Tag Archives: everyday

Back from Colorado

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Well, I’m back from Colorado and I got an Elk!  hehe, that was quite an experience.  We hunted for a total of 4 days.  There were 5 people in our group, including myself.  So, Bill (my brother) and I were assigned a guide, per day, and the others were assigned guides as well.  First, we had this guy named Tad, who was a sheep guide in Alaska prior to working at this ranch.  He was pretty cool and definitely knew how to hunt animals. 

The way that they hunt is that they drive into the mountains, using 4×4 trucks, in the morning and then again at night.  So, you drive out around 6:30-6:45am, right as the sun is coming up.  By the time you get to the hunting area, it was usually pretty bright.  Then, we would go back to the camp around 10:00am and hang out there till around 3:30-4:00pm.  At that point, we would take the truck to a different hunting area and hunt till dusk.  We were on a private ranch, where the ranch owner had about 50,000 acres.  He had one mountain/hill area that is NEVER hunted.  This is to provide a safe haven for the Elk, so that they stay on his land more.  I’ve been told that people have seen herds of Elk numbering 400-500 or more in that area.  Otherwise, they had about 6-10 hunting areas that they took people throughout the week.  They never hunted the same area more than once per day, so that the Elk would not get into a schedule of avoiding the area.

So the first morning, Bill, Tad, and I went to a hunting area.  He would drive down a path, and stop before a clearing.  We would then walk to the clearing and see if there were any animals there.  We got to a bigger clearing and Tad started calling the Elk.  We heard one or two bugle back to us, so he kept calling.  A group of Elk ended up coming within 20-30 yards of us.  There were about 7-10 in the group and they just walked down a runway that was pretty close to us.  There wasn’t a real big bull in the group, so we let them pass.  Afterwards, we moved to an edge of the trees and Tad continued calling for bulls… He almost got this one to come out from the forest, when all of the previous elk and more came running into the field.  This time, there were probably about 30 or more in the group.  He said that they were probably spooked by other hunters, since we were near one of the fence lines of the property. 

Anyway, two days went by of similar type situations… each time that we went out, we saw Elk.  After the first two days, Tad had to go back to his other job, so Bill and I went out with another guide named Girstsaw (sp?).  He is from Mongolia, and he was a guide there before coming to the US.  I forget the type of animal that he guided for, but Tad said that it is one of the hardest animals to hunt.  Anyway, Bill nicknamed him Mountain Goat, cause this fucker could run up hills/paths like it was no problem.  I don’t think that he ever got tired.  Anyway, Monday morning, we were all walking down a path.  We heard about 3-4 bulls bugling in the forest/a meadow over a hill.  I could see about 10 elk in the forest, but it was pretty thick Aspen, so I couldn’t get a good shot at one of the bulls.  While we were looking at those, we crept up the path a little, and another group of about 10 elk came from another direction and crossed the path in front of us.  They crossed the path about 75 yards away from us.  Girstsaw whispered that there was a 5×5 bull in the pack, so I knelt down and put my elbow on my knee.  The bull stopped in the middle of the trail and faced us broadside.  My first shot knocked him down like a lump of shit.  Right after I shot, Girstsaw started calling like he was a female elk (cow), and made the occasional bugle.  This is to calm the elk in the area.  So, at that point, Bill was the next to shoot.  We tried to hunt them for a while, but unfortunately the other elk moved out of the area.  While we were walking to continue hunting, we walked up to the Elk that I shot.  It ended up that I shot him through the spinal cord, which made him drop like that.  So, I guess a bit graphically, I put another shot through the back of his neck to finish him off.  Keep in mind that I had my gun sighted in at 200 yards and was aiming at the power plant area at about 75 yards or so… The elk ended up being a 4×5 elk, which isn’t bad at all for that region.  4×5 means that there were 4 points on one side of his rack, and 5 points on the other side. Btw, elk are fucking huge in person… I joked with Bill that the head reminded me of a camel’s head…

So, the next morning (Tuesday), we went out with Girstsaw again.  This time, I was somewhat happy that I didn’t need to bring a gun.  So I brought a camera instead.  When we were driving up to the top of a clearing on one of the mountains, we came across a herd of about 20-30 elk.  They ran back into the forest beyond the clearing.  The path that we were on eventually continues through the forest to the clearings that we were at the first day (read 3rd paragraph).  Anyway, we drove through the woods a little bit and parked.  When we got out of the truck, we heard about 6-8 bulls bugling to each other in the hills.  We walked fast along the path, to keep up with the elk.  Bill had shots at about 3-4 of the bulls along the way, but they were either bad shots, or something else came up.  One of the times, I think he was a little too excited, tried shooting at one, but he had the safety on.  So, we continued up the mountain path, through the woods.  At this point, we were pretty much running along the path.  They got to a "clearing" off the edge of the road.  Girstsaw was only about 5 feet tall or so, so he couldn’t see the details of the elk in the clearing.  Bill was tall enough to see horns, so he took up a position next to the closest tree.  He said that at that point, his adrenaline was kicking in, and combined with the rush of running up the hill… he fired his first shot, and we think that he totally missed the bull.  Well, it appears that the bull didn’t know where the shot was from, so about as fast as I’ve seen someone reload a bolt-action, Bill had the gun back up against the tree.  Between all of this, I was able to sneak up the trail a few steps, so that I could see his next shot.  He fired another shot, and this time, we all saw the back side of the Elk drop a bit.  Girstsaw continued to call the elk and make bugle noises, as they all took off.  We sat there for about 15 minutes or so… We all figured that Bill had hit the spinal cord, similar to how I did. 

After the 15 minutes, we all started down the clearing, to where the elk had been.  I spotted the blood trail, and we proceeded to follow it through a runway through the forest.  It was pretty tough to see the blood in places, but we ended up finding the elk about 600 yards or so from where it was originally shot.  It fell down the hill further from the runway that we were on… it would have fell off a 10-15 foot cliff, but it was stopped by 3 pine trees about 5 feet before the edge.  So, Girstsaw proceeded to go get the truck, and then gut the elk out.  When he cut open the elk, the insides were all full of blood, so we figured that Bill hit some major organ/artery.  He also broke a leg, which, we think, is why we all saw the ass end of the elk drop.  Otherwise, it was a good shot, and no real gut shot, etc… strange path that the bullet traveled though.  At that point, we were about 800-1200 yards downhill from the path where the truck was.  So, Girstsaw suggested that we cut it in half and haul it up hill by hand.  He ended up cutting it in half around the rib cage, and then split the ass part in two, so that there were two "hams."  He through one on his shoulders and proceeded to walk right up through the thick forest, like he was walking down a hill.  Meanwhile, Bill and I grabbed a horn and started pulling the front half up to the runway.  We then got the front part back to the "clearing" where Bill originally shot it.  At that point, Girstsaw had gone back and brought the other ham up to the truck.  He didn’t even look winded…  Anyway, we got it all back to the truck and were back in camp around 9:00am or so.  Bill got a 5×6.  Btw, I have some pictures that I took, of some of this… Well, my Dad will have the pictures, but whatever… So, if I get them, I’ll post them somewhere.

My Dad got a nice 4×4 elk, with a rack a little bigger than mine.  Another guy got a 6×6 that just overweighed the rest of the racks… The guys at the ranch said that the 6×6 was probably the largest one taken so far this year.

Whew… that is the majority of the hunting parts… I have some other stories, but I’m not in the mood to put them down here, and what can I say… the alcohol was flowing 🙂

It was a good time though, and I think we’ll be going back again next year.

Depression and thoughts

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I wrote this last night before going to bed.  I felt as though I needed to get it off my mind…

 

How skewed I find myself today… I believe that this is due to the depression that has been building up throughout the course of today.  Since Rob left yesterday, Rachel has shown little interest in things around her.  That is unfortunate, since it seems to be rubbing off onto me.  Not to be totally selfish, I think that she must be going through a pretty depressed moment, as she faces the next 2 months without seeing the love in her life.  I feel for her, and I would like to offer her a better solution, other than sleeping away the feelings.  Ultimately, I do not think that sleeping for long periods of time brings the person out of their depression.  It is only the involvement in activities, getting ones mind off of the major subject causing said depression.  Enough of that though…

I have been contemplating my world quite a bit, today.  I have to admit that I feel much older than I did two days ago.  I recently found out that one of my best friends (Andy Noth) from Green Bay is engaged.  I would like to congratulate Andy & Amy and wish them the best.  This coupled with the other engagement announcement from another GB couple, Jake & Brooke, has taken me out of the “college student” role and thrust me into the “life after college” role.  As I look around at those near my age, and those close to me, I see happy couples going about the life laid out for them.

This brings me to yet another thing that has shrouded my mind lately.  It seems that the common thing to do is to get married between ages 25 & 30.  In general, ladies like closer to 25, while guys would prefer 30 or older.  I myself, feel as though I will miss that range.  I just don’t picture myself settling down into the typical family role.  By the typical family role, I picture a middle aged guy coming home from a mediocre job, to find dinner ready at 6:00.  After dinner, watch TV and finally go to bed, only to do it all over again.  This type of life style seems so unfulfilling to me.  Granted, the love part is what keeps things warm and makes it all worth it.  Then again, maybe I’ll find someone who will make me feel as though I should settle down with them, only to leave my dreams for the dreams of our children.  And so the cycle continues… As a side note, I did feel as though I met that person once before, but it apparently was not meant to be…

The final part is about the whole money thing… Oh, I have many thoughts on this subject.  I actually had one major feeling toward my current employment situation until I read some excerpts from Einstein.  So taken in by what I have read tonight, I am going to hold off on my original plans and do some thinking on how I want to approach my future.  How much do I feel I should sacrifice for a green piece of paper?  Are the sacrifices necessary?  Do I play the existing game or change the rules of the game?  So much of how this world works frustrates me.  It’s not that I can’t get involved and add my 2 or 4 cents worth, it’s just how things work that really pisses me off.  The fact that population control has a higher price tag than exploration / research.   I agree with Einstein in that it amazes me how the human race, with how intelligent we are, still practices and makes a point to have wars and bickering be the backbone of society. 

Anyway, I have to admit that putting this down in writing has lifted some of the weight of the world.  I hope that I am able to express myself like this, if not more, in the future.  For now, I’m back to reading some more of Einstein’s genius.

Tim Reynolds

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I recently went to the Tim Reynolds show here in Baltimore.  Actually, it was the night that hurricane Isabel was supposed to hit.  When I was driving there and back to my house, it was only windy outside with sprinkles here and there.  Later that night (Friday morning), one of the roads that I drove down became flooded.  So, I guess I was pretty lucky with that.  Tim had an excellent opening act for his show.  It was Kaki King, this girl who is phenomenal on guitar.  For some of her songs, she had both hands on the fret board, tabbing with all 8 fingers.  If you get a chance, check her out.  Tim was, as expected, just plain awesome.  He played so many styles that night, that it would be hard to classify him into a specific genre.   The recommendation to go see him goes without saying.  All in all, it was a pretty intimate setting though, with about 50 people at the newly designed Funk Box (http://www.thefunkbox.com). 

Also, it is worthy to note that http://www.timreynolds.com has been updated.  This update is quite welcomed.  If you didn’t visit that site before, consider yourself lucky for not dealing with the old interface.  Also, Tim is very open to sharing of music, so the have an ftp site to download some of his shows.

Blog start

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Today I started the blog.  I setup 3 websites today to be hosted on my home server.  http://www.biasecurities.com, http://www.eclecticvibe.com, and http://www.stellarteller.com.  Bia Securities will act as the parent to all of my websites.  I am going to make Bia Creations my main “portal” for software development.  Eclectic Vibe belongs to my friend Dan, but if he is not interested in what I’ve set up, then I am going to make it all things music related.  Stellarteller is for my Mom.  She is a wonderful story teller, and I want her to have a place to show people and talk about her experiences.

I have other web domains registered, so I might be adding those later, as I find a use for them.  After reading this article about host header names, I must admit that I feel very comfortable hosting multiple domains on my dinky server.  Since the amount of traffic to these domains is trivial, it beats shelling out $10 or so per month, per domain for sites that very few people will see.

Jeana – Last attempt… 3 months after the split

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Today I talked with Jeana.  Basically I called to confirm whether or not I should move to Minneapolis to be with her.  She told me again that she didn’t think it would work out because we have different views. 

She used the drug thing again as a major point.  When I told her that that was behind me, she brought up our views on finance, politics, and religion.  She said that someone said that people should have those views in common.  I disagree… maybe people need to have opposite views to be interesting to each other… maybe not though. 

Anyway, we have the same view on finance, but the other two views are different.  I’m not completly aware of her political view, but I do know that it differs from mine.  I can remember last christmas when we were home… she automatically took her Dad’s view on politics, which is understandable… though, at the time, it seemed like she just took it with lack of reason.  Anyway, I’m deviating.

I told her that I hoped that she wasn’t basing everything about us not being together from that phone call… she said that it was a combination of phone calls, which stemed from that call.  A few of them, I made some mistakes with some of my statements.  The one about drugs was misplaced.  I was thinking short-sighted and saying what I had hoped since junior year of highschool…. as I look at it now, I don’t think that I will smoke into my grey years.  It might be an occasional thing, but it’s not going to be a major issue for me. 

Also, her sister is moving to Minneapolis in August, so that will probably cheer her up and get her mind off me.  I really hope that she has properly thought this through because at this point, I feel quite drained from the amount of time and thought I have put into moving. 

One thing that she brought up that seemed out of place was that if I moved there, it would weird her out.  I could see that… being that it would make her uncomfortable if I hover around her, instead of allowing her to get on with her life.  I just wanted to offer my companionship with her, if she desired it.

She also brought up that if I would have said, 6 months ago, that I was going to move there, she would’ve been all for it.  Which basically points fingers to that downfall of events that happened.  I can’t help but think that calling her Julie’s name added to this madness.

Jeana tried to comfort me by saying that there is someone perfect for me out there, with more in common than what we have.  She did bring up the comfort zone type of saying too.  Jeana mentioned that our relationship was very comfortable, but we never really got to talk about our views on major issues.  She said that it could be easy going back into our relationship, but she is ready to move on.  She said that she has learned a lot about herself and what she wants from relationships.

So right now, I sit here pretty depressed thinking what if, what if… etc.  I know things could have changed, if I would have said this or not have said that.  I don’t know if this is a good thing for me, or if I’ll regret this later in life.  I do know that I want to respect her and not move there.  I will be moving with Rob and Rachel to Baltimore and start fresh, I guess…

So, while I’m reading this looking back on my last days in Milwaukee, picture myself sitting at my desk in boxers and a white t-shirt, fan blowing on me… pretty much in tears, while feelings rush through me from all directions and times.

The uncertanty is so great that I feel slightly uncomfortable.  Basically, I’m feeling like I did when I first went to college.  Except now, I know that I’ll be starting fresh with some great people in my life.

Well, I’m going to finish packing for the trip to Microsoft.  That is also adding to my wave of emotions.  Till next time…

Update: Ported over from my Journal in my old PhpNuke setup.

Split Up -> Talked with Rachel

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Well, I talked to Rachel about the whole situation.  She told me again that her and Rob go through that type of argument a few times yearly.  Anyway, she told me to give Jeana a call because girls expect the guy to initiate first. 

So I called up Jeana and we carried on a conversation somewhat like we would any other time.  There was one point at the end, where it appeared as though both of us had exhausted our topics to talk about.  At this point, I gave her an out, and asked if I should let her go.  She said yeah, and told me that Julie called… Part of me doubts that, but I do think that she talked with Julie afterwards. 

At the end of the phone call, we said good night & i told her that I loved her.  She said it back, but it appeared to me that she was waiting for me to say it first.  Maybe this goes along with how girls want the guy to initiate things first. 

The only thing that I’m completly sure about now, is that girls are fucking retarted with their little mind games.  It’s enough to piss a person off.  And this realization came to Rachel, as I talked with her, and she agreed completly.

Update: Ported over from my Journal in my old PhpNuke setup.

Update on the split up

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Well… I went to Michigan this weekend, and had a really good time.  We gamed mostly, and I *hopefully* fixed Bill’s computer, by installing WinXP & changing all drives to NTFS.  I talked to him briefly about the situation, and he basically said that he has been in the same position, but he didn’t really offer that much insight, unfortunately. 

So now it’s Monday, and I decided that I should get a girl’s perspective on the issue.  I talked with Rachel, for about 10 minutes tonight, about the whole situation.  She basically said that her and Rob had similar arguments and that it’s just something that comes up now and again.  The only thing different in their situation is that she used to smoke, so her thoughts might be a little different than Jeanas. 

Anyway, Rachel told me that it was pretty much up to me to call Jeana.  That if it was Rachel in that position, she would be expecting a call from her boyfriend.  So I called Jeana, and we had a pretty good talk.  We seemed to avoid the topic, and carried on a "normal" conversation.  We talked about general things such as what we did this last weekend, how work/school was going, etc…. After getting through all of that, we both were silent for a while, and I kind of sensed that she hessitated bringing it up.  Personally, I didn’t really want to talk about it, either, since I really didn’t have anything new to say about the issue. So rather than drag the phone call on and make both of us feel uncomfortable, I let her go.

So now I sit wondering what this is all about.  Rachel mentioned that every fight that girls have with their boys is a "test" to see how much the other loves them.  If this is a test, I think it sucks… Anyway I’m just going to play this by ear and see what happens.

In the mean time, the thought of single life has sparked an interest in me.  Maybe it’s just the warm weather that we’ve had this past weekend.  I dunno… to be continued 🙂

Update: Ported over from my Journal in my old PhpNuke setup.

Split up

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Well… tonight, Jeana & I decided that we should take some time off from each other.  It kind of came as a shock to me, but it’ll be interesting none the less.  I feel as though we haven’t stopped our relationship since last fall, so maybe this is a good thing.

The main reason was that I turn into a non-social person when I smoke.  That and when we talked about it, I defended my smoking, rather than focused on her feelings.  Strange, random thoughts are going through my head.  Basically summed up by "girls are confusing."

So now… who knows.  I don’t know if this is one of those "tests" that girls do, or what.  I’m going to talk to Rachel when I get back and see what she has to say about it all.  In any case, it’ll be nice to hear a neutral girl’s opinion on the matter. 

Btw, I’m kind of saddened that it took this event for me to write in this journal.  I think this is kind of cool.  Anyway, till next time… I’m sure I’ll have some more thoughts on this or something.

As for this weekend, I’m headed over to Saginaw to visit Bill.  I’ll see if he has anything to add too… I do plan on waiting the weekend and not calling her till I talk to Rachel, or if Jeana calls first.

Update: Ported over from my Journal in my old PhpNuke setup.