Every Mile a Memory

Fifteen hundred days. Forty-four editions of the E-newsletter. One job that has changed my life.

When I started at Game and Fish four years ago, I knew I was ready for a new challenge professionally. I never expected the impact this agency would have on me personally. From making life-long friends and meeting the love of my life, to learning new things about our environment and myself in the process, my time with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is something I will forever treasure.

But my life, like the seasons, is changing. I'm scheduled to get married in two weeks, and will be relocating to Ten Sleep to start my life as Mrs. Outdoor Guy. Unfortunately, that means leaving Cheyenne and my job with the Game and Fish behind. So I leave you with my favorite memories and lessons learned from this amazing experience.

#10. Quiet Times. As in the kind of quiet that can only be found in a tucked away place off the beaten path. The kind of quiet you find fishing hungry little brookies in a high mountain stream or scouting elk from a hilltop at dusk. May all of us always have a quiet place to turn to in the future.

#9. Calamity on the Canoe Pond. About two weeks into my job, this friendly little gal, Janet, popped into my office and asked me to help at the Expo canoe pond. "It's super fun," she said. "You don't need any experience. You'll love it." Super fun, my foot. It was either blazing hot or cold, windy and rainy. I dunked my waders twice and got nailed in the back by a wayward canoe. But I learned some important lessons...kids will fall in love with outdoor activities if they have the chance to try them, and never, EVER, trust my coworker Janet.

#8. It's a bird. It's a Plane. It's an American avocet! When I started, I couldn't tell a woolly bugger from a woolly mammoth. While I'm still not an expert, I've improved my wildlife identification skills twentyfold. Just a few weeks ago, I was sorting images in the filing room for Wyoming Wildlife. I came across a stray slide of a bird, held it up to the light and quickly recognized it as an American avocet, filing it in its proper sleeve. It was a moment of pride, seeing my newly developed skills in action. There are so many weird, wonderful and wacky cirtters in this state. I can't wait to learn more about them all!

#7. Orienteering for Dummies. My friend Wendy and I decided a last minute scouting trip of our antelope area was in order. Armed with a map and a Big Gulp of Mountain Dew, we set off in my Pontiac G-6 sedan to see what we could see. We learned the lay of the land, that Wendy is the worst map reader in the world, that I am the second worst-map reader in the world and that surprisingly, the G-6 makes a pretty good off-road vehicle. We had a lot of laughs and got some pretty funny looks from the men out scouting. I still not sure if it was the little white car, our pink and purple cammo hats or my flip-flops. I decided that day that if actually hunting was half as much fun as scouting, it was a sport I'd love for the rest of my life.

#6. You Go Girl. I had the chance to attend Wyoming's Becoming an Outdoors-Woman as a camp participant several years ago. It was one of the best three days of my life. I was nursing a broken-heart and my self-confidence was at an all time low. Then spent the weekend with Janet, Lucy, Michelle, Al, Helen and Ken and all the other great BOW instructors, along with 45 other campers. I shot guns. I canoed down a creek. I learned how to fly-fish. It was a chance to learn some intimidating skills in a supportive environment and be surrounded by nothing but positive energy and encouragement. The weekend did wonders for my roll-cast and put an end to the emotional roller-coaster I'd been on for months. I lost myself in the wilds of the weekend and found myself all at the same time. What an awesome program.

#5. Electrofishing with the Laramie Region fish biologists. I overslept and showed up late, forgot my WGFD hat, left my keys at the wrong end of the stream reach and probably hindered their efforts more than I helped. But Lee, Steve and Mike were patient teachers. After a day of floating on the Platte, I had a heck of a sunburn and my arms hurt from wielding the heavy dip net, but I've never had so much fun on the water in my life. I held the biggest brown trout I've ever seen and vowed, one day, I'd catch a monster like that for myself. It was my first time helping with a Game and Fish project, and the first time I felt like a real member of the team. Thanks for making me feel welcome guys!

#4. Whitetail Fever. Last November, Outdoor Guy and I shared our first hunting experience together. I killed my first deer and first buck the first morning. More importantly, we didn't kill each other, which bodes well for our future as a couple. Hunting is a big part of his background and lifestyle, and quickly becoming something I'm passionate about as well. My new friend Darrell mounted the antlers for me. They're hanging in my office right now, but soon they'll hang in my new home in Ten Sleep. Maybe one day, we can hang our daughter's first antlers in their place.

#3. Bully for the bighorns. I got to witness the release of about sixty bighorn sheep from Montana into the wilds of the Laramie Peak area. When you really look at a bighorn, it's hard to fathom how it lives in the remote, rocky places it likes to frequent. They aren't very big. But what bighorns lack in size, they make up for in sheer pluck. It was amazing to see those little sheep bail out of their transport trailer and take off into the wild to make Wyoming their new home. One of the ewes tripped and fell coming out of the trailer and got ran over by the other sheep. Sometimes, when I take a digger in the parking lot or trip over the canoe trailer, I think of that little ewe and wonder how she's doing out there. Hopefully, Wyoming has been as kind to her as it has to me the last three years.

#2. Antelope Adventures. Or rather, pronghorn if one is to be technically correct. Wyoming has lots, more than 500,000, while Mexico's population is struggling. In the spirit of international cooperation, Game and Fish partnered with Mexican conservation organizations to capture pronghorn fawns to transport to Mexico to grow and live on a wildlife sanctuary, where they will be studied and possibly used as surrogates to help bolster populations of the peninsular pronghorn. I got to help with the antelope capture one year. I learned a few new words in Spanish and had the amazing chance to hold a pronghorn fawn in my arms while she nursed a bottle. Seeing her giant eyes and tiny hooves and thinking about her a year later streaking across the prairie at 45 miles an hour...well, there are simply not words for how cool that was.

And last but not least...

#1. Outdoor Guy. Eighteen months ago, I relented and let a mutual friend set us up. I never dreamed that "do you want to go chuckar hunting?" would turn into "Do you take this man?" Whether he's answering my endless questions about working in a fish hatchery, teaching me how to wrap meat, kicking my butt on the Wii or teasing me about making pie, his love and support never waver. He's endured months of teasing about being "Outdoor Guy" from his coworkers who read the e-newsletter. Now he can just be Ben, the best friend and partner a girl could ask for.

Thanks for sharing this amazing journey with me.