Memorable hunts

[MLBowhunting]

My boys first deer was the best hunt for me so far.  Benhuntin invited us over to hunt and he knew the deer like clockwork.  Every thing he said down to the minute was exact and it didn't take long for my son to shot his first deer.  Thanks Ben hope someday I can repay the favor. 

[shanevg]

All the factors that went into this hunt make it by far the most memorable for me!  Doesn't hurt that it's also my biggest buck to date!

[Miles]

Here's another one I'll always remember.  It's the only opening day buck I've ever got.  I remember thinking on the hike up how bad I wanted there to be a buck on the top.  The rest of the week I was thinking "why did I have to tag out so early?"...     The pictures aren't the greatest of quality...I realized after getting home that the settings on my camera had been set to take pictures for email attachments.

[huntnphool]

Good stuff guys, keep them coming!

C'mon huntnphool, I know you must have a few good hunts/pictures to contribute.   Didn't someone in your hunting party get one 6 or so years back in WA with a lot of mass?   For some reason I think I remember it had fairly large bases...

 I think I can remember every single hunt I have ever been on, so I guess they are all memorable in one way or another.

 You might be remembering my "little" brothers quality tag hunt a from few years back, yeah that one was fun and memorable, being with him and making the stalk on his biggest buck ever. It just missed 40" of mass at 39 6/8 officially.

 Charlie did a great job on the mount.

[X-Force]

Good stuff guys, keep them coming!

C'mon huntnphool, I know you must have a few good hunts/pictures to contribute.   Didn't someone in your hunting party get one 6 or so years back in WA with a lot of mass?   For some reason I think I remember it had fairly large bases...

 I think I can remember every single hunt I have ever been on, so I guess they are all memorable in one way or another.

 You might be remembering my "little" brothers quality tag hunt a from few years back, yeah that one was fun and memorable, being with him and making the stalk on his biggest buck ever. It just missed 40" of mass at 39 6/8 officially.

 Charlie did a great job on the mount.

Met you and your brother at antlers during that hunt.

Great buck. You guys were on good deer everyday if I remember correctly.

[RadSav]

No pictures on this hunt but it is one of my most memorable:

Hunting Catalina Island sometime around 1986.  I had stalked down to two pigs.  One on the left side of a manzanita bush and one on the right side.  I got to the bush undetected.  Drew the bow back and swung around the right side.  Pig one at 10 yards, perfect heart shot, squealed twice and fell over.  Pig #2 comes running over to check things out.  New arrow on the string and heart shot at 15 yards.  Pig #2 trips on pig number one and down he goes. 

Pretty cool, but this is Catalina...hunt not over yet...

After boning out #1 I started hearing a goat bawling like she was gut shot.  Horrible, horrible noise!  This continued as I scrambled to get pig #2 boned out and in the pack.  When completed I headed out to see what the heck was killing this goat!  Noise was coming from large bush in the middle of an open spot on a hill.  Expecting to see a pig killing the goat I stalked up silently, arrow nocked and ready, peaked my head in the bush and was shocked by what I saw.

Seems sometimes goats give birth with the assistance of a Midwife.  This poor nanny was giving birth to a still born.  Having all kinds of problems.  The midwife is putting her head all the way up to the ears into the birthing mother helping to extract the kid.  I watched in pure amazement for what I think was about 15 or 20 minutes.  At times I was close enough to reach out and touch them.  They never acknowledged that I was ever there.  Just went about their business of trying to deliver the still born.  The nanny seemed in so much pain I even thought I might want to end her misery and put her down at some point in time.

About the time I decided I would just back off and let nature take it's course a big billy walks behind me.  Less than five yards to my right he too sticks his head in the bush to watch the show.  I drop to a knee, drew back and let him have it!  A ten yard dash and he was down.  I walk over to him and another billy comes into the opening.  I put an arrow into his boiler room and he was down within ten yards.  This repeated two more times!  All while the nanny was screaming in pain inside the bush.  I could probably have stayed there all day and piled up the goats had I not run out of sharp broadheads.

So I showed up at the pickup point with two pigs and two billies in my pack plus dragging two more billies on a rope.  I sat down with my legs in a ditch waiting for Doug Walker's son to come pick me up.  It was a straight stretch of road so I could see quite a ways.  I watch three pigs cross the road to my left just prior to Scott arriving.  We loaded up the truck with the two goats and all the meat in my pack.  I grabbed the blade packs I had left in the truck and Scott headed to camp to drop off the meat and goats.  The plan was he would return shortly after as darkness was less than an hour away.

After replacing blades in my broadheads I worked my way down to where I had seen the three pigs.  It was perfect for an ambush.  Nice dusty quiet road with a bank about 3 1/2 feet tall.  I saw a pig at 50 yards and got down on my knees.  I crawled to the point I figured closest to the pig and peeked over.  He was still there at less than 10 yards.  I drew the bow back while behind the embankment raised up far enough to clear the arrow and pig #3 was dead before he knew I was there.  I saw one of the other pigs run parallel with the road.  So I dropped to my knees again, crawled about 60 yards, peek over the lip and there he is at 20 yards.  Repeat the shot as before and pig #4 dead within sight.  This spooked the crap out of the third pig in this group.  But instead of running off into the safety of the brush he decided to make a run for it by crossing the road back to the place from where they had originally come.  I had the bow drawn before he jumped off the bank down onto the road.  And by the time he made it across the road a four blade Savora Swept-Wing had punched through his lungs and his escape didn't last another thirty yards.

One day, a once in a lifetime experience, nine total shots, eight heart shots, four billies and five pigs.  That was a memorable day!



Just over one year later it was determined that bowhunters were unable to control the population of game on the island.  So conservancy brought in military gunships.  They herded as many goats and pigs down onto the beaches and on the cliffs as they could and they slaughtered as many as possible.  What a dang shame!  I always loved hunting that place.  Was the source of many of my most memorable experiences.  And the best bowhunting training ground one could ever have hoped for!

[huntnphool]

No pictures on this hunt but it is one of my most memorable:

Hunting Catalina Island sometime around 1986.  I had stalked down to two pigs.  One on the left side of a manzanita bush and one on the right side.  I got to the bush undetected.  Drew the bow back and swung around the right side.  Pig one at 10 yards, perfect heart shot, squealed twice and fell over.  Pig #2 comes running over to check things out.  New arrow on the string and heart shot at 15 yards.  Pig #2 trips on pig number one and down he goes. 

Pretty cool, but this is Catalina...hunt not over yet...

After boning out #1 I started hearing a goat bawling like she was gut shot.  Horrible, horrible noise!  This continued as I scrambled to get pig #2 boned out and in the pack.  When completed I headed out to see what they heck was killing this goat!  Noise was coming from large bush in the middle of an open spot on a hill.  Expecting to see a pig killing the goat I stalked up silently, arrow nocked and ready, peaked my head in the bush and was shocked by what I saw.

Seems sometimes goats give birth with the assistance of a Midwife.  This poor nanny was giving birth to a still born.  Having all kinds of problems.  The midwife is putting her head all the way up to the ears into the birthing mother helping to extract the kid.  I watched in pure amazement for what I think was about 15 or 20 minutes.  At times I was close enough to reach out and touch them.  They never acknowledged that I was ever there.  Just went about their business of trying to deliver the still born.  The nanny seemed in so much pain I even thought I might want to end her misery and put her down at some point in time.

About the time I decided I would just back off and let nature take it's course a big billy walks behind me.  Less than five yards to my right he too sticks his head in the bush to watch the show.  I drop to a knee, drew back and let him have it!  A ten yard dash and he was down.  I walk over to him and another billy comes into the opening.  I put an arrow into his boiler room and he was down within ten yards.  This repeated two more times!  All while the nanny was screaming in pain inside the bush.  I could probably have stayed there all day and piled up the goats had I not run out of sharp broadheads.

So I showed up at the pickup point with two pigs and two billies in my pack plus dragging two more billies on a rope.  I sat down with my legs in a ditch waiting for Doug Walker's son to come pick me up.  It was a straight stretch of road so I could see quite a ways.  I watch three pigs cross the road to my left just prior to Scott arriving.  We loaded up the truck with the two goats and all the meat in my pack.  I grabbed the blade packs I had left in the truck and Scott headed to camp to drop off the meat and goats.  The plan was he would return shortly after as darkness was less than an hour away.

After replacing blades in my broadheads I worked my way down to where I had seen the three pigs.  It was perfect for an ambush.  Nice dusty quiet road with a bank about 3 1/2 feet tall.  I saw a pig at 50 yards and got down on my knees.  I crawled to the point I figured closest to the pig and peeked over.  He was still there at less than 10 yards.  I drew the bow back while behind the embankment raised up far enough to clear the arrow and pig #3 was dead before he knew I was there.  I saw one of the other pigs run parallel with the road.  So I dropped to my knees again, crawled about 60 yards, peek over the lip and there he is at 20 yards.  Repeat the shot as before and pig #4 dead within sight.  This spooked the crap out of the third pig in this group.  But instead of running off into the safety of the brush he decided to make a run for it by crossing the road back to the place from where they had originally come.  I had the bow drawn before he jumped off the bank down onto the road.  And by the time he made it across the road a four blade Savora Swept-Wing had punched through his lungs and his escape didn't last another thirty yards.

One day, a once in a lifetime experience, nine shots, eight heart shots, four billies and five pigs.  That was a memorable day!



Just over one year later it was determined that bowhunters were unable to control the population of game on the island.  So conservancy brought in military gunships.  They herded as many goats and pigs down onto the beaches and on the cliffs as they could and they slaughtered as many as possible.  What a dang shame!  I always loved hunting that place.  Was the source of many of my most memorable experiences.  And the best bowhunting training ground one could ever have hoped for!

  Great write up, reminds of all those stories Higgins used to recite to Magnum about the war.

[RadSav]

  Great write up, reminds of all those stories Higgins used to recite to Magnum about the war.

God save the Queen!

Man I loved that show -

Higgins: There’s some tea on the table, and some scones. You might try the strawberry jam too, it’s really quite good. An old comrade from the Burma campaign sent it to me -- Tanky Moran. Got his name when he single-handedly took on a Japanese tank and knocked it out.

Higgins: Malaysia, 1943. Our regiment was hopelessly outnumbered and faced certain death. In our ranks was a young Lt. Ian Bowerly and during a lull in the battle he recited Gunga Din. I suppose to keep up our courage in face of the inevitable. His eloquent recitation grew increasingly louder until it thundered through the jungle. To our amazement, the Japanese troops walked forward. Although they spoke no English they were entranced by the poem. They allowed us all to leave the area unharmed except for poor Mr. Bowerly. As we made our escape we could hear him reciting other Kipling favorites, literally for miles. To this day, his fate remains unknown.

Higgins: Sometimes you amaze me, Magnum, truly. Your intuitive grasp of human nature is so...so...pre-adolescent.

[huntnphool]

  Great write up, reminds of all those stories Higgins used to recite to Magnum about the war.

God save the Queen!

Man I loved that show -

Higgins: There’s some tea on the table, and some scones. You might try the strawberry jam too, it’s really quite good. An old comrade from the Burma campaign sent it to me -- Tanky Moran. Got his name when he single-handedly took on a Japanese tank and knocked it out.

Higgins: Malaysia, 1943. Our regiment was hopelessly outnumbered and faced certain death. In our ranks was a young Lt. Ian Bowerly and during a lull in the battle he recited Gunga Din. I suppose to keep up our courage in face of the inevitable. His eloquent recitation grew increasingly louder until it thundered through the jungle. To our amazement, the Japanese troops walked forward. Although they spoke no English they were entranced by the poem. They allowed us all to leave the area unharmed except for poor Mr. Bowerly. As we made our escape we could hear him reciting other Kipling favorites, literally for miles. To this day, his fate remains unknown.

Higgins: Sometimes you amaze me, Magnum, truly. Your intuitive grasp of human nature is so...so...pre-adolescent.

 I literally laughed out loud when I read those, I too loved that show and watch it on the classics channel when it's on........good stuff right there.

[NoBark]

North Slope of Alaska, after a 5 mile drag out. Surreal, just like the picture.

[Miles]

Good stuff guys, keep them coming!

C'mon huntnphool, I know you must have a few good hunts/pictures to contribute.   Didn't someone in your hunting party get one 6 or so years back in WA with a lot of mass?   For some reason I think I remember it had fairly large bases...

 I think I can remember every single hunt I have ever been on, so I guess they are all memorable in one way or another.

 You might be remembering my "little" brothers quality tag hunt a from few years back, yeah that one was fun and memorable, being with him and making the stalk on his biggest buck ever. It just missed 40" of mass at 39 6/8 officially.

 Charlie did a great job on the mount.

That was the one.