Adventure Is Out There

[D_Hoyt]

I’m optimistic that I will draw a limited entry elk tag in Utah in 2024 with 22 bonus points or a once-in-a-lifetime mountain goat permit with 20 bonus points .

I put my daughter in for general season rifle deer, youth elk, limited entry elk, and moose. This will be her second season hunting. Last year, she had a general season deer tag and took one shot with a muzzleloader. She missed that buck, but we had a lot of fun together. Those daddy daughter dates are my favorite.

I took my second dedicated hunter buck last year, so I’m on the bench this year for general season deer in Utah. Below are images of the two bucks that I took as a dedicated hunter.

2023 general season buck:

2022 general season buck:

We also bought points in Colorado and will do the same for Wyoming. The game plan is to start cashing those in starting in 2026 after I get back from my first hunt for plains game.

We finished renovating our home last year and we recently obtained building permits to build a 1,040 sq ft addition above our concrete garage. I’m going to be focused on framing up the addition, wrapping the exterior, and getting the roof on before winter. I will be building a man cave as part of this project in addition to the 550 sq ft studio apartment that will become a rental. Furthermore, my ceiling in my garage will also be 10 feet all the way around after this project, so I’ll have lots of places to hang up my mounts upstairs in the man cave and downstairs in the garage.

Best of luck to everyone in the draws and happy hunting.

Adventure is out there!

 

[D_Hoyt]

As anticipated, I drew a mountain goat permit. I know this herd is not what it was in the past, but there are still goats up there and I’m up for the adventure.

I’m very disappointed that my daughter did not draw any permits this year.

 

[D_Hoyt]

I won’t go looking for mountain goats for a few more weeks, but this is a cactus buck that I stumbled across recently. I’ve seen bigger cactus bucks on the Paunsaugunt, it this was the first one I’ve encountered in northern Utah.

 

[D_Hoyt]

I’ve been putting in a lot of hours building the apartment and man cave (my daughter wants to call it the adventure room) above my garage so it can be in a good spot by mid-July so I can focus on scouting and my mountain goat hunt. Mostly, I just want to get the roof on so the rain stays out. I should be able to finish framing the walls, do the sheathing on the walls and roof, and achieve some level of waterproofing by the end of June.

The south side with the 12 foot ceilings that taper down to 8 feet at the middle wall will be the apartment (550 square feet). The north side that goes from 8 foot walls down to 5 foot walls will be the man cave (450 square feet). There is also a small laundry room/closet in the west corner on the north side of the middle wall for the apartment. Obviously, I’d rather have the south side for a man cave, but the primary goal here is to build an apartment. I also have 9 foot ceilings in my 1,000 square foot garage where I can hang European mounts and the like.

Chances are, I’ll live in the apartment when I retire and I’ll rent out the house (or have one of our kids living there with their own family). I’m building this space because I want my kids, and other family members, to have a place to fall back on. Housing is so expensive.