Re: Double U Youth Essay GPS Giveaway! (Names have been drawn!!!)

[HighCountryHunter88]

Ive been on this board for awhile and Ive recently started working for Buddy at Double U Hunting Supply. We have been bringing in some Garmin GPS's for me to play with around the shop so I can be better able to answer any questions customers might have. He wants me to be his Garmin Guru  .

So this means i have some GPS's to get rid of so we figured why not do some contests and some fun stuff that will allow people to have a chance at a good deal on a GPS!

We are going to do this first one for the youth of Hunting Washington! I have a Garmin eTrex 20 here brand new in the box. It has been opened but only here in the shop by me (warranty is intact).

HERE ARE THE RULES!!!

Time : From now until 3:00 PM October 31
Who Can Enter: Youth (16 and under)

Each Youth who enters needs to post on this thread a 200 word or more essay on a hunting story including what hunting means to them (pics are welcome!). Each Youth who submits an essay will be entered into a drawing which will be conducted at 3:00 pm Oct. 31! So please encourage your young hunters to share their stories with all of us on here!

Good Luck!
Feel Fee to PM me if you have any questions!

[tides56]

  It was Thursday, 2 days before 2011 opening season. I was excited as I could ever be. My father, Ken, picked me up from school and we headed to Twisp. A 5 hour drive goes by incredibly fast when you're spitting seeds out the window, watching the beautiful countryside fly by, a cracking jokes with your old man. This hunt has been a tradition sense I was nine years old, and every year I look forward to it. Not just the hunting aspect, but simply spending time with my father. I looked forward to learn how to become a man from the biggest role model of my life. Upon arrival in Twisp, we stopped at Hanks to get donuts and coffee as we always do. Then we began down Twisp River Road, the prettiest rode in all of Washington State. We set up camp, cooked up steaks, and told past hunting stories with big cheesy smiles on our faces. We went to bed with the sound of the crickets and the Twisp River, so damn peaceful.

  The next morning we woke up bright and early to get to the corral to meet our outfitter. As the outfitter put our gear on the mules my Dad and I just kept giving each-other that big cheesy smile knowing that we will be in the wild, hunting and bonding for a great week. We sattled up and began up the trail. Once on top of the first ridge line we were able to look across to the other mountains where we would be the next morning. An hour before arrival we spooked a nice big buck, and let me tell you my blood started flowing knowing that monster could be mine tomorrow morning! Once we got to camp, the outfitter got our gear off the mules and left. The moment when he left, my dad and I shared a big hug and a " Hell yes!". The feeling of being in a very remote area is unexplainable. There was no time for dilly dallying. My dad began to set up the wall tent while I went to our old stockpile of wood and began to cut. Skipping forward to that first night. We crawled into our mummy bags with our bellies full of venison backstrap. We discussed our game plan for that next morning.

  5am, sharp. We crawled out of the warmth of our sleeping bags and stoked up the fire. Got dressed, ate a cliff bar or two, and waited till 30 minutes before day light to set out. We stepped outside to find a foot of snow, loaded our guns and set out. We walked on the same trail for a mile until we split of. This is where my dad gave me a great big bear hug and the " love ya kid". I walked up on the top ridge while he was on the lower trail. About 1/4 miles into the trail I was able to spot my dad, down below me. He was scoping something then delibratly jumped behind a large rock and raised his rifle.  He didn't shoot so I assumed he spooked what was there up my way. Sure enough, "bud ump bud ump bud ump" the distinct sound of deer trotting. I got settled behind a stump with a good view. There! A doe, another doe, and another. 5 doe total come up out of the trees. By this time my right leg is jumping up and down uncontrollably. Then a buck comes out. I raise my rifle, right elbow on my knee. My scope is moving up down at a fast rate because I simply cant control the adrenaline in my system. I set my rifle a .30-06 Remington, my great grandpas, passed all the way down to me, on a stump and take aim. I'm looking for the points. 2 on one side and 2 on the other... Damn! I still have him scoped when he looks somewhere else, and that's when I notice a 2" eye guard. I know he is a shooter and for him to possibly be my first buck I wasn't going to pass him up. I did not have a good shot, but my adrenaline and buck fever got the best of me. I shot and missed. They took off down the mountain, and I pursued. Being 15 and stupid I began to run after the deer down the hill. After running 100 yards down, I stopped to look. They were a good 200 yards below me. I stopped and so did they. They began to graze. I stopped and sat down to look for the buck, they moved down another 100 yards, so 300. I could only see there heads due to the rugged landscape. I stood up and scoped in and found that buck. I only had a neck shot. I shot. In my scope I saw the buck fall down and it's legs fly up. I waited 5 minutes then I took off down the hill running. Not a good idea. Falling and tumbling but protecting my gun  I made it, to where the buck was... but no buck?! At this I was using some questionable language under my breath. And then I saw something rolling down the hill, it was my dead buck! I run down to it with the biggest grin! I turned on my walky talky on and said " Dad I got him! I got him! " and in reply " Sweet! Be there soon" After I got off my walky talky I looked backed up the mountain 10 yards or so to find my father. He was just smiling. He told me how proud he was. I could also tell because of the tears in his eyes.

  See, when anti-hunters think of hunting they simply think of killing animals. No, that is not it at all, though that is the basic jest of it there is much more. To me it's about relationships, more so my fathers and I. Without hunting my father and I would never be so close. I love that man so much, I respect him, and he is the best role model and father I could ask for. We just sat by the deer smiling. I will never forget that night after I got my buck. My dad said " I'm so proud of you Blake" He tossed me a beer, that I have been longing to have. And right then and there I felt like a man, on top of the world.

  In 3 days, that would have been a year ago. Now I would more than love to be with my father in Twisp right now as he is, to make and share memories. But, I'm in Austria for the year on an exchange. But next year, we will be up in those mountains.

Love you Dad.

-Blake Uddenberg (16)

[HighCountryHunter88]

  Great story! Way to start this out! Sorry your not here for this season but at least you get to have some pretty cool experiences over in that part of the world! you should try and take a train to Switzerland, that is where my family is from. that whole area is eye candy for someone who enjoys the mountains! Thanks for sharing and good luck!

[levid]

My Blue Mountains Muzzleloader Elk Hunt
When I first found out that I had drawn a Dayton quality bull tag I couldn’t believe it! I had been drawn for a few other special tags in the past like a cougar tag in eastern Washington and a cow tag in Dayton before, but none of those had worked out, so this was another chance for me and I was just hoping that this time something would actually go right.
When opening day finally came around we were up and ready to go try and spot a bull to go after in our spot. When we got in to where we were going, our worst nightmare came true. The bulls had almost entirely quit bugling except for the occasional snort we would hear down in some of the deep holes and canyons we passed by on this ridge. Now not only was it so dry that it was nearly impossible to sneak on anything, but the bulls had to quit bugling as well! After we were done for the morning and the afternoon had slowly snuck up on us, we went in for another hunt that day with no luck.
On the second morning, we went in to the same spot with the hopes of having a better day. Once we got a few miles in to our spot, we got up on a little hump on the ridge and spotted a spike about 100 yards away. We watched him for a while longer and then decided to walk out on the ridge further, so that we could try to drop down into the hole where we thought that the herd would be. With how dry everything was, we were creeping our way along down the crunchy hillside being as quiet as we could possibly be with the conditions that the weather had thrown us. Every once in a while we  would hear a bull let a small bugle slip out almost as if it were on accident, but just enough to keep us headed in the right direction. All of a sudden we hear the elk bust out of the area right below us through the timber. We did manage to find 5 different wallows throughout the timber as we were trying to put the sneak on these elk, which gave us some hope for seeing another bull in that area. Sitting down for a while and simply waiting to see if another bull would come in to one of the wallows was our only other option at that point, so that is exactly what we did. Sometime about an hour later we found out the hard way how smart these bulls are when one of them circled us to get the wind right before sneaking back in to one of his wallows.
With the two close opportunities the day before, we went in to all of the wallows on the third morning of the hunt. We finally get out on the ridge above all of the wallows we had found the day before when we hear a bull down below us. I quickly find a rest on a stump while my dad sets up on the hill above me to do some cow calling to try and get the bull to walk up past where I was set up. My dad hit a couple of soft cow calls, but the bull just would not commit to coming closer where we could see him. Getting the same results as the last couple of days started getting frustrating, but that’s all part of the hunt right? We then decided to head out along the ridge even further so we could look off into some different areas. A bull ripped the loudest bugle I had ever heard right below us! Creeping slowly down the mountain, we heard him again so we tried the same strategy of cow calling with me part way down the hill. My dad hits a cow call and that bull started to come at a dead run towards us and I thought for sure that this was when it was all going to come together and work out. Just as I am thinking this in my head and waiting for this bull to come ten more yards over one more little hump, he hits the brakes! My dad tries one more soft cow call and what does the bull do? He turns around and walks the other way!
On the fourth day I was just beat from hiking so many miles the days before, but we heard a bull way down in a nasty looking hole where we hadn’t heard a bugle of any kind all week, so we decided to give it a try. About 15 minutes into heading down the dry, crunchy hillside, we saw a cow creep out of the timber and we froze in our tracks. My adrenaline was at its max as we waited, thinking that there would be a nice bull following this herd. Finally, a bull poked its way out of the timber behind the cows that were already bedded down in front of him. He was a decent 6x6 and throughout the week we had slowly lowered our expectations, so we decided I was going to take the shot if he gave me one. The wind quickly changed direction as I watched a cow get up and look right at us. She slowly got up and just like that the whole herd was gone into the deep canyon below us. We tried following them through the timber and loud crunchy leaves, but never got close enough to see them again, so we cut over deeper into the hole towards where we could hear two bulls bugling at each other across the creek bottom. As we made our way closer to them, we started to hear the cows mewing and talking away on an open hillside. I then found a good rest against the base of a tree and prepared myself to take the 150 yard shot where we thought the two bulls would come together on the opposite hillside. Once again we sat and waited for an hour, which turned into two hours and eventually three hours. A couple of cows would show themselves through the timber every now and then and each time I would get ready, thinking that the bulls would be taking up the rear, until we would hear them start screaming at each other again from the same spot as two hours before. Eventually we had to think about when it was going to get dark in the timber and how long it was going to take us to crawl out of the deep canyon we were in, so we waited a while longer and then had to throw in the towel and head back. My dad could see how worn out I was and we decided that the next day we would take it a little easier and stick to the ridgeline to glass for bulls, only going down to the bottom again if we spotted one.
As it was just starting to get light on our way back in on the fifth morning we got up on the ridge, we stuck to our plan of glassing the open hillsides across the canyon from us and no more than 20 minutes into glassing we spotted a herd with a big 400 class type bull pushing the cows along from behind. We knew that this bull was just way too far off and that there wasn’t even a chance we could get to him in time, but when we look on a different hillside a lot closer, we spot another herd. I knew we had to give it a try even though it would take a miracle to actually run into the same elk with how far off they already were. Being as quick as possible while still trying to stay quiet, we start to hear the throaty bugle of the bull we had spotted. As we are creeping up on the creek bed below us we hear the bull bugle again and then I spot him! With no rest and little time to shoot, I drop down in a sitting position and set my gun across my knees. The bull starts to let out one more bugle and BOOM! I look up and he is still standing there. I had shot right over his back! My dad always carries a muzzleloader with him too, for times like this, so he hands me his gun as fast as possible and I shoot again. BOOM! This time I made a perfect shot and the bulls knees literally shot out of under him. He then stood back up and went ten more yards before toppling over next to the creek. At this point my heart was beating so hard, I couldn’t believe that I had finally shot an elk. Not only was it my first elk, but a big bull! We waited about ten minutes and then made our way down to my bull. I still just couldn’t believe that it had all come together and I had finally filled my Dayton quality bull tag. My dad ranged him after I shot at 97 yards.
This is when all of the packing started. We had added up all of the miles we had hiked on the GPS which came out to nearly 35 miles up until I got my bull! This is why the packing was going to be so difficult with a 6 mile round trip for each quarter we would pack out, plus the head and cape. We finally got all of the meat packed out after about two and a half days and got camp packed up and ready to go. This trip will be something that I will never forget with my dad and is a story that we will be able to tell for the rest of our lives. To top it all off, as we were pulling out of camp and a little ways down the road, a cougar walked across the road right in front of our truck before he pounced back into the brush which will also be something that we can talk about along with the story of my 2012 Blue Mountains bull elk.

Hunting to me is about being able to spend more time with friends and family. You can get to know a person a whole lot better when you spend time with them doing something you both love like hunting, fishing or just being in the woods. Even when you do not get something while out in the woods, you can still have a great time with whoever you are hunting with and half the time it is the stories you have from the times that you didn’t get something that are the best. I cannot even count off all of the hours and time that me and my dad have spent hunting together and this is just one more story and memory that we can add to all of the others.

[HighCountryHunter88]

 

[HighCountryHunter88]

An actual Harvest does not need to take place for a youth to enter this contest, any story is welcome to enter! some of the best experiences while hunting have nothing to do with a kill! 

[novice870]

What Hunting Means to Me

My name is Timothy and I am 10 years old.  I love to hunt so much.  There are many reasons why I love to hunt.  The biggest reason why hunting means so much to me is because it means I can spend time with my family, especially my dad.   
One reason why I love hunting is because I like to be in God’s beautiful creation.  I like to watch the sun rise on a morning hunt.  And being in the cold weather means hunting season is finally here.
My favorite animal to hunt is ducks and geese.  Getting 7 ducks and 4 geese a day is my favorite.  I like deer hunting for whitetail too, but waterfowl season is so much longer than deer season.
I love hunting with my dad so much.  I have been going hunting and fishing with my dad since I was 2 years old.  And I have been actually shooting on hunts for two years.  I have learned a lot about hunting from my dad.  I have learned to not ever shoot towards people and to always unload your gun before you get in the truck.  Another thing my dad taught me is how to clean my birds or my deer.  Hunting with my dad is the best thing in the world because I love spending time with him.  And hunting is our favorite thing to do together.
   
Thank you for giving me a chance to win a gps and for reading this.
From,
Timothy

Me and My Dad


My First Deer, My Papa was there to.

[HighCountryHunter88]

Great job Timothy!! Looks like your off to a great start to your hunting career! i really enjoy hunting waterfowl too! thanks for sharing your story!

[HighCountryHunter88]

Thank you to three young men you took the time to share their stories with us!! All three names were entered into a hat and each name was pulled.

First Place:(eTrex 20 and a t-shirt) novice870!!

Second Place: ($50 gift cert. and a t-shirt) Levid!!

Third Place:  ($25 gift cert. and a t-shirt) Tides 56!!
 
Please PM me with your addresses so I can send you your prizes! Congratulations and thank you for participating!

[novice870]

Wow! Thank you so much! I just sent you a PM but I want to publicly thank you for affirming my son and each of these young men in their hunting adventures and including them in a very meaningful way on this site. Timothy is so stoked! Again, thank you!

[levid]

Thank you to DU Hunting Supply for the $50 certificate and to Matt for putting this on!  My dad has bought several GPS collars from you guys for our hounds and has always gotten great service and been happy with everything he has gotten from your company. Thanks again for putting this on!