession and had an illegal procedure and we did not try to kick a field goal as we new we would need more than that to win.  Then Kyran Allen caught a pass inside the 5 and fumbled the ball into the end Zone and they recovered.  Any way, 4 times we could not score.  We did try to kick a field goal late in the game and it was blocked.  The Hubert kid has signed to go play football at University of Utah for Moapa.

Fallon won, so Moapa vs Fallon for state championship.

We had stake conference this weekend and it was really good.  Garrett Moore talked last night he just got home from his mission 2 weeks ago and he did a wonderful job. We had the missionaries over for dinner today and then mom and I went out home teaching.  We borrowed the Cokeville miracle and the kids have watched it like 4 times.

Well, keep working hard and rely on the Lord and he will bless you.  We love you and always pray for you.  Enjoy the heat as we are freezing here.  The time is going by fast.  I can't believe we are already half way through November.

Have a super week.

Love

Dad

Baby, it's Cold Outside

Magadang gabi Elder Nielsen,

Well we think that is great that you are training already.  Now you can call the shots so that you and your companion are exactly obedient in all things. We got an email from your mission president telling us that you were going to train.  We were very surprised that you would white wash a new area with a new companion.  But just put your total faith and trust in the Lord and he will guide you and direct you in all things.  We hope you are doing well and every thing is going well with your training.  Is your new comp. american or Filipino?

I talked to Randy Jenkins today and he said that Brandon is being thrown into the fire as he has not completed his training yet, but is getting a new companion, so he will have to be co-senior companion and introduce him to the new area. I forwarded you his email. I thought he was training to, but he is not training a greenie or FOB (fresh off the boat) as Amber likes to call them.

We finally got the snow I was waiting for on Summer's hunt on Tuesday.  1 day after her hunt ended.  We got about 5-6 inches and it was a real heavy wet snow.  Many large trees and branches were broken around town because of the weight.  They got 22 inches of snow at Wild Horse, 17 in Tuscarora, etc.  So I am wondering how much snow they got up in mom's elk area.  This way perhaps we can get on fresh tracks and track a big bull down.  SLC did not hardly get any snow.  It also finally got cold.  The day time highs are around 45 degrees.

Carly had her pal game on Tuesday and she is playing better and being more aggressive as I prefer. Afterwards, Addie and I had to go to Mountain view for Watch Dog sign ups and got a piece of pizza.  We also had all the girls parent teacher conferences, and they are all doing great.  They are all great kids, good students and their teachers love them.  Summer had all As except 1 B. So that is good.  Addie loves school and is doing well.  Her fine motor skills are amazing, she must get them from the Grandpa Croft side of the family.

On Thursday, we had a combined activity for mutual and we watch the Cokeville Miracle movie based on the true story of the Bombing of the Cokeville, Wy elementary school.  I remember we had many of those survivors come speak to our stake here in Elko in the mid 1990's.  It was amazing that that bomb went off and none of the 98 kids or teachers were killed. The only ones that died were the 2 perpetrators.  You will have to watch it when you get home.

On Friday, Elko played spring creek in Football to see who goes to semis state finals.  It was a cold cold evening.  Mom and I went and we were bundled up like crazy.  It was a hard fought game and Elko won 12-8.  Nick Smiley was 4 for 4 in field goals all of them around 27-32 yards.  He has been very solid at the kicking position.  Elko dominated in time of possession.  We could never punch it in, but were inside the 10 yard line 3 or 4 times.  We would kick a field goal and then we did an on-side kick and recovered that and kept spring creeks offense off the field.  Jon Jund played for SC but he was not 100%.  So now we have to travel to Las Vegas and play Moapa Valley.  They beat Desert Pines.  And some other team from the south beat Faith Luthern, so that team will travel to play Fallon this week.

BYU beat San Jose state 14-13.  I did not see or listen to that, but we were suppose to blow them out.  TCU got beat for the 1st time this year by Oklahoma State.  I wanted them to go undefeated and break up this playoff system which is still a joke.

On Saturday, summer had her 1st 2 Adobe bball games.  She is point guard and played most of the time, but she needs to get more confidence dribbling with her left hand and get stronger and protect the ball. We played Owyhee and those big girls were mauling us and the boys don't call any fouls, so I was telling Summer, reach and tip the ball, they aren't calling any fouls, be aggressive.  And she did very well with her aggressiveness.  She shot a lot but did not have any points the first game.  And we lost. Then we played Jackpot and she had 2 buckets and we won handedly. AFterwards, the Elko boys soccer team was playing Sparks for the regional championship, so we went back there to watch and it was tied 0-0 after 2 overtimes and went to PKs.  Sparks won 5-4.  Aren Villegas Nadalie's brother missed his kick, it hit the side pole and went out.  But they will still go to state as the number 2 team.

I came home and started cutting up Summer's doe.  I got about 1/2 done.  I have been watching videos on you tube to try to do it quicker.  They make it look very easy, but they waste a lot more than I do.  We had stroganoff, and that old doe is a tough old bugger.  We cooked her neck over night and throughout the day and the meat will still not come off and is tough as leather.  We might have to jerky the entire deer as you like your jerky very chewy and she is chewy.

Today we had our southwest regional conference.  Elder Lynn Robbins from 70's talked on simplicity how we need to simplify our lives to concentrate on only the best items.  Sister Reeves, 2nd councilor in RS talked about repentance, Elder Lawrence Corbridge talked about ?? I can't remember. Elder Oaks talked about keeping the commandments and being blessed.  He talked to the youth about spending less time texting and social media and spending more time following the Savior's example.  It was all good.  We have our stake conference next week.

Have a super week.  We love you and are excited for you in this new opportunity.  Rely on the Lord for everything.  Don't think you can do it alone.  He knows the area, he knows who is ready and prepared to receive his gospel.  It is your job to follow the spirit and you will be directed in all things. If you are exactly obedient and do your part you will be blessed. Enjoy the warm weather while you can as we are freezing here.  We still don't have the heat on and it is 55 degrees in our home.  It has been getting in the teens during the night here.

Kylee Olsen comes home next week or so. Her family is flying back to pick her up.

Keep working hard.

Love Dad

Summer got her deer

Hola Elder Nielsen,

This was a fast week. I had my class on Monday and got home around 10 pm.  I did not play bball again this week as I was letting my calf heal.  It is still painful if I do certain things but I thought I better get it 1 more week to rest.  I can walk without limping so that is good.  Carly had a PAL game on Tuesday night.  They actually play the Marin's team and got beat.  So I was happy about that, they needed to be humbled a bit.  The other players on Carly's team. She needs to be more aggressive, she likes to pass a lot and does not look for her shot.  I think she was more aggressive a few years ago.  But she will get the hang of it.

The World Series has started and it is the NY Mets vs the Kansas city Royals.  We all want the Royals and they are up 3-1.  The 1st game went 14 innings. On Thursday, Elko played Spring Creek.  In girls soccer, both teams had the same record so who ever won would go to the post season.  They were playing in Elko and S.C. had never won in Elko, but they beat Elko 4-2. So Elko girls soccer are done.  In football, if Elko lost they would take 4th and travel to Fallon who is undefeated this season for the 1st game of the playoff.  Elko had to win by 9 points to take the 2nd position and host SC in the 1st round of the playoffs.  And Elko won by 9 points exactly, so we will play SC again this week in the 1st round of the playoffs.  Dustin Baum is playing well.  He had a pic 6 right before half time.  That is his 8 interception of the year and 3rd pic 6.  Jon Jund SC's starting QB was hurt for that game but he will be back this week, so it should be a good game.  We did not go to the game as we would have had to pay to get in, we just listened to it on the radio. Summer had bball practice until 7 any way.  Elko's volleyball team is done as well and the Elko's boy soccer are in 1st or 2nd place.

Friday was Nevada day, so I did not have to work and Summer and I went deer hunting around black mountain again. We saw 3 herds of antelope, 1 of 24, 1 of 11 and another 2. So 27 total.  We spotted some deer about 1.5 miles away and I tried to put the spotting scope on them.  But the wind was blowing like 50 mph.  I could see they were deer, but the wind was blowing the scope so badly I could not see if any were bucks.  So we went on a hike to see if we could come over the top and get closer.  Some of the deer were a grayer color and I think they could be bucks.  But we got up there and wind the 60 mph wind it was freezing and we could not stand still to glass.  And when we go up there we would have to go down this big mountain and all the way back up.  If they were does, I did not want to pack one out of there, we would have been there all day.  So we decided to leave them alone and walked around the area where she got her doe last year.  I found a 3-point elk shed on our walk.  But we did not see any deer.  So old elk tracks but nothing new.  We drove around and saw 3 other does, but no bucks.  So we came back home and went out on Sat. morning.  On our way out to our spot there was a 2 point buck getting a drink in the puddles in the middle of the road.  But I stopped and before Summer could get out of the truck, he went and jumped the fence with the no hunting or trespassing sign where we saw all the elk. 

We walked up the bottom of the canyon where we saw the deer yesterday.  On our way in, I spotted some deer above us, so we snuck up there out of sight.  We got up there a ways and I peeked over the top and could see 2 does.  So I told summer, her hunt ends Monday, we better just try and shot one of these does.  It took her about 10 minutes to get the deer in her scope with the shooting stick and she said she could not keep the cross hairs on her.  But finally she did. She was using the 7 mm as I thought it would be a long shot.  She shot and dropped the doe in her tracks. She did have a fawn, but it was an older fawn.  But sure enough, as soon as she drops the doe, a 2 point buck steps out and we could have shot him 10 times.  He did not run at all.  But I told her, we will let him grow up bigger for next year.  But there was a road down the middle of that canyon, so I only had to drag the doe down hill about 250 yards.  And I hiked back and got the truck and left Summer with the deer.  I found the road that goes in there and we cleaned it and I skinned it in the back of the truck.  She shot it about 8 am and we were home by noon.  So we have more jerky meat.  I was happy.  Summer did not want to shot a doe, but she did not want to miss school on Monday to get one.  I also saw a bobcat on Sat. I thought it was a coyote, but when I glassed him, he only had a bob tail.  I have never seen one of those before while hunting.  But we still have not seen a elk.  I am getting a little discouraged for mom's bull elk hunt. 

I washed the truck off that afternoon.  It is suppose to rain and snow tomorrow.  And the high this week will be in the 40's.  I took the kids (all 3) trick or treating.  It was really warm about 60's, so the weather was good.  We hit all of Dotta Drive and I took them around the loop where I do the paper route.  A lot of people were not home, but the kids filled up their pumpkin buckets.  

Today was fast Sunday and both Mom and I shared our testimonies.  There were not many people there.  The Johnsons down the street in the McIntire's house are moving and 3 or 4 other families have moved or are moving.  Our poor ward is dying on the vine.

We had a great Sabbath day.  We did not have any one over for dinner, but it was day light savings this weekend, so that is always and adjustment.  We talked to sharon and Brian on the phone, they just got back from a 2 week trip to Peru.

We love you, we hope you have a great week.  Keep working as hard as you can and be exactly obedient in every thing and you will be blessed by the Lord.  Make sure you are an example to all you meet.  We would like to know more about that 4 minute discussion on the restoration.  Is there any way we could watch that?

Have faith and Depend on the Lord for everything and he will bless you. I can promise you that.  When you feel inadequate or lacking, put your faith and trust in him and he will make you up to the task.

Love

DAD