THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER...

I got a call on my cell phone the other evening and it was Dyke. He said he was lucky to be alive...the reception was not the greatest, but I did hear that the mule broke loose - broke the hobbles and the swivel on the lead rope and ran off while Dyke was sleeping. After a 4 mile jaunt, searching for Sweet Biscuit, Dyke found him at the bottom of the mountain. He said grass was scarce as was water, so they were in survival mode. They were moving camp, as the elk were as scarce too. He said that it was like The Man From Snowy River that day, as he and Biscuit scaled the side of a steep slope back down to camp.

BACKING UP TO LAST WEDNESDAY...

I was able to get a few shots with a borrowed camera, before he embarked on his expedition...

His longbow skills (and homemade cedar shaft arrows) were honed to perfection.....

He was packed, locked and loaded.....

Axles were greased....


Biscuit's training was complete.... at least for now....


And by dawn's early light, they were off...

Only days prior to departure, during one particular saddling...Biscuit was lightly tied to the big weight machine in the barn, so that Dyke could saddle him and get one of the last practice runs underway. Something happened and within moments, he had jerked the weight machine out of the barn and dragged it all over the plowed field. He couldn't get away from it and it was flopping and skipping as he hauled it around! Here's what it looked like after that little trick!

He's supossed to be gone 10 days, so we'll see if he's able to bring some meat home for the winter. It sure would be nice to have a freezer full of elk for the winter...

THE SANDS OF TIME!!!

My appologies to one and all for not getting another posting in a WHOLE MONTH OF SUNDAYS!! Geeze, it seems that once school started, the life of leisure on the farm vaporized into thin air. I am now writing from school, just to say, I am still here...but "life" has pushed my love of blogging, to the back of the line. My camera also broke, so I have not been able to post pictures either...so...C'est la vie!

Zack's ACL was injured in Tuesday's game, then on the way home from the game, we hit a hog and it totally crunched in the front of my car, so I am dragging bottom now. Dyke left yesterday for 10 days of elk hunting BY HIMSELF...and he hauled Biscuit, the black mule, up there with him. No cell service...no GPS... primitive camping/hunting...just a bow and some homemade arrows...military MREs (meals ready to eat) for food and a couple of giant ice chests to bring the meat home in...I think he's in a mid-life crisis...all I know is that he is in the Crystal Creek area...very rugged, very remote, very far from any roads...Jeremiah Johnson here I come!

My parents are here for a week, so that's one of my BRIGHT SPOTS this week...the other is that today is Zack's 13th birthday!!!!

Well, better run for now. Stay tuned for more...including some pics, when I get my new camera! God Bless!