Missouri Frozen Butt Hang 2023

[runners_low]

It's time to discuss our winter hang. Is Bell Mountain the preferred site, or does someone have a suggestion? Let's get together again. I will bring two sets of car keys this time. LOL

Joe

[runners_low]

I’ve attended FBHs at three sites and all were good. The Bell Mountain is close to Metro STL and has a secluded hang site in the pine/cedar grove. The Taum Sauk site has has lots of campsites. Peck Ranch has a nice campsite as well.

All three have a nice Saturday hike trail with Taum Sauk being the most challenging. Bell Mountain and Peck Ranch are similar and both offer a nice hang site for Saturday night, high on a mountain. Peck Ranch has easier Saturday night access with the fire tower road only being about one mile with almost no climbing.

Any ideas or preferences?

Joe

[mo_hunter]

The first weekend in January I’m usually out of town. Then work the following weekend. I’ll keep an eye on this to see when the dates are.


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[AniOutdoor]

Wherever and whenever it is, I hope my Black Friday new under quilt purchase gets here first.
HG says 3-4 week lead time.

[sackofbeans]

I'll be there. any time is fine. I'm ok with all 3 locations. I've never been to peck ranch section so that would be my vote. I have been to bell and taum saulk several times each and love both areas. You can't go wrong with either. looking forward to seeing everyone.

[mathineer]

Hey all! I'd love to come, but I've been having increasing problems with my hip. "It's getting to the point where I'm no fun anymore" - Suite Judy Blue Eyes
Anyway, I'm scheduled to see an orthopedic surgeon in February, and I hope to have hip replacement surgery soon after. If all goes well, I'll be hiking by summer!
Wish I could join you all.
mathineer

[twentybelow]

As AniOutdoor said, "Wherever and whenever" it is, I'm in! And barring unforeseen circumstances, I'll have Mrs. Twentybelow with me this year, plus a good friend of ours who moved all the way from PA to Arkansas just to be able to attend this year's FBH! Also, venison chili is back on the menu this year after a successful hunting season. I'll bring some firewood as well. Thank you runners_low for getting the ball rolling on this again. Looking forward to seeing you all and hopefully some new faces this year.

-20

[runners_low]

It appears that scheduling and planning have been a problem with the MO FBH previously so I will offer some suggestions. Four other persons have posted so far and I would like each to comment on this suggestion, even though three of you indicated you are good with any site/time.

I suggest we establish a revolving site with fixed dates for future FBHs. The plan would be:

1. Fix the date as the second Friday of each January. This will avoid New Year’s Day/weekend activity from conflict.

2. We establish a revolving site to include the three sites used including Peck Ranch, Taum Sauk, and Bell Mountain, with this year's being held at Peck Ranch. I maintain the OT through Peck Ranch and had good cooperation with the Superintendent when planning the 2021 hang there. We would camp Friday, January 12 at Pine Circle Campground, then hike up to Stegall Mountain for the Saturday night hang. There are two options for getting to the mountaintop; hiking the 4 plus miles of the OT up, or driving to the fire tower parking lot outside the gate and walking less than 1 mile along the forest road which is fairly flat. This would allow anyone who needed to leave early Sunday or anyone who needed a less severe hike to reach Saturday’s campsite.

3. Each year at the hang we vote to confirm the next year’s site and post the site in trip reports so everyone will get a year’s notice.

As in 2021 I will arrive early and cut some standing pine firewood to place at the mountain campsite as well as some extra water. Originally in 2021, we were going to camp at the very mountaintop near a round rock with ample hang trees, but we moved over the hill to cut the south wind and rain that arrived with us. If the weather is good, we can camp up top.

Please respond as soon as you read this so I can contact the Superintendent to confirm he is still good with this. The only requirement in 2021 was that I get a camping permit if our group reached 10 persons, which it did not.

If the distance from STL is a problem, we could use this site to seek/offer joint travel.

Please respond with a good/bad/never opinion. I am good to forget all this if best for the FBH without being offended.

Joe. 870 405 1922

[sackofbeans]

I like the plan.

[AniOutdoor]

I’m good with this plan.
I’ll have to take a Friday off and won’t arrive until the evening no matter what weekend or location it is, so the only difference for me is an extra hour or two of driving to the more eastern location.
Having a fixed weekend each year would allow for a “save the date” reminder to be sent out at the beginning of November, so hopefully people can more easily work it into their schedule.