Thursday, January 16, 2014

Sitting Bull Bison Project

Last week the dogs and I decided we had not been hunting enough....(we had a group meeting :)
So, it was decided that we needed to return to Nebraska and try it again .. since the super cold weather had moderated somewhat..

We packed up the camper and traveled out to our favorite hunting spots. ..

We tried to roust up some Pheasants with no luck, even hitting our favorite honey holes from the past ..

It seams the drought conditions have been extremely hard on the upland bird population, since the local ranchers have grazed their cattle on much of the bird habitat, or cut it for hay bales, not leaving much protective cover for the birds.

We hunted all day and never saw a single bird fly  ..  covering 2 counties

So, the next best thing to do in a small town is go to the " BAR "

Here we are hanging out in the only bar in town, having a good time catching up with the local stories.

Lots of BS'ing and laughing it was good to be back again

The following day we headed to the north cold lands of South Dakota


We traveled to McLaughlin which took us 10 hours 
The following day we met up with the local College folks, who had ordered an Off Grid Aeration System
to help with keeping the ice buildup at a minimum for their research heard of 30 Buffalo.

This is truly in the middle of nowhere, they plowed a road for us to get to the spot where they are.

 
Here it is installed on the other side of the fence so as not to get destroyed by the wild animals

We ran the hose over to the tank, I hope this will workout, it is an experimental system 

I found the cloud patterns interesting when I was leaving...

That afternoon the dogs and I started to travel back home, making it to Gillette Wy and stopping 

The following morning I discovered it had snowed 2 inches, leaving Interstate 90 packed with snow.

Traveling slowly west to Interstate 25 south we eventually made it out to the snow-pack.

Coming south of Buffalo there were many bald eagles along the road making a nice meal of road kill dear, quite a sight to see them so close.

The cross winds were quite severe (70 mph)  Drove by 2 overturned simi trucks, and 3 overturned campers.

Pretty much a white knuckle ride, then the suburban decided to start acting up .. losing power on the hills when the tank was lower than 1/2 tank of less .. I believe the fuel pump is getting weak again.

I made it back to Denver in time to watch the playoff game without it quitting. 

Now I am waiting for a new fuel pump to arrive .. I ordered one online because it is $400.00 cheaper than one from a dealer, and $200.00 from a parts house..

I really need to go somewhere warmer, winter sucks when it is so cold...