Elk Hunting Part I

So, it is Thursday and Elk Season ends on Sunday. Wayne has a Land-owner tag, which means he HAS to hunt on our property...i.e., on any of our farms here "in town" LOL or out on our 2800 acre ranch near Ashwood. Well all year we have not seen much over here on the irrigated ground. So Wayne decides he wants to go out to the ridge- the name of our ranch there is called "Blizzard Ridge." Well I kind of wanted to go with him...not that I wanted to hunt, but it is really pretty out there and I love riding quads through the grounds. So we got 2 quads loaded, packed a lunch, got the gun, binocs, warm weather gear- and we were off. It is an hour drive up there- so we got there around noon. Unloaded the quads and off we were.

Little did I know that Wayne was going to park at a different gate rather than the main one and I was going to have to ride up a STEEEEEEP hill! OMGoodness I thought I was going to kill him...now wait to hear the end of the story when we leave! :) We rode, and rode, and rode. Saw some tracks, lots of elk poop (and plenty of cow), found some horn sheds- but saw NOTHING! Oh wait, we saw 4 chuckers (birds) and a herd of about 30 Antelope. Very cool as they ran right in front of us when we were on our quads on the way out! Did I mention that we REALLY needed cold weather gear?? BURRRRR! I was dressed REALLY WARM, but there is absolutely no way to get your face 100% covered and still be able to breathe! So my face from the nose to the eyebrows felt like a big ice cube. I took some pics of how bundled up I was- I will post them after this- as they are on my puter and I am right now on hubby's. It was raining/snowing and the wind was gusting about 40 mph. I now know why we call it "Blizzard Ridge."

Ok, so we made it all the way over almost to the gate I thought we were going to go in. Wayne said, "Do you want to go out the gate and ride down the road to where the truck is parked, or do you want to stay on the ranch and ride back?" To me, it didn't matter and that was my answer to him. When I heard him mumble something about a "shortcut" I should have gone with my instincts! We basically made our own trail over some ROCKY and hilly ground. Then what felt like an hour later we started a descent. We finally get to this spot and Wayne stops and yells to me, "This might be a little steep, so use both front and back brakes and take it easy." Ok, duh. Holy smokes! When I crested over the 90% downgrade (ok, maybe not that much, but it was STEEP) I almost peed myself! Mind you, I am on my quad that DOES NOT have 4WD and is little compared to the one Wayne is on. I see him in front of me bouncing down the hill almost crashing into trees and big boulders and I am literally terrified, but I know there is no other way unless I turn around. Big Pep talk now...self talking, "You can do it. Just take a deep breath. Go slow. Stay calm. Wayne wouldn't make you do something you weren't capable of." Ok, I'm feeling slightly confident. I start my descent. Holy CRAP! Am I really doing this? Oh man, I can't slow down! AHHH, the tree is in my way and I can't steer around it! WHEH, that was close...oh man, look at those rocks. CRIPES these brakes are not working as well as they should...STOP...STOP...STOP...STOPPPPPP!!!! Ok, I am stopped and I say a quick little prayer like this, "Dear Jesus Christ, please help me make it down the rest of this hill. I am not sure I can do it alone...but I know you can! So please don't let me wreck and kill myself and my unborn baby. Thank you Jesus." Well, it must have worked, because I made it. Then I started crying. From here we had to ride about 1 mile to the truck via the road. So I went in front as Wayne closed the gate. I cried on the way to the truck and thanked God the whole way.

When DH returned I told him I did not appreciate that and I was terrified and could have really hurt myself and/or the baby. He knew this was coming. He said he got turned around and didn't end up going where he thought he was. GRRRRR! Anyway, I finally laughed because I had already cried and told him next time I was making my own trail! And get this, at the beginning of the trip when we parked the truck and were unloading the quads I told him, "I can't ride any hard trails and I need to keep it safe, not like we used to ride, I have our baby in my belly- so there is more than just me to consider here." MEN!!!!