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

Dearest Elder Nielsen,

 

Did you do anything for Thanksgiving or was it just a normal day in the Philippines?  We had really wonderful weekend. 

Dad and I went out hunting on Mon. to an area Dad hadn't been to before --Gamble Canyon, out by the Gamble Ranch.  We hiked most of the day and did see elk up on the mountain in the junipers, but when we hiked up there,trying to come in at them from on top they weren't there, they had just "disappeared", it was kind of weird.

 Amber and Kevin arrived Tuesday around 4:30, and Erin came later that night at around 11pm after she and Olivia DeAngelo got done with their classes.  A big storm was heading in and so we were glad everyone got here before Wed. because we got about 4 inches of snow.  We had just our family, Kevin and we invited Jesse Crenshaw over to eat with us since he didn't have any place to go.  Everyone helped with the meal; Amber and Kevin made rolls and Dad did the gravy, Summer peeled all the potatoes and she and Carly made and emergency run to Smiths for whipping cream.  Erin... well, we said if she didn't help out  she wasn't going to eat, so at the last minute she came in and set the table. (the little girls had to help her with the proper way to set it though!)  It was a nice meal, everything turned out well and tasted pretty darn good!  After a little digestion, and snoozing,  the missionaries popped over and visited for a bit, and they had a key to the church so they said they would let us in to play some basketball.  Kevin was excited about that.  We all went over there and when we got there, the Hendricks family was there playing-- they had the same idea we did.  They were just about done anyway.  When they left everyone divided into teams, except Ads and I.  I was really tired , after getting up at 4am and then cooking all day, and NOT getting a nap I was not up for bball, so I watched for a little bit then went and took a nap on the foyer couch.  The missionaries stuck around and played with everyone.  They were funny; they said they were going over to visit with the Hirsts after visiting us, but that kind of got delayed.  They were kind sweaty, while still in their ties when they finally left.  It was fun.  Kevin is pretty good, although we he lost to Erin in the free-throw shooting contest.

Friday, we just hung around--no  black friday shopping for me, although Erin and Kevin went to Walmart to buy some new tires for the Camry.  He worked on the Bug too, but there wasn't enough time to really figure out the problem.  They left
that afternoon to head back to Rexburg, because Amber had to work on Sat. at noon.  Kevin is a really great guy, we liked him a lot.  He's pretty easy-going and joked right along with us.  We put him in your bedroom, so if he could handle that, he's OK.

Dad and I went out hunting again on Sat.  We got up early and did the papers and then headed out to the Moor exit area.  It was really cold and there was about 6-10 inches of snow.  He spotted some elk up on the side hills taking in some sun, so we headed over to that area.  We walked for about 3hrs, when we spotted a raghorn and some other  bull, but when we went down a ravine trying to get close without them seeing us we came up on a hill and spotted a cow that was alerted to us and then when we were about to move there was a bull that stood up.  Dad was like,"That's a bull, sit down, get your gun and pop him!"  I had never shot this gun before, I hadn't shot any gun in more than 10 or more years.  But, I got ready to shoot and I was having a hard time keeping the crosshairs on him, and then before I could shoot, he moved back behind the cover of the hill.  Dad said I had missed my chance, but then they started moving in front of us (2  bulls and 5 cows I think) except then were even farther away, so I got ready and took a shot at the bull.  I missed...4 times I shot and...missed.  It was a long shot, about 800 yards.  So, we followed their tracks in the snow and  they lead us right back to within 100 yrds of the truck where they crossed the road and went up over the other hills to the north.  We had been out nearly 6 hrs. at this point and we were cold so we went back to the truck and ate lunch and had a little rest.  I wasn't a successful huntress, but it was enjoyable--I saw my first snowshoe hare--3 of them, that was kind of fun.  The shooting part was kind of exciting, more so than walking.  All and all it was a good experience, just kind of bad timing in that I wanted to be with my family more than I wanted to be out chasing elk.  I did learn that Dad knows a lot about hunting animals, and that he is very patient in his stalking tactics.  I said ,"how come you can't be this patient all the time?"  I hope you are not too disappointed in me, I tried my best.  I compare it to someone trying to make a half court shot, when they haven't held a basketball in 10yrs. Oh, speaking of basketball... We went to the Alumni games and Erin did us proud, she scored 7 pts, and was 3-3 on the freethrow line.  I think only Anna Dubois scored more, and two of those we from Nielsen assists.  The boys' killed the Alumni, it was really kind of boring.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week, Love Mom

PS Bruce Ficsher gave you a nice complement when we talked to him last night at the game.  He, of course asked how you were doing and we said "great" and he said he remembered from last season doing room checks in the hotels and when he would go in your room you would always have your books open studying.  You really worked hard that senior year  :)