You' re right, the better you plan and get organized now the easier it will be come time to make good. Unfortunately and fortunately I am about to begin gunsmith school and do not have the money to buy all of the things I said I wanted to get this year. I am going to have to rely on the stuff I used last year mostly. One thing I am going to buy is a new sleeping bag for the rifle season.

As for getting up and scouting I can' t even get there yet. Camp is a little over 10,000 feet so there is still a good bit of snow up there. Gonna be getting up there here before too long though.

I have to do the bolt away hunt for bow season since it spans five weekends so I can have a week off for the rifle season. You can bet though that I am up well before the elk start moving up from their nightly feeding spots. I am also camped above the elk at night so they have to come to me instead of the other way around. I always get a good laugh when I see the rare hunter sweating his arse off hiking up the mountain after the elk when they have gone past a couple of hours before hand. I' ll admit that I used to be one of them but I learned real quick that you have to be where the elk are if you want to bag one on a regular basis.

Hey EKM you' ll like this, I think I' m going to use my .444 Marlin this year instead of my .270 just for a change of pace.

Good luck to all this year.