Bear Hunt!!!

Katlin Bell and his brother Kyle are both skilled bear trackers and hunters. They're also expert guides for CVO.

Katlin Bell, his brother Kyle, (both guides for CVO), and Chase Hinkins recently had a successful

bear hunt in Montana.

Chase Hinkins is also an expert guide from Emery County.

Good rig dogs are essential to ensure a successful bear hunt. Katlin is the proud owner of nine dogs fully trained to track both bear and mountain lion.

Victory!!! That's one happy hunter!!

The Trophy!! A fine looking bear!

Burn Baby Burn, Fire in the Upper Muddy!!!!

Every year in early spring is the burning season. Occasionally we are reminded that there is no such thing as a controlled burn. Jeremy looks with amazement at how fast the flames grew.

This was a two alarm blaze. We had fire trucks from the towns of Emery and Ferron.

The fire crews are all volunteers in Emery County. They came, they saw and they conquered!! We are lucky to have these exceptional Fire men and women.

We all thank the fire crews from Emery and Ferron for saving the JC's homestead.

Geologist are on the scene @ CVO

Castle Valley attracts visitors from all over the world to study the unique landscape and rock formations in our mountains and canyons. Recently CVO hosted a group of geologist lead by Tom Ryer. Tom is an expert on the geology of south central Utah and a good friend of CVO.

Tom is explaining the layers of rock in Indian Canyon. He takes a hands on approach and hikes the canyons with his groups, seeing, touching and tasting the rocks.

Many geologist visit the San Rafael Swell of Utah. We met up with these two geologist from Norway. They tagged along with us for part of the day.


It can be a tough job to keep up with these rock hounds.

A well deserved break for lunch. The geologists from China brought some delicacies of their own for lunch.

Chicken feet anyone?

After a long day of hiking in the hot sun. They return to CVO to relax in our comfortable lodge. The geologist are greeted by the aroma of delicious country style gourmet food and Bonnie's welcoming charm. It's hard to beat Bonnie's cooking!!!!

Turkey Hunt '09

The Turkey Hunt is a family affair for Jeremy and his wife Amanda. This picture is best described in Jeremy's words:

"A proud bunch of boys with Amanda and her first turkey, or should I say Amanda with a whole bunch of turkeys!!"



Jeremy with his Turkey. He had a unique Turkey hunt this season. This bird wouldn't come close to the Tom decoys. It must of been ruffed up by one of the other Turkeys in the neighborhood. So, Jim and Jeremy decided to bird dog it into the brush. Jeremy and Jim lost sight of the bird when suddenly it flushed like a Pheasant in front of Jeremy. Startled, yet still calm enough to take aim, he took his shot. One shot, one kill, just the way Jeremy likes it.









Another successful Turkey Hunt. Well, at least for Jeremy. Jim is still working on getting his bird this season. Never the less, he is happy to share the joy of the success with Jeremy.



An example of the many Turkeys found around Castle Valley Outdoors.

Hog Hunt!!!!

Recently Jim, Jeremy and Katlin visited our friend John Tebbetts's Ranch in Texas for a Pig Hunt. Thank you Dr. Tebbetts for all of the fun. You, your wife and your daughter were gracious hosts. Rick and Brandon are the best Turkey guides we have ever met. They're good with paint too. We are looking forward to seeing you again soon. The following are some pictures of the hunt.





The Pig Face Off!


Jim, our fearless leader, showing off the prize. I wonder what Katlin is thinking about in the background?




The pig's heads boiled and bleached.




These pigs are like tanks!!! The following is Jeremy's account of his two kills:

"These are the two pigs that i was able to kill, the one Jim is holding was the first one I was able to kill, I shot it 12 times with a .357 magnum within 10 to 15 yards. 9 of the bullets only went into its armor 1/2 an inch, I finally shot it in the neck to put it down. We were trying to kill them with shots other than in the head so we could do european mounts with them. The one that I am holding is the second one I killed, I was lucky and dropped it with 2 shots. It was charging me when I shot the first shot hitting it in the chest at about 15 feet, causing it to turn to my left and I was able to break its neck with the next shot. This pig killed two of our guides dogs in less than a minute, so needles to say they were very happy I killed that one. Both pigs weighed right around 250 - 300 pounds. The tusks were 3 inches on the first pig and 3 1/4 inches on the second one. (the dog killer)"