Shedhorn Hunting in Montana

April 27, 2020 by James Gibbon

Spring brings on one of my all time favorite activities to do in Montana - shedhorn hunting! For those of you that aren’t familiar with the term, shedhorn hunting is about finding antlers shed off by deer and other horned animals. The method that we chose to shedhorn hunt involves driving around our hay fields in our ATV and looking for white antlers sticking out of the grass. We do this in April, before the grass gets too high, and have had great success in previous years. This year we had a little bit less success, but still found a few quality shedhorns to add to our collection. We may not of gotten all of the shedhorns this year, but you can guarantee we will be back next year to find them all! Below are some pictures of our bounty. Enjoy!

Traveling Turkeys

April 02, 2020 by James Gibbon

It is spring in Montana and we are constantly getting teased with warmer weather and scattered snowy wintery blitzes. This is a beautiful time for us as we start to get a taste of our summer. The birds are chirping, bluebirds are singing, and wildlife is starting to appear. Late last evening and early this morning we got some local visitors who cruised by our house. These visitors were 3 wild turkeys! What a cool experience to have these birds come so close to our house and strut their stuff in our backyard.

I wasn’t able to get a picture of it, but one of the turkeys 🦃 roosted high up in one of our Aspen trees. I couldn’t believe how high up the turkey 🦃 was able to fly into the tree 🌳. Turkeys truly can fly! It was like watching a Boeing 747 takeoff and land. Truly defying gravity and physics.

The turkeys blessed us with their presence last night and early this morning and it was great to get a taste of the outdoors and wildlife so close to our home. I hope the turkeys return again soon.

-JG

Ready for Spring | James Gibbon Outdoors

March 19, 2020 by James Gibbon

It’s March 19th in Montana, and we are on the final stretch of winter until Spring. This is the time where the weather is unpredictable and constantly teases us that spring has arrived, only to snow the following day. It’s tough because I truly am ready for Spring/Summer and yet the Montana seasons just aren’t aligned with my plans. There are however, some good days that get sprinkled in during these times and it’s on these days that I do my best to get outside and enjoy them the best I can. One day the road dried up and I decided to take my mountain bike down our entrance road. Our entrance road runs about a half mile in length to the main road and is mostly downhill/uphill depending on which direction you are headed. The picture below is of me towards the top of the road after my legs gave out making the stretch uphill.

What is not pictured above is the thrilling ride downhill! After a couple runs down and up the hill, we came up with the idea to use the ATV to ride back up the hill. This way I could just focus on the thrill of the downhill ride and not have to work my legs into exhaustion coming back up the hill. Overall, this was really fun. Although it only lasted one day due to the change in weather, it was a great way to spend the day outdoors and embrace the warm weather when it was around.

Another really cool thing happened since I last wrote. We had a visitor run behind our backyard - it was a moose! How cool! No idea where this moose was going or running from, but it came over a ridge and back behind our house. We had front row seats to watch this unfold, all from the comfort of our living room. How awesome to experience something like this without ever having to leave the house!

I’ll close out by sharing with you my Spring wishlist:

Thanks for reading and I will update you again once we are in Spring! Also be sure to check out Montana Farm Life www.montanafarmlife.com

-James

Snowshoeing Montana w/ James Gibbon

February 10, 2020 by James Gibbon

James Gibbon - There is something special about walking through a field of undisturbed snow under the glistening sun ☀️. Snowshoeing offers this special moment. In the days prior to these pictures, the weather was cloudy and snowing steady for three solid days. It wasn’t until the fourth day that the snow began to subside and the sun started to show itself. This is when I knew it was the perfect opportunity to get out the snowshoes and strap in. Here’s a list of what I needed to get started:

If you haven’t been snowshoeing, you should know it is a heck of a workout. For someone who does yoga a few days a week, this was a grueling anaerobic and aerobic exercise. I was completely drenched in sweat, winded, and exhausted by the end of my trek. Was it worth it? Absolutely. The views were absolutely gorgeous, weather was top notch, and it was the highlight of my day. 10/10 would recommend. Enjoy the pictures below and let me know what your favorite winter activities are in the comments below.

Winter Hikes with James Gibbon

January 13, 2020 by James Gibbon

James Gibbon - Exploring the outdoors is one of my favorite hobbies. Living in Bozeman, Montana - I am truly blessed with an abundance of outdoor recreation areas and things to do. Located in the heart of Bozeman, is the “M” trail. This trail is easily accessible from town and provides a great hiking trail system. The most popular of these trails is the “M” trail and is 1.5 miles long to the top of the “M”. This is one of the easier hiking trails in the area, but is also the most popular due to it’s location.

Hiking in the winter provides its own set of challenges. First off, it’s quite cold outside. The clothes I was wearing weren’t quite warm enough, and it pushed me to keep moving while hiking the trail to stay warm. Secondly, there is ice in parts of the trail which for me caused some issues. I was only wearing normal tennis shoes and needed to have grips or something to help give me more traction. And finally, hiking in the winter ensures there are no bears to worry about!