Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 12:58:15 PM
Post by: h20hunter on March 31, 2018, 12:58:36 PM
Post by: Widgeondeke on March 31, 2018, 01:01:49 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:03:38 PM
"Hello Team Awesome!
The crew has been tentatively finalized for the season, with Michael as our only new addition this season.
A little about each of you, since some are not familiar with others:
Evie is my mom, and a mountain fiend! She tries to pretend she's the slow one of the group but we are all aware she can hike circles around us all. She's retired from the XXXXX School District as a cook, so she's accustomed to early mornings, and can spot those big bucks with the best of us. We're looking forward to spotting yet another big bull elk together for Michael, similar to Jeff's from this past season. If you're in the market for a bollo tie or a stunning bugling bull elk on a glass window, she's also your perfect contact. 😉
Derrick is a hulk of a man with legs powered by protein shakes and mango caffeine packets. He somehow puts up with my shenanigans and I'm fortunate enough to call him my partner. He's OCD when it comes to organization, and will build a backcountry camp to rival any setup a guided service might offer. Just give him some chocolate and some parachute chord and he'll make it happen. 😊 He's also carrying a hunting tag in his pocket for the first season! Let's make this happen!
Storm is a mountain man from Oregon that builds world class log homes for a living, but spends his spare time enjoying the outdoors. An ace fisherman, fixed-wing pilot, an intermediate survivalist (he has eaten more plants than I'm sure most of you would dare), and a father of two awesome boys, who can't come hunting with us or there'd be no more big bucks within a 10 mile radius. 😊.
Jeff is one of the other veterans of this hunt... he harvested a really beautiful 4x5 with eyeguards on the first day and ended up being a professional pack mule by the end of the trip. He chases sea lions and seals across remote beaches ranging from Alaska to California and beyond for a living... perhaps sometime you'll have to ask him how the Galapagos Islands are! A semi-professional fisherman (he used to get paid to fish all day), avid hunter, and gear junkie, he's friendly enough to shake hands with a bear and knowledgeable enough to successfully stalk one and spank it on the behind. :)
Michael is a dental professional from Louisiana. His wife and little girl have been generous enough to share him with us for a week while he searches for the mighty wapiti. He may not be accustomed to hills, but this guy has harvested and eaten more creatures than most of us have probably witnessed... even Jeff while he stares beaches loaded with sea lions! An avid fisherman and diver, Michael is excited to try his hand at an elk... although he won't be holding his breath; he does that enough while spearing massive ocean critters. :)
AND... me: Kari. The silly person that bothers you with emails annually about our pending adventure; wildland firefighter, helicopter medical professional with a passion for pounding the hillsides.
Attached is still our "Don't Die in Idaho" list with haves/needs. Let's start up the conversation on what people can bring, or would like to bring.
The one thing I'll be purchasing for us this season that we didn't have last year is a few more dry sacks for spare gear. Jeff got us another tent like a crazy person, so I think we will be sitting pretty up at spike... (or ultra spike?)
Any other thoughts on wants/needs?
Thanks,
-Kari"
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:09:42 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:20:30 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:31:58 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:38:14 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:50:37 PM
We hiked around the next bend, revealing another drainage to glass. After finding more small bucks and large groups of unattended does, we continued our trek. We were now in shin/knee deep snow in the drainage and had only made it a fraction of the planned distance for the day. The four of us continued around the corner, revealing the next drainage. Tracks high on the ridgelines revealed evidence of our intended targets, but no animals. We continued up and on. Eventually, I realized I was hiking, and I wasn't having fun. I looked behind me and saw the same emotions etched into my mother's face. I made a command decision.
"Jeff, Derrick... my mom and I are going to go back to the last drainage and gain that ridgeline. I just don't see many animals wanting to be up this high right now."
The discussion continued, and we all agreed: Derrick and Jeff were hell-bent on completing the Google-Earth route we had planned from the comfort of our desks, but my mom and I were heading back to where I knew we could find some animals. We parted ways, and my mom and I worked back around the corner to gain the drainage with some tracks but no visible animals.
The hike was tough: knee deep snow gave way to shin deep slush as we gained enough elevation to trek the sun-kissed slopes.
I looked at my mom and smiled: "We're already 1/4 of the way to the top! We only have to do that effort 3 more times!" ...she was not impressed :chuckle:
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 01:54:03 PM
Post by: Oh Mah on March 31, 2018, 01:57:38 PM
Post by: JakeLand on March 31, 2018, 02:01:23 PM
Post by: jstone on March 31, 2018, 02:05:36 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on March 31, 2018, 02:10:03 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 02:22:42 PM
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbyGiEDDRsA/
(Couldn't figure out how to embed video from Instagram, so link is best I can do... :dunno: )
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 02:28:09 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 02:41:23 PM
My mother and I continued to hammer away at the elevation we needed to gain... 27 or 54 steps at a time. When I hit a big hill, for some reason counting is therapeutic... I've found depending on the angle I take at a big hill like the one we were on, 27 steps allows me to keep my breath well enough to glass without fogging up my optics, or take a shot should the right situation present itself. (I hike with my firearm in my backpack similar to how my mom's is presented in that last photo, so obviously I'm not one to take uncalculated shots...) 54 steps pushes me a little, but knocks off a little distance if I don't think any new terrain is becoming exposed. Either way, we knocked out that many steps, and glassed and continued that regimen. The skyline seemed to become more obtainable each time we rested, but I could tell my mom was getting tired. "When we get to the top, we can glass all those basins and ridgelines for an hour or so. We're almost there." I reassured her. As we crested the ridge, evidence of ungulates became obvious; ceanothus was encircled with tracks, even though we were hip deep in snow. We found a good rock to nestle up to, and dug out spaces to sit, grab some sustenance, and glass for our targets. 500 yards below us on a sweet hidden bench we watched a few up-and-comers posture at each other before deciding to save their energy for the right situation. They settled into knee-deep snow in hiatus from activity for the afternoon. Each nook we glassed revealed more deer, but few were bucks large enough to cause us to pause. Snickers in hand, I pressed my back into the rock behind me and reveled in a small bit of sunshine for my own pause.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 02:56:55 PM
"Mom. I think I found one you might be interested in!"
"Where?"
After a few moments of explaining landmarks and zeroing in on the buck's location, my mom agreed: she would at least like to look at it a little closer. We still had plenty of days left to make it happen, but if she wanted that buck, now was as good of a time as any to put a stalk on it. We packed up, and started the mile or so journey and 3,000 feet in elevation loss to get into position. At first, we made great progress: going downhill in waist-deep snow is actually pretty easy... you just kinda lean forward and keep your feet moving. As it thins out, you almost ski down... but when it thins out enough and the ground beneath it is frozen solid, it ends up being downright hazardous. We picked our route to close the last 500 yards carefully, not only for detection's sake, but for the health of our knees and ankles. The buck had bedded with a doe down a small drainage from us: I ranged them at 250 yards. Wielding my .243, my mom had never shot at an animal at that distance, so she wanted to get closer. I asked her to look at the buck one more time and make sure it was one she wanted. She confirmed, and I stayed put as she tried to use what little terrain we had left between us and the deer to her advantage to close the distance to a comfortable range.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:06:46 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:08:38 PM
(video of the packout: https://www.instagram.com/p/BbyG-tdjqt3/ )
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:20:44 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:26:46 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:30:29 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:37:00 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:44:48 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:51:03 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 03:57:08 PM
Post by: Oh Mah on March 31, 2018, 03:59:40 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 04:03:13 PM
great pics. what is it that you are using on the muzzle of the rifle?
There are these really cool things I'm pretty sure are called "gun condoms" we used to keep debris/moisture out of the barrel of the rifle. They are SUPER handy for muzzleloaders, especially when we used to hunt the west side. We found its actually a lot cheaper and just as effective to just cut the fingers off of latex gloves and tape it on with electrical tape. You can shoot right through it, no worries and it adds that peace of mind that you don't have any debris in your barrel when you're hiking through timber and brush all day.
Post by: Oh Mah on March 31, 2018, 04:18:05 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 04:27:39 PM
"Want to get into position and 1,2,3 shoot? You can have your 3 and I'll take the sticker buck..."
We abandoned our packs at our perch. Our pace increased, even with the unforgiving slope as we tried to gain another 800 feet in elevation and close the distance to under 250. We wanted to get to a small bench in a rock outcropping and assess the situation from there. We lost sight of the two competitors as we worked our way up the rocks, out of sight from the unsuspecting animals. Derrick later admitted to having a HUGE rush of buck fever, especially with the notion of both filling our tags together, but even the most exciting plans are sometimes not meant to be... whatever happened while we were out of sight, the 3x3 had asserted his dominance, and the sticker buck was 700 yards and retreating up the hill and out of sight. The 3x3 was bedded with his does, and within proficient distance for Derrick. I assured him I did NOT mind whatsoever that he tagged out solo, and he set up for a shot. Even though it worked out well for my mom, I advised Derrick NOT to try to shoot the buck in the bedded position; I told him I'd howl and get them to stand up. I had my optics on them, not wanting to miss a moment when I let out a howl. All eyes were our direction, but nobody decided to stand. I waited 15 seconds and tried again. Same. I decided to transition from a laying position to a crouched position so the animals could see my silhouette... in the process, I took my optics off of the deer.
***BOOM***
I jumped, in shock at the sound I wasn't anticipating yet again, and scrambled to get my bearings back and my binoculars up on the deer. I got the buck in my view just in time to watch him do a forward cartwheel in the snow.
"Should I shoot him again??"
"No, he's down for good! Congrats love!!!"
We made a game plan and I snapped a quick photo through my scope of his prize (empty chamber with safety on). Derrick was going to stay and watch for another moment until he felt confident the deer was not mobile. I was going to ascend for our gear and meet him at the deer.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 05:05:00 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 05:10:58 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 05:24:13 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 05:37:58 PM
Now, to divert from the main storyline here... if anyone has been reading my adventures for long, you may have recalled that my buddy Jeff has an ongoing war with the mice in Washington AND Idaho alike... for some reason, he wakes up to them crawling across his face, pooping in his coffee cup (organic grounds?? :chuckle: ), and chewing on his snacks. He's karate chopped a few to their demise in the nights... but their brethren always come back to avenge them. Usually, it is only Jeff they bother. But we came back to base camp that evening to find "treasures" over all of our belongings, and clothing chewed to pieces. It was decided the little buggers had to pay, so with a few of the buckets we'd brought, we fashioned water traps: fill the bucket 1/3 with water, put peanut butter 3 inches below the rim, provide a ramp to the rim, and the little guys try to snag the peanut butter and fall in. Derrick and I were welcomed back out of sleep in the dead of the night to Jeff's triumphant celebration and the sound of splashing not once, but twice. Shirts stayed intact and droppings seemed to cease showing up down at base camp after that.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 05:53:54 PM
Apparently I have a certain posturing and tone I get when I find an animal I'm excited about, because without having put glass on the animal, Jeff and Derrick both knew my initial reaction was positive. I guided them in to the buck's location, and Jeff started to take photos. We reviewed them, and it reinforced my enthusiasm for pursuing that buck. I asked Jeff to stay put and watch the buck, who was on the move pushing a few does across the steep, rocky terrain. Derrick and I would drop back down in elevation and ascend the ridge adjacent to him, hoping for an opportunity to catch him moving across the terrain, or move in on him. I flew to the bottom and started unpacking my bag with the exception of the essentials. We had planned on staying up at spike for a handful of days so I was carrying a lot of extra weight. Derrick was slower navigating the frozen terrain, so he was still halfway up the hill when I crossed the stream and attacked the same slope the buck had been navigating.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 05:59:20 PM
I can't recall the precise words exchanged, but the gist of the conversation was that as Jeff looked down to message me, he had lost sight of the buck. He couldn't find him on the hillside anymore, and I did not have eyes on him either. All actions to move across the hill paused as we all searched for him... we could all see the doe he had expressed the most interest in, but none of us could turn up the buck. I told Derrick I was going to use the terrain and a small tree to my advantage to get a different angle. He stayed put.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:02:40 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:08:53 PM
I decided to plan on the buck eventually wanting to tend to his doe, so I scooted slowly into position, crab-walking down a sandy slope with the aim of making it to a small fir tree for cover. Thrice I paused as the doe heard the hillside loose pebbles down the frozen slope. All three times, she eventually lost interest and looked away. I made it to the fir tree and continued to scan the hill... I was rewarded with an abrupt end to my waiting; the buck was working through a small stringer of timber headed right for his babe. I flipped my scope covers up, propped the stock on a small branch of the fir tree, and tracked the buck with my crosshairs.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:15:31 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:21:56 PM
"I see him!" "He's moving through the trees" .... all things I considered were prior to the shot.
"Get ready for a shot!""He got up!"
...what?? :yike:
I stumbled around the ridge, looking downhill of the last location I saw him, and scanning the hillsides around. I pulled out my InReach to ask if the buck really was still on the move when the messages: "You smoked him!" "he's down! congrats, friend!" arrived. Those previous messages had been sent prior to my shot... but the wording definitely had my heart going. I scanned the hillside and found my buck caught in the brush less than 10 yards from where I stood. All that stress for nothing!
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:22:23 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:25:05 PM
((Jeff's video of the shot: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb0M3VID-8e/ ))
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:31:06 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:46:38 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:49:23 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 06:56:04 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:07:04 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:07:23 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:13:07 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:22:25 PM
The coyote's song beat the first rays of light, and we listened to them while stoking the fire and making the morning coffee. When the noises persisted, I finally started to pay them mind: those were challenge barks, or something similar. I told my companions that I thought those critters might have something they were fighting for/over. Either way, Jeff wanted to see if we could put a stalk on them, so he and I took off while Derrick prepared lunch for the day. As we closed in on the noise, we finally pinpointed two coyotes skylined on an opposing ridge. They were looking down into a small fold in the hillside, still chiding and challenge barking. Jeff took some photos, and I communicated that we really needed to keep an eye on that small drainage; those animals weren't making noise just to make noise. They disappeared over the hillside, and as I moved up in elevation to match Jeff, he exclaimed that he saw something: wolves! As I sat to confirm, he corrected himself... the coyotes had simply come to the top of the draw, and they looked a lot bigger momentarily. From this angle, however, I finally spotted what had caught the attention of the coyotes: a deer carcass at the base of a few trees. As I continued to examine the scene, it finally became clear what we were looking at. "Jeff!!!" I grinned. "COUGAR!"
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:25:00 PM
As far as available tags, a cougar was pretty much the only thing we didn't have. We started InReaching folks to try to amend this issue. Within a couple hours, we had a confirmed tag, and a method to get it to us... it was going to be a few hours until we had it in our hot little hands. We decided to scale the hill anyways, just to see if we could get some closer photos before setting up on the kill later that evening.
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:33:49 PM
Overall, we saw elk, deer, bighorn sheep, cougars, Jeff got to see wolves... it was yet another soul-filling adventure. Maybe next year we will come in strong with all members of Team Awesome, as well as the necessary tags to be able to immediately put action on some of the more rare opportunities. So grateful for my tribe!
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:34:21 PM
Post by: Twispriver on March 31, 2018, 07:35:30 PM
Post by: hirshey on March 31, 2018, 07:45:34 PM
Post by: Skillet on March 31, 2018, 08:08:07 PM
Post by: Wanttohuntmore on March 31, 2018, 08:23:59 PM
Post by: Caseyd on March 31, 2018, 08:58:28 PM
Post by: Widgeondeke on March 31, 2018, 10:16:55 PM
The only reading I've enjoyed lately.
Thank you @Hirshey
Post by: Okanagan on March 31, 2018, 11:03:53 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on April 01, 2018, 01:51:04 AM
Post by: TVHunts on April 01, 2018, 05:42:10 AM
Thank you for all of the work to write it and post it along with pics. That's a gift and I enjoyed reading every bit of it.
Ditto...another awesome read by Hirshey!
Post by: CaNINE on April 01, 2018, 08:35:45 AM
Post by: bracer40 on April 01, 2018, 09:08:09 AM
Post by: C-Money on April 01, 2018, 09:37:08 AM
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on April 01, 2018, 09:58:40 AM
Post by: RB on April 01, 2018, 02:57:24 PM
Post by: Brushbuster on April 01, 2018, 03:59:59 PM
Post by: jstone on April 01, 2018, 05:32:27 PM
Post by: JasonG on April 01, 2018, 06:58:04 PM
Post by: Wingin it on April 01, 2018, 10:16:45 PM
Post by: Gringo31 on April 02, 2018, 06:17:09 AM
I was getting excited when you all decided to go after the predators! Very cool and well done. :tup:
Post by: fishngamereaper on April 02, 2018, 08:28:59 AM
Post by: Colorado Kid on April 02, 2018, 08:58:49 AM
Post by: bracer40 on April 02, 2018, 09:07:15 AM
It is such an honor to be a part of "team awesome", especially when everybody else puts in the effort to bring along the ol' gal. I would not have been able to enjoy such awesome adventures if it weren't for the generosity and consideration the rest of the team gives. If more people emulated these young members of team "awesome" the world would be a much better place. I look forward to encountering future young hunters who have the same spirit, enthusiasm, and mindfulness as these companions who have shared their hunt with me. I am proud to see the person my daughter has become. As it has been said many times before, it isn't about the trophy as much as it is about the time spent with family and friends! Here's to all of your next adventures.:tup: :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: Colorado Kid on April 02, 2018, 12:07:22 PM
. The buck had bedded with a doe down a small drainage from us: I ranged them at 250 yards. Wielding my .243, my mom had never shot at an animal at that distance, so she wanted to get closer. I asked her to look at the buck one more time and make sure it was one she wanted. She confirmed, and I stayed put as she tried to use what little terrain we had left between us and the deer to her advantage to close the distance to a comfortable range.Just to clarify why I haven't taken shots over 200 yards is because I have been muzzleloading for deer and elk for the last 20 plus years :chuckle:
Post by: Timberstalker on April 02, 2018, 12:26:36 PM
It is such an honor to be a part of "team awesome", especially when everybody else puts in the effort to bring along the ol' gal. I would not have been able to enjoy such awesome adventures if it weren't for the generosity and consideration the rest of the team gives. If more people emulated these young members of team "awesome" the world would be a much better place. I look forward to encountering future young hunters who have the same spirit, enthusiasm, and mindfulness as these companions who have shared their hunt with me. I am proud to see the person my daughter has become. As it has been said many times before, it isn't about the trophy as much as it is about the time spent with family and friends! Here's to all of your next adventures.
Awesome stuff right here.
Post by: W_Ellison2011 on April 02, 2018, 09:52:49 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on April 02, 2018, 11:02:22 PM
Post by: hirshey on April 03, 2018, 07:13:01 PM
I sure do cherish this community though... thanks for all the love and support through the years! Can’t wait for the next adventure!
Post by: kellama2001 on April 05, 2018, 08:03:16 PM