Bearpaw Season - Fall 2012

[bearpaw]

I called my wife from the killsite of Marty's moose and she told me that PAW66 had a moose down, he's an old friend and was staying at our place and hunting on his own while I hunted with Marty. He had passed some moose and I think he saw a shooter one day that he didn't get.

My wife was in Spokane that day and I had to take care of Marty's moose so that meant that PAW66 was on his own. I don't know how many of you have done a moose on your own, but it is no small job. PAW66 really earned his bull even if it was close to the road. Just getting one gutted, skinned, pieced out, and loaded is a chore. Congrats on a great bull PAW66, you really deserve him!

PAW66 took all the video and I helped him edit it into a YouTube video. If you haven't already seen it, please enjoy.

Washington Moose Hunting Quest 2012

(We do offer cabins, meals, and hunting directions to DIY hunters at very affordable prices.)

[Machias]

Great video and congrats PAW66 on a super nice bull!

[bearpaw]

We just started hunting in Idaho for mule deer yesterday. One of our hunters went to get his gun out of his safe before flying out for the hunt, he couldn't remember his safe combo, he had moved recently and couldn't find his combo either, he finally took a grinder to his safe but couldn't get in and ran out of time, he had to leave for the airport without a rifle. Upon arrival he said, "This is the first time I've been on a hunt with 3 guys and two guns!" Fortunately we had an extra gun to loan him. 

Yesterday about 50 deer were seen, 5 bucks were passed, this morning we killed our first buck of the hunt on video, I will add a photo as soon as I can. Hoping for a second buck this afternoon.

Update:
Photo added of Matt Alwine with his Idaho buck taken with his custom 338 edge. I am told the footage is awesome, can't wait to see the show next fall.

[bearpaw]

Jason Prince the co-host of "Trophy State of Mind" with his mule buck taken in Idaho. Brian tells me they got some awsome footage of this buck too, should be a great show. Watch for it next fall on the Sportsman's Channel.

[bearpaw]

Here's another nice Idaho muley buck with another happy hunter. His hunting partner missed a much bigger buck the next day, I imagine his partner is still rethinking that miss. Sometimes chit happens. 

[bearpaw]

Another nice Idaho mule buck taken by Michael, he hunted last year and got skunked, but they had such a good time at camp that they came back this year to hunt with Brian and Nick again. Nick and Michael put the smack down on this old buck on the first day of the hunt. Nick said the buck had a pronounced roman nose and only had one tooth, that's right only one tooth, he was probably on the decline, I am very happy Michael was able to notch his tag on this buck before he had to try and endure another winter, he likely would not have made it. Congrats Michael on a beautiful old monarch.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Some dang nice bucks ....Look at the neck on that one Michael shot  rut is coming soon 

[Devinshoe]

Awesome moose! And some great bucks also!

[BOWHUNTER45]

Martys bull ...Wow  to bad the left did not match the right ...would of been a monster ...Not cutting it down or anything ...I know I would of rolled it  wonder what did cause those cysts !

[blackveltbowhunter]

Very nice animals! lotsa happy hunters!!

[bearpaw]

For the last 15 years I have been in Idaho while my wife conducted the early hunts in Washington. Usually my wife and a couple guides do the early buck season here in WA and they usually do very well so I have never felt like I need to be here. This year when I finalized my fall schedule I was short a guide here in Washington, my plans were all pretty solid in Idaho, so I decided to stay home in WA for the early buck.

Modern communications are great, I have been able to talk to my guides every day and make sure everything is handled. The boys are doing pretty good, they have killed some deer, passed some deer, and missed some other deer, then yesterday they passed a spike bull and a 5x5 bull, I wished the hunters would have shot those animals because elk can get tough to find at any time, but they are in elk and figure they will find bigger bulls to shoot, only time will tell how that works out.

WA Deer - Day One
My first two hunters here in WA were Chuck from Washington and "a lady hunter" Fitz from Oregon. Fitz had never killed a mule deer and she was hoping for a mule deer in spite of the fact that I told her we had a lot more whitetail and that is what we would probably get. Both hunters spent the first morning in blinds at a ranch where I had been seeing several 4x4 or better bucks during preseason scouting. After lunch I told them that we better hunt the same areas for the evening because we should see one of those big bucks if we stick with it. The first evening was another bust for me and my hunters only saw 6 deer and none of them had horns, in the meantime guide Brandon's two hunters missed a couple shots at bucks the first morning and Doug killed a 3 pointer the first evening. Congrats to Doug!

WA Deer - Day Two
The next day I went to a different ranch, my hunters and I saw over 100 deer but no big bucks, I know there are at least 6 mature whitetails I have seen, we passed 5 spike whities and saw a fork and spike mulie, but saw no big bucks of either specie. WTH, I was beginning to second guess myself, finally last thing in the evening my lady hunter had the "Luck of the Irish' and sacked up a small but legal 3x2 mule deer that she was ecstatic to get because it fullfilled her dream to shoot a mule deer. Not a big buck but she didn't care, she said that was better for her than a big whitetail. Brandon also filled out his other hunter with his first buck that evening, another 3x3 whitetail. Congrats to Fitz and Jarrod!

WA Deer - Day Three
I had a new hunter Chris arrive and it was the last day for Chuck who is coming back in late buck season with another friend, so Chuck wasn't going to shoot anything unless we found a good mature buck. Both said they wouldn't mind shooting a mule deer and I wanted to try a favorite place on public land where I have killed a lot of decent mulie bucks, so we spent the morning looking for mulies, the closest we came to a buck was when another hunter shot a couple hundred yards from us. In the afternoon we went back to the whitetail properties and passed some more spikes and forkies, so no deer on day 3.

WA Deer - Day Four
Brandon had two new hunters Homer and Erlene, a husband and wife. Chuck went hunting with Chris and I for a few hours in the morning, all we saw was more small bucks and does and then Chuck left for home to get back to work, he will come back in late buck season to finish his hunt. Chris and I hunted most of the rest of the day and we saw numerous does but no more bucks. About an hour or two before dark I decided to watch an old reliable spot for the last little hunt of the day. I would glass and then visit with Chris and then glass again. I put the glasses up and right there in the middle of my view is a beautiful big whitetail, I thought he must be close to 20". He is just standing there looking over the valley from atop the highest point, then he runs straight down toward us to the patch of brush below. I told Chris to get ready for the buck to hopefully appear at closer shooting range when he came out of the brush. I glassed for several minutes and nothing, where did he go? Suddenly Chris says there's a doe clear over on the opposite side of the hillside to our right so I swing around to check the doe, I put the binos up and they landed right on another nice big buck, I quickly exclaimed "Chris there's another big buck, he's not quite as big but he's definitely a shooter!" Chris says "All I see is the doe!"

I looked at where his gun was pointed and said "Look to the right and a little higher up the hill, right next to that thick fir tree, he's standing in full view looking our direction!" Chris scanned the area and responds, "I don't see him, I can't find him, where's he at?" About that time Chris says "The doe is running uphill!" Finally I see the doe and she is running straight at the buck, "Chris, follow the doe, she's running to the buck!" She ran straight to the buck and then Chris saw the buck.

By this time we were both worked up so I whispered to Chris "Be sure you have a steady rest, it's a dead on shot, shoot for the shoulder, take your time and make a good shot!"  It was probably 175 yards, as the gun went off I saw the buck jump in the air and kick his heels, he took off sidehilling and slightly down hill away from us, "Reload and shoot again when he stops!" The buck tried to turn and go uphill but couldn't, then he stopped and Chris missed 2 or three times, I thought he must be hitting too low, so I told him to raise up about 6 inches, Chris reloaded and took a couple more shots. Then the buck took off again, this time he went another 50 yards and bedded under a tree. The buck probably would have died but I have lost a few animals because I didn't want to waste meat, I reassessed the distance and told Chris "Take a careful aim and put another shot high in his shoulder!" This time the buck got up, went a couple yards, and dropped again, I couldn't see any more movement.

We approached cautiously trying to keep the general location in view as much as possible, finally I could see the buck laying dead. We looked over the buck and Chris said "It looks like he broke off a point!" I looked a little closer and I saw a second point missing, both the G1 and G4 on the right side were broke off, "Chris I think you shot off his points, he's missing two points and they are fresh breaks!"

We took photos and I went to get the truck. Back at the house we were pleasantly surprised to find that one of Brandon's hunters "Homer", had also killed a buck on his first day of the hunt. Congrats to Homer and Chris!

Here are pics of Fitz and Chris.

[Gringo31]

 

Keep after em Dale!

[JohnVH]

awesome pics and stories! I need to save up for a hunt with you guys!

[Ripper]

Nice bucks!  Too bad he shot off a couple of points, but it makes a good story and a unique trophy!

[carpsniperg2]

Look's like you guys are having some fun and getting into some deer.