I just dug up this footage from earlier this year. Classic.

Sitka Red Fish Adventure from Jonathan Hart on Vimeo.

We left the beer drinking out that ensued.

Dustin Roe from Back Country BC and Beyond (www.backcountrybcandbeyond.com) with a 40" sheep from the first day of the 2009 season.

Here's some neat footage of a bear I hung out with...  er, amidst? 

My alarm went off at 10 minutes to 4 on Saturday morning.  By 4:30 I had coffee in hand, and was in route to our rendezvous point... "Josh's house". 

A few weeks back Josh, Ben, and myself were scheming for an epic test of manhood.  Having been no strangers to the trail this summer, we decided on a backcountry marathon.  Travel high, far, and as quickly as possible. 

Our course riddled through a 28 mile section on the watershed divide of a beautiful mountain range.  It was wicked.  (Painful), but wicked. 

if you have 5 minutes to burn... check out the youtube.

Between emails, phone calls, and other daily tasks at Sitka, it was mentally relieving to change a feather as I built my new arrows for the up and coming season (actually we can hunt deer and pigs here right now).....but I mean elk season. For the 5 seconds it takes to evenly distribute the glue down the feather and clamp it into my Bitzenburger fletcher, is 5 seconds of anticipation for bugling bulls!

My office view last week...



A finished stack of 2 dozen "elk seeking missiles".....



Ready to go...

Just dropped into Labrynth Canyon of the Green River in Utah. What a trip. Karsten's taken over at the oars, giving Mom and Dad a chance to enjoy a few cold ones on this float. Temp is hovering in high 90's, with a nice breeze though. Co-floater just introduced me to Fat Tire in a can. I feel so far out of touch. What a great surprise.

Opening weekend of A zone Blacktail season came and I wasn't as jazzed as I usually em for a hunting season. I would have been a bit more exited, but the star of Terminator and his crew decided to make the Friday before opening day a day off for the Fish and Game Department. As many others did, I put off buying my deer tag until the last day...and well I had no deer tag opening weekend. Luckily I still had a pig tag to hunt the weekend out on..we did stumble into a wopper of a boar...which I proceeded to miss more than once.

Following the meeting with hogzilla jr., Jeff and I made a stock on a "legal" buck and got 28 yards before Jeff emptied his quiver with no contact. This left us with 1 arrow between us for the rest of the day. As you may expect, we decided it may be a good idea to get out of there and either get more arrows or leave.

As we walked out we spotted 2 white Fallow Deer Bucks 200 yrd. ahead laying in a perfect spot. Though it is legal to kill them during deer season, the rancher did not want us to shoot...bummer...

In all, we saw about 15 turkeys, a skunk, 18 deer, 2 boars, and 2 Fallow Deer. We went home with 1 arrow to our name.

Jeff at full draw "Rambo Style" on his first shot....

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There's no better way to get ready for the hunting season than to get up into the high country with a pack on your back. My husband and I just got back from Capitol Lake in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area in Colorado.



At 11,500 feet life is extreme.  Daytime sun is hot and nights are cold.  The high country goes from snow covered to full bloom in a few short weeks.  Then, just as quickly, a couple cold snaps will put color in the leaves.  Before you know it, the game are in rut and moving around in preparation for the long winter to come.

The trip was a great reminder of how close we are to the open of hunting season.  No matter what kind of hunting you do, now is the time to get ready: condition yourself, run your hunting dogs, practice your shooting, buy your gear, study your maps and select your sites.  I know I have a lot of work to do, but it's all fun work and that's what I love about it.

Tell us what are you doing to get ready for the upcoming season?

With less than a month and a half left until the start of most Rocky Mountain archery seasons, it's time to start nailing down the details of your hunt.  If you don't have anything lined up yet, not to worry.  It's not too late to pick up a big game tag for Colorado.

Colorado boasts some of the best big game hunting available on public lands in the West.  General over the counter (OTC) tags for big game licenses and OTC bear licenses with caps went on sale this morning.  You can purchase by telephone (1-800-244-5613), in-state through a license agent or on the Colorado Division of Wildlife website.  I was able to pick up my either sex elk archery tag, which is good throughout the state west of I-25 from August 29-September 27th. Wahoo!

The other great deal to be aware of in Colorado is the Leftover License sales.  The deadline to apply for the limited draw units was April 7th, BUT it's not too late to pick up a tag for a great unit. The leftovers go on sale on August 11th, over the phone, or on August 12th through agents or on the internet.  This includes archery deer tags and all three big game rifle seasons.

Download the Colorado Big Game Hunting Regulations Brochure and the Colorado Hunting Planner off the DOW website, get familiar with it and then be ready to purchase as soon as possible after they go on sale on August 11th.

OK, there you have it.  I just shared with you the secret to getting in on a great last minute hunt in my home state of Colorado.  Good luck.  Hunt hard.

This is how it would be....

Lining up the put.