From the HEAVENS above…

Snowcapped mountains in the distance just before landing.

May 5, 2009: Happy Cinco de Mayo to all those reading this!! I am typing this from “umpteen-trillion-feet” in the air. We arrived at the Atlanta Airport this morning without a hitch and we had an hour to spare. I believe in being early with time to breathe and gather my bearings versus rushing through a crowded facility scrambling to find your way. Nothing starts a trip worse than that.

As I sat waiting at the gate, I counted my blessings to have been able to pursue this quest. What started out as a mere “Hey, that would be neat to do,” ended up being something that we pulled together as a team and put forth all efforts to achieve. This is the final trip; our final leg. Saddened by the thought that it will all be over in just five days but overjoyed at the anticipation of what might be to come.

Our hunting party that was meeting us in Billings, Montana, and were riding to Broadus with us had a flight get cancelled on them. After rebooking, it was now going to be 4:30 p.m. when they touch down in Billings; four hours after our flight touches down. We quickly strategized a new plan. Richard and I are going to get our rental SUV and go straight to Broadus as planned so that we can get checked into the hotel, unload, and get out and scout some property we marked on the Topo maps. Our hunting party will meet us at the hotel later this evening. This plan should work out fine for all three of us hunting.

At touchdown and after collecting our baggage and rental SUV, we will have one stop to buy our licenses, permits, and stamps at the local Wal-Mart….then it is off to Broadus. I will post more this evening after we do some scouting.

Final Destination-Broadus, Montana

11:04 p.m.: We rode all of the roads on the Topo maps that Richard had marked…and even a few that he didn’t {oops!!}. We saw in excess of 170 mule deer, 100 antelope, and 1 turkey hen. Yes, ONE turkey hen. The land is beautiful here. I have been to 9 states hunting and I always return saying, “You know, {whatever state} is really nice, but I still do not think it is as beautiful as Alabama, or at least my part of Alabama.” But folks, I now must say Montana is absolutely beautiful!! I still would not want to live here full time….I would still prefer Alabama for living, but the sky and mountains are so majestic here. The rolling hills, the antelope and mule deer…gosh, it is indescribable—words cannot do it justice and pictures do not give the whole effect. You just have to come and see Montana.

The alarm will go off at 5:00 a.m. because we plan on not being in the woods until after daylight so that we can scout some areas closer. I hope we see more turkeys tomorrow than we did today. Until then…

© Nancy Jo Adams 2009