Hello from the Great Basin

Ben RT

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
241
Location
Idaho
It's hard to know what all to say here -- but here goes!

I'd really like to call Idaho home, but I currently live in NE Nevada and work in NW Utah. I work (for the past 2-years) as a firefighter on a military installation just west of the Great Salt Lake. Prior to that I worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho (Owyhees, then Challis). I've also spent a little time contracting overseas, and enlisted in the Air Force. I've lived in Texas, New Mexico, and California as well. I 'm married and have three kids, and my wife is super ready for me to set down some roots!

I developed my love for being outdoors as a kid when my dad would take me and my brothers backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas, but I didn't really start seriously hunting until I was in my early 20s. Of course I'd been out shooting squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and Texas whitetails (which similar to shooting jackrabbits in Nevada), but no real big game until I moved to SW Idaho after separating from the military. My neighbor took me archery elk hunting and I knew I had to have more!

Now my oldest kid is 10 years old, and he already has his 2017 Idaho hunting license (Junior Mentored). I'll put us in for some controlled elk and deer tags, or buy OTC tags if that doesn't pan out. I have 11 days off work in September, and another 11 in October to (hopefully) have the adventure of a lifetime.

As the years go by and my hunting style turns more and more into extended backcountry hunts, I've been realizing the value of: 1) good quality gear; and 2) reducing my overall weight that I carry in! A few years ago my backpack (with food and water) weighed around 63-66lbs, then I whittled it down to around 54lbs, and then (for 2016) to 48lbs. Now that I'm taking Cody out this year, and I've really been blessed with a good job (and a little more spending money), I've seriously been trying to get that down to an even more manageable weight... and that's how I stumbled across Rokslide.
 
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
1,661
Awesome and good luck on the hunts with your son this fall.
I spend quite a bit of time in NW Box Elder county for work too.
 
OP
B

Ben RT

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
241
Location
Idaho
Thanks for the welcomes.

I kind of figured I'd run into a lot of locals (which pretty much includes a 200+ mile radius for these parts) on this board.

Just entered my controlled hunt applications. Fingers crossed now!
 
Top