Deer Hunt 2013

After not getting my hunter safety until I was 17 and being unsuccessful in drawing out every year after, this year I finally got a tag!! I didn't even realize I did until like a week after they posted the tags when I got an email about it, and at that point I was very excited to say the least. Since I put in myself I think it finally helped my chances. My area was 11 which is around Ely, NV. On thursday the 10th, my brother Derek came up with his truck and trailer from Logandale and then Ryan Reese and I drove my car up from Cedar and all met up just outside of Cave Lake to start the trip. Friday morning we were up by 6 and on Grandpa Hardy's ranger searching for my buck! We literally drove around for 4 hours with no luck, not one deer was out there and we covered a lot of country. So we made our way back to camp and sat and talked for a bit trying to decide what we should do next. 

We decided we were going to hop in the truck and go for a drive, Derek was going to show us cave lake and success loop and then we were going to go the the wildlife management area and talk to some people and find out where all the deer were. As we were driving up by the canyon a bit we got to a spot where we thought would be a good place to get out and hike around a little, maybe see if we could scare up a few deer. Derek went one way and Ryan and I went another. About 15 minutes later Derek radios me and says he's found a little 2 point that looks pretty good and to come check it out and see if I wanted to go after it. So we headed his way and started sneaking down into a canyon to get closer to this deer that was just eating away in a small grass area at the bottom. As were getting closer we realize this 2 point is actually a really good sized 3x4. I was nervous we were going to make too much noise coming down the hill but the thing barely flinched the whole time, just kept eating. So I got about 230 yards away and Derek let me rest the gun barrel on his shoulder to steady it, which still shook a little, but I still got him shot. 

He didn't just drop like we were hoping but it turned out to be ok. He ended up heading down the canyon and Derek and I had to chase him, and with 2 coats and a long sleeve shirt on, I got pretty warm. But Ryan had stayed on the other side of the canyon and kept his eye on the buck and directed us where to go when ever the deer dropped into bushes. We chased and searched for him for about a half an hour before he finally dropped for the last time. And wouldn't you know it he dropped only about 30 feet from where we could pull the truck to, so in the end he actually did us a favor. We didn't have to cut him up in pieces and pack him out like we were planning, but instead just dragged him the 30 feet and took him back to camp to skin. But before that we of course took some pictures and Ryan was nice and gutted him for me (bless his heart). When we did get back to camp and the two boys started skinning him and they had me jump in and help, which turned out to be not as hard as i'd thought it was going to be. After we got him all cleaned up, we then cleaned up ourselves, made dinner, and watched a movie to finish our successful day off. The next morning we tried sleeping in but none of us slept good that night so were were up by 7 and all loaded and on the road by 8. We stopped in Ely for breakfast and were back to Logandale by 12:30. 

All in all it was such a fun trip and I couldn't have asked for a better experience or better "guides" to be with me helping. They definitely took care of me and I don't know what I would have done without them! I think they had just as much fun as I did though and it wasn't even their deer. Gotta love boys and how much they love hunting season. ;)

Changing things up

Now that my EDGE project is all done I've decided to make the blog a little more personal and start putting more things up that i'm doing. I'm excited to start posting more and making this become more of a journal for myself. Now I just have to make sure i'm doing fun stuff!

It's All Done

So my project is completed and sense have gone back to school to finish my last University class. In all, the project took about 50 hours, maybe a little more, and that was just I had finished. There is still plenty of work there to be completed by others who would want to go do a service project or for the workers there to do when they get time. I'm sure grateful for everyone that helped me throughout this whole thing those people being Heather Hardy, my Dad (Jim Hardy) who was also my mentor, Stan Hardy, Jayson Whetman, and the Wildlife Management workers there. All of them helped at some point whether is was spraying weeds, weed eating, or clearing weeds with the tractor and mower. Everyone's in-put to this project was a huge help and I wouldn't have been able to do it without them. 

As for the logistics of it all the budget was set $975 and that was to include all the spray that was being paid for by the Hardy brothers who run the fields and then a small allowance for any tools or such to be bought. I never had to buy any new tools, we just used what we had but the spray was used of course so I didn't worry about going over on that. 

And finally the purpose of it all. Not only was I completing this project for my course but I also gained leadership skills, work ethic, a great component to add to my future resumes, and hopefully a good experience to build off of later on in life. I was able to provide service and gain an appreciation for the outdoors and all of the beauty it has to offer. I learned about the area and the benefits it has as well as the services it provides. I couldn't asked for a better project to do and I really enjoyed it and if given the chance to pick it again or do something different, I would definitely pick it again. 

Half and Half

That's the name of the field that is recently become weed and debri free. This field wasn't quite so labor intensive, mostly just clearing out a lot of dead brush so it went fairly quick. We actually did about a third of it with just out nippers and then the rest was done with tractor and newly fixed mower. The mower makes a world of difference and cuts the time down by like 95%. Literally, it was so nice. I love seeing yet another field finished and looking great. 

Here are the before and afters!

It's Done!!

The 30 acre field that was our main focus is finally done!! All those before and after shots were mere snippets of the whole thing. I had no idea the enormity of the task at hand until now and boy was it enormous. There were days it didn't get worked on and other days where it was just too hot or we were just too tired to work for very long but overall that field alone took about 25 to 30 hours of labor just cutting and clearing. That number doesn't even  count the time spent spraying all the fields and clearing the C4 field that was weedeated. With all that the time put in has been about 40 hours. When I first had the idea for this project and started doing the write up I thought I would need to work on all of the fields just to get all the hours I needed but I guess I miss judged that a little. So now for the pictures of it ending result.

Sadly these pictures don't even do the the field justice of how long the field is and how many outlets we worked around. And there are so many of those piles you see in the pictures which by the way are going to be cleaned up by a loader that one of the wildlife management workers graciously offered to do. 

I'm just tickled pink to finally see it all done, it looks so good and its so much easier for the field to get watered now. This project has definitely been a huge undertaking but also a great benefit and help for the fields. Also I do plan to continue working on some of the other fields that aren't as daunting and hopefully make a greater impact on this wildlife/farming area. 

After shots

Here are the after shots of the field from the previous post. It looks a lot better and has become much easier to water.

Now you can actually see what I was talking about when i mentioned the external pipe with valves that you have to open by hand. Obviously is was a really good thing to get the weeds cleared and making life a little easier with this particular field. Now the goal will be for the roundup spray to do its job and keep the weeds away for as long as possible. 

Spraying 

Some of the fields got sprayed with a chemical called roundup the other day. The particular field that is shown in the pictures is really important to have clear because it's watered by an external pipe that you have to open little tiny slider valves that are about 10 inches apart. When the weeds grow all around the pipe it makes it really hard to find the valves. So we got them all sprayed and then actually took a weedeater to it all to get it cleared out. The spray will hopefully help to stop the weeds coming back too fast. 

Also progress on the 30 acre field is still being made. Its so close to being done I cant even wait to see it when it's finished! Then it will be on to the next field which will thankfully not be so long or heavily covered so yay for that. 

WASPS

So as I was doing my pre-write up logistics for this whole project, part of it was to list the hazards I might encounter while completing it. I listed weather hazards such as the heat then I listed the animal hazards because well, its not called the game farm for nothing. The one animal or should I say insect I forgot to list though were wasps. The whole time this project has been going on those little buggers are the only animal hazards we've been running into!! The count is up to 3 nests so far, and instead of pestering them or knocking it down we just avoided that area until a tractor can come through. I did get brave today though and pulled the camera out real close to get some pictures just to show i'm not lying. 

Heather and I both have managed to not get stung so far (knock on wood) and we've made it past the really heavy weed areas so hopefully will be safe the rest of the project.

Also today we stumbled upon a nice large snake, thankfully while driving. As long as he doesn't come around in the mornings while were working I have no problems with him but will have to stay cautious just in case. Other then that everything is going peachy and the field is looking better and better every day. It should be done sooner rather than later YAY!

I'm just gonna call him Mr. Snake

And We're Off!!

Weeds along the fields as well as in the fields have been sprayed by my O so wonderful Uncle Stanley and my side kick Miss Heather Hardy has begun to help me begin the clearing process. As of right now we are focusing on what we call the 30 acre field. It's a pretty long field with a TON of red heads and plenty of excess in between so who knows when will actually finish it all, it may take up all my hours on just this one field! 

We usually get down there about 6 and work till were tired and gets too hot, which thus far has been about 3 to 4 hours each day. Thankfully we haven't ran into any dangerous animal except for today when we almost chopped down a wasps nest. Needless to say we left that little bunch of weeds right where they were until we can get a tractor with a mower on it or something else safer to take it out without getting attacked! Other then that we've really done a lot and making a huge improvement to this particular area. 

I captured a few before and after shots just to show the difference!

Before

After

These were just a few of our piles we made!

We're far from finished but we've made a pretty good dent in the work and its looking SO much better then what it was, wouldn't you say?

Game Farm clean up!

For school I've been taking the University classes so they'll eventually let me graduate, Yay! As a part of those classes I have to complete what they call the Edge Project where I plan and complete a service learning project and then report on it. So this summer I am going to be doing my project of cleaning up the hay fields at the Overton Wildlife Management area and then showing the progress on here. 

Here are just a few pictures of the area where I will be working.