Painted Horse
01-25-2011, 09:57 AM
I have been getting a severe case of Cabin Fever. So when a friend called and said he had a buffalo tag for Utahs Book cliffs and would I bring the horses and help him haul his kill back, I jumped at the chance to get out for a day. We got up at 3:30am and loaded up and hit the road a little after 4:00am. We arrived in the Eastern Utah around 8:00am to a beautiful day. Blue Skys but very cold. Temps was 5* just before sun up. It got up to middle 20s for the day.
I am always amazed at just how hardy those original settlers, ranchers and outlaws who settled this area must have been. We take a lot of creature comforts for granted. I was out in the cold for a day with all my modern clothing, Imagine living in places like this.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Cabin2.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Cabin.jpg
The Book Cliffs follow Utahs Green River . With the cold temps that area has had the river was frozen solid.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Green-River.jpg
The buffalo find shelter in the many canyons, draws and washes. So we had to get up high and look into as many canyons as possible to try and spot the mighty Tonka.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Mesa3.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Canyon5.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Canyon2.jpg
Here is one herd that we spotted. But I would have needed a helocopter to retriece any buffalo we might could have hit.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Buffalo-Zoom.jpg
This photo is not zoomed, So you can see the canyon that we would have had to try and climb down into. The horses said" No Way, find a different herd" This photo gives you an idea of how flat all this land was before the erosion created all the canyons and washes.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Buffalo-non-zoom.jpg
We found another herd on a distance bench, It took us several hours to work our way around the canyons and get close to them.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Buffalo-herd.jpg
We harvested a nice bull at 3:30pm and the work started. It took several hours to get it cut up and loaded on the horses. We got it all cut up and loaded just as the sun set. About 6:00pm we headed back for the truck in the dark. We had a 2.5 mile ride back and the temps began to really drop now that the sun was gone. We couldn't get all the meat and the hide on the horses for one trip, so we made a trip, unloaded and returned to get the balance. We finally got the last load in the truck around 9:00pm and started for home. We were all very tired. But I think it cured my cabin fever!
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Jon.jpg
I am always amazed at just how hardy those original settlers, ranchers and outlaws who settled this area must have been. We take a lot of creature comforts for granted. I was out in the cold for a day with all my modern clothing, Imagine living in places like this.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Cabin2.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Cabin.jpg
The Book Cliffs follow Utahs Green River . With the cold temps that area has had the river was frozen solid.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Green-River.jpg
The buffalo find shelter in the many canyons, draws and washes. So we had to get up high and look into as many canyons as possible to try and spot the mighty Tonka.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Mesa3.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Canyon5.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Canyon2.jpg
Here is one herd that we spotted. But I would have needed a helocopter to retriece any buffalo we might could have hit.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Buffalo-Zoom.jpg
This photo is not zoomed, So you can see the canyon that we would have had to try and climb down into. The horses said" No Way, find a different herd" This photo gives you an idea of how flat all this land was before the erosion created all the canyons and washes.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Buffalo-non-zoom.jpg
We found another herd on a distance bench, It took us several hours to work our way around the canyons and get close to them.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Buffalo-herd.jpg
We harvested a nice bull at 3:30pm and the work started. It took several hours to get it cut up and loaded on the horses. We got it all cut up and loaded just as the sun set. About 6:00pm we headed back for the truck in the dark. We had a 2.5 mile ride back and the temps began to really drop now that the sun was gone. We couldn't get all the meat and the hide on the horses for one trip, so we made a trip, unloaded and returned to get the balance. We finally got the last load in the truck around 9:00pm and started for home. We were all very tired. But I think it cured my cabin fever!
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p259/Painted-Horse/2011/Jon.jpg