Hunting
A Dream Come True-2009 Duck Opener
Oct 5th
For years, my good friend Brandon Carter would tell me stories and show me pictures of the amazing opening day of the Utah waterfowl season. It is something I have always dreamed about experiencing and I had put it on the top of my list. Brandon Carter is one of the greatest sportsman I know. He lives and dies spending time outdoors with friends and family and thrives over the challenge of the hunt. It is this passion that has proven to be his secret 
weapon to success. He simply has put in the time and effort to improve his odds and make success in the field a thing of constant matter. It was this reason I was ecstatic to be part of his group for the opening of the 2009 duck hunt. The hunt started a day before the legal shooting began, Carter and a couple of his other buddies wanted to claim one of the best spots in the marsh at a very popular duck resting marsh. (In fact it is the largest resting spot on the Pacific Flyway) After setting out the decoys that night, we were all set and now awaiting the blessed morning to come. As I approached the parking area that night, I was 
blown away by the excitement, craz, and culture of waterfowl hunting that I had never witnessed, in my years of hunting ducks on the Utah Lake shoreline. There were $40k dollar Air boats, hundreds of long shaft motor boats, camo as far as the eye could see, excited water dogs and a parking lot full to the brim with jacked-up trucks covered in waterfowl decals. It was the real deal when it comes to public land duck hunting. In fact as I glassed over the parking area there were as many license plates from out of state then in state. I just couldn’t get over the excitement and feeling of the hunt to come. At our camp we were living life to the highest standard when it comes to hunting. We had a group of 8 shooters, 2 young guns and Max the dog. To top it off 
we were going to be spending the night all together in the Carters 35ft motor home. As the night progressed and the hunting stories started to stretch a bite, we decided we better turn off the Duck Commander DVDs and get a few hours of sleep before 4:45am was upon us. As the alarm rang, we all were more then ready to start the day. It is always hard for me to sleep with the anticipation of any hunt or fishing trip on my mind and I know it was for the rest of our group. (Plus it was hott) So we loaded the boat with shells and guns and sent them off while the rest of the group got on their bikes and headed down the dike for a 15 min ride to our spot. The next 2 hrs was torcherous, as the daylight broke the ducks started flying by the 1000s. It was one of the coolest sights I have ever scene out in the marsh. When the glorious 8am came I wasn’t ready for what was to unfold. It was as if a war had begun in the marsh. Shots by the hundreds rang the air for the next 2hrs. The ducks must have been just as excited because they were flying high and fast. It was as exciting as one gets when it comes to fast shooting for ducks. Within the first hour most of our group had shot over 2 boxes of shells and working on their 3rd. As we settle down, our shooting got better and the ducks started to fall.
We even were lucky enough to have the chance at a high flying banded goose that Carter hit just right with his 2 shot. (It was an awesome shot!) It was an amazing experience to say the least. We ended up shooting over 30+ birds and a banded goose.
Brandon, Brian, Travis, Tyler
I fill very lucky to have been part of such a great day of waterfowl hunting, as well as sharing this experience with my new friends (Bobs (Both), Bryan, Tyer, Shawn and the rest of the crew) I can’t wait for next years opener!!!
Birthday Weekend
Oct 28th
Fox Hunting with Carter and friend…With are bad shooting, we let the wilie fox go!
So this past weekend was pretty much perfect! The weather was unreal for this time of year and the fishing lets just say fast. What more can you ask for when it is your favorite weekend of the year. So it started out on Friday morning up on the Middle Provo. I was fishing with Mallary and Gunner in hopes of a pre-spawn or some little BWO’s. As the morning temps rose from 17 degrees so did the fishing. By 10:30am we had our first hook up! I was in a battle against a nice 22 inch Brown that had taken my little #22 WD-40. I fought the fish until it finally tired and decided to come to shore. But just as you know it he didn’t want to stick around for a pic and spit the tiny hook as I was trying to pick him up, Oh well! He was a nice dark colored, hooked jaw male that would have made a sick pic, but like I said before, oh well. (I’m still a little mad) The rest of the day was taken over by the emergence of BWO’s that were captivating the fish all over in our hole that we were fishing. There must have been over 100 fish working the whole pool in front of us. Mallary managed to hook and quick release a little brown before she had to jet at 11:30am. Gunner and I stayed for another hour and had a blast hooking/missing a handful of average sized browns. 
It was awesome to see so many fish and know exactly what to use. I wish we could of stayed longer, but work was calling and I had to make an appearance. 
Saturday was a little bit of a different story I still woke up at 6:30am, but it was for a late season Mt Bike trip up Payson Canyon. 
We rode hard and had a great time tackling the steep trails of Blackhawk, Bennies Creek, Shram, Pipeline and what ever other trails we connected to to reach the bottom. 
In all we rode close to 25 miles worth of trails before Noon. (Two shuttles) When I got home Liz told new I shouldn’t waste such a perfect Saturday watching the BYU game, so with that incentive I was packing my fishing gear and heading up Provo Canyon in search for some more technical BWO fishing. 
I reached the Lower Provo about 2 pm and from up above I spotted a few little rises. (I fished from the big lot to the beef jerky eddy) That afternoon the fish never committed to the bugs like they did on the Middle. However the few that I saw rising I could zero in on and get a take 90% of the time. 
I ended up having a 20 fish afternoon that day on either fish I would spot rising or by simply fishing the riffles with my dry and dropper set up. I caught 95% of my fish on a #22 tung WD-40. 
I nymphed for about 20 mins before I left and hooked up twice with nice healthy Browns that were pretty much twins at 17 inches. 
It was a great afternoon to be on the Lower Provo. I only saw a few fishermen and it seemed more like a weekday. The only thing I could of done away with was the hard wind that blew all afternoon. But with 65* weather on the 25th of October, I can’t complain.
In past years it has always been eat at the Hub Cafe then hit Strawberry. This year I decide to try my luck at the X. I knew that this would be a gamble, but I wanted the challenge and a chance at a huge fish. And you know what that is just what I got! We didn’t get to the X until around 10 am, but It was fine because with the bright, windless day I couldn’t get anything to commit. Unlit the wind picked up around 12pm. I finally started getting a few good hits with my streamers and Chronomids. Then I hooked up good with a monster that ran and never looked back. I finally decided to switch to a deep AP Emerger and Gray Scud set up and on the second cast as I was dragging the bottom at 14 ft, I felt some resistance on my retrieve. I thought moss, but then it moved to the right and I instantly set the hook and had a big fish on! I was only using 6x tippet, so I gently fought the fish until it made my forearm burn and to my amazement after 4 very hard runs I finally coached the 24 1/2 inch Tiger trout to my net. I estimated its weight between 5-6 pounds. (Freaking fatty) 
After that fish nothing else matter. I had accomplished the what I set out to do and I was as happy as a birthday boy could be. Its funny to think that I was satisfied with only one netted fish, but at the X one fish landed on this technical lake makes up for 100 fish landed any where else in the state. Plus they are hogs and the hardest fighters!
First Goose Ever!
Oct 7th
Today was different I had spotted Geese in the lower Grain Field multiple times as I was coming back form Duck hunting. I decided that Tuesday morning was when I was going to get them. As I reached the field in the dark early hours. I was surprised to see that there were already people there setting up to hunt my exact spot. I was upset at first then I decided to see if it was Mike (which I tough it would be) to my surprise it was Mike, Lane and Brett who I consider to be Goose hunting royalty in our town and who I always wanted to hunt Geese with. They were cool with letting me hunt with them since it was my property. So we got our coffins (mine was just a bunch of straw) and decoys set up. By first light we could hear the Geese starting to quack and with in seconds it seemed we had two majestic Geese flying low and right into our decoys. Mike and Lane had the open shots and with two shots put them both on the playing field. It was amazing and my first real up close case of Goose fever. After some laughs and stories of the past we were surprised yet again with another flock of 7 Geese. This time I was going to get a shot off. They landed in the very northern end of our decoys so I jumped out of my blind to get around Mike, shoulder my gun and down went my very first Goose!!! I was filled with excitement and adrenaline, but kept my composure and downed another with my second shot. I shot again, but the last bird was to far by that time. To my surprise my second shot bird regained its strength and few away. Dang it! But I was just fine with that because I was sitting on the top of the world and nothing could take the happiness and joy I was feeling at that moment. I had accomplished another goal that seemed so far and almost lost and to do it with old town friends made it even sweeter. We downed 4 birds out of the seven and should have been five if my second wouldn’t of flown away. But the action wasn’t done just yet, we were waiting on the big flock to grace us with its presence and it did. As the loud honks and Goose noises came closer we knew that we were in for a treat. The big flock of about 20 flew right over our heads, circled around the front of us and looked as if they were about to land, but as I have figured out in the past Goose hunting is hard and everything has to work out right. We could have shot, but we pasted it up hoping they would land in the decoy spread, but those wise Geese must have noticed something wrong and headed for the safety of the lake. We all had a lot of “what if” moments after that, but that’s why it is called hunting and not killing. What an exciting day…I love the atmosphere and feeling that Goose hunting bring out in people. The excitement of the Geese flying in is short, but the feelings will last with me forever. Thanks again Mike, Lane and Brett you don’t know how special this day really was for me!
2008 Duck Hunt Opener
Oct 6th
The Crew! Sean, Tanner, Taylor, Gunner and Cash
The New Duck Blind 
This years Duck opener was pretty different to say the least. I was so excited and pumped to see a lot of birds and use the new blind. (Like we did on the youth opener) One of the two went great, but the part about bagging a lot of birds didn’t. We saw a few birds and missed a lot of them. We should have downed at least 5 others. Everyone in the group got shots off and seemed to be having a good time regardless of the slower action. The other big factor was the constant rain that soaked all of us to the very bones it rained all day for the first time in months. I thought the storm would move the birds a little more, but it seemed to keep them put without much wind. The bright spot of the day for me was my 50 yard shot on a Teal the was flying a way. I knocked him down and Cash finished him off. It was his first diving Duck retrieve…meaning it dove down when he tried to get it, but he found it a minute later. Good dog!
That was the only Duck we bagged that morning, but we all had a great time with a couple first time hunters Tanner and Taylor… Then Gunner and Sean.
Tanner is a little shy about shoot a Shotgun since it almost blew him off the blind and gave him a nice bruise on his cheek. 
Another bright spot was the new duck blind that worked great and was so nice to sit and wait for the birds. To finish off the day we were greeted by Mom’s huge warm breakfast that totally hit the spot. 
