SURE IS GREEN IN IDAHO

[sixshot]

Took a few nice photo's today but didn't see many critters. Callshot had to return some Speer Gold Dots to Sportsmans Warehouse in Idaho Falls, thats over 100 miles if we take the highway. He had never been the back way through Bone (lived here all his 65 years) so we took off, even took his truck! We were still working on the seeds I had put in his bucket from a couple of days before so I get in a little more spitting practice on his floor again, I mixed in a few peanut hulls for good measure.
This is really remote country, once you get north of town its over 70 miles of gravel roads with maybe 3 ranchers living out there until you hit pavement again at Bone.
Because of the midday heat all the squirrels, badgers & other vermin were cooling off inside a den hole deep in the ground. I was about to starve to death when we got there, finally got to put a choke hold on a 5 Guys burger & fries & a couple of ice teas for a belly wash.
As we were leaving a nice looking gal walked in front of Steve's truck & while he was enjoying the view I reached over & honked his horn.......she probably jumped 3 feet in the air. If I read her lips right she was mouthing somehing about his ancestory....which is questionable!
We decided to take a different route home & headed east towards Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We drove along the Idaho/Wyoming border where we stopped for a square ice cream cone. The sign about the ice cream said there best day ever was over 9,000 cones & over 10,000 for a holiday weekend & these little beauties (Huckleberry) are $2.50 a scoop!
Driving towards Palisades Resevoir we stopped at my buddy Brent's summer cabin, it sits high on a mountain top overlooking the resevoir & dam. Inside is a lifetime of trophies, several nice muley bucks, 4 huge bull elk, bears, both grizzly & black bears, antelope, 2 lions, last years bull moose with my Harton 480, a life size mountain goat taken right out his back yard, only about 3,000 ft higher in elevation. Also coyotes, badgers & one Utah fisherman.....just kidding!
I took several photo's of the surrounding area, very pretty, also has a spare "cabin" that sleeps 16!
A very nice cabin.

Here I am holding a brand new toy, wish it were mine. How about a Freedom Arms model 97 in 44 special, wow, what a beauty!

Palisades Resevoir off in the distance, its about 20 miles long.

This is the backyard view, Brent took a very nice mountain goat right up at the top.

Looking north towards Swan Valley & the famous South Fork of the Snake.

Brents moose, taken with my Harton 480, one shot & the first shot he had ever fired from this gun.

Another view from upstairs.

Can you see the bull elk in full velvet across the river, he's going to be a dandy in about 2 months!

Covered 260 miles, had a great time & I got to spit a lot of sunflower seeds & a few peanut hulls in Callshots truck.

Dick

 

[flhr62]

I'm glad that someone gets to do that kind of stuff. Thanks for the pics and the stories.

 

[don44]

Great pics and story.

 

[ra]

Dick, with me being from Tennessee I have heard of out door plumbing, but the out door Throne behind you holding the Freedom Arms is a new one on me. :lol:

ra

 

[callshot]

I'll respond later. I am still cleaning the seed shells out of the truck. :wink: I didn't see everything Dick did. I had to keep one eye on the road. It is hard to drive with a peg leg, one eye, and a double scoop of huckleberry ice cream. Not to mention a back seat driver who wants to shoot something. I think our area is now considered a squirrel free zone. :roll: We are really lucky to live here and see all of what we did. I have to hang my guns up and do house work today. :evil: Does anyone know of a maid service that would take over for me on that? Steve

 

[Sheriff]

Great! thanks for sharing, Dick.

 

[mraywi]

God,s country! You guys have the life!
Thanks for letting us go with you in pics!

 

[Jeff Hoover]

Country drives, spittin' seed shells, talkin' guns, loooking for badgers, eating huckleberry ice cream, lookin' at cabins and guns, you guys sure pack alot into a day for doing nothin' :lol: . Wish I wuz there doing nothin' with ya ! :lol:

 

[2 dogs]

If you were, they wouldnt get any seeds, they couldnt get a word in edgewise, and they dont want to spend the whole day at the BUFFET!

 

[Ethang]

I think I found where I want to retire to. Is there anymore room out that way? I won't take up that much space.

 

[mraywi]

If you were, they wouldnt get any seeds, they couldnt get a word in edgewise, and they dont want to spend the whole day at the BUFFET!

Wow! Let me see this line get topped!!!

 

[callshot]

Jeff, we done got enough hot air out here, and the buffets need to close long enough to re-supply for both of us. :lol: 8) We could use a designated driver though. Let me know when you will be showing up. Steve

 

[HIVO]

I love reading about your adventures. Keep 'em coming.
HIVO

 

[KWYJIBO]

Nice pics, Dick! That's God's country right there.

I might be riding through on my motorcycle this weekend. If we decide to only go as far as Grand Tetons, I'll double back through Jackson and then head to Idaho Falls by way of Alpine and Palisades, or possibly over the pass into Victor. But we might just go on up to Cody, in which case I'll probably go back through the park to West Yellowstone and then south.

By the way, I could use the advice of a local on some roads I've been looking at, for future trips. I want to go north off of ID34 near Gray's Lake and get to Idaho Falls. I've ridden the paved highway from Freedom, WY down to Soda, and been as far as Bone going South from Idaho Falls, but I'm wondering about hooking up the two ends with dirt roads. (I go through Star Valley often because it's one of my favorite places in the world, and I have family in Ammon, ID. I ride a dual sport bike, so I can do highway and dirt without trailering.)

What are conditions like out there, and how difficult is it to navigate? (Keeping in mind that I sometimes get lost in my own living room.)

Also, I'd love to come up sometime and shoot some squirrels or badgers with you fellers, if you won't hold it against me that I'm from Utah. I'm not a Callshot fanclub member because I don't own any 44 Specials and I've never worn crocs, but I'd be happy to bring enough seeds for everyone.

 

[contender]

It's stories like this, and the pics that let me know America is still all right.
And I agree that we won't be able to top 2 dogs comments.
We love ya Jeff!

 

[sixshot]

KWYJIBO, i've read your post 4 times & it looks like you could be all over the map this weekend, the fifth time I read it I got dizzy & fell off my chair! :shock: Anyway, you can get to Idaho Falls on a pretty good gravel road from Grays Lake (Wayan) that is if you're used to riding on gravel roads. There are a lot of bikers that bite the dust in the Grays Lake area, they aren't used to riding with all those sharp turns. We get 911 calls almost every weekend & it will be a biker that couldn't navigate a sharp turn (like beaver tail point)
Back to the turn off at the refuge (Grays Lake) if you turn at the east side of the refuge you will still be on pavement for a short distance, once you get a little ways past the church it turns to gravel, go past the Herman McCoy creek road & stay left, from there on you just follow the signs to Idaho Falls, there won't be a lot of them & you are about 40 miles from IF when you turn off Hwy 34.
Also you could turn down McCoy creek & come out at Palisades Resevoir & back onto pavement on the Wyoming side of the lake.....now you are in Flatgate country, Carl lives about 2 good pistol shots from the south end of the resevoir.
You can stop in anytime, I'm usually pretty close to town. Me & Callshot did make our normal run tonight, I got 5 in a bad, bad wind, Steve got several shots but none of the squirrels could run down his bullets! :wink:
One of my son's called & said he had whacked a huge badger, I'll have photo's this weekend. It was running right at him & he smoked it with a model 74 Winchester 22 LR, hard to do with one shot! It was running from one of my other boys.
DIRECTIONS! If you are coming into Soda Springs from the westside I live on the very first street when you get to town, turn right at the Goodyear Tire Store & I'm in the 3 house, there are no houses across the street. If you are coming into Soda from the eastside then I'll be the last street in town, hang a left & I"m still in the 3rd house.

Tyrone, the next time Hoover gets out here I'm taking him over to that ice cream joint & me & him are each getting triple decker, square Huckleberry cones & then having a belly bumping contest....you'll probably hear the crash!

More photo's this weekend.

Dick

 

[callshot]

KWYJIBO I only live one whistle stop East of Dick. It's in the Hill Billy section of town. Steve

 

[KWYJIBO]

Yes, I like to cover some distance. When I get four days off work and the weather is nice I enjoy riding 500+ miles, often through NW Wyoming and SE Idaho. Some think I'm off my nut, because I do it on a 400cc dirt bike. It's the only motorcycle I have, and although it's not a great highway bike, it beats not riding. (I think they call this Run What You Brung!) It turns out I'll be going solo this time because my usual riding buddy has to work.

Now, the chance to introduce myself to you two characters is something I just can't pass up, even if we only have time to shake hands so I can say I met you! How does this sound... instead of my usual route through Logan and around Bear Lake to Montpelier, then up Star Valley, I could go through Preston and Grace, right into Soda? I'll get to say I stood in the headquarters of the Callshot fan club, which, for a RugerForum member, is like Mecca for a muslim! From there, it's an easy enough jaunt up 34 past Flatgate's place, then into Jackson. I will leave my house near Ogden Friday morning. Any chance either of you will be home about noon?

Thanks for the info on the road up to Bone. You don't have to worry about me in the curves--I'm a total chicken on gravel roads. Depending on how loose it is, I average about 20-30 mph on the straights and sometimes 5 mph while cornering. I've ridden a lot on city streets and highways, but my dirt experience is pretty limited, so I compensate by being way conservative.

 

[mb111263]

Sounds like a great road trip! Of course we expect pics!

 

[KWYJIBO]

This is me about 5 years ago along the road between Cody and Yellowstone N.P.
I'll snap some shots this weekend too.