Free: Contests & Raffles.
Speaking of the color red, none of that orange stuff.oh and road hunting was taking a trip by Beaver Creek campground or Little Bellingham to check out those meatpoles. That was half the fun. A whole lotta handshakes, and whoppers toldOne thing about working at the gas station every year. Every car that pulled in, youd hop up to see what was tied on the hood. LOL
That is exactly what happened to me 2 years ago in the Gardner unit! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Boy howdy! Yep, this was the kind of weather that would fall into the catagory of “the switch is about to be flipped”. Yep get under “grandpas tree”, like, yesterday😆 and stay there til you pick the one you wanted. I remember hearing stories of 2 bucks killed by that tree in the morning, then 2 more relatives going in at lunch (the pile of branches used as a ground blind only provided cover for 2) then a couple more would go in for the afternoon hunt. Many times during the migration 6 or more bucks would die by that tree in a days worth of hunting, one of the best runways I know of in that valley when the snow starts piling up, a steep draw with a jack pine jungle flanking both sides for miles, they got to come through it to get to point B from point A. I remember back in the late 50,s and 60,s sitting under that tree with my great grandma and counting over 800 come up that draw by noon, I would ask her as we were hiking out how come she never killed any of the big bucks we seen (sometimes dozens of nice bucks over 5 or 6 hours), she would say “ they are just getting started, there might be some bigger ones tomorrow “, I along with others from the “Little Bellingham” camp helped grandma and grandpa get some monsterous bucks out of that hole on the “second day” or the “third day” of those old migrations👍And yes bone, the times sitting in some of those routes in a blizzard, just seeing shadows moving through the snow, 50 yards or so out but not being able to see what they were or how big, just “bodies” moving through sideways blowing snow, sometimes non-stop for a half hour or so. Or like you said, I remember being parked in another one of my family’s favorite runways when deer were on the move and seeing 5,6, 7 hundred head or more move through over the course of an hour or so but not seeing a horn, all does and fawns, then a couple days later sitting in the same spot and counting another 200 or so with half of them being bucks. I am lucky to have a family heritage of hunting this valley going back to 1917 and personally chasing deer around here for over 60 years. Like you bone, I feel blessed to have experienced this valley during the hay days and actually witnessing some of the unbelievable (to some) historic migrations from the largest migrating mule deer herd in the country (at one time), that is no longer the case, it’s not even a shadow of what it once was, it truly breaks my heart on what this once mighty herd has become. I told you about this past season and what we experienced bone, very sad and unforgivable about what’s happened.
Quote from: H2Ofuzz on November 06, 2022, 06:01:52 PMThat is exactly what happened to me 2 years ago in the Gardner unit! Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkThat was a nice buck Drew! Does your dad still hunt up Smith canyon?
Of course I had to leave today and go back to work, heck of a drive home. Couldn’t have timed it any worse, hopefully there are a few left on public still come Friday
As a kid, you know when seeing a pile of deer turds got you excited and you had to pick on up and squeeze them to see if they were fresh or not. You come across this ridge and there would be thousands of tracks, all headed in the same direction. I dont recall ever catching up with those. I was in the migration a couple times. It was basically indescribable.
Quote from: Mtnwalker on November 06, 2022, 07:50:08 PMOf course I had to leave today and go back to work, heck of a drive home. Couldn’t have timed it any worse, hopefully there are a few left on public still come FridayYou will be fine.
Quote from: bigmacc on November 06, 2022, 05:25:44 PMBoy howdy! Yep, this was the kind of weather that would fall into the catagory of “the switch is about to be flipped”. Yep get under “grandpas tree”, like, yesterday😆 and stay there til you pick the one you wanted. I remember hearing stories of 2 bucks killed by that tree in the morning, then 2 more relatives going in at lunch (the pile of branches used as a ground blind only provided cover for 2) then a couple more would go in for the afternoon hunt. Many times during the migration 6 or more bucks would die by that tree in a days worth of hunting, one of the best runways I know of in that valley when the snow starts piling up, a steep draw with a jack pine jungle flanking both sides for miles, they got to come through it to get to point B from point A. I remember back in the late 50,s and 60,s sitting under that tree with my great grandma and counting over 800 come up that draw by noon, I would ask her as we were hiking out how come she never killed any of the big bucks we seen (sometimes dozens of nice bucks over 5 or 6 hours), she would say “ they are just getting started, there might be some bigger ones tomorrow “, I along with others from the “Little Bellingham” camp helped grandma and grandpa get some monsterous bucks out of that hole on the “second day” or the “third day” of those old migrations👍And yes bone, the times sitting in some of those routes in a blizzard, just seeing shadows moving through the snow, 50 yards or so out but not being able to see what they were or how big, just “bodies” moving through sideways blowing snow, sometimes non-stop for a half hour or so. Or like you said, I remember being parked in another one of my family’s favorite runways when deer were on the move and seeing 5,6, 7 hundred head or more move through over the course of an hour or so but not seeing a horn, all does and fawns, then a couple days later sitting in the same spot and counting another 200 or so with half of them being bucks. I am lucky to have a family heritage of hunting this valley going back to 1917 and personally chasing deer around here for over 60 years. Like you bone, I feel blessed to have experienced this valley during the hay days and actually witnessing some of the unbelievable (to some) historic migrations from the largest migrating mule deer herd in the country (at one time), that is no longer the case, it’s not even a shadow of what it once was, it truly breaks my heart on what this once mighty herd has become. I told you about this past season and what we experienced bone, very sad and unforgivable about what’s happened.How old are you Big Mac