Firehole Hunter
Lil-Rokslider
1st Rifle Season in Colorado 2019:
Well I had to tell you guys about my recent trip out West. I realize it is more therapy for me than anything. After last year when I hit the jackpot, this year was quit a bit different. Last year I had a 5x4 down by 8:00 a.m. on opening day on my first trip out West on my own. I shouldn't say I was on my own, because my best friend accompanied me, but he was more inexperienced than me when it come to hunting. We had 2 elk down by 8:30 in morning of opening day. Elk were practically running over us. In the first hour and a half we had seen over 25 elk, several bulls and lots of cows. The only problems were getting all that meat out of the woods. This year, well that's another story:
Everything started out fine, got my 2 wall tents, 4x4 and gear load up in the truck and trailer. Traveling from home the first stop is Topeka. When leaving that morning I noticed when looking at my trailer tires through the rearview mirror, I notice one of the tires was not sitting well and went to a gas station to fill up and check the tire. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had lost the wheel bearing on my left tire. I hadn't greased the bearing before leaving because I had just bought the trailer the season prior and thought they should be fine. Lesson No. 1. Clean and grease the bearings every year. I think that after 5-6 years I will be changing them out. Anyway, I limped across town to a trailer repair shop. Told it may take 2 days, I offered to go back to KC to get any parts needed. Went to KC to get a new axle and they installed and was back on the road by 4:00 p.m. (I noticed the tire issue at 7:00 a.m. that morning) and less $600.
I needed to get to Colorado as soon as possible because a mother of a storm was bearing down on it and we wanted to get over the Vail pass before it hit and we'd be stuck until the roads were cleared. Therefore, I had the hammer down on the truck and trailer when I ran over something in the middle of the road just lying there. It was a few miles east of Byers. Thought it was a bear but everyone tells me no chance. I only say it for a second and centered it between the tires but felt it hit the trailer hard. It looked black and hairy. Some said maybe a deer or even a pig. Hell for all know it could have been a big tire tread with threads protruding looking like the hair of an animal. I don't know. We pulled over after a few miles and looked everything over and it seemed fine. Back on the road saw a rig pulled over and then another vehicle. So maybe it was a tire. Anyway shortly before Byers I saw some smoke and sparks from the left tire, then I saw what was left of the tire come off and then thought it was on fire. Pulled over and saw I was riding on the rim and I had a spare. Changed it in low 20's or teens with about 30 mph gusting winds. Looked at the other tire and saw that it was almost shredded as well and riding at an akward angle. Figured the axle was bent in the middle causing both tires to tow/cant in towards the front. Limped to the next exit in Byers and stayed at a raunchy hotel for the night around 10 p.m. Next morning got up and went into Denver to get another tire for the right side because it would not make it the 40 miles or so. IronBear Trailers was a true blessing. The owner gave me 4 tires to try on my trailer to bring it to his shop because I wasn't sure what the spacing was for the 5 lug nuts. Denver had 4-5 inches dumped on it that morning. Going to get the tires, going back to get the trailer and taking the trailer to the repair shop was treacherous. Cars and trucks were off the road everywhere. My fellow hunters were likewise bring a trailer with their a big surburban type vehicle went off the road to avoid an accident and about flipped their trailer. Actually, the snow on the road help my tires not get eaten up by the concrete. I am sure that anyone following thought the road was extremely dangerous because the trailer was all over the place because of how the axle was bent and caused the tires to act as snow plows. Any any rate we, by 4:00 p.m., were back on the road again, with a new axle, 2 new tires and a new rim and less $1000, give or take. Lesson number 2: Go slower with a trailer than you can go with just a truck.
The hunt is later:
Well I had to tell you guys about my recent trip out West. I realize it is more therapy for me than anything. After last year when I hit the jackpot, this year was quit a bit different. Last year I had a 5x4 down by 8:00 a.m. on opening day on my first trip out West on my own. I shouldn't say I was on my own, because my best friend accompanied me, but he was more inexperienced than me when it come to hunting. We had 2 elk down by 8:30 in morning of opening day. Elk were practically running over us. In the first hour and a half we had seen over 25 elk, several bulls and lots of cows. The only problems were getting all that meat out of the woods. This year, well that's another story:
Everything started out fine, got my 2 wall tents, 4x4 and gear load up in the truck and trailer. Traveling from home the first stop is Topeka. When leaving that morning I noticed when looking at my trailer tires through the rearview mirror, I notice one of the tires was not sitting well and went to a gas station to fill up and check the tire. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had lost the wheel bearing on my left tire. I hadn't greased the bearing before leaving because I had just bought the trailer the season prior and thought they should be fine. Lesson No. 1. Clean and grease the bearings every year. I think that after 5-6 years I will be changing them out. Anyway, I limped across town to a trailer repair shop. Told it may take 2 days, I offered to go back to KC to get any parts needed. Went to KC to get a new axle and they installed and was back on the road by 4:00 p.m. (I noticed the tire issue at 7:00 a.m. that morning) and less $600.
I needed to get to Colorado as soon as possible because a mother of a storm was bearing down on it and we wanted to get over the Vail pass before it hit and we'd be stuck until the roads were cleared. Therefore, I had the hammer down on the truck and trailer when I ran over something in the middle of the road just lying there. It was a few miles east of Byers. Thought it was a bear but everyone tells me no chance. I only say it for a second and centered it between the tires but felt it hit the trailer hard. It looked black and hairy. Some said maybe a deer or even a pig. Hell for all know it could have been a big tire tread with threads protruding looking like the hair of an animal. I don't know. We pulled over after a few miles and looked everything over and it seemed fine. Back on the road saw a rig pulled over and then another vehicle. So maybe it was a tire. Anyway shortly before Byers I saw some smoke and sparks from the left tire, then I saw what was left of the tire come off and then thought it was on fire. Pulled over and saw I was riding on the rim and I had a spare. Changed it in low 20's or teens with about 30 mph gusting winds. Looked at the other tire and saw that it was almost shredded as well and riding at an akward angle. Figured the axle was bent in the middle causing both tires to tow/cant in towards the front. Limped to the next exit in Byers and stayed at a raunchy hotel for the night around 10 p.m. Next morning got up and went into Denver to get another tire for the right side because it would not make it the 40 miles or so. IronBear Trailers was a true blessing. The owner gave me 4 tires to try on my trailer to bring it to his shop because I wasn't sure what the spacing was for the 5 lug nuts. Denver had 4-5 inches dumped on it that morning. Going to get the tires, going back to get the trailer and taking the trailer to the repair shop was treacherous. Cars and trucks were off the road everywhere. My fellow hunters were likewise bring a trailer with their a big surburban type vehicle went off the road to avoid an accident and about flipped their trailer. Actually, the snow on the road help my tires not get eaten up by the concrete. I am sure that anyone following thought the road was extremely dangerous because the trailer was all over the place because of how the axle was bent and caused the tires to act as snow plows. Any any rate we, by 4:00 p.m., were back on the road again, with a new axle, 2 new tires and a new rim and less $1000, give or take. Lesson number 2: Go slower with a trailer than you can go with just a truck.
The hunt is later:
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