Two weekends ago several guys travelled up to the middle of Wyoming for our now annual Antelope hunt. There were four of us on that trip. Two of us had buck and doe tags (Virgil and I), two had doe tags (Justin and Nick). Within our first hour of getting to our area Virgil had his buck and he filled his doe tag the next day.

This was Nick’s first hunt and he filled his doe tag on the second day of the hunt (after having a shot at 150 yards he didn’t take because he couldn’t settle down ). I wasn’t actually there (Virgil was his “guide”) but I hear it was a nice shot and it was a good-sized doe.

Justin wasn’t able to fill either of his doe tags (VERY unusual for this hunting area…just wasn’t his year I guess). I filled my doe tag on the second day. I had a shot on a buck the first day as well as the second day, but missed on both shots!! I could not believe it (and the first one was a very nice buck). We had to leave a little early because of some weather that was moving into the area (they actually got quite a bit of snow so it was a good decision).

However, that left me without a buck (since I couldn’t hit one to save my life). So, I went back this past Saturday to give it one more try. Another buddy of mine (Brett) was up there as well. I hunted alone in the morning with no luck and met up with Brett t about noon. I had one more stalk left so I headed out while Brett packed up his camp (he had shot his buck the morning prior).

Long story short…after a 2 hour stalk on a group of 75 antelope I finally got my first buck ever. The pack-out was brutal but in the end it’s always worth it. I didn’t have a camera with me in the field (couldn’t find it before I left) so here are some shots from home (not the greatest, but you get the idea):

He’s about a 12 inch buck (not great, but not bad either). I dropped him off at the taxidermist yesterday to get mounted (you gotta mount the first right?). The bad news? I get him back in about a YEAR! But the wait should be worth it. We (Justin, Nick and I) head out to Craig in two weeks for our deer hunt so hopefully there is a monster buck in my near future.  And if not, I’m sure there will be plenty of tales to tell.

This is something ONLY guys would do or even think of doing. Having a few beers probably didn’t hurt either…

Red Neck Ride

Happy Friday!

One week from today I will be in the middle of Wyoming hunting antelope for 5 days (hopefully it will only take 1 or 2).  This is my second year hunting (you can see the results of last year’s hunt here) and my first year with a buck tag. There are five of us going on this particular hunt this year and I can’t wait to get up there and get started!

I officially have hunting fever…I am so ready to hit the road and get started. Hopefully I come home with some meat for the fridge and something like this to hang on the wall (in the garage of course):

I will have all the details (along with pictures) when I get back. Until then I’ll have to live with my fever…the anticipation is killing me!

I can fit an entire cheeseburger in my mouth and still eat it (I’ve actually done it), but this guy takes the cake. Once again…only a dude would even try…

Happy Friday!

It has been a crazy week…hence the few posts this week. That didn’t stop me from permanently scarring my body!  I have been thinking about getting a tattoo for a couple of years, but finally made the decision to actually do it the last time we were up in Winter Park.

So I started doing my homework. First was deciding on what I wanted. I knew I wanted a cross, but wasn’t sure exactly what design I was looking for. After many hours of Internet searching I came across this picture that became my initial inspiration…

I didn’t like the banner, but the cross itself is the design I was looking for. As soon as I saw this picture I knew this was the direction I was going. So I traced it to get rid of the banner (btw, I am no artist and can’t even manage to trace a cross very well). Thank goodness the tattoo artists is actually an artist and understood it was simply a guide.

My secondbit of homework was picking the tattoo shop that would do the work. There are several around town and I checked out three before making my decision. The first shop I went to was Ancient Arts right here in Parker. They do good work ,but even he said I should check out several other places before making my decision (especially since this was my first). He advised e to make sure I liked the shop andthe person doing the work. The second shop I visited was Bonaroo Tattoo, also in Parker. Didn’t like this shop at all!

Last weekend Logan and I visited Red Sky Tattoo down in Castle Rock. I had visited their website and looked at the galleries of each of the artists. I really liked the work of Jimmy the Kid and was hoping he was there. Not only was he there, but he was the guy who greeted me. I showed him the tracing (as well as the photo) and asked him what he thought. He was awesome! He immediately came up with a couple of ideas and saw what my vision was. I liked him. I liked the shop. I put down a deposit and scheduled a session for the next Friday, August 22nd at 5:30 pm. I was committed now.

So yesterday I took off from work a little early and headed down to Castle Rock with the entire family. I’m not sure who was more excited…me or the boys. I was also a little anxious having been convinced the pain would be just short of having a compound fracture.

Jimmy had told me he was going to draw up two versions of the cross: one in stone and one in chrome. When I got there he showed me both of his custom drawings. Here they are:

Now all I had to do was decide which version I wanted…and it was a tough choice. I liked (and still do) both versions. So I did what any warm-blooded American would do and I put it up for a vote. Everyone liked the stone version. After some further pondering and decision making I agreed. Stone Cross it was. Jimmy wanted to do a few minor modifications (mainly making the cracks a little smaller) so he re-drew it once more and made a stencil. The first stencil was a little small so we bumped it up a little. The next version was perfect! Here are the pictures from the one hour session:

 
The Stencil Before We Got Started.
Do I look worried?

 
The First Needle Shot.
It wasn’t so bad!

 
Oops…spoke too soon.
The top right part of the cross was the worst part.

In all honesty, the pain wasn’t anywhere near what I expected to be. The top right part of the cross was the worst and even that wasn’t what I expected the worst to be. The outlining was the worst. But after a few minutes the whole thing was a little numb and we settled into a groove. Outline…then shading…then a little white accents. The it was over.

AND I LOVED IT!!!!

The end result was better than anything I imagined. It’s good when something this permanent not only meets, but exceeds, your expectations. Jimmy did an amazing job! Thanks man!

Here is the end result:

 
In context.
It’s still a little red but you get the idea.

 
The Closeup

Overall this was a great experience and I am very pleased with the results. I can’t wait for the color to settle down and the redness to fade away. I can honestly say that this is not likely my last tat. For now, I’m off to admire the work in the mirror and put some Diaper Rash cream on it.

Let me know what you think…

I found my new favorite website yesterday while doing a little web browsing (actually got there from another blog). The site is called Cool Stuff and it is full of weird, funny, and cool videos. I will be sharing one of my favorite videos every Friday to launch us into the weekend (yes, I know it’s Saturday…I’m a late bloomer). Most of the videos will have a slight bent toward stuff guys like (meaning stupid stuff only guys do). Here’s the first installment…let me know if you want to give this a try! Gotta love lighting stuff on fire!

Have a Great Weekend!!