I am blessed to have hunting opportunities very close to home. I do hunt out of state a lot, but having the opportunity to hunt close to home saves leave time that allows me those other opportunities. I am super thankful to have the situation I do and have thought many times about how lucky I am!
I hunt probably 70% solo. I do enjoy hunts with a few friends and relatives also though. I wouldn't want to miss out on hunting with the kids or my brother and Brother-in-law.
I will take it at 62. I am 58 now. Family history of longevity isn't great :) My wife will wait probably. She is 62 and wants to work until I'm done So probably 4 more years for both of us. I have been at my FandW job for over 22 years and have a lot of PTO and get decent amount of comp. If...
It's really not too difficult if you've skinned many animals for fur. Just stay away from the glands like you would a mink. Don't put pressure on the area or hang where the good stuff will run out when muscles relax :). I skinned several for the novelty of it, but the hides aren't worth...
Like was said in another post, unless it's something really different or exceptional size wise. The hide stays at the kill site most often
We are hunting for the meat first usually.
Just for reference to how narrow the front of a bears chest cavity is and how the largest portion is back a little and a bit off centered towards the top. I took a pic of my spring bears rib cage boned out. This is a medium sized boar, but the depth of the chest is not that big especially as you...
Bears chest cavities get very narrow up front. Shaped a lot like a cone. the front leg and the long hair on the bottom of the chest creates an area that looks like part of the lethal zone but is really just hair and front leg. I always go to the top of the back and shoulder and drop in actually...
Turkey sausage from the boned out breast and thighs is really good! Just look up Mom's Turkey Sausage and use bacon ends and pieces for your fat content. 3 Gobblers make a nice 15-20 pound batch. I cook the drum sticks in a pressure cooker and use boned out meat for soup, dumplings etc...
I really think you made the right choice to drive. I just came back from a successful off-range broken horn oryx hunt (OR to NM). I flew to save time and in the end driving wouldn't have been much more time consuming and definitely no more expensive. I hauled back the skull/horns and 200+ pounds...
Not sure what the right answer is, but old coins are very cool. I bet that is a pretty awesome collection. I have some of my Dad's old coins and I can't see me ever getting rid of them, but I collected coins also.