With hunting season over for me until spring, the rifles and pistols I carried during October and November have been cleaned and put away with just enough lubricant to keep them in good shape until they are needed again.
Now we are getting ready for Christmas and for the grandchildren and their parents to visit during the holidays. We are also getting ready for a trip we will make to Utah to see my wife’s sisters and their families after the first of the year.
The primary challenge now is to stay in good physical condition during the winter. Skiing and snowshoeing, along with walks around the hills around my home, are my main outdoor activities during the winter months. I also have an indoor exercise regimen that includes pushups, weight lifting and holding a set of 4 to 6 one-minute planks. I also pedal a stationary bike for a half hour to 45 minutes on bad weather days, but I prefer to do my cardiovascular exercise outside, weather permitting.
I also like to walk into the mountain property that my family jointly owns to see game and enjoy the scenery in the winter. When the snow gets deep enough that it comes up to my knees, I snowshoe into the property.
The snow also lets us see wildlife tracks and scat, so we can check on how deer, moose and elk are moving through the property and what predators are present in the area. Sometimes, we get some surprises such as a couple of winters ago when we found several bison on the property with mountain lion tracks on top of the bison tracks.
It turned out the bison had escaped from a pen several miles east of our property and I guess the mountain lion spotted them and followed them for a while. So I still hunt for deer and elk, during the winter months. I just don’t shoot them unless I remember to take a camera with me.
I also get in as much target practice at the range as I can during the nicer days during the winter, and I take my grandchildren or friends with me. It is always better to freeze together than alone.
After skiing, snowshoeing or shooting at targets for the most part of the day, it is really a lot of fun to soak in the hot pots at Lava Hot Springs. I soak in the hot pots more during the winter months than I do at any other time of year.
I just think of soaking in Lava Hot Springs as a winter activity. If you have never soaked in the hot pots during a snowstorm, you really ought to try it a least once. Chances are you will head for the hot pots during predicted snowstorms once you have tried it. Just remember to drive safely to Lava Hot Springs during the winter months.
Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. There he taught orienteering, marksmanship, self-defense, fencing, scuba diving and boxing. He was among the first DPS-certified Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.
