I hope to make a scouting trip down to the areas that I have e-Scouted sometime within the next couple weeks. I just need to wait for the calendar to clear a bit, my wife will be running a half marathon this weekend, but after that I should be able to sneak away for a couple days to go and spend a few nights down on the mountain checking out roads, accessibility, camping sites, and hopefully do some glassing and possibly even put out a couple trail cameras.
I have been able to get back into a reasonable routine with my own workouts but I think I've gotten to the point where I've officially plateaued... sadly 10 pounds short of my goal. I'm just not sure I've got the willpower to make the changes to get those last 10 pounds off though. I feel really good, I physically look much better than I did at the start of the year and my clothes fit much better... shorts and pants that were tight around the waist are now loose... and I like that. I think now my focus will be on just continuing to build my strength overall.
To distract me while I wait for the calendar to give me a couple days that I can break away I have spent a good amount of time smoking meats. Last week I found a couple pork butt roasts and pork spare ribs at a local grocery store for a good price. The end result on both occasions was quite good and is making me think about options for including some smoked ribs, brisket, and pulled pork on the menu for my hunt. Here's the pork butt roast that turned into some excellent pulled pork:
The ribs were equally as good... but my wife and kids were a bit turned off by all the little cartilage bones so next time I do ribs I'll make to buy baby back ribs instead.
I think once this hunt is over I'm going to divert some of my hunting allowance to fund a big propane tank trailer smoker build because quite frankly I love the nuance of smoking meat with a wood fired smoker. If I'm not careful this forum could easily morph from hunting and fishing to smoking meat in a hurry. In fact, while my wife is away running her half marathon this weekend I plan on smoking some more pulled pork, some sausage, and a whole bunch of salmon... should be an excellent weekend. Is there any wonder why I can't get those last 10 pounds off!
