Some Pictures all y'all might enjoy..

[Lost River]

I went hunting elk with my dad.

Long story short. While the temps were cool, in the teens, it was actually quite unseasonably warm for this time of year, and no real snow. Normally this hunt is in sub zero temps. I have done this hunt in temps down to 40 below, to give you an idea.

Anyways, my dad needs a total knee replacement this year, and while we saw cows (we had cow tags) the opportunities did not present themselves this weekend, but we will try again before the end of the year.

That said, yesterday morning we did make a successful stalk using a decoy, acoss very open terrain in the early morning light onto a few elk and got into shooting range. I ranged them at 500 yards, lined up my Sako TRG, and.... BULLS. 2 big bulls. The early morning light it was hard to tell, but I had mentioned that the palomino color sure looked like bulls, but we needed to go for it. Sure enough. Oh well!


Normally there would be snow everywhere, not this year.

A couple of speed goats (antelope) hanging out.


https://i.imgur.com/91nBUGO.jpg?2



Some typically nice scenery

https://i.imgur.com/Tim2tb3.jpg?2



The vast size of the country can be deceiving.

There are about 25 elk on the distant hillside. The rangefinder would not pick them up. Best guesstimate, put them at about 2,500 yards, and totally safe due to the time of day. Plus even if we could shoot, it would be too difficult of a recovery with a 75 year old guy who needs a knee surgery, and a 15 year old, 100 pound kiddo for elk hunting partners at 9,000 up in the mountains of Idaho.

https://i.imgur.com/OEpRY7W.jpg?1

Now for something rather unique and rarely seen by many.... :)

[SeriousStudent]

Thank you very much, I always look forward to your photo essays.

And my very best wishes to your father for the orthopedic procedure.

[Lost River]

Up " No Tell 'Um Creek" not too far from my place we have BigHorn Sheep. I see them every year, and while there are a few decent rams around, none have been truly massive.

Well this trip I ran into a true once in a lifetime guy. He was hanging out with a few other rams and their girlfriends. This is the kind of guy that trophy hunters pay retarded amounts of money to find.

https://i.imgur.com/ZO7MXXY.jpg



A true full curl ram.

https://i.imgur.com/2aJbPOe.jpg


I got within about 250 yards , as I only had my little pocket camera.

Truly a gorgeous animal.

[Lost River]

Of course since this is Elmer Keith Country, I would have been remiss if this story did not include the cabin, a fire, a Model 29, and some Milt Sparks leather!



https://i.imgur.com/Go4nLGE.jpg?1

[JM Campbell]

Amazing as usual, please never stop posting your adventures.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PNWTO]

Up " No Tell 'Um Creek" not too far from my place we have BigHorn Sheep. I see them every year, and while there are a few decent rams around, none have been truly massive.

Well this trip I ran into a true once in a lifetime guy. He was hanging out with a few other rams and their girlfriends. This is the kind of guy that trophy hunters pay retarded amounts of money to find.




A true full curl ram.

I got within about 250 yards , as I only had my little pocket camera.

Truly a gorgeous animal.

That boy could be in the running for one of those $100K+ "Governor's Tag" auctions.

[Lost River]

That boy could be in the running for one of those $100K+ "Governor's Tag" auctions.

Funny you say that, as my dad said something similar to that yesterday.

I simply like looking at them.

It is one of the reasons why I don't post pics of trophy animals using my cellphone, so the phone data cannot be used to pinpoint the location.

There are actually a fair number of trophy animals/big bulls in the area. Actually the bulls I had in my crosshairs yesterday morning, while not "World-Class" or anything, would certainly be considered "wall-hangers" by many. But the fact is, I just want to fill the freezer, hence the cow elk tags. My dad is the same way. He has shot enough bulls, that he just wants to fill the freezer these days.

When my dad, daughter and I all have cow tags, we figure that based on our consumption rate, one elk will feed me, my wife and kids for the year. My dad and his wife are about the same. So if we end up with 3 elk, the 3rd elk always gets donated to people who need it.

There are some older folks up where my dad lives who are on limited incomes, as well as a pastor who ended up adopting so many kids that his finances are apparently a bit on the thin side, so they have been on the receiving end as well. No shortage of people who can use fresh meat. In fact there are always more people who need it than we can supply. But we will always do whatever we can, when we can, depending on the season, and our luck

[Jared]

Truly beautiful country, thanks for posting.

[jc000]

When I see a thread title like this with this particular thread author I know I won’t be disappointed!

[BJXDS]

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! But temps in the teens are cool, thats cold a shit dude.

[11B10]

LR, all of us here at p-f owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing America to us with your terrific photos. I'm one of those who immediately click on anything with your username because I know a feast for my eyes, and even better, my soul, awaits. Please share as long as you can. Thanks, once again.

[Lost River]

Amazing as usual, please never stop posting your adventures.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thanks for the kind words.

I was talking to the son of Wiley Smith, who just passed away earlier this month, at 79. He was the head of the family, and the owner of the Mount Borah Ranch. Mount Borah, as I have mentioned before is Idaho's highest peak, at 12,600 and change, and his ranch is at the base of it. Anyways, I stopped in because there were cattle on the highway, and I did not recognize the brand.

Leon, his son, stated he would get a hold of the owner, when I showed him pics on my phone. He told me of his dad's passing. I conveyed my sympathies, and told him that while I did not know his dad well, I really enjoyed talking to him, as he was a real hoot.

He had been at odds with the cowboy/rancher that my dad and I each had bought our acreage from, for decades. His name had been Ben Howard, and he had a serious streak of outlaw in him. I admire a bit of outlaw, bit Benny was a real character. Benny and Wiley had been at odds for decades, and Wiley had told me that he just wanted to outlive Benny, which he did by about 3 years.

Here is a link to an old story on the Mount Borah Ranch.
Truly a gorgeous place.

http://lifeontherange.org/range-stories/central-idaho/mount-borah-ranch-competing-with-frosty-weather-next-to-idahos-tallest-peak/


In the story in the link they mention the big earthquake, the resulting problems they had with getting water to their cattle, and putting in a new pipeline. A couple months earlier I had posted pics about being up in the mountains and showing my wife, and her younger brother some old wooden piping, encased in wire. That was the piping that was still being used by the Borah ranch until the Big Quake of 1983 that put a scar across the mountain range you can clearly see today from many miles away.

Here is that old pipe that was broken due to the quake:

https://i.imgur.com/ZQcGD65.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IrKS3S1.jpg



Harsh country though if you are not used to it, and harsh even if you are.


The reason I mention it is that I was talking with Leon, Wiley's son, and I told him that I would love to live where my cabin is full time, but there is just no way to make a living, and I just don't own enough land to run cows in any numbers. There is a saying about the cowboy life that says to the effect "It is a great life, but it is no way to make a living". That is it in a nutshell. Fortunately my house is only a couple hours drive away.

Leon said that there was a good reason when you looked around, that there were no new vehicles or equipment. Dollars get stretched as far as possible with ranching operations like the Borah ranch.


Leon told me that our property, bought from Ben Howard had been a stage stop in the old days, and pointed up and down the valley, which due to the cold clean air, you can literally see mountains to the south that are probably 80 to 100 miles away. He mentioned a huge building built near the summit, that housed wagons and horses. I told him that there were remnants of the building, mostly boards still laying around on my dads property.

When I thought about it, I actually have a wagon brake comb, that is sitting in front of my cabin that I had drug home one day when wandering the property, and the board that we use as a bench in front of the fire pit is actually a side rail from an old horse drawn wagon.

Back in 2014 or so, I had an older retired cop friend from back east come out and stay for a few weeks. I took him enduro riding, and touring in the mountains, along with doing some long range pistol shooting at the cabin. Here he is eating some elk back strap steaks for lunch in between lobbing lead at the distant hillside. The bench is from the old horse drawn wagon, and the old brake comb is seen at the far end on the ground.

https://i.imgur.com/nbl86j9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KXl5s0D.jpg


As you can see we get pretty fancy at the cabin when it comes to lunch... :)


Bob (RJM) is one of the most unassuming characters ever. A few here probably know him from Cast boolits forum or 24 hour campfire. He shoots a .41 primarily and is scary accurate at longer ranges. Great guy and a truth wealth of knowledge.

[Lost River]

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! But temps in the teens are cool, thats cold a shit dude.


Ha!

The Icicles barely start forming in the beard at those temps!


https://i.imgur.com/2tpmX8k.jpg?2


You don't even need a coat until it is below zero, as long as the wind is not blowing.



The wind is the real killer. It just cuts right through you, and makes life miserable.


Now LAST DECEMBER IT WAS COLD!

One of our most favorite firearms training Icons/Legends, and fellow Idahoan, who lurks here, held a shoot. If I recall right, I think it was 17 below (not counting wind chill) when I started up my old Land Cruiser to head to his range. I recall I dang near broke my key off in the door, and had to use my backpacking stove to help heat the interior, for the drive to the range..

https://i.imgur.com/qhR1lz7.jpg

People, ammo, rifles, all sorts of stuff starts to not work properly in those temps, and testing your gear and yourself is a great opportunity to find out what works and what does not. I recall last year I had to burn off the remnants of the lube from my BCG on my AR before it would function properly in the sub zero temps.. After I got home, I relubed it with ultra thin motor oil, and have not had any issues since. It was also notable to see how SLOW everyone's times were on drills.

We were slow. Iceberg Slow... Badump! Zing!

Fun times!

[Lost River]

I mentioned earlier that we have Bighorn in the area, and while I don't see them all the time, if you know where to look, they are there. A few years back I was roaming in the high country and a curious little fellow came out of the rocks and came from quite a distance away to check me out. I honestly think he had never seen a human before.



https://i.imgur.com/BqYAh4q.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/1Js0rok.jpg


Cute little bugger.

[StraitR]

It's truly spectacular country you live in, and I love the living history. Thanks for sharing LR.

[Hambo]

Awesome, but anything more than 30' over sea level or colder than 75F is too harsh for me. ;)

I absolutely love that carved holster for the M29!

[RJ]

This is probably one of my favorite threads on pistol forum.

LR, thanks so much for taking us along. That scenery in Idaho is spectacular.

And I’ll bet that camp coffee tastes pretty good too. :)