Post by: bearpaw on August 31, 2013, 10:41:50 PM
I'd like to wish everyone who will be out hunting the labor day weekend good luck.
Cheers,
Dale, Tara, & the Bearpaw Crew :brew:
Post by: bearpaw on August 31, 2013, 10:46:37 PM
:IBCOOL: :brew: :bfg: :mgun: :cue:
Post by: Smossy on August 31, 2013, 10:53:25 PM
This morning we all took our refresher first aid and cpr class. My first group of hunters all arrived by about 3 pm and we sighted guns in. As usual we found a couple guns that needed some special attention, tightened a couple scopes, etc, we are all good to go in the morning.Goodluck to you and your group, Safe hunting and bring back a story!
:IBCOOL: :brew: :bfg: :mgun: :cue:
Post by: bowhunterforever on August 31, 2013, 11:04:45 PM
Post by: addicted2hunting on September 01, 2013, 09:52:27 AM
Post by: Duffer on September 01, 2013, 10:16:02 AM
Post by: hrd2fnd on September 01, 2013, 10:43:33 AM
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on September 01, 2013, 01:53:30 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2013, 05:06:02 AM
We are off to a slow start, many of our feed sources are all drying up and mostly gone now, many bear are not where they are usually located at this time and seem to be scattering widely. We missed a nice big blackie on the first day twice. Yesterday we killed a nice 6+ black bear and a limit of grouse. Headed back out hunting again today.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 03, 2013, 05:56:47 AM
Post by: bearmanric on September 03, 2013, 07:47:38 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 04, 2013, 07:35:56 AM
Should be great for my calling. Sitting here one the pass. They are blasting. Nice bear. Made a nice African Blackwood bear call for me. Will be in Colville tomorrow. Rick
The bear we have spotted are all moving looking for food, should be good for you Rick. Cover lots of ground, I am finding tracks widely scattered and the bear are not all in the usual spots for this time of season.
I think the early spring set all the berry crops into growth early, then what didn't freeze off with that late heavy frost this spring has matured early, dried up, and fallen off. It seems like we are two weeks advance with the food sources disappearing like later in Sept most years. I am seeing a lot of rose hips and elder berries, those are normally October foods, it will be interesting to see when the bear start eating them this year. The bear we killed the other day was pretty lean, not much fat, less than half what he should have had. I am a bit worried that we will lose some bear this winter due to a lack of fat reserves.
Yesterday we finally saw a fair number of bear but all were out of range. I have a good feeling about today. I've got two of the properties posted with hunters in what I think are the best spots, lots of bear poo, we are homing in on more bear. :tup:
Post by: Machias on September 05, 2013, 04:35:10 AM
Post by: Gringo31 on September 05, 2013, 06:58:58 AM
Good Luck and keep safe.
Post by: bearpaw on September 06, 2013, 01:37:59 PM
One of the bear hunters is bow hunting, I think it's his first bow hunt and first bear hunt. He had a bear real close yesterday, this morning he was asking for some extra pistol cartridges, just in case.
Grouse hunting has been pretty good but the bear hunting has been tougher for us than usual, but finally we have another bear down. A 5 to 7 year old boar judging by the teeth. Guide Ray in his usual spirited form came up with a new "Bearpaw Pose"! ENJOY :chuckle:
Post by: Machias on September 06, 2013, 02:39:33 PM
Post by: hrd2fnd on September 06, 2013, 02:44:28 PM
Post by: Killmore on September 07, 2013, 08:34:55 AM
Post by: elkoholic1 on September 07, 2013, 11:20:37 AM
Post by: bearmanric on September 07, 2013, 01:11:31 PM
Post by: Duffer on September 07, 2013, 07:14:21 PM
I had a great time even tho I didn't fill my tag.... yet! :tup: Saw a lot of incredible property! Saw LOTS of does, turkeys and a really nice whitetail buck. We did see a sow with little twins. I'd like to say I let her pass cuz of the twins buy truth is I let her pass because I just didn't like the shot. THEN I saw the twins! Things work out the way they should.
Dale and his crew busted their humps to get us on some bears. Super hot weather all last week. Just tough times. I bet it gets better now that the weather is starting to cool off some and it FINALLY RAINED!
I can't wait to return some time soon. Oh yeah, I'll be back in 3 weeks! 8)
Thank you Dale, Tara and Daniel too! :tup:
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 07, 2013, 07:37:01 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 08, 2013, 09:47:43 AM
Whew! Just got home. 3 extra hours with a leaky tranny cooler but we made it.
I had a great time even tho I didn't fill my tag.... yet! :tup: Saw a lot of incredible property! Saw LOTS of does, turkeys and a really nice whitetail buck. We did see a sow with little twins. I'd like to say I let her pass cuz of the twins buy truth is I let her pass because I just didn't like the shot. THEN I saw the twins! Things work out the way they should.
Dale and his crew busted their humps to get us on some bears. Super hot weather all last week. Just tough times. I bet it gets better now that the weather is starting to cool off some and it FINALLY RAINED!
I can't wait to return some time soon. Oh yeah, I'll be back in 3 weeks! 8)
Thank you Dale, Tara and Daniel too! :tup:
I wished we would have had better hunting when you were here, that was our worst first week of season ever, but we will get a bear rug for your house, hopefully sooner than later. :tup:
Things have picked up some with the change in weather and some more bear have moved into some of the properties we are hunting, we are seeing a few more bear now.
It was a pleasure meeting you and having you here for the hunt, we look forward to seeing you again later in the month. :hello:
Post by: bearpaw on September 10, 2013, 07:44:31 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 10, 2013, 07:57:30 AM
Post by: quadrafire on September 10, 2013, 07:57:50 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 10, 2013, 08:00:47 AM
Interesting boots. Is there a story?
It's flat in Denmark (farm country) and it's steep in Washington, that about sums it up. :dunno:
Post by: Timberstalker on September 10, 2013, 08:21:08 AM
Post by: quadrafire on September 10, 2013, 08:23:58 AM
Post by: Duffer on September 10, 2013, 04:14:17 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2013, 10:19:41 AM
We've been elk hunting for the last week. I had a hunter in Utah on a quality draw tag and we passed roughly 30 to 40 bulls in the first few days with many of them roughly 280's to 320's class bulls. Never could find the "megabull" so on day 4 after a stalk and a long discussion my hunter decided to take a big long beamed heavyweight 5x6. Long story short, we didn't get the bull and he is probably off laughing at us somewhere on the mountain.
The next morning we saw a couple more good bulls and a nice one eluded us. About 10 am we heard a good sounding bull in a distant canyon and hiked in to call, I could get him within 130 yards but he wouldn't step into the open. Next he went a little deeper into the trees so we planned a little elk drive. Daniel and the husband worked around to the head of the draw and started through. At 10 yards Daniel jumped the bull and it jumped up and bugled at him then broke and ran out into the open with 2 cows. I was sitting with Tina and she had the bull in the crosshairs at 200 yards. I whispered, He's a 5x6, not as big as the other 5x6, but we are running out of time, you can shoot him if you want or we can look for a better bull, we can probably find a better bull. She opted to wait.
At long range that evening we spotted roughly a 330's bull with cows, we tried to get on them but couldn't see the bull before it got dark so went after him the next morning. We started in an hour before daylight and just as it was turning light we found ourselves right in the middle of the grazing herd with some cows at 20 to 30 yards. We were pinned down and the wind was shifting, suddenly a cow caught our scent and bolted, it blew up the whole herd, the bull was within 60 yards but we couldn't see him in the heavy cover. So still no bull.
We saw a few more bulls but either too small or couldn't close the deal. That afternoon we stumbled onto a 330-340 6x7 at roughly 150 yards. Tina knelt down to shoot but couldn't see the bull, we told her she had to stand to see him and I think that just flustered her, she missed. We got onto another non-typical bull that evening, we could see his rack well, he just needed to take one more step forward but a calf come running in and nearly ran into us and busted us and blew that up. The elk ran up hill, we quickly backed off to a vantage point and had a couple quick shot opportunities but Tina wasn't comfortable with the shot and let him walk.
Finally it was the last morning of the season, today was the day of reckoning. We set out after the big 6x7 she had missed the day before, shortly after daylight we spotted him working his way out of a burn for heavy timber. We had to stalk out around a big ridge and work our way in for a closer shot. Just as we got within range the big bull bugled and we could hear that he had made it into the heavy timber. I tried to call him out but he went deeper, but another bull was answering from over the ridge. I kept working him and soon he came over the ridge and within range. I told Tina he's only a 4 point but this is the last day, you can shoot him if you want. BOOM! At 200 yards Tina put one behind the shoulder, the bull took a step, I said shoot him again and she hammered another round where it counts, the bull got week kneed and tipped over. It was a very emotional time for Tina and the rest of us, not a big bull, but at least she had meat for the freezer and her first successful elk hunt.
After a few minutes of high fives and such she handed her gun to her husband and we headed over while he and Daniel watched the spot. Halfway over we saw the bull run from where he had been laying and head over the ridge, but we had no gun, we couldn't even try to stop him.
:yike: :yike: :yike: :bash: :bash: :bash:
I gotta go pull a drop camp, I'll be back in a few hours and finish the story.
(added some additional photos from the hunt)
Post by: elkoholic1 on September 26, 2013, 11:28:43 AM
Post by: dewandgin on September 26, 2013, 12:14:14 PM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 26, 2013, 07:48:58 PM
Post by: dewandgin on September 26, 2013, 10:25:05 PM
Post by: Holg3107 on September 26, 2013, 10:59:58 PM
Post by: pd on September 26, 2013, 11:05:22 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2013, 08:24:35 AM
The Last Day Utah Bull
I couldn't believe what I was seeing, the bull appeared to be in good shape as he headed right over the ridge. I hollered at Phil to bring the gun, he got to us as quick as he could but the bull was long gone. Tina was heart broken, she had just watched her last day bull vanish over the ridge. We continued downhill, crossed the bottom of the canyon and started up the other side to the spot where she had knocked the bull down. Daniel gave us directions from the location where we had shot from, but we couldn't find any blood. Daniel told me to move a little to the right which I did and then I saw it, I hollered, Tina I have something you might want to see! She made her way over to me and there lay the bull Tina had tipped over. She was ecstatic again because we had both thought her bull had walked away.
Apparently there was another bull the same size as the one we knocked down that we couldn't see in the brush. When he heard us coming he decided to leave the area. In all honesty, if we had the gun we would have shot that bull. It's a miracle that we didn't have the gun or it could have been an ugly situation. Thankfully it all ended well and Tina said that in "Tina's Book of Records" that 4x4 was her 350 bull. It was an easy pack out and we had the bull out in a couple hours, we went to camp and finished removing all bones then we broke camp and headed out. Before leaving Tina told me she had a blast but didn't know if she would do another elk hunt as it was such an emotional roller coaster, I told her to go home and think about all the excitement we had for the last week and that she would be ready to go again. The best hunting memories are the ones that take the most effort, even though we had passed or missed bigger bulls every day of the hunt until the last day, she had certainly put a great deal of effort into this hunt and had experienced the greatest ups and downs that a hunt can offer and after all, that's what addicts us all to hunting.
Congrats Tina!
Post by: Broken Arrow on September 27, 2013, 08:29:19 AM
Post by: Machias on September 27, 2013, 08:40:40 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2013, 08:43:35 AM
Post by: Killmore on September 27, 2013, 09:00:09 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2013, 09:12:34 AM
ELK HUNTING SCHOOL
Next year I think we are going to offer an elk hunting class in Utah during the bugle where students will get a chance to bugle, cow call, score, stalk and basically learn how to elk hunt by practicing on numerous bulls. It should be a great chance for those who are not sure what to do in many elk hunting situations to learn how to react and get within range to close the deal on an elk hunt.
Post by: RB on September 27, 2013, 09:18:27 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2013, 11:49:15 AM
Bill and David were our first two hunters. Bill passed a spike early in the hunt and had a 35 yard shot at a 5x5 but didn't get it, and David passed a long shot on some cows. Our next six bow hunters are hunting now, Jason passed two 4x4 bulls and had a frontal approach by a 6x6 at 26 yards but couldn't get a decent shot. Rob passed on some cows that we called in. Jeff, Gordon, and Mike have been onto one bull and some bucks but no shooting opportunities yet. Nathan killed a 5x5 bull two days ago (photo below).
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2013, 07:11:52 AM
It has been raining for the last week and roads are getting extremely bad, many places we can only get in with ATV's or by foot. That's the reason I pulled the drop camp the other day, my hunters were afraid if the road got any worse they wouldn't get out, so we pulled the camp and they are staying indoors now.
Yesterday we got into a good elk herd again with numerous bulls talking. A nice 6x6 came in between Rob and Jason, they both were on him and Rob got the shot and hit him right behind the leg with the bull quartering away. After 30 minutes they eased down the trail and jumped the bull which had bedded only 60 yards away, he was still alive, they got another arrow into the bull and came in for lunch to give him more time to expire. After lunch and a couple extra hours the search resumed. The bull had gone a ways this time and even though he quit bleeding we tracked him to his bed where he had expired. We got some pictures and then started packing him out, everyone finally made it back to camp about 10pm, the guys wolfed down several pounds of fish & chips along with some burgers and many drinks trying to rehydrate, and we hit the sack at near midnight. This morning everyone was sore but up on time and back out hunting for the same herd again today. The successful hunter and my cook are busy boning the elk as I type this story. I love it when a plan comes together.
Congrats to Rob from Michigan! :tup:
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on September 28, 2013, 07:17:19 AM
Post by: Duffer on September 28, 2013, 08:07:20 AM
Right this minute I'm sitting in a Bearpaw blind, muzzleloader at the ready, listening to the rain. Already had a doe visit with her spike boyfriend. Just waitin for grandpa to stroll on by now! ;)
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 28, 2013, 08:10:21 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2013, 08:12:24 AM
Thats awesome! Nice bulls :tup:
Right this minute I'm sitting in a Bearpaw blind, muzzleloader at the ready, listening to the rain. Already had a doe visit with her spike boyfriend. Just waitin for grandpa to stroll on by now! ;)
HEY, you are supposed to be hunting, not playing on H-W. :chuckle: :tup:
Ya I know, I'm supposed to be working, not playing on H-W. :chuckle:
Hope the wife is taking good care of you, wished I was there for your hunt to visit with you again. GOOD LUCK! :tup:
(also hope you get that bear that is tearing things up)
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 28, 2013, 08:15:02 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2013, 08:17:41 AM
Post by: Duffer on September 28, 2013, 08:55:47 AM
Go get em Bearpaw guys! And gals!
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2013, 10:43:39 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 13, 2013, 05:10:17 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on October 13, 2013, 05:29:10 AM
Post by: Annette on October 13, 2013, 07:22:30 AM
Post by: Killmore on October 14, 2013, 08:21:35 AM
Post by: elkoholic1 on October 14, 2013, 09:40:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 14, 2013, 10:47:33 AM
Very nice, what state did it come from?
Ooopppsss, sorry I forgot that, it's an Idaho buck.
Post by: bearpaw on October 14, 2013, 11:00:25 AM
2nd of season in WA we had plenty of action, 4 bucks missed, but no kills. :(
So far today, a cougar has been missed, and a few bucks just out of range, too bad we didn't get that cougar. :(
Post by: Duffer on October 14, 2013, 10:19:34 PM
Keep us posted :)
Post by: mulehunter on October 14, 2013, 11:01:10 PM
Post by: irishevox on October 15, 2013, 03:57:16 AM
Post by: Duffer on October 15, 2013, 04:36:18 AM
Can't wait to come huting with you in December during late archery!!!!!! :tup:
You're gonna have a really great time!
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2013, 05:47:50 PM
It has been an unusual season with mixed success. We had a great spring bear hunt, 7 for 7, and spring turkey we had the highest success rate ever with 162%, but this fall we had our worst fall bear season ever, we missed a few but only killed 3 bear. Next was muzzy whitetail, the three days that we hunted the weather was terrible and our two hunters were skunked. We did kill a bull elk for our hunter in Utah and 5 of 8 Idaho archery elk hunters had opportunities at bulls, two of them connected. Then we started rifle mule deer in Idaho and rifle whitetail in Washington. Unfortunately our hunters missed 15 shots on 6 bucks in Washington and also missed a cougar. We killed a bunch of whitetails, but only two were 4 pointers, the rest were yearling bucks and does.
In Idaho we missed double digit numbers of mule deer bucks, but killed a few small to medium bucks plus two real nice bucks. We saw another 30" buck just before season opened but never did see him again.
In Utah our hunters killed 3 respectable mule deer and two hunters are still hunting.
Idaho elk season opened on the 15th and we managed to miss several bulls including a 5x5 day before yesterday, several raghorns through the season, and a 6x6 a few days ago. On a plus side we saw lots of bulls, so most hunters saw bulls, we just didn't kill many. We did make a TV show with success on a nice bull and we finished the season yesterday with a medium buck in the morning and with a big buck an hour before season closed yesterday for a lady hunter who hunted harder than most men. Guide Nick was so sore from hiking that it hurt to pack out the deer in the morning for her husband, luckily the big buck was a shorter hike in the evening and wasn't as tough to get out.
I've got to drive to Montana tonight so I better get going. Here are a few photos, I will try to gather up a few more pics to post when I get a chance.
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2013, 05:48:57 PM
Post by: MuleySniper on October 25, 2013, 05:50:40 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2013, 06:09:53 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2013, 06:14:16 PM
Nice Muley! She looks excited lol
I think the camera caught her between smiles. :chuckle:
That lady and her husband hiked a lot of country that most men have not been able to do, two very fit and hard working hunters. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2013, 06:33:11 PM
Post by: JJB11B on October 25, 2013, 06:46:12 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2013, 07:11:11 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 27, 2013, 12:29:26 PM
Post by: irishevox on October 27, 2013, 09:51:36 PM
Post by: quadrafire on October 28, 2013, 07:44:21 AM
I'm just curious about all the missed shots. Do you get alot of new hunters? Do you have a pre-hunt shooting session to make sure rifles/bows are sighted in?
Just seems like a lot of whiffs for as many opportunities you get them. :dunno:
Post by: Duffer on October 28, 2013, 06:42:46 PM
There were 5 people hunting at the same time I was. Everyone of us was advised to have our rifles sighted in 2" high at 100 yards and in my case, Dale & I talked about which rifle caliber was best to hunt with as I was hunting black bear.
Every one showed up early and Dale's crew took the time for us to shoot a couple of times at 100 yards just to check. Now as it ended up one rifle in our group was way off. Dale's crew took the time to break out the tools, remounted the scope plus tightened the loosened stock! And it was sighted in then. :tup:
A couple of these folks had driven all the way across the country with their rifles. Some of the folks in the group after mine came all the way from Europe!
I can imagine a couple of possibilities. One would be that folks arriving late may not have the time to verify sight in. Everyone is expected to be sight in before they arrive tho!
2nd and more likely is that using an outfitter is not an uncommon method for folks to start hunting. Beginners or, like myself, someone who had not hunted for 25 years and was 'restarting'. So you've got some inexperience and the added buck fever and shizz can happen.
One thing I can guarantee is that Dale is sick about it. Unsuccessful hunts create bad statistics for his business. Unfortunately it's out of his control.
again, this is all just my opinion
Post by: RadSav on October 28, 2013, 06:56:42 PM
I'm just curious about all the missed shots. Do you get alot of new hunters? Do you have a pre-hunt shooting session to make sure rifles/bows are sighted in?
Just seems like a lot of whiffs for as many opportunities you get them. :dunno:
I'm not speaking for Dale, but my hunters usually shot about 50% inside 100 yards, about 30% between 100 & 200 yards, and about 10% or less on shots over 200 yards. I think the average guy with nerves of steel and sniper quality guns and accuracy live mainly on the internet. In the real world they tend to be a bit more human. Even when sight-in steps are taken before a hunt starts. People just get excited! Only cure for that I know of is experience.
Post by: actionshooter on October 28, 2013, 08:29:37 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 30, 2013, 12:19:16 AM
I can think of a recent coyote I missed, I used to be proficient on yotes out to 400-500 yards, but I missed one not long ago at only 328... :bash:
I better do some shooting before coyote madness! :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on October 30, 2013, 12:20:26 AM
Post by: JJB11B on October 30, 2013, 12:20:37 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 30, 2013, 12:26:47 AM
I killed a yote at 400 on the nose then missed one at 75 yards broadside about 20 minutes later last year....Epic failure. :bash:
I know the feeling, I remember a whitetail at 30 yards that I watched run away as I waited for him to drop. Got to looking and I hit a deadfall that was right in front of the chest that I hadn't seen in my excitement of watching the 4 bucks come from 100 to about 30 yards. :chuckle:
When I was a kid I shot 3 boxes of 30/30 shells at bucks before I ever hit one. Standing, laying, it didn't matter, I got buck fever so bad I couldn't hit anything for those first few years. :chuckle:
Post by: JJB11B on October 30, 2013, 12:42:42 AM
Post by: RadSav on October 30, 2013, 02:12:40 AM
When I was a kid I shot 3 boxes of 30/30 shells at bucks before I ever hit one. Standing, laying, it didn't matter, I got buck fever so bad I couldn't hit anything for those first few years. :chuckle:
I had to teach myself to shoot well because I absolutely HATE missing! I missed my spot on the bear I killed with Dale this year by about 3.5" at 200 yards. I could not sleep for a week trying to figure out how I could have missed my spot so badly. Even though the shot dropped him like a sack of potatoes I still could not relax until I had a good idea of what I had done wrong. I think Dale thought I was a complete nut case with all the PMs and emails trying to figure it out. Hit the range and found out it was the scope. I knew the wind was blowing hard the day I sighted in, but I thought I had made appropriate adjustments for that. Now I think I must have made the adjustments the wrong direction - Dumb Arse! I've never been so happy to have my scope off by 1.5" in my life. Even though it took a couple weeks to finish kicking myself in the buttocks. Makes me physically sick to miss my spot. I sometimes think that people who shoot, miss and move on are luckier than I am. I bet they sleep just fine after a day or two.
I missed a 200 class muledeer in 1994 with my bow. I still have nightmares about that shot at least three times a month. >:( I reached for my rangefinder and decided not to use it because I was worried about the extra movement. They (two over 180 together) were looking my direction trying to figure out what made that noise. My pin stopped at the top of his back. I had to force the pin down to the spot like I had a tree branch stuck to the upper limb even though nothing was there. When I finally settled and took the shot the arrow went just beneath the monsters chest. My mind knew what the yardage was and I chose to ignore it and went with my conscious calculation. There was absolutely no excuse for that miss and it will probably haunt me on my death bed.
Post by: quadrafire on October 30, 2013, 07:33:10 AM
I'm sure there are many of the internet prowlers that just don't mention the missed, only about the one shot that was perfect that connected.
My first deer at 11 yrs old, was perfect broadside chest shot at about 30 yrds. Funny thing was I hit her in the head and not the chest. I just told everyone I was aiming for a head shot as I didn't want to ruin any meat. LOL
I missed an archery buck broadside only to have him sniff the arrow underneath him giving me a chance for that second perfect heart shot.
Post by: bearpaw on October 30, 2013, 08:41:36 AM
Tim is one heck of a standup fellow and has been hunting with us for several years, he books the first hunt every year in Montana in hopes that the deer are unhunted and calmer so he can see them. Tim has vision issues and he only sees about 20% of the deer the rest of us see. He does his best when the deer are in an open area and against a different color background. Tim has had a tough time the last few years, a motorist hit him on his bike when cycling and he missed one year, then another year he caught Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and missed his hunt. Over the years Tim has had some shooting issues due to his eyesight problems, let's say "there's been a few misses", but Tim always manages to fill all his tags, he usually gets one buck and two doe tags as he really enjoys deer meat.
First hunt day we saw 20 bucks but no big mule deer as he preferred. We also saw some doe and Tim got his first doe with his first shot. Awesome, his 2013 hunt was off to a great start.
Second hunt day we saw 31 bucks plus about the same number of doe deer. A 4x5 mule deer that needed another year and 3 or 4 shooter whitetail bucks that we passed, but we held out for a bigger mule deer buck. We missed a couple of doe mid day so the second day wasn't as good of day.
Third day we figured we better get the second doe out of the way. It stormed all day and we only saw about 15 bucks and maybe 30 doe. We finally saw some doe that were feeding and Tim had time to find them in his scope, BOOM, he hit her in the hind leg, she ran down the canyon and jumped in the reservoir and swam across, when she reached the other side she couldn't get out so she swam back across and got in a thicket. I said "let's give her some time to settle down and then we'll go after her". We left the area for about an hour and I checked his gun to be sure it was sighted and found it to be a couple inches off so we corrected that and I offered a couple shooting tips. "When you pull the trigger squeeze it slowly, don't jerk it, and keep your head down, try to see the bullet hit the deer and you will shoot better." So we went back to the reservoir and went to the thicket, the deer jumped in and swam across again, I kept saying "don't shoot her out there, wait for her to get to the bank". When she got to the other side Tim dropped her as she stepped out of the water, but she had a few kicks in her and ended up 20 feet out. We tied a hatchet to a nylon parachute cord and pulling her in with that. We drug her to the truck and loaded her, I was in a hurry since we had about an hour of prime time left, Tim said I field dressed her in 3 minutes. We hunted till dark but was unable to get Tim on a mule buck.
Fourth and last day. The storm broke and deer were out in force, we headed for where a good mule buck had been seen by the landowner but couldn't find that buck. Next, I headed for high ground and started glassing ground. Right off I spotted two whitetails and one was a dandy, Tim said "let's go after him!" They were about a mile away, so we drove over near where I watched them enter a brushy draw and did a little hunt. We snuck along the draw watching in the brush but couldn't see the bucks. Next, we headed up a side draw as we walked slowly we watched closely. Suddenly I spotted a bedded mule deer buck at 250 yards, he's a good buck, mature big body, heavy high rack, but dang it, he's 20 yards on the wrong side of the fence on the neighbor's property. I hated to say it but we had to leave the buck, we backed off hoping he might cross the fence after he got up later. We decided to go back to the area again by the reservoir as we had seen bucks every time we went there. Sure enough we spotted three whitetail deer, a doe, a small 4x4, and a decent shooter 17 to 18 inch buck. Tim was on a rest with his gun as the small buck walked through an opening, I said "He's the small buck, don't shoot him!" I could see the bigger buck working toward the opening, "Get ready, the big buck is going to step out! A few minutes passed, "He just stepped out, take him!" BOOM, the big buck never budged, "Reload and shoot again, you missed!" Tim said "I'm sure I hit him!" So I dropped the binoculars and saw the small buck get up on the other side of the opening get up and try to run out of sight. He stumbled and then tipped over backwards and was done. I hated to say it but "You're right you hit him, but you shot the small buck!" Tim made a short comment about that and then we walked over to his buck. "Well he's a young one, he'll be really good eating!" Then we had a few laughs about how the small buck had come back out and the misinterpretation, we took a few photos, I cleaned the buck and we headed for the skinning barn.
We took the deer to the processor and then we went to dinner. Tim said "I enjoyed the hunt and will be back the first week next year, lord willing."
After passing some really nice whitetails and a couple mule deer we ended up with this buck, oh well, it happens! The doe is the first doe, I didn't get pics of the second doe.
Post by: quadrafire on October 30, 2013, 08:55:39 AM
Post by: Killmore on October 30, 2013, 11:09:17 AM
Post by: RadSav on October 30, 2013, 12:38:12 PM
Post by: actionshooter on October 30, 2013, 10:08:00 PM
Post by: Duffer on October 30, 2013, 11:09:54 PM
That 'young man' has filled way more tags this year than I have, even with his disability. Good for him!
Post by: buck man on November 01, 2013, 06:42:14 AM
Post by: Lunchbox1981 on November 01, 2013, 07:40:37 AM
It's never fun missing shots but I look at it this way. At least you are getting all your clients on game. If I were one of them I rather say well dogon I missed a shot vice I didn't see any game.
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2013, 12:29:00 AM
We went back after those same bucks at first light this morning but they were no where to be seen. We passed two medium 4x4 mule deer and several other small to medium whitetails and mule deer throughout the day. We saw 22 or 23 bucks and finally late in the evening I spotted a big mature 4x4 with wide antlers that we decided to go after. We closed the distance with the truck, then headed in on foot. When we got to where we planned to shoot and there was a doe and a different but smaller 4x4. We waited but then gave up to go look for the other bucks we had seen the night before. On the way to look for the other bucks we saw our wide 4x4, he had joined up with other deer and gone a different direction while we were sneaking in and was now in the middle of a huge wide open field, we left him and headed for the other big bucks from the night before. Unfortunately we did not find them so day 2 done and no shots taken.
We saw two mule deer bucks sparring today and saw two whitetails fighting tonight. We also saw a 4x4 whitetail with his nose on the ground tracking a doe. It appears the rut has officially started here. Tomorrow, or maybe I should say today since it's after midnight, we are going to kill a buck. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 03, 2013, 10:17:37 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 03, 2013, 10:57:14 PM
We made a big circle around and ran into the buck again. This time at about 200 yards. The buck was slowly feeding away into a large field and unaware of the crosshairs fixed upon him. Raleigh was having trouble so I asked him if he wanted to pass on the shot but he felt confident and fired. Boom, the buck jumped and ran out into a herd of does and smaller bucks in the middle of the huge field and was even grazing at times.
We was able close the distance some but Raleigh couldn't get solid on the buck for a shot. Then they moved farther away so we backed off and circled around the field and got closer. At about 250 yards The buck was feeding with the herd, I could see a wound low on the shoulder but the buck seemed relatively unaffected. Raleigh shot again but missed and the deer ran out of range again and started feeding again across on the other side of the field. We watched a few minutes until we figured it was too late to shoot and decided to leave for the night.
At first light this morning we returned to look for the wide 4x4 buck. We searched the field but no buck, I figured he wasn't hurt badly since he was feeding after the shot. Raleigh was going to call the hunt good but I convinced him that the buck would likely live and we should keep hunting, he finally agreed and so we started hunting again. It wasn't 10 minutes and we spotted two medium sized 4x4 bucks chasing a doe around at about 120 yards. They disappeared in and out of the trees a couple times. The next thing we know here comes a buck chasing a doe right past us. We bleated and the buck stopped at 60 yards broadside, "You can take him if you want." Boom, the buck ran as fast as he could into the timber, I saw the bullet impact in my binos and knew he couldn't go far. We waited a few minutes and headed after him. We found the young buck about 70 yards from where he was shot. He's not nearly as big as the wide 4x4 and we all agreed that he's not one of the first two 4x4's we first saw chasing the doe. Raleigh said it was his best whitetail and was pleased. He plans to have a European mount done. Congrats :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 03, 2013, 11:07:24 PM
There are two big whitey's hanging out in this one area so we are going there first thing in the morning. If we don't see one of the big ones I doubt that we'll pull the trigger since it's the first day of the hunt.
Jim likes wide antlers, so if we see the wide 4x4 with the shoulder wound he might be in trouble again.
Post by: bearpaw on November 05, 2013, 06:30:33 AM
We still weren't seeing as many deer as normal, the cold wind had them holding pretty tight. After an hour or two we spotted some doe and a couple possible shooter 4x4's in an alfalfa field. We made a huge circle out of sight around the field and then started working our way in. A doe had us pinned down for a long while, but eventually fed out of sight. Jim earned an Olympic medal for alfalfa crawling, we crawled within 200 yards of the two 4x4 bucks in the middle of that alfalfa field. We looked them over and decided to pass on them, backed off carefully, and left them in the field.
About an hour later in a different part of the ranch we spotted some doe in the brush. As we sat and watched the does we spotted two bucks sneaking through the brush. Finally the larger buck stepped out of the far side of the brush patch. Jim had his crosshairs on him, we looked him over pretty close and I could tell Jim liked him. I said he was a 4x5 and Jim asked "Should I shoot him? I replied, "You can if you want! BOOM, that buck dropped like you cut the rope he was hanging from. Great neck shot! Congrats Jim...
This was the first time that Terry had ever gone hunting with Jim, we told her she had to be initiated into deer hunting. Thus the second photo! I have to admit she is a great sport! :chuckle:
Post by: ICEMAN on November 05, 2013, 06:39:39 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2013, 09:03:03 AM
We tried hunting from a blind and he got a shot but missed. We also tried driving around the ranch and worked out a quick system, I would get out and set up the chair and tripod while Loren got him out of the truck. Loren helped him get his arm up and put his hand on the trigger, then he would take off the safety. Alex still has enough muscle to pull the trigger but has trouble with muscle spasms that cause him to shake at times and so we had another missed deer due to these circumstances.
Finally we found another very calm deer, I got the chair and tripod in position while Loren helped Alex out of the truck. We moved the tripod up close and Alex got the deer in his scope. Loren flipped off the safety, I whispered "Squeeze slowly and keep your eye on the deer, try to see the bullet hit the deer!". Alex settled in and pretty soon BOOM, the deer dropped and never moved, perfect shot. :tup:
Second photo was right after the shot! :)
Post by: combs338 on November 15, 2013, 09:05:08 AM
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on November 15, 2013, 09:08:18 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2013, 09:09:15 AM
Congrats to Xander and a very proud dad!
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on November 15, 2013, 09:12:13 AM
-Steve
Post by: kramman on November 15, 2013, 09:21:33 AM
Post by: hirshey on November 15, 2013, 09:50:28 AM
Post by: Ripper on November 15, 2013, 11:00:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2013, 03:18:27 PM
Five minutes into the hunt we spotted one of the biggest bucks I've seen on the ranch this fall. Another earlier hunter had made the mistake of passing this buck on the first day of his hunt. Neither one of the guys wanted to end their hunt on the first day so we passed the heavy, narrow, tall buck again. :dunno:
Next day the first hunt day we saw 21 bucks, whitetails and mulies, a couple pretty good shooters, but we passed them all. The guys were having so much fun looking for bucks, neither wanted to end it. :chuckle:
On the second hunt day they were ready to put a buck down. We saw about a dozen or so bucks on the morning hunt but none were as large as what we had already passed so I suggested we pass them, then suddenly as we were driving along the edge of one of the alfalfa fields we spotted a buck bedded in thick timber and within range of the truck. Matt slipped out of the truck, he loaded his gun, found a rest, and took careful aim. BOOM, the buck never got up, he just rolled over. Awesome shot, congrats Matt, one for the wall!
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2013, 03:25:40 PM
The story about Alex and Xander really touched me Dale. I'm sure the whole experience was very rewarding to you. Good job to all of you.
It touched us all. Alex's hunt was special, I'm sure that little deer will be the biggest trophy we kill this year. Incredibly I have had to delete two nasty comments off my facebook page, I almost didn't post it in this topic, but I hoped it would be appreciated for what it really means to Alex.
Thanks a lot for commenting. :tup:
Post by: h20hunter on November 15, 2013, 03:37:48 PM
The story about Alex and Xander really touched me Dale. I'm sure the whole experience was very rewarding to you. Good job to all of you.
100% on that one.....that shows what it should be about.....he may never be able to share that experience with his son or family again. Some chances to make memories only come around once.
Bad comments on FB about it.....can't say what I want to about those that would find a hint of negativity about it.....I'd get banned in a heartbeat.
Post by: Buckmark on November 15, 2013, 03:41:57 PM
The story about Alex and Xander really touched me Dale. I'm sure the whole experience was very rewarding to you. Good job to all of you.It made my day better after reading it...
Post by: actionshooter on November 15, 2013, 05:04:19 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2013, 09:43:55 PM
Mike got out of the truck walked around the truck to where he could see the buck and just as he raised his rifle the big buck jumped up, the buck ran about 10 yards and stopped, Mike shot but it was a miss. The buck trotted 30 yards and stopped again, but Mike couldn't see the buck from where he was at, pretty soon the big buck trotted off and we haven't seen him since. We hunted the rest of the evening, saw a few bucks, but nothing close to the big boy we had missed. Day #2 ended after seeing 20 or so bucks.
Day 3 found us out looking for the heavy, narrow, and tall buck, but no luck, in fact we looked for a couple bucks we had passed but couldn't find them. Finally we got onto a nice 4x4 but forgot to put a cartridge in the chamber, CLICK, buck gone. Later in the day we got onto another pretty decent buck but missed that buck. We also saw the big wide 4x4 that a hunter had wounded a week before, he was just fine and chasing a doe but gave us no shot opportunity.
Just before dark we were glassing the high ridges and I spotted a nice 4x4 mule buck about 2 miles away. We went to start the truck and drive across the ranch to go after him but the truck wouldn't start. We were parked on a long hill that goes down to ranch house so I put the truck in neutral and we coasted down the hill to the corrals. We got out of the truck and went to get the 4 wheelers so we could drive closer to the buck. We happened to see a big whitetail buck run across the driveway just outside the yard. Mike ran to the fence across the yard and took 4 shots but I think his adrenalin was going so bad that he was doomed to be able to hit that buck. The buck was still chasing the doe around as they went back and forth across the hillside and eventually out of sight.
Mike seemed discouraged, I grabbed the wheeler, told Mike to jump on, and we headed for the mule buck. This was their last day and I was doing everything I could to get Mike a buck. We closed the distance, it was getting late so I tried to get a little closer than I should have, that was a mistake, the deer headed for cover. We snuck slowly toward where we had seen them disappear, "there they are, the buck is on the left, do you see him, get a good rest and make a good shot in the shoulder." Mike settled down and seemed to make a good shot, the deer dropped like he had no legs. "AWESOME SHOT, you dropped him!" Finally we had a deer down for Mike.
We walked toward the deer and when we approached I could see that Mike was going to grab the horns, "You better poke him first and make sure he's dead." So Mike poked him in the rump, the deer jumped up and took off half running. The buck stopped about 50 yards from us, I told Mike to make a good shot, BOOM, the deer dropped again. We got within 10 yards and the buck jumped up again, this time he hobbled off with a limp in the rear end. I said "Shoot Again", but Mike replied back "I'm out of shells!" I watched the buck disappear into the timber and then we hurried back to the wheeler and headed for the truck where there was more ammo. We got more ammo and headed back to look for the buck but it was too dark to shoot and we had to back off. I decided to wait 4 hours and then hopefully we would find the buck dead in his bed. At 9:00 pm we resumed the search and searched for 2 hours with 7 people. My 2 hunters had to catch a flight in the morning so Mike left his deer tag and we searched again the next day for another 2 hours. After I was convinced we did not kill the buck I called off the search. I saw a bullet hole through the bucks neck when we walked up to him, but apparently the shot only rattled the spine and did not break it because the buck certainly got back up.
Mike did not leave with a deer but he definitely had his chances and if we ever find that mule buck I will ship him the horns, but I'm hoping that buck makes it. I would encourage everyone to try and settle their emotions before they take the shot. But, I can't say too much as I had the same problem when I was younger, I would just get too excited and my shooting would suffer.
Post by: Killmore on November 16, 2013, 08:29:20 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2013, 10:06:58 AM
That is a great story about Alex,that is what its all about. And your last story has me nervous about missing now! :chuckle:
Shoot your gun before you leave, be sighted 1 or 2 inches high at 100 yards and you will do fine. :tup:
See you soon. :hello:
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2013, 10:07:57 AM
We circled around and happened to spot the buck again, he had only gone 100-200 yards and bedded down again. The buck saw us but stayed bedded, he thought he was hidden, in fact he even dropped his head practically out of sight. Richard got a solid rest and pulled the trigger, BOOM, the buck never even stood up, he was dead in his bed. Congrats to Richard on an excellent shot and unique buck.
Post by: Machias on November 16, 2013, 12:41:54 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2013, 09:00:45 PM
Post by: KFhunter on November 16, 2013, 09:21:09 PM
I'd blow that one up and frame it
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2013, 09:38:09 PM
Six of our hunters had already tagged out by the time I made it back from Montana for late buck here in WA. Congrats to those hunters, I haven't gathered up all the photos, some were small bucks some better bucks, here are a couple of the bucks that were taken with freshman guide Daniel. Congrats!!!
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2013, 09:45:43 PM
Hunting has been good, we've had another 7 bucks taken in the last three days. One buck had a freshly broken tine, presumably from fighting. Numerous bucks have been seen chasing does, here are some of the photos. Congrats to the hunters!!!! :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: Killmore on November 17, 2013, 08:11:17 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 17, 2013, 02:28:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 17, 2013, 04:04:26 PM
Notice the old wound on the back, someone had barely missed getting this buck earlier in the season.
Post by: Duffer on November 18, 2013, 03:01:07 AM
Awesome pics. Good work boys!
Post by: irishevox on November 18, 2013, 03:01:27 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 18, 2013, 09:07:09 AM
Post by: quadrafire on November 18, 2013, 11:21:07 AM
Post by: mulehunter on November 18, 2013, 11:23:16 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 18, 2013, 06:06:46 PM
We had a real big buck missed three times tonight, they waited for him to dismount off a doe then began shooting, oh well, it can happen to anyone, the guys will be looking for him again tomorrow. Also had several small bucks passed today in hopes of finding a bigger buck tomorrow.
Cougar hunting begins Dec 1, I'm getting jacked up for that. :)
Post by: Skyvalhunter on November 18, 2013, 06:07:59 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 18, 2013, 06:23:56 PM
Post by: RadSav on November 18, 2013, 06:29:14 PM
We had a real big buck missed three times tonight, they waited for him to dismount off a doe then began shooting...
That was awful nice of them. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2013, 11:03:20 PM
We had a real big buck missed three times tonight, they waited for him to dismount off a doe then began shooting...
That was awful nice of them. :chuckle:
Just finished making another show with Alwine, we got footage of a nice buck doing his duty. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 21, 2013, 08:09:20 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 21, 2013, 08:34:34 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 21, 2013, 09:53:43 AM
The temp slowly dropped from double digits to single digits as we hunted. We had visited with the horses the day before and they were all spry and running around, today the horses were snow covered and just trying to get through the storm. It's about 6 degrees and well below zero with wind chill when I snapped the second photo.
Post by: bearpaw on November 21, 2013, 12:24:16 PM
You'll never guess the next buck that we saw.
First we spotted a few mule deer does, then we realized there were 10 does, next we saw the buck, it was the same mule buck that Mike kicked in the butt about 10 days ago after he had shot him in the neck, the buck got up and ran 50 yards then mike shot him in the backend and dropped him again, that time we got 10 yards from the buck before he jumped up, but Mike was out of shells so we had to watch the buck walk away then looked for several hours that night and the next day, but never found the buck. I was afraid if he lived that the coyotes would eat him anyway and he was as good as dead either way. In fact every time I have been in that area of the ranch I have been watching for birds that might be on a kill.
Well there that buck was, big and proud, and keeping those does together. Only now instead of 6 does, he had 10 does. We got video of him, you can see where he was hit in the neck and in the back end. That is one tough buck, he was knocked down, thought to be dead, kicked in the behind, shot again, knocked down, wobbled away from us, survived the coyotes, and now he has 10 does instead of only 6 does. I told Matt I wished I was half the stud that buck is.
We looked at him and considered taking him but Matt was really focused on shooting a whitetail so we let the mule buck walk.
It was only a couple minutes later and a whitetail came into view, we all agreed it was a good buck with lots of width, Matt asked "Should I shoot him?" I replied "I'm OK with him, shoot him if you like him!" This all happened quickly, the buck stopped a couple times then moved farther each time, he stopped one last time at nearly 300 yards before going out of sight, BOOM, Matt hammered him, I could see the hit, the buck reacted to the hit and took off as fast as he could run. We paused and then went to find the trail, there was plenty of blood and we followed the trail quickly for a short distance. "There he is!" He had run less than 100 yards. We had a quick photo shoot in the 3 degree windy freezing environment, then I gutted the buck quickly, we loaded him and headed for the barn.
In short order we skinned the buck, pieced out both bucks, loaded them in coolers, washed up, had dinner, and called it a day. Congrats on a successful hunt Matt, it was my pleasure hunting with you, Shannon, and Zach. I love it when a plan comes together. :tup:
Post by: Machias on November 21, 2013, 06:24:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 23, 2013, 08:26:01 PM
Last Chapter - Montana Stud Muley
One of the guys said he would prefer a mule deer so I told him about the stud buck that had survived being shot in the neck and that I had seen him yesterday. He was intrigued so we headed to where I thought I would find that mule deer buck and Nick went to look for one of the bigger whitetail bucks we've been seeing.
We were only 5 minutes into our hunt and I heard a shot from Nick's direction. We had spotted a mule doe and so we worked in toward where we had seen her. We peeked over the rise and there was a group of mule deer does and the buck at about 80 yards. Mike commented "That's a big buck!" as Ryan got settled for the shot. BOOM, buck down and he stayed down this time. Ryan had shot him in the neck, just a couple inches from where the old wound was.
It was cold, only 6 degrees and the wind made it well below zero, so we took some quick photos, gutted and loaded the buck, and headed for the barn. When I skinned him I was amazed at how fast he was already healing up from his previous neck wound. When you consider that less than two weeks ago we had kicked that buck in the butt thinking he was dead and he managed to run off, then we find him with more does than he had before! I told the guys I wished I was half the stud that this buck was. :chuckle:
Best of all we had completed the final chapter on the Montana Stud Muley with a positive ending. Congrats to Ryan! :tup:
(Note: Today I saw that a big young fork horn has taken over the harem.)
Post by: bearpaw on November 23, 2013, 08:34:54 PM
I love it when a plan comes together. Congrats to Leighton on a dandy buck! :tup:
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 23, 2013, 09:11:08 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2013, 05:41:20 AM
Today was a bit slower, I only spotted 21 bucks today compared to 31 bucks yesterday. The rut seems to be slowing down some, but we still saw several bucks with does and other bucks tracking. One buck tonight had been running so hard to keep his doe that he was panting like a dog that just ran 10 miles. Another buck was rubbing a good sized tree and scraping. Yesterday we had watched two small bucks in a hard fight, they were bloody, we even walked within 30 yards of them as they were fighting, just as we got close my video battery went dead. But I got some photos at only 30-40 yards of the fight. We must have watched them for 10 minutes from the time we first spotted until finally one of them run the other off.
We saw two bucks today that were hard to pass, a heavy 4x5 and a good 5x5, but Mike (my remaining hunter) is holding out for a buck that catches his eye. He's not sure what type of buck yet, but said he will know when he sees it. He said that last 5x5 was really tough to pass. Tomorrow is the last day of the hunt, so I expect him to pull the trigger tomorrow on one of the bucks we see.
We had just finished looking at some mule deer today when Nick and David spotted a nice 5x5 they had seen the day before but had slipped away. David was able to make a fairly long shot and put the buck down. Unfortunately most of the g-4 on one side is broken, but that can be repaired if he wants it repaired. David is 71 and this was a special hunt for the group which includes 2 of his sons and a good friend. Congrats to David on a dandy buck! :tup:
Post by: elkhunter1977 on November 24, 2013, 08:24:46 AM
Post by: Machias on November 25, 2013, 09:59:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 26, 2013, 09:20:49 AM
Two days ago we had three of the four Hawaiian's filled out with a mule buck and two whitetail bucks. The last Hawaiian, "Mike", already has a 160 whitetail on the wall so he was looking for something similar or possibly some old buck that had character. As the hunt progressed we passed a multitude of 4x4's, 4x5's, and a 5x5 buck that really could use another year to reach their prime, at any rate they weren't close to being 160 class bucks so we kept holding out looking for that special buck.
Yesterday we spotted a really heavy horned and tall 4x4 that ran into a woodlot, we tried to find that buck all afternoon but failed. We named him the "Ghost Buck of the Dark Timber" because he just seemed to vanish into the thick pine woodlot. By dinner time he had become sort of an obsession with us because we simply had no idea where he went. :chuckle:
Nearly a week ago we had seen an old buck cross the highway on the way to the ranch. This old buck only had one eye and a big piece is missing from one ear, we assume from fighting during the rut in a previous season. The other noticeable thing was that his antlers were obviously those of an old buck that had seen his prime and was declining, he only had 3 points on each side. As luck would have it "One Eyed Willy" as we had aptly named him had showed up on the ranch several days ago. We had passed him several times and saw him again last night but let him walk away. Last night during dinner Mike said if we didn't find the "Ghost Buck of the Dark Timber" in the early morning that he would like to shoot "One Eyed Willy" if we saw him again.
This morning two of the guys stayed at the motel. Mike and Ryan jumped in with Nick and I and we headed for the ranch. We spotted several does and small bucks but did not see the "Ghost Buck of the Dark Timber" or "One Eyed Willy". In fact it was one of the slowest mornings of the season, the rut is definitely slowing down. Suddenly we spotted a buck at about 350 yards, it was a heavy horned older looking fully matured buck so Mike opted to take him, BOOM, he missed. The buck and two does headed over the ridge, we followed hoping to catch another glimpse. Sure enough we topped the ridge and soon spotted the two does in the timber. We kept looking and hoping the buck had stayed with them, suddenly Nick spotted the buck, Mike quickly got on him, the buck turned to run, BOOM, the buck only ran a few yards and dropped, Mike had made a perfect shot as the buck whirled around to escape.
We approached the downed buck and was surprised to find out that it was "One Eyed Willy". As quickly as everything had occurred we had not realized that it was one of the bucks we were looking for, what a great surprise. We took photos, gutted "One Eyed Willy", headed to the meat cutter, donated the meat, and the Hawaiians headed to Billings for their trip home. I love it when a plan comes together!
ALOHA
Post by: bearpaw on November 27, 2013, 07:17:28 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 27, 2013, 08:05:21 AM
Brotherhood Outdoors TV traveled to Idaho for an elk hunt last week and Harlyn Barnes pulled the trigger on this nice bull. There is a sad but touching family story within this show which will air sometime after the first of the year. We'll post the show date when we find out, don't miss it, sorry no more details till the show airs.
Julie McQueen called and said the show will air on Jan 5 when their new season begins. Watch for Brotherhood Outdoors on the Sportsman's Channel, January 5th.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 27, 2013, 08:10:18 AM
Post by: Killmore on November 27, 2013, 08:19:41 AM
Post by: Whitpirate on November 27, 2013, 09:39:48 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 27, 2013, 12:37:22 PM
Is one eye willy one of the bucks that hung out by the driveway? I wanted to thank you and Nick for a good time, It felt good to see so many bucks in one day and also breaking my dry spell. Meeting Matt and Shannon was also a special treat, very nice people. And bearpaw falling asleep at the dinner table was PRICELESS :chuckle: Mike
He was down by the highway closer to town and then moved up by the big alfalfa field up on top near where you got your buck.
I was so tired that night, I slept like a baby when I finally made it to bed. :chuckle:
It was good seeing you and the Mrs again, you need to bring her back for a buck someday. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 27, 2013, 12:42:34 PM
Always enjoy the pictures and stories of your client hunts Dale.
:hello: Thanks, I appreciate the comment.
Just sitting on my behind today in a motel in Billings. My next hunter is shooting a buffalo on Thanksgiving morning and then we are going deer hunting with him. Will miss thanksgiving with my family but will hopefully get some more photos and tales to share. Then I have a doe hunter and then then I head to Idaho for cougar hunting.
Can't wait to run the hounds again. :IBCOOL:
Post by: bearpaw on November 29, 2013, 08:36:57 PM
Thanksgiving Day Buffalo, congrats to Frazier on his first hunt ever.
Post by: bearpaw on November 29, 2013, 08:44:00 PM
Post by: Coasthunterjay on November 29, 2013, 08:55:40 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 30, 2013, 09:08:48 PM
Last Day In Montana
Unfortunately Frazier missed three 4x4 bucks today, one whitetail and two mule bucks. But we had a great time, I worked with him to try and improve his shooting, and I think he'll be back soon for another hunt.
I'm off to Idaho for cougar hunting. :tup: :IBCOOL:
Post by: bearpaw on December 07, 2013, 11:36:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2013, 12:11:43 AM
We found another set of tom tracks a couple days old. We searched all over the area and found out there was a tom and a female hunting together and they had made tracks all over the area. After a coupe hours we finally found where they had made a deer kill, saw where they chased it down and drug it a short distance to devour it.
That's where we took the dogs and turned them loose at the kill only a short distance from an old logging road. The dogs could smell cats everywhere, the cats had made tracks all over the place. We found beds where the cats had layed but it appeared the tom had left a day earlier and the female was the most recent track. We found the female track leaving the area and the dogs could have run her, but we didn't want to waste time with that and opted to give that up and try to find where the tom had gone.
Here's a photo of what is left of the deer kill after only a couple days of feeding by two cats. Notice how almost everything is eaten, even the skin is devoured and most bones are chewed up and consumed. All that is left is hair, part of the head and part of one front leg that the female was probably planning on consuming.
We didn't find the tom that day so we planned to look for him again the next day.
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2013, 12:25:02 AM
The coyotes leave most of the bone, they do not have the jaw strength to eat most of the bones like a cougar does. I thought I took a photo but can't find it, I will post it if I find it.
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2013, 12:50:47 AM
Brian went back looking for the tom from the day before. I headed for another area where I had seen an old tom track on the first day of the hunt.
I cut the tracks of a nice looking tom on my way up the mountain, could be the same cat I was looking for. We started the track at daylight, it was very cold and the dogs were moving it really slow. The guys were walking the track with the dogs, they had gone a half mile or so and suddenly the dogs blew up right in front of them, a cougar went running out of a hole in the rocks right past them and the dogs took off after it.
The cougar headed for a pile of rocks trying to lose the dogs, then it ran for a nearby canyon with the dogs in hot pursuit and the guys right behind the dogs going as fast as they could go. The cat either bayed or treed for a few minutes but before anyone could get there it took off again with the dogs right behind. The dogs stopped the cat again up on a steep hillside but before we could get there it jumped again and headed over the mountain. We headed up over the top of the ridge to find the cat had treed again but before we could get there it jumped again and headed down the canyon on the other side.
The hunter (Kevin) continued with Brian and I and headed back to get the truck to drive it closer in the bottom of the canyon where the cat was headed. About halfway down the canyon the cat treed again and the guys made to the tree, the cat was nervous as Brian tried to move around and identify if it was a male or female. Suddenly the cat jumped again and headed straight down the canyon toward where I was parking.
Brian told me over the radio it sounded like it treed again several hundred yards farther down the canyon, I said if you get to the tree don't wait for me, just shoot the cat, I'm sure it's a tom cause the tracks were so big and he was double stepping. As I was preparing to leave the truck I could hear the dogs barking a half mile up the canyon, just as I started up the canyon I heard the shot. I hurried there in time for the photo session.
The guys said as soon as they got to the tree the cat started getting nervous again, while Brian grabbed the best dogs Nick snapped a couple photos, and Kevin quickly shot the cat as it was preparing to jump again. As luck would have it the cat was actually a female, a bit of a disappointment since we try to take only toms on our hunts, but it was an exciting hunt, the hunter was thrilled, and it was great for the young dogs, not so bad after all.
Apparently this female was resting in the rocks right near where the tom had walked through the night before, when the dogs got too close it spooked the cat out of the rocks and we think that's how we ended up with a different cat than we had started chasing.
We took photos and some video, then made our way to the truck and headed off the mountain.
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2013, 12:58:38 AM
I had two more hunters who were flying in from Denmark last night but their flight from Paris to Salt Lake was changed and they were forced to land in Atlanta and spend the night.
It had snowed a skiff and we wanted to hunt so Nick (one of my guides) who also wanted to take a cat this season was able to hunt again today. Brian headed back to look for the tom that had killed the deer and I headed back to find the tom that had gotten crossed up with the female we had accidentally shot yesterday. It turned out to be an exciting day but I will have to finish the story later, while I have been writing I fell asleep at the computer and now it's nearly time to go hunting again. :chuckle:
I need to catch a little more sleep and go hunting, I'll finish tomorrow after we get back from hunting.
Post by: CementFinisher on December 08, 2013, 01:46:48 AM
Post by: denali on December 08, 2013, 01:54:22 AM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on December 08, 2013, 01:12:23 PM
Post by: Machias on December 08, 2013, 03:00:12 PM
Love seeing those dog and cat pictures!
:yeah: :yeah:
Post by: bearpaw on December 09, 2013, 01:14:10 PM
At daylight we prepped several anxious hounds and released them on the track. The hounds opened up well on the track and moved along quickly. It was a fairly quick chase and in less than an hour the dogs were treed. We took off the heavy layers of clothing and started hiking, I followed with the video camera as we closed the distance. Before long we were within 50 yards and even though we tried to approach carefully the cat spotted us and jumped out over the top of the dogs. I tried to get it on video but not sure you can see the cat jump, the dogs were following hot on his heels, we saw them all go across the hillside with the dogs only about 30 yards behind, wow this was great for the two young pups and a new dog I had recently bought that needs finished out.
They were headed almost straight away and suddenly the cat changed direction and came back downhill right below us, we saw the cat at about 150 yards and heard his claws as he climbed a tree to escape the hounds. Then suddenly he jumped again in an attempt to lose the hounds and headed straight down the canyon. The hounds were absolutely screaming as they followed the big cat down the canyon, this sounded awesome and I was getting most of it on video. Soon the cat turned to the right to climb up the ridge, that was a mistake, the dogs always gain on a cat that goes uphill.
Within 100 yards after turning uphill the dogs treed the cat again. We were only a few hundred yards behind the dogs and quickly closed the distance moving in carefully the last 70 yards. The cat was only about 25 feet up the tree so Nick and I stopped at 25 yards, Brian snuck in and snapped a couple closer photos then leashed the best dogs so Nick could shoot.
Nick aimed the lever action 44 and hammered the cat which jumped out and headed back down the hill. The young dogs and my new dog were hot on his heels as was Brian and Nick. I stayed with the good dogs until Brian hollered that the cat was down, then I released the good dogs and headed down myself. The cat had fallen about 120 yards from the tree. We took photos and video and then headed for the truck.
We estimated the cat to weigh 140 or more and judging by his teeth he was probably 6 or 7 years old. I love it when a plan comes together.
Post by: bearpaw on December 09, 2013, 01:42:39 PM
I rode snowmobile for 1 1/2 hours looking for tracks and even though I had my head completely covered and goggles, I still froze some skin on my face. Gotta keep an eye on that skin now. :yike:
It's supposed to warm up some tomorrow and more the next day. I just hope it don't get colder.
Post by: quadrafire on December 09, 2013, 01:56:22 PM
That cold can't be too good on the dogs either. At least my nose freezes up when it gets super cold.
It is warming here in Spokane this week. Not sure where you are, but I doubt it will drop anymore.
Post by: bearpaw on December 09, 2013, 02:09:10 PM
Post by: Killmore on December 10, 2013, 09:05:33 AM
Post by: mulehunter on December 10, 2013, 09:24:47 AM
Miss chase all my cats. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on December 10, 2013, 02:19:43 PM
Tell Nick congratulations, or is he on this forum..
He's not on the forum so I'll tell him. :tup:
Post by: HighCountryHunter88 on December 10, 2013, 02:25:44 PM
Post by: RadSav on December 10, 2013, 04:35:16 PM
whats that shaggy dog all about?
:chuckle: :chuckle: Little shoe lace eater with a Napoleonic inferiority complex!
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2013, 12:21:26 AM
whats that shaggy dog all about?
:chuckle: :chuckle: Little shoe lace eater with a Napoleonic inferiority complex!
That's Ruby, half Irish terrier, half Jagdterrier, chases bear, cats, mice, birds, whatever you sick her on. Also makes a heck of a pet with some serious personality. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2013, 12:46:42 AM
It warmed up, it was all the way up to 1 degree last night, we thought we were in the tropics this morning after the -40's yesterday morning. :chuckle:
Cats move when it warms up, this morning was no exception, Brian and I each found female tracks and then he found tom tracks. We turned loose right after daylight and the dogs trailed for probably 7 or 8 miles, a longer chase this time, it took them 4 hours to follow the old tracks, catch up to the 135ish pound tom cat, and persuade him to tree. The two pups made the whole race and were at the tree, one began treeing a little at this tree. The cat was way up the tree and tough to get a good shot but we found the right spot.
One of the brothers from Denmark shot the cat with the 44 lever action. Cat only ran about 50 yards after jumping out. Both young dogs were loose for the kill and barking at the downed cat, they are this spring's pups but will probably be cat dogs by the end of the season. The old dogs did an awesome job. We think this might be the tom we had been looking for that had killed the deer with the female last week. No way of knowing for sure, but it sort of adds up considering where we found him. I love it when a plan comes together.
Tonight we celebrated with big ribeyes, a rack of ribs, and hot wings, we were all stuffed, oh yeah, their were also a few beers that disappeared. :chuckle:
Post by: Duffer on December 11, 2013, 12:52:57 AM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on December 11, 2013, 12:57:14 AM
Post by: quadrafire on December 11, 2013, 07:59:29 AM
What are the logistics with that cat. Prepping the hide to take home to Denmark, or having taxi work done here?
just curious
That is pretty cool. Travel 1/2 way around the world to hunt the NW.
Do they find your services on the internet, or previous hunters?
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2013, 02:50:12 PM
Dale
What are the logistics with that cat. Prepping the hide to take home to Denmark, or having taxi work done here?
just curious
That is pretty cool. Travel 1/2 way around the world to hunt the NW.
Do they find your services on the internet, or previous hunters?
Some just have the hide tanned for export and then mounted at home, others have the whole mount done here and then shipped. Either way CITES paperwork must be done before the cat can leave the country. I have had hunters from all over the world so word of mouth gets us many hunters. Other times they find us on the internet.
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2013, 03:01:52 PM
Been battling with keeping equipment running in this nasty cold weather, wheeler wouldn't start again this morning, had to use a snowmobile on some ground with very limited snow, that's hard on them. Picked up a different wheeler from the shop and dropped off the no start for repair.
Hopefully we'll see that tom tomorrow. :tup:
Post by: NRA4LIFE on December 11, 2013, 03:17:13 PM
Too funny. I've been to Denmark a number of times for work. One thing I've learned, when those boys get to drinkin', don't try to keep up. Did they bring any Aquavit with them? That's when the real fun starts.
Keep up the good work, and kill some more cats.
Post by: Machias on December 12, 2013, 08:30:33 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 13, 2013, 11:37:37 PM
The dogs began moving it out well ahead of everyone and then the tom crossed paths with another female. This time Queen went on the female so we now had two lions going. :bash:
Got the other dogs straightened out and headed toward the remote country on the tom tracks. In the mid afternoon as the dogs were slowly working the day old tracks on mostly barren southern exposure we made the decision to give up the chase. Brian, Nick, and Daniel caught the dogs and walked out the drainage they were in, I drove around and picked them up in the bottom of the drainage, the guys were all pretty tired.
I drove back around to look for Queen who we had abandoned after she took off after the female. As luck would have it we found her on a distant barren southern exposure hillside, it appeared she was still working the female tracks across the barren ground. We honked the truck horn and hollered and was fortunate that she came toward us. We ran out about 400 hundred yards and met her, we got her loaded, tightened a loose wheel bearing on a snowmobile trailer and then headed for home.
This morning, the last day of the Danish Hunt, we looked all around in hopes that the tom came out and crossed a road somewhere, but no such luck. We found 4 female cougars and a wolf track twice, but no tom cougar. At noon we called off the hunt and I hurried back to town so we could get them to the airport in time to fly out this afternoon. The other Danish brother Marc did not get a tom but he and his father will be back next year the first week of season to hunt again.
Post by: RadSav on December 13, 2013, 11:51:51 PM
Sounds like you guys are cutting a lot of female tracks. Is this usual, a growing trend, or something new this year?
Post by: bearpaw on December 14, 2013, 12:11:53 AM
That's too bad for the Danish fellas. At least they go home knowing they worked hard and didn't leave unsuccessful because of lack of effort.
Sounds like you guys are cutting a lot of female tracks. Is this usual, a growing trend, or something new this year?
The younger brother killed a nice tom, just the one older brother didn't get a cat. We are running 75% success so far this season.
It's normal to find more females, I may have not mentioned the number of female tracks in the past, but we almost always find more female tracks.
I tried to get my next hunters to change their dates or come next year because the weather looks real tough for the next 10 days. They say they can't change their schedule so we are stuck hunting next week and it looks like it's going to be very tough weather for cougar hunting. We'll give it our best shot and hope for the best. :dunno:
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on December 14, 2013, 05:08:54 AM
Post by: buck man on December 16, 2013, 02:35:52 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 28, 2013, 02:27:15 AM
I was hoping they made a kill and the dogs would catch them quickly. Unfortunately the two cats never made a kill and left tracks all over the mountainsides which had the dogs running in circles trying to figure heads or tales of all those tracks. Finally at about 2 pm we caught up to the dogs who were still somewhat confused and hung up in some trees right above some rock cliffs.
One dog half heartedly thought the cats were there somewhere, but I could tell that Tucker knew that they had been given the slip. I made a half circle around the top the area and the cats had not left. But I couldn't circle the bottom side because we were only a few yards from a property boundary and from previous experience I already knew that landowner will not let anyone hunt. I think the dogs had jumped the cats in those trees and the cats headed straight downhill into the private and jumped through the rocks where the dogs couldn't go. I've seen that happen many times, usually I can circle around rocks and find the cat tracks if the dogs haven't found them and get the dogs going again. Unfortunately this time I couldn't do that and had to pull the dogs and head back to the snowmobiles.
Finally we got back to the snow machines and headed for the truck. When we pulled up to the truck it was just getting dark but we happened to notice that one wheel bearing was gone on the trailer and the wheel was ready to fall off. We disconnected the trailer and drove to town to get a larger flatbed trailer to load the snowmobile trailer onto. Got back with the other trailer and managed to tip the snowmobile trailer up on it's side, I backed the big trailer alongside and we tipped the one side of the snowmobile trailer down onto the big flatbed trailer. Next we lifted the other side of the broken trailer and managed to slide the snowmobile trailer completely onto the big trailer. We secured it and headed for town, I figured we would unload the trailer and take the big trailer back for the three machines.
Halfway back to town we blew a tire on the big trailer, guess what, no spare... :bash: :yike:
So we unhooked the big trailer and headed back to town to rummage around for a spare and another trailer to get the machines. That looked really funny, a broken down trailer sitting on top of another broken down trailer, sitting along the side of the highway. I took a spare from another enclosed trailer, hooked up another snowmobile trailer and headed back out. Fortunately the spare fit the flatbed trailer, so then we went and loaded the snowmachines on the other snowmobile trailer I was towing and took them to the house. We unhooked and went back out to get the big flatbed trailer, lucky for us there were no more mishaps and we made it home with everything by about 1 am. We were all whipped, dog tired, including the dogs, I told the hunters we had to take the day off to let the dogs rest so they would be able catch the next lion. We took it easy the next day and headed out early in the evening looking for tracks, it was their last day so we looked all night for tracks. We needed a track by daylight so we could hopefully catch it quick and they could make their plane in the afternoon.
Before daylight I found tracks of a very large tom, I think this is the tom that we were tracking when we got crossed up on the female a few weeks ago, he was covering country and had crossed roads several times, finally I found the freshest set of tracks crossing another road, but going right into private land. :bash:
As we waited my hunter called and changed his flight times. I hoped the tom would pass through this large piece of private but had my doubts, so we waited an hour for daylight and to make sure the people were up and went to ask permission. Dang, no luck getting permission. :bash:
The only other option was to walk up a canyon on the other side of the private property in hopes the cat went that way. I walked over a mile up that canyon and found nothing but another female track and some deer and elk. :bash:
We continued looking for another tom track, I found some more female tracks but no tom. I was making my last run up this creek bottom going pretty fast on the snow machine and saw something that looked big and black coming through the willows toward the road, thoughts flashed through my mind of hitting a bear with the snowmobile, I slammed on the brake and slid half sideways up the road. :yike: :bdid:
Out pops the biggest beaver I've seen in years, I practically hit him with the snowmobile, at that point I had to laugh and I laughed pretty good. :chuckle:
I finished my run and we called it a day, my behind was completely kicked, I was dead tired, had trouble driving back to the house. I way over slept the next day and was way late getting the house cleaned and getting everything loaded for the journey home from Idaho. I was on my computer for a while but fell asleep again at the keyboard for most of the night, I was way to late getting started. At 2:30 pm I finally made it home for Christmas, I walked through the door just as the wife was serving Christmas dinner. :)
I spent today rebuilding the broken snowmobile trailer, we put a new heavier weight axle under it, rewired and installed new lights. Today we also had to take one of the hounds to the vet, he's got a bad skin infection and infection in his eyes. They have him on three kinds of medication plus eye drops. I've got a few days off to relax a bit and catch up on some overdue paperwork. Hopefully everything is good to go in a week or so. I think my hunter is going to try and come back later in the season to look for a tom again, hopefully we'll have a little better luck! :tup:
Post by: Killmore on December 29, 2013, 09:11:18 AM
Post by: irishevox on January 03, 2014, 12:55:46 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 05, 2014, 09:19:12 AM
How much snow do you have in Idaho? Here in eburg if I go down the driveway fast enough I can kick up dust. Stay after them cats!! :tup:
There hasn't been as much snow as usual, sometimes we were riding wheelers looking for tracks in a dusting of snow down low at 5000 to 6000 feet, but up at 8000 feet there was probably 14 to 18 inches.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on January 05, 2014, 09:02:20 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 09, 2014, 09:49:59 PM
:peep: :hunter: :tup: :brew: :cue:
At least that is the way I am hoping it turns out. :chuckle:
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on January 09, 2014, 10:02:25 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 12, 2014, 02:26:29 PM
These steep rocky mountainsides are really tough on tire chains, I broke 3 tire chains over the first 2 days of the hunt and broke another chain on day 3. I got tired of repairing chains and purchased two more sets of tire chains, this has slowed down the chain repairs needed to keep us hunting. We have found two fresh sets of lion tracks while we have been cow elk hunting, wish they had lion tags.
I made a new plan and changed hunting areas yesterday and we finally hammered two cows. Check out the blood trail left by one of the cows before she dropped. The guys were using a 7mm Rem Mag and a 340 Weatherby. Congrats to Tommy and Howard on their successful shooting, they both bagged some great table fare.
:cue:
Post by: Killmore on January 13, 2014, 08:32:35 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 14, 2014, 12:44:14 AM
Good job! Those cows sure do have a different shade of color. How long does the season run down there?
The area I am currently hunting is open until Jan 31.
Post by: irishevox on January 14, 2014, 07:21:51 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2014, 11:34:59 AM
Our last cow elk hunter was Jim from California. On the first morning I went to an area I knew had a few elk and about 10:30 we spotted this cow. Jim made a 340 yard shot with his 7mm Rem Mag and the work started shortly afterward. After we finished piecing up the cow we left our mark in the snow and headed out. Shown packing are Guides Nick and Daniel. Congrats to Jim on filling his tag, we'll see you next year. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2014, 12:28:09 PM
I really need to get a good long range scope and a wind meter. That afternoon I shot my rifle numerous times just to be sure it was right on the money. That evening I got online and checked my rifle ballistics at the various yardages. I had brought a 257 Wtby for this hunt with 100 grain Hornady spire points loaded at around 3500 fps at muzzle. On this particular gun I only have a 3-9 Leupold, so I'm a bit under scoped for this hunt, but I had full confidence after shooting and rechecking my long range ballistics.
We hunted a couple more days and saw elk but could not get close enough for a good shot. I told Nick and Daniel they were stuck with a hunter that couldn't get an elk. :chuckle:
The next day found us at 8000 to 9000 feet in the early morning twilight. We had it all planned out, we would sneak behind the far ridge where we had been seeing elk and come over the backside and be right on top of them within a couple hundred yards. As we hiked I was thinking about my yardages in case it turned out to be a long shot and also thinking about the skinning and packing the elk back out. The hunt unfolded beautifully, we came up over the ridge but just then realized the elk weren't participating in the hunt that morning. From our vantage point we could see a good mile in almost every direction and there wasn't an elk in sight. We glassed for several minutes and finally just had to admit the elk were a day ahead of us in their thinking so we give it up and headed back out.
OK, now what? These elk were starting to test my confidence. :chuckle:
We checked numerous reliable areas and still we could not find an elk. I couldn't believe it, we were going to go elkless that day, we couldn't find them anywhere. At about 9AM I said "Lets try some lower elevations, there must be some elk down there somewhere!" We headed for the lowlands, along the way it dawned on me, there was a small canyon we had overlooked all week. We snuck out to the edge above the canyon and began glassing.
Suddenly Daniel said "there's elk". He noted where they were then Nick and I both spotted them too. Nick ranged the yardage at 380 and I settled in for the shot. Unfortunately the elk moved into the junipers and were walking straight away from us. They reappeared in a small snowy opening and stopped again. Nick said they are at 513, I had a good rest raised the crosshairs about a foot over the back of a good cow and squeezed the trigger. The 257 barked and the cow dropped like a sack of potatoes. She slid down the slope a ways, came to a stop, and it was done, cow elk down.
We worked our way to my elk and found that I hit her high in the shoulder. We snapped a few photos and then went to work on getting her out. Thanks to Nick and Daniel for assisting me, it was a fun time for sure. I love it when a plan comes together!
After the football games today we are having fresh elk roast for dinner. :tup:
(Forgot my orange hat, orange is required on chest, back, and head in Utah, orange duct tape can be handy, I was styling.) :IBCOOL: :chuckle:
Post by: RadSav on January 19, 2014, 01:43:44 PM
Post by: ICEMAN on January 19, 2014, 01:54:34 PM
Good job Dale, nothing better than fresh elk!
Post by: Killmore on January 19, 2014, 02:05:52 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2014, 02:50:39 PM
Hornady Spire point? I thought you were a Barnes TTSX guy to the bone out of the 257Wby.
We've killed small predators, varmints, bear, deer, elk, and moose with the 257 and pretty much agree with Roy Weatherby, it was his favorite caliber. I favor TTSX's for big game in that gun for sure because they retain all their weight and get deep penetration even going through heavy bone, I don't think we've never recovered a TTSX bullet from game, they go clear through moose even at 300+ yards. I do like to have some low cost bullets around for playing around and shooting smaller game and I wanted to see how they would do on larger game like elk?
The Hornady Spire Point bullet expanded well and stayed in one piece, the lead core did not separate from the jacket. The bullet went through the shoulder, top of the lungs, and lodged against the opposite shoulder. The cow dropped instantly, partly because I think some bullet fragments may have hit the spine. I don't have a scale where I am at now, but I would guess the bullet is about 60% it's original weigh. I imagine the 40% loss of weight accounts for why the bullet did not exit. The cow was bleeding out the mouth due to the lung hit, but there would not have been a blood trail if she had ran, thankfully it wasn't needed this time.
I wouldn't recommend the Spire Point bullets as perfect for larger big game but they are affordable low cost bullets that should perform very well on deer, coyotes, varmints, and they will get the job done on larger game if needed. If you want to do a lot of shooting the Spire Points are very affordable. But I definitely prefer using the TTSX bullets on moose, elk, bear, deer, or any other large animals so that you get a blood trail from the exit wound. :twocents:
Yum! That liver and heart pic is making me hungry!
Good job Dale, nothing better than fresh elk!
I can smell the roast cooking right now. :tup:
Post by: RadSav on January 19, 2014, 02:59:16 PM
Did you ever find a 28" barreled 257Wby? Looks like you are 26" in that picture :dunno:
BTW - Congratulations on the great shot and tasty cow. Your making me hungry :drool:
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2014, 04:25:31 PM
We use them a lot out of the slower 257 Roberts and the 308 win. They have never failed. We've never recovered one from a deer shooting the 117 BT from the 257 Bob. I think if you knew you were going to be shooting 500+ yards it would have been the better choice anyway. I'd think you were in that 2,200 to 2,300 velocity range at that distance, wouldn't you think?
Did you ever find a 28" barreled 257Wby? Looks like you are 26" in that picture :dunno:
BTW - Congratulations on the great shot and tasty cow. Your making me hungry :drool:
That's just a 24" vanguard but shoots really well, I'm not the best of shooters and I can touch bullet holes pretty often at 100 yards.
Post by: Whitpirate on January 20, 2014, 12:03:58 AM
Post by: Machias on January 21, 2014, 12:58:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 24, 2014, 11:15:16 AM
My last cougar hunter cancelled and we have been waiting for the next snow storm for the next hunter to come, the weather is looking good for later next week, so I contacted the next cougar hunter, he took a new job contract for 8 weeks and has cancelled. :bash: :bash:
Going to send out a newsletter special and try to find another cougar hunter on short notice.
Post by: JJB11B on January 24, 2014, 02:13:15 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 24, 2014, 02:20:42 PM
Idaho Sales tax is another $237, License and tag is another $360.
Post by: JJB11B on January 24, 2014, 02:21:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on February 03, 2014, 07:39:38 AM
Post by: bearpaw on February 03, 2014, 08:30:35 AM
A past hunter "Brent" decided to take the cancellation hunt I offered last week. He and two friends drove all night to get to our location. We had a good visit on their arrival got them settled and went to bed early. We got up early in the AM and headed out hunting. We found tracks of 4 females and even got to see the one female with kitten at the cougar kill, but we found no tom tracks. On day 2 we found three more female tracks but no tom tracks. We covered a ton of miles with the trucks plus we snowmobiled over 150 miles.
On day three we headed out again early in the AM. I dropped off Daniel to snowmobile two drainages and I proceeded to another drainage to check for tracks. Right off I found tom tracks that had crossed the road. I proceeded to try and figure where the tom had gone and found where he had crossed the road two more times. I made a big loop and was confident of where he was. It was a Saturday morning and I really hated to leave the area but needed to go get Daniel.
I drove to the meeting point, we loaded Daniel's snow machine and headed back to where I had found tracks. There were two more groups of doggers who had showed up to hunt in the area where we found the tom. One group had found where the tom had crossed another road (the freshest track). So we had a friendly visit and in the end my hunter "Brent" and one of the other guys agreed to flip a coin for the cat. Brent is pretty lucky and his luck was still with him, he won the coin flip. :)
I called Brian who was looking for tracks in a different area and he headed our way. The other two doggers joined us for the hunt and we all set out to all have a good day on the mountain. We started the freshest track shortly after daylight, the dogs took it up on the top of the mountain into some rocks, I heard the chorus of dogs explode and the chase changed directions, we figured they jumped the cat that was likely bedded in the rocks. We snowmobiled up around the mountain to a better vantage point. Sure enough the dogs were treed down in the steep canyon below.
It was a pretty quick hike, only a half mile nearly straight down. The tom was in a big fir, we took some photos and Brent readied for the shot. The cat moved a little and exposed his chest better, Brent sent an arrow which found it's mark, the cat jumped and headed straight downhill with pups and hunters in hot pursuit. The big tom was bleeding profusely and only made it a 150 yards before piling up. As soon as the guys confirmed the cat was dead I turned my two older dogs loose who joined the excitement.
We all shared the moment and then split up for the trip out. Half the guys took the cat and headed down hill, half of us climbed back up to the snowmobiles to drive them back to the bottom to pick the other guys up. It was a great day, we made new friends, and we took a beautiful tom that tipped the scale at 145 pounds. How could life be any better, I love it when a plan comes together.
Post by: Gringo31 on February 04, 2014, 03:54:00 PM
Beautiful Cat!!!
Post by: bearpaw on February 06, 2014, 07:52:23 PM
Post by: pd on February 06, 2014, 10:05:25 PM
Post by: The scout on February 07, 2014, 10:28:18 AM
Post by: irishevox on February 07, 2014, 10:37:40 AM
Post by: bearpaw on February 08, 2014, 10:10:01 PM
I would like to start by saying I love following your hunting stories and season. it seems like by passing female cats you care more about the cat's repopulating than the deer repopulating, is it purely business or is there other reason's for this. not trying to stir the pot just noticed the last two kills you found were both female cats that did it.
Very good question! :tup:
I was asked about the same question in another topic and here is the answer I provided:
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,146879.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,146879.0.html)
Pardon the potentially stupid question...but why do you only take toms?
Actually a good question. Many hound hunters are very selective and choose to only shoot toms. Other hound hunters are not so selective. It's a personal choice. Most states set seasons based on the number of cougar taken and many states have annual harvest quotas so there is little chance of any population being endangered.
My personal thoughts are that it's good to harvest females from a robust cougar population to keep numbers in check. However, if a cougar population is being hunted hard then you may want to save the females. As outfitters we have chosen in recent years to only hunt toms for our hunters as they are more of a trophy for the hunter.
If we were hunting in Washington where there is very little cougar management and more cougars need to be shot then we would shoot females if someone in the hunting party wanted a female. Because there is no hound hunting season in Washington, cougar are over populated in many areas.
But in Idaho seasons are more liberal and cougars are managed much better, many hound hunters prefer to save females and only kill toms. Some hound hunters will shoot any cat, it is a personal choice. In the end the IDFG established seasons based on how many cougars are taken and recommendations from biologists. Some areas in Idaho have female quotas to prevent an overharvest of females. In my area there is a quota on females so that there cannot be an overharvest, when the quota is filled then the kill season ends. It is a choice we made to only take toms so that we are providing a higher quality hunt for our cougar hunters.
Post by: bearpaw on February 08, 2014, 10:18:30 PM
You must find some cool sheds hunting cougars...
Sometimes we do, a couple years ago one of my guides found a big 5 point elk shed that if the other side matched it would have likely scored over 300. I thought that was one of the neatest sheds we have found.
It seems that the biggest majority of cougar kills are fawns and does, we rarely find big bucks killed by cougars. I think big bucks are as elusive to cougars as they are to humans. ;)
Post by: bearpaw on February 08, 2014, 10:33:27 PM
Post by: irishevox on February 09, 2014, 07:43:21 AM
Post by: Killmore on February 09, 2014, 08:38:39 AM
Post by: bearpaw on February 11, 2014, 06:28:15 PM
We had pulled two stranded motorists out of the ditch in the early am, then I was traveling slowly due to the drifting. The highway had completely disappeared, I was fine until there were no fences to judge exactly where the highway might be, next thing I know we are in the ditch with a snowmobile trailer. Spent a couple hours digging out the truck and getting it back on the road. Next we hooked a tow strap to the trailer and pulled it out too. Then a couple miles up the highway I got stuck in a deep drift across the road, so after we got unstuck again and got the trailer turned around we found a place to park and I snowmobiled the rest of the morning looking for cougar tracks.
Post by: mulehunter on February 11, 2014, 07:05:18 PM
Post by: Killmore on February 12, 2014, 08:39:50 AM
Post by: bearpaw on February 12, 2014, 08:42:04 AM
There was plenty of good snow in fact about 4+ feet in the higher elevations, we had been finding females so we kept going back watching for a tom to pass through, there just had to be a tom come through checking on those females. Sure enough after checking a couple drainages right at daylight on the way back to the truck with the snowmobile I spotted fresh tom tracks which I thought had crossed since we had gone in the road. We hurried back to the truck to get the dogs, got everything ready, and headed back to start the track. The dogs opened up good, we released them and watched as they wallowed through the deep snow following the lion tracks.
The tom had turned to the left following the canyon and then started up the side of the hill towards a rock outcropping. It was fairly open country and I could see the dogs were having trouble getting up those rocks. Suddenly it sounded as if Queen was treeing and pretty soon the other 3 dogs sounded like they were barking treed. Oh great, the dogs are hung up on the rocks, we're going to have to help them get up over the rocks, I figured the tom jumped up over the rocks like they so often do.
Brian had moved his snowmobile a couple hundred yards down canyon and started wading through the deep snow to go help the dogs. At the same time we were watching from where we had started the dogs. Suddenly one of us spotted the cat on the rocks, about the same time Brian spotted the cat as well. The dogs had only gone a few hundred yards and had jumped the cat out of his bed at the base of the rocks, the tom was now bayed up on the rock outcropping. This ranks right up there in the one or two handfuls of the shortest quickest lion hunts I have ever seen in my 37 years of cat hunting.
We all moved our machines down to Brian's snowmobile and walked in from there except for me, I stayed at the snowmobiles and videoed everyone climbing up the steep slope to get to the cat and I videoed the cat up on the rocks swatting at the dogs whenever one of them would get to close. The guys were about halfway to the rocks when suddenly the cat jumped off the rocks, over the top of the dogs, and run/slid straight downhill toward the nearest big fir tree and quickly climbed about 20-25 feet up the tree. The guys made it to the tree and leashed the loudly barking dogs.
The cat's head and body size resembled a tom and the tracks looked like a tom, but this cat kept his hind end out of sight, finally after about 20 minutes Brian climbed up the tree to make sure we had a tom, he broke off a dead limb about 30 inches long and lifted the cats tail to check for the spot. That really pissed off the cat, he turned around and snarled at Brian who had now seen the cat was a male "the dark spot under the tail" so Brian quickly retreated back down and out of the tree. :chuckle:
Tim rested his 500 pistol on his shooting stick and when the pistol barked it knocked the tom out with a perfectly placed shot through the heart and out the back. The cat landed and slid down the hill and was dead when the guys got down to him. The dogs followed as Brian drug the cat downhill to the road. After handshakes, more video, and photos we got everything packed up and snowmobiled back to the trucks. It was another great day on the mountain, I love it when a plan comes together. Congrats to Tim on an excellent shot and beautiful tomcat. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on February 12, 2014, 08:55:59 AM
Post by: rittem1 on February 12, 2014, 09:00:19 AM
Post by: bearpaw on February 12, 2014, 09:28:49 AM
:yike: :sry: glad u got it out ok. Oh boy... :tup:
The other guys were a little worried, but if you get down to dirt with the tires you are usually getting out. :tup:
And I thought opening all those gates in Montana was bad. :yike: :yike: :chuckle:
Your wife told us to find as many gates as we could. :chuckle: (joking)
Post by: Machias on February 12, 2014, 10:56:43 AM