Whats New at the DC Bar

Here are just a few of the things that happened in 2006

Bone Fishing in Mexico

Jilda and I went to Mexico for vacation once again. I got her a nice grass hut on the beach in the middle of no where. She lounged and sunned on the beach while I took off searching for Bone Fish. Jilda read "A salty Piece of Land" by Jimmy Buffet and it seems we followed the same route through Mexico into Belize.

After several days of fishing these "torpedoes"it takes a toll on a poor mountain boy. These guys hit the fly and blast off in the other direction. They run you way into the backing - several times each catch. Your arm gets sore but you just can't quit.

Never fear though, on those days that you do not fish, it is custom to take siesta. It is a great tradition that would be nice to incorporate back into Wyoming life. I'm the one in the middle

Move over Jimmy Buffet - another cowboy on the ocean.

Rick Bodin, (his wife / my cousin) Kim and Scott Smith came down and joined us. Rick, Scott and I started Bridger Wilderness Outfitters 25 years ago. We had a great time.

Jilda, Rick, Kim, Scott

Mules and Turkeys

In April I head off to Missouri on a Mule buying trip and combine it with a Turkey hunt. I met up with some good freinds and hunting clients at Jack Mann's farm in northeast Missouri.

I then head into central Missouri and hunt Turkey with one of Missouri's top guides Russell Patrick. These hunts are filmed by Joe White from Mossy Oak. This years hunt will be shown on the Mossy Oak program. We got some great footage - and I didn't screw it up this year.

I now have 8 new baby mules along with 7 baby horses. This last year Stephanie and Art worked them all and we were able to bring 6 of the mules online as workers this past year. The horses were all topped off, but we did not send any to work. In 2007 we should have all of these online. Get ready for -Mules; Alvin, Bonnie, Clyde, Dixie, Gladys, Leroy, Rusty, and Tom. The Horses; Apache, Kip, Mister, Ranger, Red Cloud, Scout, and War Paint.

THE NEW BARN

The new barn is two story and about 60 feet by 30 feet. Initially we will build a new dinning hall and kitchen into the front portion. This will allow us to fix up Woody's cabin our current dinning cabin. The back protion will become our tack and saddle barn. The upper level will be built for housing. I hope to get this online this year. We decided to go with a framed construction for the barn, but with the use of our log mill, we hope to get that exterior log cabin look.

The Fire of 2006

The fire started during a lightning storm on June 28th. The USFS decided not to fight this fire so it burned all summer. This "Jim Creek Fire" rolled around in the valley in front of the Three Sisters for most of the time but then started expanding both to the North and South. There wasn't a lot of rain so this fire burned into September. They guestimate that it burned 4,000 acres during the summer.

This is the view from the deck on Wind River Lodge.