At the end of the year it's only natural to think back on the events that have transpired over the course of the last 12 months. This year has been one for the record books for me, and even though there were goals that I didn't attain, there were so many more that I did. At the end of such a great year, it seemed only fitting to highlight some of my best memories. Looking back, it's so evident how truly blessed I am - and how incredibly patient my wife is to let me do these things. Each picture has an even more vivid and vibrant memory attached to it, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share these memories and pictures with you. This year I also crossed a big mark on this site - in December I surpassed 2,000 page views in a month for the first time. For most sites that is a very small number, but for this backwoods Idaho boy, that's huge. I appreciate very deeply each one of you that reads these articles. Your kind words mean more to me than you ever know, and it keeps me hungry to keep at it. With such an incredible year in 2013, if 2014 even comes close to it I'll count myself a very lucky man.
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| My archery elk. It was an incredible 6 day hunt in some beautiful country near Island Park. Read the full story here: Something to Prove |
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| New personal best wild steelhead on the Salmon River - a beautiful 36" hen. |
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| New personal best hatchery steelhead on the Salmon River - a THICK 31" buck. Watch for my upcoming steelhead article in March! |
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| The one that got away. I affectionately named this bear "Houdini" for his unnatural knack to escape me. He's still out there... |
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| New personal best brown, through the ice no less! A very stout 27" 8 pounder! Now if only I could find him with the fly rod! |
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I have come to believe it's more rewarding helping others fulfill their goals. Here's my good friend
Tony Frustaci with his new personal best trout - a real whopper of a rainbow on the fly! |
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I was lucky enough to take my good friend Jordan Tubbs on his first elk hunt - and then lucky enough
to help him pack out his first elk! Beautiful 6 point bull on a general season public land hunt! |
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| New personal best trout - 28" and a whopping 10 pounds. The girth on this hen was incredible! |
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| Definitely not my biggest turkey to date - but with the population down dramatically in my unit, I was happy to have him! |
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I was lucky enough to tag team this behemoth sturgeon with a couple good friends with strong arms.
My biggest yet at 7' 3" and over 225 pounds! He even broke the rod on the way in! |
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My proudest moment all year, and one that will remain my entire life - the birth of my beautiful
new baby girl, Chloe KristiAnne. Everything pales compared to being there as she came into the world. |
With 2013 in books, I can't express enough how excited I am for 2014! I look forward to many more adventures in the most wild places I can find. Thank you again for playing along!
