Edge

Heading that way for archery deer, any boots on the ground there recently?

And a light weight tarp over ya in that hammock if it's cool or wet. Always nice to be up off the ground, specially when those crawley things come out. Anybody remember what happened to Lucas McCain when he woke up with a visitor in his fartsack?

I feel your pain. Took a friend of my wife's on a scouting/hunting ride thru a wilderness area with our small group of horsemen. I'm the only one with a rifle and tag. She too slammed the truck doors and yelled several times and when we started our 20 mile loop, kept trotting out ahead of our group, foiling any chance I had of seeing game. Heck she didn't even know where we were going.LOL At one point, even after a couple of lectures, the rest of us stopped and watched her meander nearly 1/4 mile out ahead while singing to herself. We had a good laugh but had to break our own silence and yell at her to come back before she was out of audio range. I can't recall the last time I met someone so keenly unaware. But we all had a good ride thru Gods country, placed some trail cams and that beats any day I've ever spent in town.

Most of the essentials have been mentioned, let me add one. Socks. Dry, clean wool socks. Even if your boots are waterproof, your feet sweat, bring 3 pair minimum and change 'em daily; just like Lt. Dan advised Pvt. Gump.

When I was 13 or 14, dad and I were hunting deer near Hannigan's Meadow. Walking down an old logging road, it was windy out. There was a steep canyon below us and steep hill beside us. Had to take a leak, told my dad so and handed him my rifle. He stepped forward about 30' and kept his back to me as he started glassing the hills ahead. I felt I'd made a big mistake giving dad my rifle when I could have just shouldered it. Suddenly a black bear walked into the road between dad and I. He'd been climbing up the canyon to our right and was now walking between me and pop. I didn't make a sound. The bear walked over to a tree 15' to my left and was sniffing it and circling it. Then he lifted his leg like a dog and began pissing. A couple seconds later his eyes met mine and he realized he wasn't alone. He woofed at me a couple times, then spun around on his heels and shot up the hill. So for an instance, we two strangers met there in the forest, answering natures call as one..

My family was raised on venison, quail, rabbit and squirrel. I was probably 5 or 6 when I was turned loose with a slingshot and told what I could and couldn't shoot. A year later I had a 40# recurve that my uncle had nearly worn out and a pellet gun. By age 10, I was spending a third of the year living with my grandparents on a remote ranch in sw NM. I had a .22 over 20 ga, Savage and 78,000 acres to hunt on. I supplied our dinner table with meat as well as the dinner plates of the many Hispanic migrants on foot that would stop at the ranch looking for work. They were tired from walking and they ate what we ate and they were never sent on their way hungry or thirsty. I have to credit my father and grandfather with teaching me the essentials of hunting and marksmanship, And my dad for making me understand how patience and just being still is rewarding.

The cats on that lionesses hip would have a tough time surviving on their own. They look to me like they could use another 6 month to a year learning from mom. Lions need controlled, not eliminated. There is nothing so thrilling as to get a glimpse of one these creatures while out in the sticks, to humble a man. They live by their wits and fangs and I respect them and hunt them. I'm talking from the point of view of a former rancher whom has lost livestock to them. It's the price we pay sometimes for sharing the top rung in the food ladder.

These pics were taken an hour from the valley. Got pics of the lion coming 2 out 3 nights at almost the exact same time....Must be a local to the water hole. The dates are wrong on the pics, I'm going after this Tom. Is it just me or is that one massive cat?!