2010/01/14 — 2.89 miles in :42 on: road
(Pace: 14:32.0/mile) I felt: tired Weather: cloudy Where: Tresch driveway and back Shoes: New balance 850 Too tired to run last night. Not much better this morning. Foggy and 35 degrees.

2010/01/15 — 7.2 miles in 1:06:15 on: road
(Pace: 9:12.1/mile) I felt: good Weather: cloudy Where: Walker Loop Shoes: New Balance 850 Fast time for not feeling “top Notch”. Had to make up for Thurs Morning’s debacle.

2010/01/17 — 11 miles in 1:45:50 on: trails
(Pace: 9:37.3/mile) I felt: good Where: Week 8 route With: fleet feet trail group – early Shoes: New Balance 850 Parked at Cobblestone TH and began the run at 7:15 am. Ran down the Channel Trail to Richardson. Then to Lake, and down Spring creek. Climbed back up Rough go, and caught Cobblestone all the way back to the Cobblestone TH. Ran it faster than I thought I could. Slick trails no wipeouts.

Once again we hit the Cal Expo for our annual trip to the International Sportsman’s Exposition.  This was the littlest ones first trip and she was duly impressed by the Eastmans Deer Tour Trophy Deer Display, as well as the Great Elk Tour of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. 

While at the RMEF booth we got to hear Cameron Hanes talk about his latest Season as well as his gear selection for the backcountry.  Afterwards we visited with Cameron.  You know for someone as high profile as Cam, he is certainly a down to earth individual.  The way he relates to people is on a personal level, and he always finds time to talk with the kids. 

I really think that young kids and how approachable they think a person is is a great test of a persons character.  Young Syd had no problem with Cam as they posed for this quick snapshot.  That has not been the case with other people.

Earlier in the Day, we had stopped at a new vendor at the show Girls with Guns clothing, from Red Bluff California. 

As a father with three girls who I look forward to hunting with more, I wanted to be sure to support their love of the sport.  Erin picked out the sweatshirt at the left, while Kelsey and Erin are showing their picks in the accompanying pictures.

Check out their designs on the webpage at  www.gwgclothing.com

While at the show we had the privilidge of chatting with the folks at Relentless 365 magazine.   They were there giving out free copies of  this new magazine dedicated to hard core California Hunters.   The articles are by hunters and about hunting.  Not a thin veiled advertising pitch, not an ad copy product review, but stories about folks hunting big game, waterfowl, and upland birds, in California. 

I had submitted a story about Erin’s first turkey, that readers may remember from this March, and it made page 22 of the second issue.  Erin didn’t know about the magazine article and was pleasantly surprised when the guys showed it to her.

If you want to get four great issues of Relentless 365 mailed to your home each year, follow this link to get your subscription.  and while you are there you can sign up for a junior waterfowl hunt

Sign up your junior hunter to receive a FREE one-day guided waterfowl hunt in the Butte Sink from Relentless 365, Edge Custom Calls, and Edge Waterfowl Adventures. The lucky chosen hunter will also win a FREE duck call courtesy of Edge Custom Calls, a FREE years subscription to Relentless 365 Magazine, and a video copy of the hunt from Relentless Waterfowl Video Production.Hunt Dates: Feb 6 and Feb 7
• Ages 15 and under with a valid hunting license and waterfowl stamps
• Junior Hunter must be accompanied by an adult
• 1st winner hunts Feb 6 – 2nd winner hunts Feb 7

Winner will receive:
• FREE ONE-DAY HUNT
• FREE EDGE DUCK CALL
• FREE SUBSCRIPTION
• FREE VIDEO OF THE HUNT

So it was a good afternoon, showing the girls what an array of hunting products and opportunities are available , both here and abroad.  Sometimes I forget that I immerse myself in hunting and take it for granted, but it is all new for my kids.  This was a nice, warm, dry opportunity to show what hunting, and the outdoors has to offer.

So take the time to go to an outdoor show near you.  you might discover something that piques your interest, whether it is gear, a guided hunt or a new destination.

…without a chute?

Very Carefully.

In the Californios Ranch Roping Competition the best ropers in the contest get to compete in the Big Medicine Bull Roping Finals.

“Big Medicine” Bull Doctoring Finals
The “Big Medicine” Bull Doctoring is the finals for the entire weekend. The top scores combined from the doctoring events, the calf branding and the calf branding finals determine the top four teams that go on to rope the bulls. Bulls need doctoring just like all other classes of cattle and yet are strangely absent from all other roping competitions. The Californios strives to reward the competitors who are the real thing, working everyday on ranches across the West. Bulls are an integral part of ranch life and must be attended to. A single bull is turned into the arena with the team and they must get him on the ground in a smooth, humane and economical way. Bulls may not be choked down. Most teams use all three members to bring them gently to earth. Front foot shots are common and add to their score. If you’ve ever wondered how they lay the big boys down; this one’s for you. Scores from the “Big Medicine” are added progressively to the teams previous scores and High Team Overall trophy conchos crafted by Ernie Marsh are awarded to the top scoring team for the weekend. A team that wins the Overall award will have roped 17 head of cattle, with calves to yearlings to bulls, represented in that total.

You can Watch this ancient art in action In remote stretches of sage covered rangeland in the Great Basin Region, or you can see it at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center April 30- May 2nd.

This week’s mileage was a bit milder especially the long run.  I shaved at least 11 minutes off of my 10 mile time from the week before.  That improvement was due mostly to less elevation gain. 

This Week 19.54 miles

2010 43.94 miles

2010/01/05 — 5.54 miles in :54 on: road
(Pace: 9:44.8/mile) Where: Walker hill Run with Detour to Tresch Morning run no music. Had a couple of detours. Had to push one of Tresch’s first calf heifers off of Walker road. Ran her up into the main ranch yard for an extra half mile. [Map/URL link]

2010/01/06 — 4 miles
With: Fleet Feet Where: Wed night fun Run

2010/01/9 — Skipped the Friday night run to take my wife out to dinner for our anniversary. 

2010/01/10 — 10 miles in 1:39:33.54 on: trails
(Pace: 9:57.4/mile) Where: Howarth Park Ilsanjo Classic loop That’s me in the bright yellow shirt.  they called me “Sunshine” during the whole run…

Collin has been around the Outdoor industry for quite a while doing internet marketing and website design since getting his degree.

Greenhorn – A newcomer, especially one who is unfamiliar with the ways of a place or group.

About MT Greenhorn:
Montana Greenhorn is an online semi-live video blog that brings you through the ups and downs of one western hunting “greenhorn.” That greenhorn is me, Collin Cottrell, and I will share my real life experiences as I write and produce daily and weekly video clips and blog updates showing the transition of becoming a western hunter in Montana after growing up in Minnesota.

Semi-live Online Show
Through the technology of the internet, blogging, twitter, facebook, youtube and more… MT Greenhorn will keep you up-to-date with all aspects of becoming a western hunter and is for all ages. I will show you the whole story through the year as I train and prepare for the mountainous backcountry and tough terrain of the wild west!

Different aspects that I will focus on throughout the year will include: hiking, working out, calling, tracking, marksmanship, wilderness navigation, scouting, correct clothing and equipment, survival skills  and basic woodsmanship.

More about Me
Like I said above, I grew up in Minnesota and I came to Bozeman, MT from a small rural town called Verndale, population 575 people. Look it up sometime! As many people know, whitetail deer hunting is very popular in the Midwest and this is what I grew up doing. I developed a dream as I grew older and more passionate about hunting to move west and hunt its big game. So, after a few years of college, playing college football and starting my own Internet Marketing business, I was able to make the move!

He is the HTML genius behind Sage Creek Forums, and did much of the design and upkeep on the Outback Outdoors semi-live Site.
Now he has teamed up with Rocky Mountain Bowhunter TV, and is quickly building his name in the outdoor industry.

Collin has just recently launched his own blog Montana Greenhorn where he details his conversion to the Western way of hunting and outdoor pursuits. it is refreshing to find a blog where the author lets the readers know that they are in the process of learning a new way of doing things.

I think we will see lots of new developments from this humble young man in the months and years to come.

DENVER, Colo. – The Colorado Wildlife Commission finalized 2010 big game regulations at its regular meeting Jan. 11. The Commission approved a variety of changes, some providing expanded opportunities for hunters.

Key revisions include:

Hybrid Draw:
The Colorado Division of Wildlife established a “Hybrid” drawing for select elk and deer licenses for the 2010 hunting seasons. The purpose of the drawing is to give hunters the additional opportunity to draw a license for some of the state’s premier elk and deer hunting areas. Hunters with five or more elk or deer preference points that select as their first choice a unit requiring 10 or more resident preference points for that species will be automatically included in the random drawing. Approximately 15 elk and three deer units qualify for the drawing.

New White-Tailed Deer-Only Units Opened:
For the first time, white-tailed deer-only seasons are available in the Arkansas River drainage between Pueblo and Canon City. Additional units have been added on the Eastern Plains.

Moose Regular Rifle Season:
The regular rifle season for moose has been extended to 14 days. The 2010 season opens Oct. 1 and continues through Oct. 14.

Third Rifle Combined Season:
The third rifle combined season for deer and elk has been extended to nine days, including two weekends. The 2010 season opens Nov. 6 and continues through Nov. 14.

Gunnison Basin Elk Hunts:
-Archery elk licenses are totally limited in units 54, 55 and 551.

- Either-sex, over-the-counter licenses with cap are available in unit 54 during the second rifle season.

-Additional cow licenses and late-season licenses are available in units 54, 55 and 551.

Muzzleloading Elk Licenses:
“Statewide” muzzleloading licenses are no longer available in 2010. All muzzleloading elk licenses are valid in specific Game Management Units (GMUs) or Data Analysis Units (DAUs) only. Either-sex licenses are also available in specific units.

Desert Bighorn Ram Licenses:
Unit S63 (Middle Dolores River) is now open for rifle hunters.

Nonresident Desert Bighorn Ram License:
A nonresident, desert bighorn ram license is available in unit S56 (Black Ridge).

Bighorn Sheep Ewe Licenses:
Ewe licenses are available in units S57 (Big Thompson) and S15, S16, S21, S28, S33 and S53 (San Juan Mountains).

Bighorn Sheep Ram Licenses:
Units S40 (Lone Pine), S39 (Mt. Silverheels) and S41 (Peru Creek) are open for rifle hunters.

Female-Only Goat Licenses:
Female-only (nanny) goat licenses are now available in units E15 and E16.

Pay-to-Play:
Hunters who do not want to accumulate preference points may opt out of paying the $25 “Pay-to-Play” fee by selecting the appropriate check box on the big game drawing application. If this option is checked, the applicant will not receive a preference point.

2010 Big Game Brochures:
Hunters are encouraged to thoroughly review the 2010 regulations brochures due to these and other changes approved by the Commission. The “2010 Colorado Big Game” and “2010 Colorado Sheep and Goat” brochures will be available at Division of Wildlife offices, statewide licenses agents and online (www.wildlife.state.co.us) mid-February 2010.

To review season dates and other 2010 big game regulations approved by the Commission, please visit: http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeCommission/Archives/2010/January112010.htm

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Now I’ve told you about my hunting buddy Loren Poncia and his Stemple Creek Ranch Blog page and I just stumbled across another local ranching blogger, Nancy Grossi.

Nancy’s husband Dominic, is a dairyman in Marin County and we grew up together showing cattle in 4-H and FFA, and playing football together for three years.

Dominic’s operation is pretty typical of the Sonoma-Marin Dairyman. His Ranch is a family operation with a fair amount of open pastures and oak covered hills and canyons that make great wildlife habitat. Being in that close of proximity to wildlife, it is not unusual to see deer in the evenings down swiping some feed meant for the cows.

In Nancy’s Saturday Column  she features a picture of a buck who made a bed in their feed storage barn. Nothing like breakfast in bed eh?

So check out Nancy’s blog The Wife of a Dairyman if you want to know what my “neighbors” go through in their daily lives.

DJ Rankosky from Western Montana has dropped a few more of his great trail cam pictures in my email inbox.  I thought you all would appreciate them.

DJ Writes:

The warm weather has been great, at least for the deer and elk, they need a reprieve. I hope it just keeps piling up in the mountains and raining down here. Have taken some walks around the neighborhood, haven’t seen any lion tracks, only preds seems to be the yotes. Went to Eureka and checked the cameras up there, had a few neat ones. Enjoy. The pink predator is Cazzie, she wanted to go check the camera by the house on the buck that we found on the property. She always talks about the coyotes

If you wonder why it seems I am not posting as much, let me explain.

Word Press has a feature where a blog write can schedule a post to launch at a later date and time.  In the past, I’ve been able to write blog posts to appear later in the week, rather than publishing immediately.

However since the end of December, It seems that those scheduled posts missed being published.  Below is a picture of the  post log.  You will see the Red MISSED SCHEDULE in the Right Corner.

Is this an issue withthe Word Press software?  Is there a glitch in the server the post is saved on?  I don’t know But I would like some answers. If you have experienced this leave a comment below.

Clu Cotter, DFG Associate Biologist, 48 years old, Kevin O’Connor, DFG Senior Biologist Supervisor, 40 years old, and Tom Stolberg, DFG Scientific Aid, 31 years old, all of Fresno, lost their lives in the helicopter crash. Helicopter pilot Dennis (Mike) Donovan of Landells Aviation, also lost his life. The families of the victims have been notified.

Phillip’s post on the Hog Blog  about the deaths of  these three California Fish and Game employees, and their pilot  brought up some old memories.  In 2000, one of my college fraternity brothers, Keith Williams, was killed in a helicopter crash while doing an aerial wildlife count in the rugged mountains of  North Central Idaho. 

Just this week three Idaho fish and game biologists cheated death when their helicopter went down doing a similar aerial count, not far from Keith’s crash site.

A helicopter carrying two Idaho Fish and Game biologists and a pilot crashed just past noon Friday Mountain Time zone in the Kelly Creek area on the North Fork of the Clearwater River.

None of the three people on board suffered life-threatening injuries.
The two research biologists were trapping and radio-collaring elk, moose and wolves in the Clearwater Region.

The contract pilot and the biologists were in a Hughes 500 helicopter operated by Quicksilver Air.

Fish and Game biologists fly about 1,000 hours annually in aerial surveys, wildlife counts and capturing wildlife for research.

Fish and Game has had no aircraft accidents involving injuries since a wildlife biologist was killed in December 2000 when the helicopter he was in went down while on a wildlife count in northern Idaho.

Fish and Game flights have been suspended until Monday, pending review of safety procedures. Fish and Game takes safety seriously; all personnel are required to take safety training before flying and adhere to strict safety procedures

 We don’t often think about how these behind the scenes hard working individuals put their lives in danger to do the hands on management tasks such as doing winter wildlife counts and dealing with rogue animals.   Dr. Blake Sasse wrote about the dangers involved in wildlife work in his 2003 journal article  Job-Related Mortality of Wildlife Workers in the United States, 1937-2000,

Wildlife biologists face a variety of job-related hazards that are unique to this profession, most of them involving the remote areas where work is performed and the unusual techniques used to study or manage wildlife. Information on biologists and others killed while conducting wildlife research or management was obtained from state and federal natural resources agencies, solicitations on wildlife-based internet discussion groups, and published obituaries. Ninety-one job-related deaths were documented from 1937 to 2000. Aviation accidents, drowning, car and truck accidents, and murder were the most common causes of death. Thirty-nine aviation accidents accounted for 66% of deaths, with aerodynamic stalls and power-line collisions being the most significant causes of accidents for which information was available. These safety threats should be taken into consideration during the design and planning of future research and management projects.
Abstract from a 2003 Wildlife Society Bulletin available at :
http://www.jstor.org/pss/3784446

So when you pick up your hunting license and apply for your hunts in the West this year, raise your glass to toast those unsung heroes who gave their lives to ensure the well being of the game we pursue. 

Here’s to ya, Clu, Kevin, Tom, Dennis and “Loaf”.  You all made the ultimate sacrifice and we will remember you.