Soon to be no more Bill in San Jose....

[JakeM]

Beautiful! Maybe someday my path will lead me there. Montana is a special place.

[SaltwaterSlick]

They don't call it "Big Sky Country" for nuthin'!! Talk about that "Million Dollar View"!! Bill you could sell tickets to see that!! Congratulations sir on livin' the dream!

[Bill]

I dug thru the granite we’re built on top of to put in a 25’ flagpole. The flag came UPS, I’m waiting for the 120/12V transformer with photodetector to be able to leave Ol’ Glory flying 24/7.

Mid-November, it’s winter in Montana.







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[EZ-10RANCH]

Looks great Bill. Stay warm, it’s been a cold week.

[SaltwaterSlick]

Brrrr!!
But what a view!!! Gotta love that!

[Bill]

The cold’s not bad if you have the right gear. Layer from the ‘inside out’. Plus it’s a dry cold with RH below 20% most of the tine. I was hunting elk between 5-10 degree lows this week.

Feet:
REI Sock liners
Cold weather merino wool socks
800 grain Thinsulate Irish Setters (my Kennetreks are 400)
Toe warmers

Bottoms:
1 pair merino wool long johns
2 pair under armour cold gear long johns
Kuiu winter weight camo pants
Kuiu gaiters to keep snow off boots

Top:
2 merino wool tops, one turtleneck
Kuiu hoodie
Kuiu DCS Guide vest
Kuiu Guide foul weather jacket (pants make noise when legs rub walking)
Blaze orange vest

Head:
Wool knit cap
Merino neck gaiter

Hands:
Leather hand mittens with a 10- hour heat pack in each
Right hand Kuiu thin insulated glove on shooting hand if I’m planning to shoot.

Like my grandfather said, “If your toes are cold, put on a hat”


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[Bill]

Sitting and waiting for a Montana traffic jam in front of me on our road.






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[RascalArms]

Living the life!

[Bill]

Yes I am. Lots of mulie and 1 elk track where I was (about 3 miles up the road from our house on a block management area private ranch with a sign-in box for public hunting). Driving across the valley to hunt one of the canyons above the cattle.

There’s a big elk herd that winters on a ranch with no hunting to the right in the picture. Impossible to get to them on public land in the mountain.


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[Bill]

We put in a 25’ flagpole with 24/7 illumination.



Coming up on 4 years since we left in 2019.




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[EZ-10RANCH]

Great job Bill, What a view!!

Our house in the Helena valley is almost finished. We’ll be moving in this summer. I’m going to miss my views of the mountains and the lake at this old rental house. Takes a while to realize that we’re really living here and not on vacation.

[Bill]

Soon to be no more Bill in San Jose....

Thanks. Let’s get together, we’re a couple hours south of you. Spring bear season opens April 15, bring your rifle and let’s go find one in the Tobacco Roots or Snowcrest. Ten minutes and an hour away.

I went to take a picture of the Snowcrests from the kitchen and look who was eating breakfast?





The Snowcrests are in the distance, the Greenhorns closer on left and Rubys on right. The long ridge is called Hogback Mountain.



One more, if he gets much closer we can take a selfie together.




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[Kdog543]

Congrats

[Bill]

Wow- it was 4 years ago yesterday I started this thread and our retirement journey. Just when I think I’ve seen everything, at dusk we had the first bunch of white tails walk past the house I’ve seen. They usually are 1/2 mile below us in the hay fields and swamp willows near the creek.




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[Bill]

I had to take a panorama picture this morning walking the dog- big sky country. It must be spring- I hear sandhill cranes, seeing bluebirds but 25 this morning. Spring bear and turkey open a week from Sat.




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