Sunday Pic of the Day

New work shirt. Starting tomorrow. View attachment 274160
Congrats on the new job and good luck. I love my State job, I'm definitely not going to get rich but the benefits are second to none and in top of my annual time off I'm able to build up a large amount of comp time, especially on a winter like this one. I've been able to schedule almost the entire months of September and October off as well as some time in the summer for family trips.
 
Besides being application season for many of us it's also the season to get in some quality time with the family. Been putting in a lot of time with the wife and kids in hopes of making up for any neglect felt during season and possibly buying a little good will for the upcoming season. Had my boy's birthday party yesterday and his uncle took him fishing today. Meanwhile I took my daughter and two of her friends to the roller rink while the wife got some needed her time.IMG_4472.jpegIMG_4463.jpegIMG_4481.jpeg704588119.jpg
 
My longtime sidekick and hunting buddy evolved from being a soccer star to becoming an accomplished collegiate level rodeo competitor. Bode had a good weekend steer wrestling and calf roping at the Miles City rodeo and earned awesome All-Around Cowboy honors Are we proud of him ... you betcha!!!

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Update: University of Montana Spring Rodeo, Missoula, Bode placed in both the tie-down roping and steer wrestling. He qualified for competition at the College National Final Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming, as Reserve Champion Tie-Down roper and as #1 All-Around Cowboy representing the Big Sky Region by accumulating points for MSU Bobcat Rodeo Team in calf roping, steer wrestling and team roping.
Go Bode! Go, Cats, Go! Proud Papa D. (aka Straight Arrow)
 
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Took a walk today with the pup at the Gettysburg National Battlefield, along the high water mark of Pickett's charge.
The words "last full measure of devotion" always hit differently when I'm there.
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Pretty good detail on this fella.

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Wasn’t the bull I was after. This hunt was something extraordinary though. I had been out every day for weeks before season started. It was a three month season and as soon as it started I was hitting it hard. I had a bull picked out that was in the neighborhood of 46-48” and had double eye guards on one side, triple on the other. Beautiful paddles and 13 points a side.
Halfway through the season I had talked my dad into going with me. He’s been getting on in years and slowing down a lot, however he was excited to hunt moose with me. We sat over a moose hole all day listening to grunts and having those father-son talks about life, family, and whatever else came to mind. I had a 10 month old at home (our first) and my wife, bless her heart, was very supportive of my hunting addiction and this once in a lifetime tag.
We had decided to move on and check out another spot, when on the way out, we spotted a cow in the brush. Immediately following that, I heard grunting in the timber below me. Dad had no idea because he’s half deaf, but he wanted to keep moving and I was trying to whisper that there was a bull below us. After minutes of repeating that, he finally got it and said “oh, a bull! Let’s wait here then.” I laughed to myself and started grunting back.
About a lifetime of grunting later (roughly ten minutes) the bull came out of the timber. His cow above us, and him below us. He was ready to fight. Couldn’t have worked out any better. When he walked through the tag alder, he looked like the one I was after. I let out a bang from my 300 win mag and heard a loud thud and the air go out of his lungs. He was down but not done. I ran down the hill and stood on a stump while he thrashed around. It was at that point my stomach sank. He was the wrong bull. I pulled up and gave him two more in the neck and lungs.
When we walked toward him, I had a pretty heavy heart knowing he wasn’t the one I was after. We got up to him and my dad let out a holler and shook my hand. He said it didn’t matter that he wasn’t the one I wanted, but that I had gained a great experience. I had done something few people get to do.
Looking back, I find those words to be a true comfort. I had shot a moose. I had gotten to do it with the man that taught me to hunt, that inspired my passion and that was something to aspire to.
He wasn’t a B&C bull, nor a big one, but I hang him on my wall with pride and remember the day. The experience I got to have with my father.
I hope one day that my kids will have the same passion and I get to go on several hunts with them where we talk about life, relationships, experiences, everything I got to share with my dad on those sacred trips.
He was 47” wide.
 
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