Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2012, 03:26:25 PM
Cheers,
Dale, Tara, & the Bearpaw Crew
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2012, 03:29:01 PM
Post by: bearmanric on September 03, 2012, 04:06:54 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2012, 04:09:32 PM
They had just finished cleanup on the buck carcass when the phone rang, it was Dave (Dustin's friend) who had shot a bear and couldn't find it after climbing in and out of the canyon twice. I was an hour away so Tara and Dustin went to help look for the lost bear. They get there and Dave points down into the "mother of all canyons" well maybe it wasn't quite that bad, but Tara, Dave, and Dustin will all swear it was. They went down into the canyon and up the other side looking while Dave tried to point and shout directions from where he had shot to where he thought he hit the bear. They finally located a drop of blood on one rock and dropped straight back down into the canyon from that spot, pretty quick Dustin located the bear. Soon they were headed up with the bear, slowly I might add. It was so steep that it took four people to get the bear out in one piece and he was just a medium sized bear. They broke a belt, one guy has a stretched leg muscle and my wife Tara got a blister on her heel. So within a few hours of daylight Tara and Dustin had a pretty good workout, gutting, dragging, skinning, and cleaning up two animals, then she fixed lunch for the guys and had dinner on the table at O-Dark thirty for everyone, she's resting and catching up on sleep as I write this.
Here's a photo of Dustin's first whitetail buck and I will post a photo of Dave's first bear as soon as I get copies. Congrats guys! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2012, 04:15:40 PM
Tough here on the coast. Called in a nice bull while calling bear. Coming home tomorrow have some orders to get out then off to colville. Great looking bear Dale. Going in to a good stand maybe it will happen. Rick
Give me a call when you get over here, it would be good to visit again! Do you need a place to stay so you don't have to camp, I think I will have room if you want to stay here, let me know when you are headed out?
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2012, 08:23:26 PM
Sometimes **** happens, that old bumper sticker certainly has it's place in the hunting community. On opening day hunter Mike put a 101 yard shot on a super tanker that guide Ray estimated at 400+-. The bear bled good at first but kept moving, Ray backed off for a few hours and went back tracking later in the afternoon, he folowed the bear for 300 to 400 yards farther, then the blood played out but the bear didn't. Long story short, the big one got away and there's nothing we can do to change that. We shot the guns the day before season and know the gun was on the mark, but apparently the shot was just a bit off the mark and did not get the job done. I have taken many animals through the years that had been previously wounded, so I can only hope that since this bear quit bleeding and didn't bed down that he may heal up and survive.
What Difference Does the Full Moon Really Make?
I don't know the true answer to this question, but it makes one heck of an excuse for hunters. On the way home from hunting we have practically hit bear and moose with the trucks, we are seeing bear tracks and bear poop the next morning right in our own footprints, we have passed several smaller bear, we have passed a few sows with cubs, and Dave saw two shooter bear in the brush while he was trying to find his dead bear, we have killed a few bear, but we have not killed as many bear as I had hoped we would during the first couple days of hunting season. I just wonder how much affect the moon really has or if it's just a good excuse to moan about. :chuckle:
Another Bigun To Hope For
There's another toad of a boar on one of the ranches that we are hunting, every morning we have a plan that we think will result in his demise and every morning at daylight we see a glimpse of him moving into his brushy hiding place but get no realistic shot opportunity. Plan E failed this morning, and I am still scratching my head on how to get this big black bruiser. :chuckle:
Another Bear Down
Hunter Brian put the smack down on this nice blackie with his trusty .308 while hunting with guide Ray. Awesome work guys! Brian cannot claim a one shot kill, but Ray tracked the bear for a little less than 100 yards and found it down for the count. Congrats guys!
Post by: sebek556 on September 03, 2012, 08:34:40 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 03, 2012, 08:39:38 PM
Post by: bearmanric on September 04, 2012, 11:38:49 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 05, 2012, 09:36:03 AM
Geeze Dale your making me wanna throw my rifle and gear in the truck and head over for another Bear Hunt. Do you have any Bears saved for me?
We are pretty well on top of the bear right now, we saw several bear yesterday but circumstances beyond our control resulted in no kills which had me worried, hunters usually only have a few days to hunt so hunts go by fast and a day with no kills is hard on my nerves. Today is already better, several bear including another new big boar which the hunter was too excited to shoot have been seen this morning, but the same hunter shot and killed the next bear he saw this morning, I hope to have pics posted later, that bear is being recovered right now.
There is a lot of berries right now on our private ranches and the bear are there eating and putting on fat for their winter sleep. But, bear are not stupid creatures, even though we have first day kills every year, on the average a hunter needs about 5 days to have a really good chance at a bear.
Post by: washingtonmuley on September 05, 2012, 09:41:36 AM
How active are the elk right now? Are they bugling up your way?
Thanks,
Tim
Post by: bearpaw on September 05, 2012, 09:50:17 AM
Dale,
How active are the elk right now? Are they bugling up your way?
Thanks,
Tim
I have a guy who already killed his bear who is hunting elk now, we heard elk a couple days ago and had them pinned down, but heavy activity by other hunters scouting before the opener moved the elk and yesterday it was dead, not a peep. I did hear of a bull that was called in by other hunters in another area but they didn't get it. So, there is some talking if you find the right elk.
Post by: washingtonmuley on September 05, 2012, 10:00:25 AM
Post by: bearmanric on September 05, 2012, 10:11:04 AM
Post by: Ripper on September 05, 2012, 02:46:51 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 07, 2012, 02:04:33 PM
We've seen a few more bear and we managed to sack up another bear. Scott was here last year and shot a bear with Brian, this year he killed another bear with Brian. It had to be shot more than once, then it ran way up high in a big old tree and then suddenly fell out stone dead, all the way to the ground. Wow, that would have made some good video. :chuckle:
Congrats Scott! :tup:
Post by: h20hunter on September 07, 2012, 02:05:47 PM
Post by: Ripper on September 07, 2012, 03:32:15 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 07, 2012, 05:19:24 PM
Dang, that sucks, 2 lost bear! Well Dale I hope you get some hunters who are better shot's! I know things happen, but it still sucks!
Definitely sucks, in both cases the bear went uphill and quit bleeding, so I am hoping they had flesh wounds and heal up. Just goes to show that a person can never practice shooting too much.
New hunter in camp today, we just finished a long session of range practice as he was a bit green at shooting. Was missing the paper completely, we have him shooting 2 inch groups now. The guy is pretty new to hunting and these new rifles have such stiff triggers and long travel that they require a lot of skill to stay on target. I bet with a good trigger job the same hunter and gun would shoot 1 inch groups.
Had a bear spotted 30 minutes or so ago in a guys yard, I sent a hunter over to the homesite and he's posted on the property watching for the bear now, supposed to be a nice sized bear, my fingers are crossed for more pictures.
Post by: Ripper on September 07, 2012, 06:43:36 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 08, 2012, 02:02:33 PM
I have a bow hunter who was sitting on stand last night and just before dark he arrowed a 4x4 whitetail, the arrow passed through and had good blood, but the buck disappeared into the brush so Ray let him sit for a while to die. It was dark when Ray started looking and in an hour he could only find two drops of blood about 60 yards apart and then nothing, so he let the buck go overnight.
At first light several of us were on location looking for the buck. A little more blood was found here and there but it was very tough tracking, soon a little more blood was found, but the guys couldn't track very fast. After about 4 hours they jumped something real close in the brush, thinking it was the deer that jumped up they moved forward quickly to try and see it, there they found the buck laying dead. Amazingly it was all too clear what had happened.
This buck had a seriously unlucky day, after being arrowed he had ran quite a ways and into the thick brush and either ran into a bear or had bedded down and a bear tracked him down while he was still alive. But it was obvious the bear killed the deer by biting it in the back and lower neck, the wounds showed heavy bruising and bleeding. Then the bear had ripped open and nearly gutted the deer and then ate nearly about half the deer. We were able to recover the two rear legs, part of the back straps and part of the neck. We figure that when approaching the deer it was the bear that was heard running off. Judging by the tracks and fresh scat, the bear is probably about 170 to 200 pounds.
You can bet we will be watching for this bear. :archery_smiley:
Here's a couple photos of what was recovered from the buck.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 08, 2012, 03:11:34 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2012, 11:49:53 AM
Here is a bear that Bill passed this morning, Bill has killed 5 bear with us in prior seasons so this year he is waiting for a bruiser, now he has passed 7 bear during his hunt this year and even though this is his last day to hunt, he let this bear go. :tup:
We need more hunters! :yike:
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2012, 11:59:19 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 10, 2012, 06:03:43 AM
Post by: KFhunter on September 10, 2012, 10:25:32 AM
wow
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2012, 01:53:22 PM
On the 3rd day, DeWayne who was at the small property spotted a good bear and made an 80 yard shot, the bear went tumbling head over heels into the canyon, roaring and growling (not moaning) all the way into the bottom. Anthony was sitting with Mike at the other property watching for "wobble butt" when the phone rang. DeWayne said he hit a big bear and it was growling and roaring in the canyon below so Anthony told him to hold tight and give him a chance to die while he left Mike and headed to meet DeWayne. Anthony was there in about an hour and they started tracking. They immediately found a dead buck that the bear had been eating on right below where DeWayne had shot and it appeared that the bear had killed the buck when it wandered through the brush where the bear had been living in the canyon.
While tracking, Anthony just happened to spot the bear crossing a field about 1/4 mile away so they hurried down. The bear was laying down every few steps and then would get up and go another few steps then lay down again. He was pissed off and roaring and growling a lot, more than any black bear we've ever seen do that before. The bear made it through the field and into the next canyon and crossed the creek. The guys said when the bear went through the creek that water must have got into the shoulder wound because the bear was roaring again, then it headed up the other sidehill and was about to cross into the neighboring property when DeWayne was finally able to get in the finishing shots. The bear growled and roared until he expired, none of us have ever seen a black bear that pissed off before.
When we skinned the bear we found a broadhead that was grissled up in the shoulder. I checked his teeth and would guess him to be about 15 years old, he was nearly a gummer. I think this bear had been around.
DeWayne also decided that he wanted the dead buck's head even if he had to burn his archery deer tag so he could have the skull cleaned to go with his bear mount. I confirmed this with the local warden and DeWayne will get to keep the head since he is willing to tag it. (FYI - Apparently you can't keep antlers that are on a skull unless it's been tagged.)
Congrat's DeWayne.... :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2012, 02:44:20 PM
While Anthony was helping DeWayne with his bear, things got interesting for Mike who was still at the other ranch watching for "wobble butt". He kept hearing a bear working the area in front of him. He listened, he watched, and he waited, pretty soon out pops a black color bear about 170 yards away. Mike pulls down on the bear and drops him, the bear rolls a short distance and starts moaning, pretty soon it stopped and Mike repositioned himself a little and was able to see his bear laying there dead. A couple minutes go by and then he spotted another bear, then another, then a sow and cubs, and then more bear. All in all there were 8 other bear (including 2 cubs) that moved around the area before Anthony got back to help. Mike said one of the bear was a toad, we figured that was "wobble but" getting away again. :chuckle:
Anthony took care of Mike's bear and they headed back to the home place with two nice blackies. Job well done! :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: Gringo31 on September 11, 2012, 02:55:32 PM
What a start! Can't believe how many deer kills you are running across up there....Keep after em Dale!
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2012, 03:08:20 PM
Post by: Ripper on September 11, 2012, 04:24:26 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2012, 06:09:53 PM
Sounds like you're having an amazing season Dale! :tup:
It's been pretty good, best of all some great experiences and stories for most everyone, but I have to admit, I had one guy who did not see a bear. No matter where we hunted him, that was the wrong place that day. Some of the bear taken have come from where we hunted him after he left. :dunno: :bash:
Post by: grizzlyadams on September 11, 2012, 10:14:27 PM
Thanks Dale :tup:
Post by: h2ofowlr on September 11, 2012, 10:22:35 PM
I am a little worried, I heard about a farmer who has found numerous dead deer on his place, deer in the field at night have gone from 42 to about 10. I mentioned it to the game warden and we are going to try and get a tissue sample for the biologist to check out. Hope it's not blue tongue. :yike:
Any wolf traffic in your area?
Post by: bearpaw on September 12, 2012, 08:57:54 AM
Seems like quite a few bear are being hit but not dropping. Are these guys using light calibers or is it just poor shot placement. Just wondering what to expect with my rifle. I'll be using my 300 wm with 180's. If I get one this year, it will be the first with this rifle. I've dropped bear before with my 30-06 but maybe they were just smaller bear than the ones you're encountering. Just looking for some info.
Thanks Dale :tup:
Over the years I have noted numerous problems, here are the most common:
Bear Fever...............(too excited when shooting at a bear)
Lack of Practice........(practice makes you a better shot)
Poor Rest.................(use a bipod, shooting sticks, or a good rest so you make a good shot)
Shooting Too Far......(bear are tough, bullets must have good energy and hit vitals, just hitting the bear is not enough)
Improper Bullets.......(I have seen too many bullets that blow up and don't penetrate, use premium grade bullets)
Inadequate Power....(too small of catridge in addition to a poorly placed shot and a bear is certain to walk)
This is My Opinion
I have seen bear killed with the .243 caliber, but too many are wounded. I consider a 25/06 the minimum. The 7mag, 300 mags, and 338's are excellent. A .308 or 7mm/08 Win is adequate at close range but does not have the velocity to be a good choice at longer ranges.
Post by: bearpaw on September 12, 2012, 09:01:19 AM
I am a little worried, I heard about a farmer who has found numerous dead deer on his place, deer in the field at night have gone from 42 to about 10. I mentioned it to the game warden and we are going to try and get a tissue sample for the biologist to check out. Hope it's not blue tongue. :yike:
Any wolf traffic in your area?
We live right in the middle of the majority of Washington's wolves. But these deer are on a place close to town where no wolf sightings have been reported, I'm fairly certain that's not the problem.
Post by: bearpaw on September 12, 2012, 09:43:50 AM
Great shooting and congratulations. :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: h20hunter on September 12, 2012, 09:47:18 AM
Post by: Killmore on September 12, 2012, 03:49:54 PM
Post by: sirmissalot on September 12, 2012, 04:09:25 PM
Post by: Ripper on September 12, 2012, 04:50:37 PM
Post by: elkhunter1977 on September 12, 2012, 06:21:50 PM
Post by: Gringo31 on September 13, 2012, 07:45:15 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2012, 08:15:00 AM
Another 251 pounder (on the scale) was as big as he would probably ever get. His canines were very discolored and his front incissors were nearly smooth with his gums. I figured he probably was 10 to 15 years old.
Post by: fvh40 on September 14, 2012, 03:09:58 AM
What happens with the bear's meat, isb it useable?
Pardon the silly question :dunno: :chuckle:
Post by: elkhunter1977 on September 15, 2012, 07:23:47 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 15, 2012, 08:53:35 AM
It's very useable!... I usually have mine made into sausage and pepper stick.
Definitely good meat, a roast well cooked is just like a beef roast, not gamey at all. Whenever I have a hunter who does not want or cannot take home the meat of any animal, I have numerous people that we donate the meat to. Even a lot of the cougar, we pack the meat out for people who want it. Cougar is also very good eating. :tup:
Bear Report:
Bear hunting has really slowed down with all the elk hunters in the woods around here. A few hunters I know are still out for bear but not having any luck, that includes a guided hunter in camp right now who is hunting with Nick, but I just got a lead from a landowner friend on a bear that started hitting an apple orchard at his place last night, so maybe our luck on this hunt will change for the better. :tup:
Post by: fvh40 on September 15, 2012, 09:04:16 AM
Thanks
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2012, 07:10:40 AM
We have been doing our last guided bear hunt but the last several days have been tough, the bear have felt the pressure of hunting season and they have been staying out of sight. After another unsuccessful short morning hunt we printed off some B&C and SCI score sheets and Rob who is also doing guide school with us went to work at judging and scoring trophies for the next 5 hours, all part of what we do in the guide school.
For the evening hunt we decided Rob should hunt at my friend's apple orchard so Nick and Rob went to meet my friend to watch the orchard. Nick was turning off the highway into my friend's place when some clown rear ended the Durango, they figure the guy was going 65 to 80, he hit his brakes and slid quite a ways but hit the Durango's trailer hitch as they turned and it spun the Durango a full turn and a half on the highway, the Durango suffered some damage but the other car was pretty bad, they took the other car away with a wrecker and handed the other guy a ticket. Luckily nobody was hurt in the wreck and the guy had insurance. My friend called me with his cell phone and said "The way this hunt is starting I can't wait to see how it ends!", we both had a good laugh at that. :chuckle:
After the police were done Nick and Rob jumped in my friend's truck and they headed to the apple orchard, they got settled in for what was left of the evening and they patiently waited.
About 30 minutes before dark a beautiful chocolate brown bear strolled in at 40 yards and started eating fallen apples. A very excited Rob put his crosshairs on a bear for the first time in his life, his rifle wouldn't hold still, it was as if the rifle had a mind of it's own, the crosshairs were all over the place, but Rob did his best and was able to pull the trigger, his shoulder shot hit the bear squarely in the neck and the chocolate brown dropped.
I wished it had been a boar but she is a dandy for a sow, the best head I've seen on a sow in quite a while. I checked her teeth and she is the second oldest bear we have taken this year, I would guess 10 or older and she scaled 240 pounds, pretty good for a sow. As for Rob, he is a happy camper, he said he's happy he hit the bear given the excitement of shooting at his first bear at such close range. He said he's having his taxidermist do a half mount of the bear, the hide is in great condition with heavy hair, it should look great. Congrats Rob... :tup:
Chocolate Brown Down
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2012, 07:45:27 AM
Amazingly the hitch took nearly all the impact, bent it pretty good and damaged the bumper and the right rear light area, there might also be frame damage as hard as it was hit, the impact sent the Durango in a spin turning a full 1 1/2 times on the highway, lucky no body was coming from the other direction. According the the guys the other car was likely totaled with damage from the hitch, all the way down the entire side of the car from front to back. They took the other car away on a wrecker.
The moral of the story, "If you going to be rear ended, do it in a Durango!". :chuckle:
Post by: Dhoey07 on September 16, 2012, 08:04:47 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2012, 04:24:31 PM
We have two guys archery elk hunting in Idaho. One guy (his first elk hunt ever) missed two cows yesterday, he is not selective and will take any elk, hope his yardage is on target next time. The other guy has killed a 5x5 bull before with us in Idaho, this morning he passed a 5x5 bull. I hope that decision works out in the long run! At least they are in elk and getting shot opportunities. Another larger 5x5 was spotted this morning that was way out of range, not sure yet if they are going after that bull or not. My fingers are crossed for pictures! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 25, 2012, 08:46:25 PM
More bad luck on the elk hunt, another lost opportunity on a big 6x6 this time. :(
Still hoping for photos....
WA Moose Rutting
Had a good scouting trip, saw some moose got some great video. We watched two bulls thrashing brush and grunting a few hundred yards apart. The bull on top of the ridge kept looking down into the canyon and it was obvious he could hear the other bull working over the brush. He quickly began working his way down the hill toward the bull in the canyon.
With hopes of a front row seat to a good moose battle we decided to cut the distance in half between us and the bull in the canyon, but we were cautious to not get too close since neither of us was packing so much as a dull knife. Yep that's right two of us out moose scouting, fresh bear tracks scattered nearly everywhere we went, a bear tag in both our pockets, and we both forgot to bring a gun of any kind.
The upper bull closed the gap in only a few minutes and they were soon facing each other, less than 30 yards apart. We were only about 50 yards from them and figured we were probably close enough. The bigger bodied bull had the smaller rack but seemed to be more dominant. We watched him tear up a scrape with his horns and front hooves, he peed in it then rolled in it while the other bull rubbed the brush and glared at him. Then they walked by each other, then the bigger bodied bull went back to the scrape and rolled it in again got up and they faced off again, walked around each other, but unfortunately didn't fight.
Then we must have moved a little too much because they got nervous and left up over the ridge. I got some great video that I hope to use in a moose video soon. Here are some pics of the two moose and the fresh scrape that we checked after the moose left.
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2012, 09:16:49 AM
During the early fall season two hens may be taken. We set up this morning before daylight, at daylight the birds came off the roost and went the opposite direction. We continued to sit and watch, about 6:45 four long beards come feeding right past us. At about 7am along came a group of hens, Thomas smacked two hens with two quick shots, 6 pounds and 9 pounds, congrats Thomas! :tup:
Post by: saylean on September 26, 2012, 09:42:18 AM
Sucks about the durango. I caught some of a small interview with you in Washington-Oregon Fish and Gam Mag :tup:
Post by: elkoholic1 on September 26, 2012, 12:22:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2012, 10:04:15 AM
Post by: elkoholic1 on September 27, 2012, 10:11:07 AM
Post by: PlateauNDN on September 27, 2012, 10:35:42 AM
Durango Damage
Amazingly the hitch took nearly all the impact, bent it pretty good and damaged the bumper and the right rear light area, there might also be frame damage as hard as it was hit, the impact sent the Durango in a spin turning a full 1 1/2 times on the highway, lucky no body was coming from the other direction. According the the guys the other car was likely totaled with damage from the hitch, all the way down the entire side of the car from front to back. They took the other car away on a wrecker.
The moral of the story, "If you going to be rear ended, do it in a Durango!". :chuckle:
I had a similar rear end in my suburban about 2 weeks prior to yours and the guy was in a ground scraping rice burner driving to close to my bumper and a car pulled out in front of me running a red light into my turn lane. He hit me and lost part of his bumper and while pulling over he decided to drag his bumper with him while flooring it to get away. :dunno: :chuckle: No damage to me and just traded the suburban for a newer durango and love it so far. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2012, 01:55:44 PM
I wished I was posting a photo of a big 7x8 bull, Nick says it's the biggest bull he's ever called in. The bull come running in looking for action, the hunter was very excited and shot right over the bull at 6 to 8 yards. The bull ran off and Nick called him back to 22 yards and the hunter missed again. We just seem to be jinxed on getting elk killed this bow season. :bash:
Maybe tomorrow... :tup:
Utah Mule Deer
In a few days we'll be hunting mule deer on our ranch in Utah. We have a father/son hunt, Jeff is in his 60's and his dad Jack I think is 88 now. They have hunted the ranch for the last 9 years with us. They say this is their favorite deer hunt ever. Last year Jack got sick and had to quit hunting, but that is was only the 2nd time he hadn't filled his deer tag there, pretty good for a hunter of his age. I do still have a couple hunts avauilable for this ranch, season runs till Nov 10.
Post by: Duffer on September 27, 2012, 07:16:52 PM
How do your bear hunting 'prospects' look toward the end of the season?
I'm trying to organize/fund a visit your way for a hunting buddy and myself yet this year.
and thanx to you once again for your personal involvement in Washington (and beyond) hunting! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2012, 02:56:22 AM
Hey Dale?
How do your bear hunting 'prospects' look toward the end of the season?
I'm trying to organize/fund a visit your way for a hunting buddy and myself yet this year.
and thanx to you once again for your personal involvement in Washington (and beyond) hunting! :tup:
Late in the season bear hunting can be hit or miss. Right now I have a bear hitting an orchard but you never know how long that will last. I have several other orchards full of apples that haven't been touched yet, but at some point there should be bear coming into them. The best thing to do is keep in touch with me so that I can let you know when it will be good to come. Last year we had numerous bear hitting the apples in October, I was able to get one bear hunter, he shot a nice bear the first morning. But I don't want to have you come hunting late in the season unless we have bear hitting the apple trees. So first decide if you want to hunt, then let me know how flexible you are with your hunting dates and we'll see if it comes together. Otherwise you could wait for spring or early fall next year.
Post by: RadSav on September 28, 2012, 05:07:21 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 01, 2012, 09:12:28 AM
That sow was 240 field dressed?
No, that's the weight including guts. But she was well over 200 after gutting.
Post by: bearpaw on October 01, 2012, 09:16:40 AM
I have moose hunters hunting here in Washington, they called several bulls yesterday and had two different bulls picked out that they are going after today. My fingers are crossed!
The governor tag holder sent me a photo, he filled his tag two days ago with a dandy with a couple other locals, but it's not my picture to post on here.
Post by: bearpaw on October 01, 2012, 10:05:58 PM
Well no moose today in Washington for us, one grouse was taken or we would have all been skunked. None of the moose that were sighted yesterday were seen today, but that's hunting. :chuckle:
Utah Mule Deer Success
In spite of the slow day in Washington I was greeted with the news that Jack (88 years young) killed a 4x3 mulie in Utah today. They were on a good buck this morning but it was too long of walk for Jack, they had to give it up. They went in for lunch and rested and in the afternoon they got Jack on a 4x4, but he couldn't get settled for the shot and it got away, then they passed some smaller bucks and finally Jack nailed the 4x3. That was great news, can't wait to get the photo.
:IBCOOL: :IBCOOL: :IBCOOL:
Post by: RadSav on October 01, 2012, 10:15:49 PM
That sow was 240 field dressed?
No, that's the weight including guts. But she was well over 200 after gutting.
Sure you were showing the right picture! That's the thickest 240 bear I've ever seen :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on October 02, 2012, 10:36:39 AM
That sow was 240 field dressed?
No, that's the weight including guts. But she was well over 200 after gutting.
Sure you were showing the right picture! That's the thickest 240 bear I've ever seen :tup:
Yep, it's the right photo. You can take pictures that make the animal look small or pictures that make the animal look big. The real trick is in taking pictures that don't make it obvious you are trying to make the animal look as big as possible.
I don't always accomplish the desired result, but I am getting better as my hair changes color. :chuckle:
The heaviest bear that we killed this year scaled 251 or 252, some may have thought it weighed more, but that's what the scale said. He was old too, would not have gotten any bigger.
(maybe I should start adding 100 pounds to the scale weight) :chuckle:
Post by: whacker1 on October 02, 2012, 10:41:02 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 02, 2012, 11:26:14 AM
Do you have any hide measurements or skull measurements for those bigger bears?
I didn't measure them, but the hides are probably a little under 6 feet at that weight. Skulls vary a lot, the bigger one might have been 18 to 19.
Post by: bearpaw on October 02, 2012, 02:20:52 PM
Numerous bucks spotted, Brian's other hunter missed a 4x4 mule deer they figured was about 24ish. One of Nick's hunters missed another 4x4 buck they figured about the same size (24ish) this morning. I'm hoping for better success this evening.
Post by: RadSav on October 02, 2012, 06:06:37 PM
Yep, it's the right photo. You can take pictures that make the animal look small or pictures that make the animal look big. The real trick is in taking pictures that don't make it obvious you are trying to make the animal look as big as possible.
I don't always accomplish the desired result, but I am getting better as my hair changes color. :chuckle:
(maybe I should start adding 100 pounds to the scale weight) :chuckle:
Adding 100 pounds will at least match the hunter's story when he/she gets home :chuckle: 150 after a few beers!
Doesn't really matter how you took the pictures. That's one dang good sow for sure :tup: Should be some sweet tasting vittles too!
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2012, 03:26:19 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2012, 03:52:38 PM
This year Marty pulled a Spokane moose tag, we started hunting on Oct the 4th, we went two days without seeing a bull that we wanted to shoot. In one spot I called 4 bulls, a cow, and a calf, none were big enough, we called that spot the moose nest after that.
On the 3rd day I had a complete different plan, we went back behind the moose nest and hunted different country. I called at several different bulls but none would show themselves, we saw a young bull, a cow, and calf along the logging roads, but still no big bull. Next I tried a new area that we had not been in before, you know the old saying, the grass is greener across the fence, well this time the bull was bigger on the other side of the hill.
I drove into a landing and started to turn around, then for some reason I thought I better drive into another old road that came into the landing, I just pulled around the corner and there the bull was standing on the hillside, I immediately told Marty "He's a shooter!" and Marty jumped out to load his gun. At the same time I grabbed my binos and got a better look, "Marty his right side is real weak!" I said, but Marty quickly replied "I don't care I'm shooting him!"
The first shot probably would have killed the bull but Marty put a couple more in for "above the road insurance" since the bull was walking downhill. The bull dropped 10 feet above the road, a moose guides prayer come true. :chuckle:
We took photos, skinned and quartered the bull on a tarp, then loaded the bull and drove home, the 13x5, near 45 inch bull was hanging and washed clean before dark. "I love it when a plan comes together!"
We found that the bull had been badly wounded on his left rear leg, thus the reason for the weak right antler. Marty was more than happy with the bull, but jeez I sure wished he would have had a matching right antler. That left paddle measured 33 1/2 and even with the 5 point side I still think he's the best bull we saw, congrats Marty!
FYI - Check out the cysts on the liver. I wonder if these are from wolf worms?
Post by: THunt on October 10, 2012, 03:58:16 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2012, 04:07:08 PM
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 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VqLFltbeDQ#)
(We do offer cabins, meals, and hunting directions to DIY hunters at very affordable prices.)
Post by: Machias on October 10, 2012, 07:19:34 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 11, 2012, 11:42:18 AM
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. :tup:
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.
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2012, 03:02:54 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2012, 03:17:30 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2012, 03:24:19 PM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on October 17, 2012, 03:27:35 PM
Post by: Devinshoe on October 17, 2012, 03:29:49 PM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on October 17, 2012, 03:34:45 PM
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on October 17, 2012, 03:47:11 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 18, 2012, 05:12:14 AM
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.
Post by: Gringo31 on October 18, 2012, 07:33:10 AM
Keep after em Dale!
Post by: JohnVH on October 18, 2012, 08:05:21 AM
Post by: Ripper on October 18, 2012, 09:43:44 AM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 18, 2012, 04:33:18 PM
Post by: Badge251 on October 21, 2012, 05:54:47 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on October 21, 2012, 07:02:26 AM
Post by: RadSav on October 30, 2012, 11:53:05 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 03:32:53 PM
Looking good Dale, I'll see you guys in November! ;)
I look forward to seeing you again, hopefully we'll sack up another good buck. :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 03:44:13 PM
Post by: h20hunter on November 02, 2012, 03:47:52 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 04:42:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 04:48:08 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 05:02:01 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 05:05:28 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2012, 05:44:21 PM
We passed from 10 to 20 plus bucks per day but every tome we got onto a good 5x5 he would slip away one way or the other. Finally yesterday we lowered our standards slightly. In the morning I posted Danny with his muzzleloader watching a thickly timbered area. Within 30 minutes I heard the distinctive kerboom of a muzzy so I headed to see what had happened. Danny said a big buck had come down the trail but when he swung to shoot the buck seen him and took off, but a second smaller 4x4 was not quite as smart and paused for his last time. When the smoke cleared Danny said he could see the buck was hit by the way it ran, it only went about 80 yards leaving a huge blood trail and dropped, Danny had shot off the top of the heart with his 420 grain .54 Caliber Hornady HP projectile.
Now we could concentrate on Adrian. At about 4:30 pm I spotted two nice bucks bedded in an opening. The bucks saw us and bolted for the thick timber, this timne the big buck made the mistake of stopping and looking back. I said "he's the big one take him", at the crack of his 257 Wtby the buck dropped. Adrian and Danny were excited that they had both taken respectable bucks and Danny was ecstatic that he got his with his custom .54 caliber muzzy.
It was a bloody good time, we had a blast hunting with these two blokes .... :chuckle: :tup:
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 02, 2012, 05:57:21 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 03, 2012, 09:51:15 AM
On another note: We spotted a big 150's class 5x6 whitetail this morning that we had not seen before. We're going to be watching for him closely. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 03, 2012, 10:41:40 AM
The rut is really switching on here, we have another hunter arriving today, should be another great hunt. :tup:
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on November 03, 2012, 04:42:51 PM
Post by: Jonathan_S on November 03, 2012, 05:29:44 PM
Great photographs and beautiful animals.
Post by: bearpaw on November 04, 2012, 02:33:39 PM
We are nearly out of hunters and still have plenty of good bucks running around and tags are available OTC. If anyone wants to come on a great deer hunt soon, let me know by PM as soon as possible.
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on November 04, 2012, 02:51:04 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 05, 2012, 12:30:09 PM
Congrats Pete.... :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 05, 2012, 12:36:33 PM
Post by: Bean Counter on November 05, 2012, 12:47:29 PM
Post by: Raul Duke on November 05, 2012, 01:07:13 PM
Post by: elkoholic1 on November 05, 2012, 04:23:01 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2012, 09:01:19 PM
Just found out I have this weekend off. If I can convince my friend & his dad (disabled hunter) and my son (youth) to go up Saturday night and hunt sunday. I'm going to have to get a map from you, for a DIY Hunt.
Let me know if you need one.
Post by: Pathfinder101 on November 12, 2012, 09:11:39 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 14, 2012, 07:04:38 PM
Post by: crow killer on November 14, 2012, 08:39:08 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2012, 04:23:07 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2012, 04:35:24 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2012, 04:48:06 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 15, 2012, 05:58:09 AM
Pete who I think is 76 hunted the last 1 1/2 days. Yesterday a nice whitetail was spotted which was bedded down. After watching the buck for several minutes he finally moved his head slightly and it was determined that the buck was a 5x6. Pete had a good rest on the shooting sticks and made a great one shot kill, it was an awesome shot, congrats to Pete. This morning we took his wife for a tour of the ranch and she got to see some deer. We have been hunting Montana but we are headed back to Washington to get ready for the late buck opener.:tup: :tup:good job Pete :tup:
Congrats Pete.... :tup:
Post by: Brushbuster on November 15, 2012, 06:31:11 AM
Doyce's two brother-in-laws have come hunting with us every year the past 7 years and this year Doyce decided to come with them. About 5 minutes before shooting hours ended the "limpy" buck came past his blind chasing does. Doyce said "limpy" stopped and he shot, "limpy" dropped in his tracks. "Limpy" has a rather strange shaped rack and looking at his teeth he appeared to be about a 3 or 4 year old buck, no doubt the strange rack is due to the front wounded knee which was fused together, the knee didn't bend and the buck walked with a distinctive limp. We had seen "limpy" a few times but nobody had gotten a chance at him until now. Congrats to Doyce for getting his first buck in 20 years! :tup: :tup: :tup:
Way to hang in there Doyce!!! Those bucks wait to move the last minute! Glad you got "limpy" :tup: :hello:
Thanks again for the hunt Bearpaw. I had a great time!! Hope your season ends with a bang!! :chuckle:
Post by: Ripper on November 15, 2012, 06:51:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 19, 2012, 09:48:28 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2012, 06:35:40 AM
Thanks again for the hunt Bearpaw. I had a great time!! Hope your season ends with a bang!! :chuckle:
I hope your buck eats well Brushbuster, it was a pleasure having you over for the hunt, Tara and I look forward to seeing you again. To bring you up to date, Doyce's two brother-in-laws also both killed bucks, Kenny got a spike, and Vern killed a 2x3. Needless to say all three were very happy to go home with some meat. I have pic of Kenny's spike but didn't get a pic of Vern's 2x3.
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2012, 06:40:35 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2012, 08:15:56 AM
We also had a few unguided hunters in camp this week.
Jim killed a nice 4x4 with one shot. Jim is a great guy and it was a pleasure having him in camp. He is headed to Idaho next and then to Wyoming, he says it's nice to be retired, he's catching up on his hunting. I look forward to the next time Jim! :tup:
Eric and Mike hunted for two days, Eric had a chance at a really nice buck he figured in the 130's but forgot to take the safety off and the buck wasn't waiting for him to get it off and settled for the shot again. Eric told Mike to watch while he circled around to try and push out the buck. He pushed out a spike to Mike but it all happened pretty fast and Mike missed. Unfortunately they had to quit hunting mid-day Sunday so they could get back to work on Monday.
On Sunday I had two moose hunters arrive for a late moose hunt. I sent Tom, Tony, and Colby up to one of my favorite moose areas but it was pouring rain and mixed rain/snow all day. Not a lot of game was seen, they saw one cow moose and then just when they figured the day was over and they were wishing they could "somehow get lucky" they spotted a big whitetail, so on the last evening of late buck Tony who still had his deer tag in his pocket took the shot, the buck dropped and the celebrating began shortly thereafter. :IBCOOL:
Brushbuster had said:
Quote
Hope your season ends with a bang!! :chuckle:
Thanks for blessing us, it did end with a bang. :tup: :hello:
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2012, 08:56:51 AM
Thanks for hunting with us again Jim.
:tup: :tup: :hello:
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2012, 09:06:55 AM
If you haven't seen the first Montana Whitetail episode from last season on the Sportsman's Channel, it will be on again in a few weeks. Shannon was 5 months pregnant during the hunt, it is pretty humorous. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 01:54:56 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 02:05:05 PM
Watch for this show next season on "Trophy State of Mind".
Post by: CAMPMEAT on November 25, 2012, 02:21:19 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 02:34:21 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 02:35:27 PM
I want your job Dale. Very nice deer too !!!
Its a bit tough surviving in todays economy but I do really enjoy what I do, wouldn't trade for any other carreer.
Post by: Machias on November 25, 2012, 02:36:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 05:35:59 PM
Anthony hunted one part of the ranch while I hunted another part of the ranch. Bucks were in total complete rut mode, the does were in heat and we watched bucks running on doe trails like hound dogs on a coon track. There was one day the rut obviously peaked, at one time we had five different 4x4 or better bucks within 150 yards of us chasing doe trails. Four bucks were on one trail and one buck was on the other trail, I have never seen such aggressive rut activity, it will be a day to remember, we saw roughly thirty 4x4 or better bucks that day and most were with does or chasing doe trails.
The next day, yesterday, they decided we needed to quit looking at deer and kill some bucks so the husband/wife could get back home. First thing in the morning at daylight we spotted a buck we had all seen before with outward eyeguards. After about a 30 minute cat and mouse stalk the buck made a big mistake and stopped within view, the husband put one good shot into the shoulder and dropped him on the spot. I went and got the truck, I gutted him quickly, we loaded him into the truck and went spotting for a mule deer for the wife. We found several whitetails and some mule deer but not the mule buck we were after. Suddenly she happened to spot a whitetail buck at long range so I dialed in the spotter, I instantly exclaimed "he's a shooter". She had said if we spot a big whitetail that she would take a whitetail instead of a muley.
The buck was out of range so we watched him, as we watched from 400-500 yards and as a smaller 4 point watched from about 20 yards, the big buck mounted a doe twice . Then all three deer worked their way into a brushy canyon and out of sight. I drove way around so we could stalk in from the top of the canyon. It was really windy and the deer were really jumpy, we saw some mule deer and some whitetails but our buck had vanished. Suddenly a nice muley jumps up and runs over the ridge without presenting a decent shot opportunity. I whispered "let's finish our hunt and then we'll go after that buck". We were almost done with our hunt when I looked back and spotted the big whitetail buck staring at us, he had circled around us but made a mistake and stopped for a moment. I planted the shooting sticks on the ground and the wife took a quick aim and dropped the buck quickly with a spine shot.
Because she had not seen the buck through the spotter she didn't realize he was quite as good of buck as he was. As we walked up she finally had a good look, it was exciting to say the least. The buck was still alive so we finished him off quickly with a knife into the lungs as I held his antlers down firmly.
We finish another Montana deer season with a bang, we have been blessed again. I can't wait for next year, we have a tremendous crop of at least 30 to 40 mature 4x4 and 5x5 whitetail bucks including the best buck that got away plus some mule deer bucks still on the ranch at the end of season. These bucks will all be another year older so hunting should be excellent again next fall.
First photo is the husband's buck and the second photo is the wife's buck. Last photo is myself with the wife's buck, sorry for the mugshot. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 05:47:14 PM
We were hunting the MT ranch up to Nov 9 and every buck had 1/2 to 3/4 inch fat on their entire backs and up to an inch on thei rumps. We hunted in Washington for 10 days and the last 4 MT bucks were all killed about 12 to 15 days later and there was almost no fat left on them, they have run themselves out of fat in 2 weeks.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 25, 2012, 05:47:44 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 25, 2012, 05:49:21 PM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 25, 2012, 05:51:27 PM
No we didn't, we only hunt mule deer in Idaho.:tup:
Post by: rock on November 25, 2012, 05:57:13 PM
Post by: CAMPMEAT on November 25, 2012, 09:01:35 PM
I want your job Dale. Very nice deer too !!!
Its a bit tough surviving in todays economy but I do really enjoy what I do, wouldn't trade for any other carreer.
You're surviving and having fun.................. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 26, 2012, 05:56:29 AM
I am a little worried, I heard about a farmer who has found numerous dead deer on his place, deer in the field at night have gone from 42 to about 10. I mentioned it to the game warden and we are going to try and get a tissue sample for the biologist to check out. Hope it's not blue tongue. :yike:
This was checked out and determined to be some other parasite (not blue tongue). The same parasite has showed up in several areas of NE WA this last late summer, the WDFW is aware of localized deer losses in some areas.
Post by: Ridgeratt on November 26, 2012, 06:00:31 AM
They shot some of the parasite's. :sry:
Post by: Killmore on November 26, 2012, 08:41:45 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 27, 2012, 10:03:03 AM
Those whitetail hunts look like a blast!! You finishing off a deer with a knife, PRICELESS.
No sense wasting ammo, meat, or a cape by shooting it again. After all, are we not natural born killers. :dunno: :chuckle:
Post by: LittleJohn on November 27, 2012, 10:15:00 AM
Post by: Killmore on November 27, 2012, 11:43:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 27, 2012, 11:47:55 AM
Dale, Is there any deer tags available after the draw is done.Like landowner or outfitter tags? Having so many points in washington and thinking this is the year to draw , just wondering if say you don't draw here in washington can you then buy Montana?
This year Montana had leftover tags and then they authorized more tags, I was in one of their F&G offices yesterday and was told they never did sell out this year, licenses were available till the end of season. I bet it will be the same next year!
Post by: bearpaw on November 28, 2012, 07:46:03 AM
Sometimes it's funny how events unfold.
During my last hunt in Montana I had a couple bad days, as soon as I arrived we unloaded the wheelers which I always take in case it rains. The ranchers prefer us to use wheelers if it rains to travel on the ranches so we don't make ruts in the roads. I unhooked the trailer and pulled forward, then I set the unloading ramp behind the truck and backed out the wheeler that was loaded in the truck. My ramp is a short one that I used in my old chevy, my ford is much higher and I was parked with the backend downhill. I started backing out and when I realized that I was going to go over backwards it was too late. In midair I managed to dismount but still landed on my back and the bike was still coming down on top of me, instinctively I caught the ATV in mid air with my legs, I was laying there absorbing what had just happened and holding the ATV up in mid air with my legs when the wife spotted the whole affair, she started hollering for her husband who quickly came and we pushed the wheeler off to the side. Incredibely I was fine, I wasn't even sore from the fall and it was a pretty good fall. As soon as I convinced them I was OK we finished getting ready for the hunt.
It was pouring rain and then snow and then hail, the 30 mph wind blew the hail into our faces so hard it stung as we rode slowly. Finally the precipitation stopped but the wind blew the rest of the day and night. We saw a few deer and a few bucks that day but not as many as usual, deer were staying out of the storm.
Next morning I couldn't find my keys, I looked everywhere, I tore my room apart but no keys. I went to get my spare key but the holder was empty. :yike: Hello AAA, please come and unlock my truck for me. :chuckle: We finally made it out hunting and the wind had dried out the mud enough so that we were able to drive the truck into the ranch. We hadn't been on the ranch for very long and right off we had a flat tire, these are brand new Cooper STT tires I put on before leaving for Montana. I tried airing it up with the portable compressor, we tried a can of fix-a-flat, finally I had to find the jack in my truck which didn't fit under the axle and after some digging and jockying we got the tire changed. We immediately went to town but nobody sells Cooper tires and the tire was ruined so I bought a used tire for another spare. I also had another spare key made at the hardware store.
Later in the day when we were back at the ranch I drove over a stick that got caught underneath and broke the transmission shifting cable. Everytime I needed to change gears or start the truck I'd have to crawl underneath and move the shifting lever on the side of the tranny. :yike: We go to town again and I buy some little pulleys and 5/16 nylon rope, I rigged a pull cord from the tranny shifting lever up through my rear window so that I could at least change gears and start the truck without crawling under. :chuckle: In spite of all these situations we saw a ton of deer that day.
The next day the deer were rutting harder than I've ever seen, we looked at roughly 30 mature bucks. The following morning we killed two nice bucks that I have already posted. I'm just glad the luck changed to "good" luck. :chuckle:
I am getting everthing repaired or replaced today and the truck will be back in good running order by day's end. :chuckle:
Post by: Hornseeker on November 28, 2012, 08:10:13 AM
be Careful!!!!!!!
Post by: bearpaw on November 28, 2012, 12:42:57 PM
Holy Crap Dale!! What a PITA!!! Wow. You lucked out on the four wheeler wreck man... Last year we had a guy get paralyzed at work when his fell on top of him....
be Careful!!!!!!!
I hear you, two years ago a good friend of mine rolled one getting a buck out on his own ranch and broke his back. He had to change jobs after he recovered. I got lucky. :dunno:
I missed landing on the trailer tongue by about 2 feet. :yike:
Post by: Duffer on November 28, 2012, 09:22:10 PM
That is some string of bad luck :o
Glad you're ok!
Note to all: This guy ain't no city-slicker :chuckle: True grit here. After all this crap, he still gets the job done! :tup:
Bailing wire, duct tape, whatever it takes! :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: Badge251 on November 29, 2012, 05:28:34 AM
Sounds like you could teach MacGyver a thing or two! :chuckle:
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi173.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw48%2FBadge251%2Fmacguyver.jpg&hash=f9fe61274d0427c738705da830dd9f3477b1d33b)
Happy you’re G2G, see you next year.
Post by: bearpaw on November 29, 2012, 06:55:02 AM
Dag-Gum Dale! Talk about improvise, adapt, and overcome!
Sounds like you could teach MacGyver a thing or two! :chuckle:
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi173.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw48%2FBadge251%2Fmacguyver.jpg&hash=f9fe61274d0427c738705da830dd9f3477b1d33b)
Happy you’re G2G, see you next year.
I think I need to watch some of those old shows to sharpen my skills, does he teach how to avoid some of my mistakes? :chuckle:
Badge251, we've had a great season so far, glad you were a part of it, I look forward to seeing you again next year. I'm offereing a Christmas Special right now where you can book a hunt for $250 deposit.
Take Care, Dale
Post by: bearpaw on December 09, 2012, 01:49:40 PM
Post by: wsmnut on December 09, 2012, 08:20:09 PM
I think you've been hanging out with Ray too much. Some of his bad vehicular luck has rubbed off!
Really glad you are OK.
wsmnut
Post by: hunting4sanity on December 09, 2012, 08:44:11 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on December 09, 2012, 09:01:14 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 10, 2012, 02:42:46 AM
Unfortunately the weather turned to rain and it's been nothing but mud until we finally got a snow storm yesterday. It stormed off and on all day and night, this morning early I cut a nice tom track, it was filled with snow but was better than nothing. Anthony started walking the track a little after daylight and I went to check another road on the other side of the ridge to see if the cat had crossed again. I only made it in there about 200 yards and hit the tom tracks with far less snow. I went back around to where Anthony was and called up the mountain so he could come around to the other side.
This time the dogs were able to smell the track and Tucker opened fairly well. We put my two old dogs and a couple of Anthony's less experienced dogs on the track. It turned out the cat had circled all over the mountain on both sides of the canyon, we tried to help the dogs but found tracks circling over tracks, he was hungry and he was hunting hard for deer and elk. The dogs got mixed up on tracks several times, we got one inexperienced dog back, but my two old dogs Tucker and Chopper along with Anthony's pup Rowdy finally managed to figure out where the cat had gone and headed out of the drainage. We drove around to a location in the next darinage and headed in on foot. It was about two miles in and the dogs were treed about 150 yards from the top of the mountain. As we approached an elk barked at us from only about 150 yrds from the tree, it was as if he was telling us to "kill that cat". We made it to the tree, took pics, shot the cat, built a fire for everyone to keep warm while we skinned the cat, and then hussled off the mountain, we made it out right at dark time. The cat was not a real long cat but his teeth were yellowed and worn I figure he is about 7 or 8 years old.
Chris from Oklahoma is still in shock over the whole deal, he said he never realized how big these cats really are and can't believe how big these Idaho mountains are. :chuckle:
We've got another hunter to find a cat for so I better get going.
Post by: CementFinisher on December 10, 2012, 03:01:36 AM
Post by: jackelope on December 10, 2012, 12:11:57 PM
Post by: Machias on December 10, 2012, 06:42:17 PM
Careful with them atvs, sure glad you are ok. I didn't know him but a good houndsmen in MT that alot of my hound friends were real close to, had a strap hanging off his atv, wrapped around the axle and flipped the atv. He was pinned under the atv, neck snapped. I believe when they found him they thought he was dead. He lived for a while, but eventually passed away from the accident. It was heartbreaking for alot of them.
Post by: bearpaw on December 10, 2012, 07:49:10 PM
On another topic, Tucker is 12 years old now, at any time now he could die. He went through a bad time about a month ago, he didn't hardly come out of his dog house for about a week or two. He has been feeling better so I told myself I was going to get him on another cougar chase. As usual his cold trailing abilities shined, it brought tears to my eyes petting him at the tree. He is pretty sore but seems to be recovering, at least he got to do again what he loves the most "chase cougar" and he got to teach another pup the art of cold trailing. He has been a great hound, we will miss him when he leaves us.
Post by: Skyvalhunter on December 10, 2012, 08:00:31 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on December 10, 2012, 08:49:23 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 12, 2012, 11:17:34 AM
Post by: elkoholic1 on December 12, 2012, 11:25:49 AM
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on December 12, 2012, 11:27:11 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on December 13, 2012, 05:20:02 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on December 13, 2012, 06:11:16 AM
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on December 13, 2012, 06:20:23 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 14, 2012, 02:10:16 AM
Mike & Michelle from Hawaii had been hunting for five days, this was the last day of Mike's hunt. Soren and Bjarke from Denmark had just started hunting, this was their first day out. Anthony, Brian, and I each headed out early in a different direction in search of mountain lion tracks. Bjarke was hunting with me, we checked out numerous drainages for fresh lion tracks, with the fresh snow and warmer temperature the animals were moving, I was covering ground fast as I could and knew sooner or later we should find cat tracks.
Suddenly there they were, fresh lion tracks coming off the hill and walking right down the road. At first glance I figured it was a young tom, bigger toes and a larger foot than females, but not as big of feet or as long of stride as the older tom we killed a couple days ago. We followed the tracks on the road and found where he went back up the hillside, I parked the truck and took the wheeler further in the road to make sure he hadn't crossed again. We know there is a big tom in the area, so I also wanted to make sure that cat hadn't crossed somewhere too. I went about 7 or 8 miles to the end of the drainage and found nothing so I headed back to run the cat from where the truck was parked.
I had sent a message to Brian that I had found a track, he and Soren were waiting when I got within view of my truck, suddenly the wheeler stopped running 100 yards short of the truck. It was disappointing to break down, but at least it happened when I got back to the truck. There was one time that morning I had taken the wheeler about 15 miles from the truck checking for tracks. WWhhheeeewwww that would have been bad.
We pushed the wheeler to the truck and readied the dogs for the chase. Unfortunately we had seen tracks of 4 wolves in the same area a few days before, so I offered to run my two old dogs again, they don't have many years left anyway and it wouldn't be as big of loss if something bad happened. Brian also ran two of his young dogs so that we would have lots of noise and hopefully the wolves would leave us alone, those pups need some more experience anyway.
Tucker started to put his head down into a track and howled before his head even got close, this was a hot track, not more than a few hours old. We turned all 4 dogs loose and Brian followed them to try and keep up to prevent a wolf attack. The dogs quickly outdistanced Brian as they parallelled the road and drainage on the mountainside, I could watch and hear the race well from up on the opposite mountainside. I called Brian and told him he might as well drop out to the road in the bottom and we would run farther in the drainage with wheelers. I picked him up with the truck and we went to get the wheelers. We went farther in the drainage and stopped to listen, we could hear the dogs way up on top, it sounded like they were treed, so we headed in on foot. The mountainside was steep and it was a grueling climb with the slick snow on the ground. It took a while but finally we were getting close, we just happened to walk by an uprooted tree and could see the cat had been bedded in there, we could see the dog tracks too and all had headed straight up to where we could hear the dogs barking treed.
We finally made it to the dogs right on top of the ridge and were readying to shoot. Soren had killed a tom last year so the plan was to let Bjarke shoot the first tom, just as we readied to shoot the cat jumped out and headed down the mountain, luckily towards the wheelers and not toward the back side of the mountain. Bjarke's face told the story, I could see the disappointment, he was whipped and worried, we assured him the dogs would catch the cat again, but he was worried about being able to make it to another tree. It was only a few minutes and we could hear the dogs start treeing again below us.
We moved at as fast a pace as possible down the steep mountain and approached the next tree. As soon as we got to the tree Bjarke got a rest and Brian quickly grabbed the dogs, before the cat could jump Bjarke shot, the cat dropped to ground and took off, I told Bjarke to follow Brian and they pursued the wounded cat. I didn't want to turn any dogs loose for fear of the wounded cat killing them. Brian had one pup with him, they found the cat crouched under a leaning tree just waiting to pounce it's followers, Brian hollered at the pup to get back and Bjarke quickly shot the cat again. As soon as the cat died I released the other dogs to run down there, we tied them up again and took some photos, needless to say Bjarke was very excited about his cat. Once we were finished we headed off the mountain with hide, backstraps, and legs in the pack. Bjarke will get to try his first cat chops. :chuckle:
(At the same time we were treed Anthony had found another tom and he, Michelle, and Mike had headed in to the tree, that story will have to wait, I have to head out hunting for now.)
Post by: iRem on December 14, 2012, 09:40:15 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on December 14, 2012, 12:04:37 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 14, 2012, 08:47:39 PM
Mike and two of his friends had hunted elk with us this fall in Idaho, Mike passed a 5x5 bull that he later wished he would have killed and one of his buddies shot a 5x6 bull. Mike also booked a cougar hunt this year and brought his wife Michelle along for the hunt.
Now it was the last scheduled day of Mike's cougar hunt, conditions were excellent and Anthony had seen a couple female tracks, but it was getting late in the morning and they had not found a tom track. Anthony decided to check out one last drainage and right at the end of the road they found a nice tom track, Anthony put the dogs on the track and the chase was on. The race was a quick one, the dogs zigzagged up the steep mountain and the cat treed right at the top, they could hear the dogs barking treed right at the top.
Anthony, Mike, and Michelle slowly made their way to the barking dogs, upon reaching the top of the mountain and the treed cougar Anthony was shocked to see "Bell" his best hound more than halfway, about 30 feet up a big fir tree. Bell was within 10 or 15 feet of the lion, the cat was very unhappy about that too. Without a choice and in order to try and save his dog, Anthony began climbing the tree, he made it within a few feet of Bell and then the tom got excited! He snarled at Anthony and came down the tree about 8 or 10 feet, the cat stopped almost within striking distance of Bell, she was going nuts and trying to bite the cat's tail. Anthony had quickly backed down the tree 5 to 10 feet trying to keep some distance between himself and the cat.
We don't know if Bell actually bit the tom's tail or not, but the cat jumped and Bell jumped after him, barking as she sailed through the air after the cat. Anthony panicked as visions of Bell having broken legs and ribs crossed his mind. The cat hit the ground and ran swifly down the mountain, Bell hit the ground and seemded to be moving slow, but she managed to get up and go after the cat as Anthony hurried down the tree. The cat ran all the way to the bottom of the mountain and headed up the other side. By now the hunters were working their way down the mountain, Anthony was glad to hear it when the dogs treed again on the mountainside across the canyon. Fortunately, Anthony could hear Bell and she was treeing, so hopefully she was going to survive the jump.
The hunters climbed down to the bottom of the mountain then part way up the mountain on the other side of the canyon to the tree. This time Bell was on the ground, so Anthony tied the dogs back out of the way and Mike shot the cat. Back at the house that night we laughed and talked about both of the successful hunts that day. So far Bell seems to be fine and it still amazes us that she made it that far up the tree and that she survived the jump without any serious injury. Congratulations to Mike and Michelle for their last day success, Mike got a very nice tom. :brew:
Post by: Ridgeratt on December 14, 2012, 08:52:30 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 14, 2012, 08:59:43 PM
It was a rough day today... :yike:
Soren is still hunting cougar with Anthony and Brian tomorrow, I have to catch a few hours sleep and then I'm driving to eastern Montana, Bjarke is going to hopefully shoot a 10 year old bison tomorrow. We'll skin him, load the carcass, and then try to drive back to Idaho tomorrow evening.
Post by: bearpaw on December 15, 2012, 07:31:34 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on December 15, 2012, 07:55:03 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 17, 2012, 01:40:08 PM
Also shown are some of the other buffalo at the ranch, we still have one more 4 year old bull and a few cows available to shoot this winter.
Post by: bearpaw on December 31, 2012, 05:52:41 AM
A few days after Soren left I went cow elk hunting in Utah.
We hunted 1 day mostly glassing herds from the road and determining the best elk to go after. On the second day I decided shortly after dawn to go after a big herd that was about 1 to 1 1/2 miles from the road. I had the perfect stalk planned but long story short it turned into more of a hunt than expected. We ended up killing 3 elk about 2 1/2 miles from the road. I called my son and told him to bring the horses then I gutted and halved them, we covered them with sagebrush and peed near them to keep the birds and coyotes away. It was well after dark when we got back to the truck and already about 0 degrees. When we headed in on horseback in the morning it was a chilly -9 but warmed up to the balmy teens by the time we were finished packing the elk out.
Post by: CAMPMEAT on December 31, 2012, 07:42:09 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 31, 2012, 11:20:25 AM
Nice goin' Jerimiah Denny..
everybody is a comedian.... :chuckle:
Post by: CAMPMEAT on December 31, 2012, 11:25:51 AM
Nice goin' Jeremiah Denny..
everybody is a comedian.... :chuckle:
I would of loved to seen you climb up on your trusty steed !!! :Tup :tup:
Post by: Maverick on December 31, 2012, 01:27:37 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 31, 2012, 11:45:51 PM
Nice goin' Jeremiah Denny..
everybody is a comedian.... :chuckle:
I would of loved to seen you climb up on your trusty steed !!! :Tup :tup:
I usually ride a big 17 hand paint horse named Dollar, I love that horse, he can pack me all day cross-country off the trails, up one Idaho mountain after another, but dang it's getting hard to mount that tall bugger. The horse I was riding in the photo is a smaller horse and very easy to get on, not to bad of a ride either and he likes to lead. On that easy ground any horse gets along fine, but up in the steep mountains the bigger horses hold up much better.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on December 31, 2012, 11:55:39 PM
Post by: csaaphill on January 01, 2013, 12:54:16 AM
Post by: Killmore on January 01, 2013, 09:10:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 01, 2013, 03:17:34 PM
Dale, How long is the season open down there? Good pics, it's aways interesting following your season...
Utah manages elk numbers very carefully. Some areas have seasons till Jan 31. Seasons vary a lot each year, permits are based on where they want to maintain or cut herd numbers. If a herd needs to grow, there are very few cow tags. I think Utah does a great job of management. We do most of our cow hunts from late November till Jan 31.
Id sure love to get a big tom for a mount in the house. Great job this uear dale!
Be prepared for sticker shock. It costs a lot to put on a quality cougar hunt today and most people think they are overpriced, but I actually make more money elk and deer hunting. Even at my price I am nearly booked for next winter cougar hunts. The last few years I have a lot of past hunters coming back for another cat and bringing a friend or relative with them. I also get a lot of guys who have gone on unsuccessful hunts somewhere else.
I started guiding cougar in Dec 1977, we have caught many hundreds of cats, our best year we caught I think 58 (give or take 1) of which we killed 23. That was the good old days in Washington before I-655. I used to do a guaranteed cougar hunt in Washington for $1350, boy have times changed. :chuckle:
Post by: duckmen1 on January 01, 2013, 03:28:56 PM
I had a curiosity question about the buffalo hunts
As far as the ranch hunts go in Montana are the buffalo free range or some type of fenced hunt.
I was unsure as I did not notice that on your website.
Thanks for the info
Will Hopefully be able to save enough money in the next couple of years for a guided hunt.
If I can keep the taxidermy bill down it will be do able.
Post by: Maverick on January 01, 2013, 05:07:22 PM
Post by: RadSav on January 01, 2013, 07:00:20 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 02, 2013, 09:31:01 AM
Dale, How long is the season open down there? Good pics, it's aways interesting following your season...
Season runs Dec 1 to March 31, but most of the best hunting is Dec and Jan. We self regulate the number of hunts we sell, our current goal is to kill 4 toms per year in our Idaho area plus we do some hunting in Utah.
What's the price run on a cat hunt these days?
We offer our Idaho hunts at $4950 with no guarantee or a guaranteed hunt at $6500. The guarantee is that you get half the hunt fee back if you do not get a chance at a tom. Success runs about 70% through the years on our idaho hunts. I do consider a pass on a tom as a successful hunt. This year we have had 5 hunters, 3 killed toms, one guy passed 2 toms, one guy passed two females but had no chance at a tom, so I figure we are 80% this year.
I won a cat hunt back in the late 80's of which I could not go on. Gave it to one of my customers who complained he had to pay taxes on an additional $1,500.00 income. He did take a nice cat! In 2000 I thought I would go ahead and finally get cougar off my list. $6,000.00 on average quenched that thought. Wholly smokes that's three spring bear hunts in BC! Good to know there is a reason for that amount of inflation. I had figured it was just another effect of television related inflation like we have seen with northern moose hunts.
The reason cat hunting costs so much is because we have thousands of dollars invested in gear, dogs and hunting areas. I had to pay $260,000 for my hunting concession in Idaho and I have an old farm house there that cost another $90,000 so I have a $350,000 investment that has to give me a return. Plus we feed our dogs all year at $25-$30 per bag of dog food, we have 6 snowmobiles for cat hunting only, 4 atv's that get used for cats and other hunting. Add to that radio collar systems for the dogs, $1000 new tires the week before cat season opens every year on all our vehicles, tire chains, snow shoes and more gear than you can imagine, guide wages, taxes on wages, $3200 per year liability insurance, thousands in fees for a multitude of operating permits and licenses from various agencies, and a $100 tank of fuel every hunting day in each vehicle, not to mention any preseason scouting and time training dogs. We put in long days often 12 hours or more, figuring that the plumber or auto mechanic get $60 to $80 per hour for professional services, maybe all this information will help you understand why cat hunts are one of the most expensive hunts.
Hey bear paw
I had a curiosity question about the buffalo hunts
As far as the ranch hunts go in Montana are the buffalo free range or some type of fenced hunt.
I was unsure as I did not notice that on your website.
Thanks for the info
Will Hopefully be able to save enough money in the next couple of years for a guided hunt.
If I can keep the taxidermy bill down it will be do able.
The only free-range buffalo hunting areas where we operate are in Utah. As with any free-range buffalo areas the tags are extremely tough to draw, it's about like winning the lotto. I have hunted around the wild buffalo in Utah and when you find them it's like finding a herd of cattle, we drove within 50 yards of them several different times. Everyone should understand that buffalo hunting is not very challenging. No matter where you decide to hunt it's more or less a shoot, the buffalo are not very wary and you do not have to sneak up on them because the might run like other wildlife.
Our buffalo hunts and most that your read about are privately owned herds of buffalo kept within a 4 foot high ranch fence usually just like a regular cattle fence. One place we hunt is about 13,000 acres, another place is a couple hundred with scattered trees, and another is about 1000 acres. Right now I have the best deals on the smaller place. Most of the time it's no problem getting within about 50 yards no matter where we hunt.
Most hunters want to kill their buffalo in the winter when hides are good, so at this time the buffalo are staying close to where they get fed. What we did on the last hunt is put the bull and a cow out in a larger pasture away from the main herd. That way it was safe for us to do a stalk and shoot the bull. It's not real safe to go in with the main herd on foot. If we are shooting a buffalo from the main herd we usually drive out in a vehicle so that you have a safe spot where the herd cannot harm you. Often times when you shoot an animal in the main herd other buffalo will horn the downed animal and we have to herd them away with the truck, you do not want to approach on foot. Then we get a tractor or use a winch to recover the downed animal.
Hope this info helps.
Hunts Still Available This Winter
Buffalo - I still have a few buffalo, cows and young bulls, available this winter
Cow Elk - Have some landowner cow elk tags available in Utah until Jan 31
Cougar - Could fit in 1 hunter in Idaho or 2 hunters in Utah for hound hunts
Cougar - If someone wanted to hunt cougar in Washington I can provide lodging and put you on fresh tracks to call or walk down, very affordable.
Coyote - We can hunt them anytime, nows a good time with pelts prime.
Post by: Maverick on January 02, 2013, 11:16:38 AM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on January 02, 2013, 12:22:56 PM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on January 02, 2013, 12:28:40 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 02, 2013, 12:32:07 PM
Thanks for the info dale, makes sense now. How much is help.on a washington cougar?
WASHINGTON COUGAR/PREDATOR HUNTS
(Cougar,Bobcat,Coyote)
Unguided $475
2 days, meals, cabin, and I tell you where to look for tracks on your own and how to hunt them.
(additional days $75 per day)
25% discount for each person for two or more hunters
I will pick you up if you come out a long way from your truck
Guaranteed Fresh Track $950
2 days, meals, cabin, I will find fresh cougar tracks before daylight, you hunt the fresh tracks at daylight. (additional days $250 per day)
25% discount for each person for two or more hunters
I will pick you up if you come out a long way from your truck
Guarantee - If I don't find you at least 1 fresh cougar track made between sunset and sunrise, I will give back half your money
Post by: bearpaw on January 02, 2013, 12:33:21 PM
Sounds to me like your NOT charging enough for your Cougar Hunts.
The market will only bear so much, like I said I make more money on deer and elk hunts. :chuckle:
Post by: Maverick on January 02, 2013, 01:44:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 03, 2013, 05:05:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 04, 2013, 10:27:06 AM
Post by: Machias on January 04, 2013, 01:24:34 PM
Post by: Jonathan_S on January 04, 2013, 03:01:26 PM
Are there any slots left for the year Dale?
Post by: bearpaw on January 04, 2013, 08:41:36 PM
I want to kill a cougar soooooooo bad. I've been calling and calling and calling. Tons of yotes, hard to pass on them but I have been. No big cats :dunno: :dunno: :dunno:
Are there any slots left for the year Dale?
Yes, I might be able to fit you in for hounds in Idaho, or did you want to try calling in WA?
Post by: bearpaw on January 05, 2013, 07:13:07 AM
Out hunting cougar, it was -10 when i left the truck. :yike:
I tried to post these photos when I posted yesterday but didn't have good enough service where I was at in the mountains. It was really cold, I was bundled up pretty good except for where I froze a small spot on my nose that was exposed.
I snowmobiled into several places 10 to 20 miles from my truck. On the last run of the day I found a female track but no toms, I was back to within 150 yards of the truck and lost a cyclinder, barely limped to the the truck and had to half push the snowmobile on the trailer. I dropped it off at the shop, there goes another $1000 to $1500 out the window. :bash:
The good news is that I didn't have to walk 10 to 20 miles back to the truck. :)
Enjoy the pics, it was a beautiful day out.
Post by: bearpaw on January 05, 2013, 07:15:51 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 05, 2013, 01:02:16 PM
Brian found a deer kill by a female today, too bad it wasn't a tom. The hunt for a tom continues.
Post by: Deer slayer on January 06, 2013, 01:00:18 PM
Post by: Deer slayer on January 06, 2013, 01:20:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 06, 2013, 03:00:55 PM
Bearpaw I was wondering if you ever received my PM? I would really appreciate the information. Thank you.
I went back through 10 pages of messages but don't see any from you, please send it again and I will answer any additional questions.
Post by: Deer slayer on January 06, 2013, 04:51:28 PM
Post by: James on January 07, 2013, 02:16:04 PM
Bearpaw I was wondering if you ever received my PM? I would really appreciate the information. Thank you.
Same here, I was hoping to get some info for 2013 season.
Bearpaw, let me know if you need me to resend my PM.
Thanks!
James
Post by: bearpaw on January 17, 2013, 09:51:39 AM
Thanks, Dale
Post by: bearpaw on January 27, 2013, 10:30:25 AM
It warmed up 3 days ago and conditions are perfect for hunting but i have no hunters right now. :bash:
There is fresh snow falling right now, it will be real good for a few days but no hunter. :bash:
Post by: bearpaw on February 19, 2013, 08:21:13 AM
The demand for buffalo meat has been crazy due to its lean healthy qualities. Buffalo calves are bringing so much that everyone wants to hang onto their producing cows, for the most part all I can get for hunting are open cows that don't make the preg check. Our Montana buffalo cow hunts have been priced at $2950 this winter, but we just decided yesterday that we need to sell another 6 buffalo cows this winter, so we're reducing the price to $2500 to get these 6 cows sold.
If you've been considering a buffalo hunt, this is a good time to do it at this price. If you want to save the hide you will want to hunt as soon as possible, if your not worried about the hide and only want the meat there's not as much hurry. These hunts will occur just a little east of Billings, Montana.
Buffalo Cow Hunt $2500
(only 6 available at this price)