Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 06:38:22 PM
Thought i'd share some of the fun and pics with you guys
Started out with my friend from Wa coming out for archery elk season. It was a real struggle this year with most of our hunting area closed for fire danger. The fires caused me to work a ton of OT and that put a big damper on my scouting.
We had a great time and Jason managed to kill a small 6 point. We had very little bugling in the areas we were hunting, so we were happy to get a bull.
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 06:39:59 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 06:41:52 PM
We were spiking out and hunting on our backs
managed to get this guy only couple miles in
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 06:46:34 PM
Anyone ever had a ball joint go completely out?
NOT GOOD
We were a long way from no where with no cell service.
Nearest phone was 12+ miles of walking
Luckily I had my work radio with me (usually don't)
Managed to get dispatch on radio and they sent up a ride for us :IBCOOL:
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 06:51:20 PM
My dad was making his first hunting trip to Montana. He's an "old" Logger from west Wa and has never been too much into hunting. If any of you recognize him don't tell hi I posted his pics on the web. He wouldn't be impressed :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 06:54:06 PM
I had a great time with the old man, havnt got to hunt much with him sense the Move to Montana.
He is already talking about next year :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: Jason on November 30, 2015, 07:01:25 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:02:08 PM
He just had it scored for the book last week, 375" gross.
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:02:33 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:08:22 PM
She had been watching this deer on our properly all summer. I told her it was up to her if she wanted to kill it or not. Well she did :tup:
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:11:16 PM
Post by: whacker1 on November 30, 2015, 07:12:17 PM
good work.
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:28:37 PM
I am usually all about killing a bull, but I told myself that if a cow presented a shot and Morgan was there to see it happen I would shoot a cow.
Well it was 10 degrees the first morning out and that made me even more nervous to have a 9 year old along.
Well Morgan did awesome!!! We covered some major ground and he stayed right with me the whole time. I didn't hear a word of complaint till day 3 when I had us both worn out pretty good.
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:33:54 PM
I managed to kill my first antelope ever with Morgan right by my side. It was awesome!!!
We put a 1000 yds stock on and managed to get to 350 yds
Dropped the buck in his tracks. Got lucky and hit a doe on the run at 400 yds :dunno: :dunno:
Two shots two goats
Now time to go elk hunting again :tup: :tup:
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:45:51 PM
The last day to hunt we planned to hunt till 2pm and then hit the Highway.
Morgan and I managed to get on some fresh elk tacks in the snow right after day light. While tracking the small group of elk a solo bull cut the herds tracks. Morgan really wanted to track it, so I let him take the lead.
It was one of those Father moments that was surreal to me. I had thought about how great it was going to be to teach my son how to hunt ever sense I held him as a baby, and all of the sudden we were there doing it. :tup: :tup:
We jumped the bull out of his bed at 30 yds and I couldn't get a shot. Morgan's eyes were as big as could be. It was awesome. He was upset that I didn't shoot it. :tup: :tup:
We got back on the herds tracks and began to trail them. All the sudden 4 cows came running down the ridge we were on. I managed to get them stopped with a few cow calls. I looked over at Morgan and he was crouched down on one knee with his fingers in his ears. :tup: :tup: :chuckle: :chuckle:
I shot the lead cow at 40 yds broadside
She ran out of sight after i shot her.
I have NEVER seen him that excited. He was shaking uncontrollably and couldn't talk.
We waited 15 minutes or so and Morgan got to follow the short blood trail in the snow
A truly amazing experience that I have been dreaming about for 9 years
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:50:50 PM
Post by: scudmaster on November 30, 2015, 07:56:31 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 07:58:30 PM
He showed up a short while later to help pack her out.
We managed to get the whole thing boned out and on our backs.
We were pretty happy to be headed home with some elk meat.
We had only hiked about a half mile and we jumped a cow in the timber. I managed to get her stopped with some cow calls before she made it over the ridge. Boyde dropped her with one shot in her tracks.
Killing elk while your packing elk is pretty tough to beat in my book :tup: :tup: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: 270Shooter on November 30, 2015, 07:59:11 PM
Post by: T Pearce on November 30, 2015, 08:00:03 PM
Thanks for sharing.
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 08:08:27 PM
We didn't know it at the time, but Boyde's cow hit the ground about 100 yds from an ATV trail. We made our way to the truck. We drove up the road to a large elk camp. We noticed that they had an abundance of ATVs in there camp :chuckle: :chuckle:. It was a sunny sunday afternoon and they were all in camp listening to a foot ball game on the radio.
We explained what we had going and offered them $50 dollars to drag out our elk to the truck. It was only 2 miles up the trail, but would save us 3 hours by the time we hiked in, boned out, and packed out.
They were all excited to help and next thing we new we had 4 guys on ATVs headed up the hill.
They had the elk back to the truck whole in 25 minutes, helped us load it and refused to take any money. It was great to meet some friendly sportsman in the field.
Post by: Turner89 on November 30, 2015, 08:17:33 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on November 30, 2015, 08:27:12 PM
The wife and I both had B deer tags for whitetail does in our home area. We both managed to fill out tags. Sorry no pics :( :( we both head shot our does to avoid any blood shot. Good clean kills but not very photogenic :chuckle: :chuckle: :tup: :tup:
I hunted hard for a wall hanger buck the last few weeks. Saw a TON of deer and some good bucks, but not one I wanted to put on the wall. Thats one of the great things about Montana. Being able to put meat in the freezer and still eat your tag and feel good about it. Its a strange feeling after growing up in Western Wa where its usually a different story.
I managed to get in on 8 elk kills this year and not sure how many deer (a bunch). Its a real blessing to have horses and get to use them to pack out friends harvests.
Deer and elk harvests and over all populations seem to be better than the past few years. At least the areas I was hunting.
I am excited to get after the wolves with a vengeance starting tomo am. I'll have most of my trap line out by the end of the week and hoping for some catches.
I'll be trying to call them in when i'm not checking my traps.
I also was blessed with a Lion tag for hounds here in my area. Cant wait for some snow to go chase some lions around.
Hope to post pics of my lion and a wolf or two. That would be put this year over the top if that happens.
Thanks for reading and Thanks for the great comments
God Bless
Post by: Skyvalhunter on November 30, 2015, 08:28:48 PM
Post by: Mark Brenckle on November 30, 2015, 08:57:40 PM
Post by: HUNTaHOLIC5 on November 30, 2015, 09:06:42 PM
Post by: actionshooter on November 30, 2015, 09:16:48 PM
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on November 30, 2015, 09:17:22 PM
Post by: 2MANY on December 01, 2015, 09:37:38 AM
What stood out to me was a couple things.
1) The amount of respect you have for your hunting partner's hard earned success.
2) The true joy you experience when out with your family.
Pretty good stuff.
Post by: finnman on December 02, 2015, 10:31:56 PM
Absolutely perfect! A trophy hunt as defined by the hunters own ideals, not by commercialism or greed.
Thanks for sharing!
Post by: hunting4sanity on December 02, 2015, 10:56:42 PM
Post by: Bean Counter on December 02, 2015, 11:13:37 PM
Post by: redi on December 03, 2015, 12:00:25 AM
Post by: 3nails on December 03, 2015, 04:58:42 AM
Post by: ELKBURGER on December 03, 2015, 05:27:08 AM
Post by: BrownGoinDown on December 03, 2015, 06:59:45 AM
Post by: cbond3318 on December 03, 2015, 07:09:18 AM
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on December 03, 2015, 07:17:11 AM
Post by: Branden on December 03, 2015, 04:11:24 PM
It was good to meet you in the blues this year. Good luck on all your winter hunts :tup:
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on December 03, 2015, 04:42:10 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on December 05, 2015, 04:10:39 PM
:)
Post by: RUNNINRONNIE on December 10, 2015, 06:02:25 PM
Post by: Muleyslyr on December 14, 2015, 09:20:39 PM
Absolutely perfect! A trophy hunt as defined by the hunters own ideals, not by commercialism or greed.
Thanks for sharing!
Well said!
That was a great read LJ and great pics! Congrats to you and your family!
Post by: LittleJohn on December 24, 2015, 02:15:42 AM
Caught a 90 lb Tom and passed him up. Pretty cat with nice color but with 3 months of season I didnt want to end it yet.
Got some great pics and video of him,
we kicked him out a couple times and let the dogs run a bit.
I'll post pics Soon as I can
Merry Christmas
Post by: Houndhunter on December 24, 2015, 02:18:25 AM
Finally got out and ran the dogs a little bit.
Caught a 90 lb Tom and passed him up. Pretty cat with nice color but with 3 months of season I didnt want to end it yet.
Got some great pics and video of him,
we kicked him out a couple times and let the dogs run a bit.
I'll post pics Soon as I can
Merry Christmas
:tup:
Post by: steen on December 24, 2015, 08:39:49 PM
Post by: Cat hunter on December 27, 2015, 07:20:22 PM
Post by: Titan-1 on January 10, 2016, 06:54:53 PM
Post by: ruttnbuck on March 03, 2016, 09:34:10 PM
Post by: Martinhunter on March 03, 2016, 09:50:17 PM
You are living my dream! What a perfect year of hunting. You are teaching your boy what life should be about. Hard work, respect for wildlife, friends and family. Thanks for sharing your awesome experiences with us! :tup::yeah: Awsome post, that's what it's all about right there.
Post by: Kit Carson on March 08, 2016, 07:41:34 AM