Post by: bearpaw on March 26, 2024, 09:55:56 PM
Here’s some recent photos of birds this last week:
Post by: bearpaw on March 26, 2024, 10:07:44 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 26, 2024, 10:20:56 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 27, 2024, 04:39:53 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 27, 2024, 05:34:43 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 27, 2024, 05:38:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 27, 2024, 05:47:00 PM
Post by: actionshooter on March 27, 2024, 09:43:51 PM
Post by: duckmen1 on March 28, 2024, 06:52:09 AM
Post by: Machias on March 28, 2024, 09:19:44 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 28, 2024, 11:45:41 AM
Found a cool photo on one of my cameras!
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 07:32:23 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 07:38:39 AM
Post by: callturner on April 15, 2024, 07:39:45 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 08:15:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 08:16:57 AM
Very nice bird, congratulations! My guy Jerry got his bird at 5:48 this morning. Someday I'll learn how to add pictures to this forum.
Open the photo up on your phone and take screen shot, the screen wshot will post easily.
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 08:23:37 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 08:34:06 AM
Great photos, heard my first gobble of the spring last week. Have a GREAT and SAFE season Dale!!
Thanks Fred, we are off to a great start, hope you have a great spring season too, I always look forward to your spring bear photos! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 10:26:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 10:30:59 AM
Post by: Machias on April 15, 2024, 10:40:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 15, 2024, 11:10:41 AM
Post by: Machias on April 15, 2024, 11:31:18 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 16, 2024, 09:09:51 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 16, 2024, 09:16:46 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 16, 2024, 10:30:29 AM
Post by: birddogdad on April 16, 2024, 11:07:12 AM
Worth (age 81) with his 2nd bird taken on opening day with guide Zach, I love it when a plan comes together!
This is AWESOME~ hope im still scratchin out birds when i make 81!!
Post by: Machias on April 16, 2024, 02:54:49 PM
Post by: bearpaw on April 23, 2024, 09:11:58 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 23, 2024, 09:29:35 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 25, 2024, 06:24:45 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 25, 2024, 06:53:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 25, 2024, 07:06:26 AM
Post by: bearpaw on April 25, 2024, 07:45:20 AM
The first morning we were on a good tom but the bird stayed out of range, the second day we had a tom within range but Mike didn’t get the right shot so he let the tom walk away.
On the third morning we got a bird at 20ish yards and Mike put an arrow through him, he only went about 10 feet and expired. Mike was extremely emotional over getting this bird, I was glad to be a part of his experience!
Post by: bearpaw on April 25, 2024, 08:38:23 AM
Post by: Machias on April 25, 2024, 12:20:03 PM
Post by: RB on April 25, 2024, 01:36:12 PM
Post by: bearpaw on April 27, 2024, 11:40:17 AM
Always enjoy these threads, some really nice birds! :tup:
Some beautiful birds being taken!!
Thanks guys, we appreciated the comments! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on April 27, 2024, 12:54:54 PM
Many hunters only keep the breast, here’s a good recipe for legs and thighs. Boil legs until meat is tender, remove bones from meat, add seasoning and favorite veges for soup, boil till tender, add noodles boil until noodles are done.
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on April 27, 2024, 12:59:53 PM
Wild Turkey Leg Soup
Many hunters only keep the breast, here’s a good recipe for legs and thighs. Boil legs until meat is tender, remove bones from meat, add seasoning and favorite veges for soup, boil till tender, add noodles boil until noodles are done.
That sounds really good.👍
Post by: bearpaw on April 27, 2024, 01:17:59 PM
Post by: bearpaw on April 27, 2024, 01:23:57 PM
This morning Derek called in another gobbler for Robert and he notched his second tag, hunt completed! Great job guys!
Post by: wadu1 on April 27, 2024, 03:08:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on April 27, 2024, 05:17:49 PM
Good looking birds, the leg soup sounds great.Thanks 👍
Post by: bearpaw on April 28, 2024, 07:07:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on April 28, 2024, 07:16:59 PM
Post by: Machias on April 30, 2024, 02:41:36 PM
Post by: kellama2001 on May 01, 2024, 12:57:26 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 12:35:46 AM
Fantastic photos, and beautiful birds! Looks like everyone's having a great time! Thanks for sharing :tup:Thank you, it’s been a retry good season
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 12:45:56 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 12:49:45 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 01:48:47 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 02:01:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 02:22:11 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 02:27:53 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 11, 2024, 02:40:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 13, 2024, 11:01:48 AM
Post by: Machias on May 13, 2024, 01:21:54 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 14, 2024, 11:02:47 AM
Post by: Loup Loup on May 14, 2024, 03:48:03 PM
Post by: pianoman9701 on May 15, 2024, 09:35:33 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 15, 2024, 06:42:16 PM
Nice birds and smiles, Dale.
Thanks John, I sure enjoy seeing these guys be successful and just having a good time. I get a lot of eastern hunters, they absolutely love seeing the northwest and bring up all sorts of little things that we take for granted.
For example, one of the guys from Mississippi said it was so nice to be able to cut through the woods in half darkness and not have to worry about cottonmouth snakes. All sorts of little things we all take for granted without even considering them.
Post by: bearpaw on May 16, 2024, 07:29:15 AM
After getting a good gobbler with guide Zach, James went back to our Idaho location and hunted spring bear with Gilbert, on the second evening James hit a good color phase but the bear took off. Fortunately three of my guides in Idaho have blood tracking dogs, Gilbert put the blood tracking dog on the blood trail and the dog found the bear but they were very deep in the bush. Brian went looking for them at midnight to make sure everything was OK, they were just getting back to the truck at 1am, they really had to work for this 6’-4” color phase. Congrats Guys!
It’s going to be another week before the shop gets his truck fixed so James and his wife are going to hang out and do some trout fishing until the truck is fixed.
Thanks for hunting with us again James, it’s always a pleasure having you folks here.
Post by: Twispriver on May 17, 2024, 01:41:30 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 18, 2024, 01:09:44 AM
James turned lemons into lemonade :tup:
He certainly did! :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on May 18, 2024, 01:13:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 09:02:32 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 09:36:33 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 09:41:06 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 10:46:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 11:22:11 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 11:27:47 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 11:34:36 AM
Post by: bearpaw on May 20, 2024, 11:43:41 AM
Post by: Machias on May 21, 2024, 02:34:11 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 22, 2024, 12:47:21 PM
Nice, you got a red fox on camera!! Only seen one up here so far!! Nice looking bears!!! It's amazing what all is walking around our areas!!
I still have not actually seen a fox in NE Washington
Post by: bearpaw on May 22, 2024, 12:50:45 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 22, 2024, 12:53:18 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 22, 2024, 06:44:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 26, 2024, 01:02:09 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 26, 2024, 01:05:16 PM
Post by: bearpaw on May 29, 2024, 09:15:44 AM
Still getting lots of bear photos too!
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2024, 06:27:13 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2024, 06:32:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2024, 07:27:33 PM
Next Shane hunted a bear on bait and even though he was intending to get a chocolate bear he decided not to pass the next bear he saw and ended his hunt with two blackies down!
(Bottom photo was a little bloody on the log, my quick cover up on the blood is pretty obvious!)
Post by: bearpaw on June 02, 2024, 07:45:25 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 06, 2024, 10:26:54 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 06, 2024, 10:42:18 AM
FYI: You’ll notice breeds of dogs other than hounds in some of the photos I post, these are blood tracking dogs and they do a great job of finding wounded game. We use them nearly every week of the season. My guides have several blood dogs, a Jack russell, a mixed breed, a black lab, and a cow dog, they all do a great job of finding game that doesn’t drop right away. The jack russell is especially amazing, he will bay up a wounded 7 foot bear on his own, he is all about being aggressive, weighing only about 8 or 10 pounds I'd say he must have no common sense at all!
Post by: Machias on June 06, 2024, 02:26:42 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 07, 2024, 08:01:00 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 08, 2024, 08:47:05 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 08, 2024, 11:08:57 AM
Post by: Twispriver on June 08, 2024, 11:27:39 AM
Post by: nwwanderer on June 08, 2024, 11:47:59 AM
Post by: hunter399 on June 08, 2024, 11:59:30 AM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on June 08, 2024, 12:08:05 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 08, 2024, 12:46:02 PM
Post by: jason stevens on June 08, 2024, 12:47:24 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 08, 2024, 01:13:44 PM
Brian treed another big bear with the hounds, just as they were approaching the treed bear after a mile hike in very rugged country the bear jumped out when he saw humans approaching.
The dogs couldnt get that back in a tree again so Brian was out nearly until dark getting all the dogs off that bear. That’s why they call it hunting, you never know what is going to happen!
Top photo was the treed bear just before he bailed out!
Post by: bearpaw on June 08, 2024, 01:17:25 PM
Post by: wadu1 on June 08, 2024, 01:36:16 PM
Here’s an interesting photo, what is it? Let me know what you guys think it is?
I would have to guess but it looks like a Velociraptor. :dunno: :chuckle:
Post by: Angry Perch on June 12, 2024, 09:12:28 AM
To me it looks like a cross between a fox and a velociraptor, lol, in reality maybe its that fox making another round?
Funny. Velociraptor immediately came to mind.
Post by: bearpaw on June 12, 2024, 01:36:43 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 12, 2024, 01:44:39 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 12, 2024, 01:50:52 PM
Post by: Twispriver on June 12, 2024, 02:35:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 12, 2024, 09:59:45 PM
Very cool :tup:
Thank you, I'm pretty excited about it. These fish we are catching and releasing are naturally occurring fish, but the pond gets inspected this coming Monday, then I can plant some triploid westslope cutthroat and some triploid rainbow that I already have on order.
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on June 12, 2024, 10:06:56 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 12, 2024, 10:11:45 PM
Now THAT is really cool. Are those toads brookies?
I think so and the previous owner thought so, but Ill ask F&G to make sure.
Post by: wadu1 on June 12, 2024, 10:46:42 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 13, 2024, 06:36:21 AM
Try not to hold them it can stress them. Wet net is the best way to photo them. Or hold them while still in the water.
Thanks for advice!
I think they are brookies which are tougher than rainbows, so I'm hoping that holding them didn't damage them too much. I've been watching the shoreline closely for floaters so I know as soon as we lose any and can back off a little if needed.
I'll be glad when the rainbows and cutts get planted so we have fish to keep and eat. This year I'm getting them out of Montana, but I've already put in my order for 500 one pound rainbows every year from the Colville Hatchery where the school kids raise them.
Post by: Machias on June 13, 2024, 10:16:17 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 13, 2024, 12:07:11 PM
That is awesome. Looks like a great way to spend some time soaking a worm!!
I haven't tried any live bait yet and probably won't, but it only takes a few minutes to catch several fish with a crappie or walleye jig. Not much waiting time, often times a bite on every cast. But after you catch 5 or 10 fish it slows down, it's like the others know something fishy is going on.
Post by: Machias on June 14, 2024, 02:55:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 17, 2024, 01:42:33 PM
Post by: wadu1 on June 17, 2024, 03:29:34 PM
Having a good time watching kids fish today. My sister-in-law brought over two of her grandkids to fish, they are having a blast, kept on fishing right through heavy rain!Love seeing the smiles on the kids, makes my day.
Post by: bearpaw on June 17, 2024, 03:35:42 PM
Yup, it’s a kick just watching the kids.Having a good time watching kids fish today. My sister-in-law brought over two of her grandkids to fish, they are having a blast, kept on fishing right through heavy rain!Love seeing the smiles on the kids, makes my day.
Post by: actionshooter on June 17, 2024, 04:27:24 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 17, 2024, 04:56:28 PM
That is going to be a really cool option for the clients!
Yes for sure! We've got several recreational activities on our outfitting license, we'll soon be adding fishing and other recreational activities to our offerings.
Post by: bearpaw on June 17, 2024, 07:00:00 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 18, 2024, 08:57:17 AM
Here’s Corey with his blondie taken the first morning and his much bigger blackie taken in the evening. The blonde bear never get very big, most guys can’t pass a blonde no matter what the size. One photo is guide Grant packing outblindie!
Post by: bearpaw on June 18, 2024, 09:02:42 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 18, 2024, 09:05:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 18, 2024, 09:18:09 AM
Post by: Machias on June 18, 2024, 09:21:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 18, 2024, 09:47:09 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 18, 2024, 10:17:52 AM
Yea, NICE bears!!!!
Thanks Fred! Not all of them are big but there are some big ones and some with a lot of character. They are all bear that the hunters chose to shoot, we don’t tell anyone they have to shoot any bear, we always let them choose.
Post by: pianoman9701 on June 18, 2024, 02:28:24 PM
Post by: bearpaw on June 22, 2024, 03:13:25 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 22, 2024, 03:37:14 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 22, 2024, 03:41:47 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 22, 2024, 03:44:36 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 22, 2024, 05:06:44 AM
Dale, you're sure treating these hunters to lifelong memories! Well done on these bears. :tup:
You are right!
Usually have several hunters who come back the next year, now with the fishing pond we can provide another dimension to their overall experience. This next week we have a big family coming hunting with several wives and kids coming along as non-hunters, some of them may want to fish too?
Post by: nwwanderer on June 22, 2024, 05:22:28 AM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on June 23, 2024, 06:50:39 AM
Post by: Machias on June 25, 2024, 10:38:28 AM
Post by: bearpaw on June 27, 2024, 04:47:08 PM
Very special brook trout pond. You may want to ask folks with experience stocking rates and effect of other species on the pond. You do not want to screw it up. Thanks!!!!
Yeah, IDFG said brookies thrive in that environment. So far no fish have died from catch and release fishing, but 7 fish were deeply hooked that we cleaned and smoked, they were delicious.
Hatchery people say the big brookies could be hard on other species of trout under about 8 to 10”. Also I’ll be able to sustain more fish if I install an aerator which I have ordered, then I’m going to add a few larger rainbow to grow into trophy sized trout. The pond is 26 feet deep with cold water which is good for all trout, plan on keeping this first pond for catch and release fishing.
IDFG said I could dig another pond, I have plenty of room for a couple more ponds, so planning on putting in another pond soon for catch and keep rainbow and cutthroat.
Post by: bearpaw on July 02, 2024, 12:45:58 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 02, 2024, 12:51:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 02, 2024, 12:57:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on July 02, 2024, 01:02:25 PM
Post by: kellama2001 on July 08, 2024, 10:28:14 AM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on July 09, 2024, 08:28:31 AM
@bearpaw
Post by: bearpaw on July 09, 2024, 02:57:57 PM
You offering fish only experiences?
@bearpaw
Yes we are, we just don't have our recreation web pages created yet. What would you like to do?
Our private pond is not too far from Coeur d'Alene. These are the cabins we have for our north Idaho guests.
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on July 09, 2024, 07:02:05 PM
You offering fish only experiences?
@bearpaw
Yes we are, we just don't have our recreation web pages created yet. What would you like to do?
Our private pond is not too far from Coeur d'Alene. These are the cabins we have for our north Idaho guests.
Fish.🤣
What’s your fish/cabin rentals rates for a weekend?
Post by: bearpaw on July 13, 2024, 08:35:57 PM
You offering fish only experiences?
@bearpaw
Yes we are, we just don't have our recreation web pages created yet. What would you like to do?
Our private pond is not too far from Coeur d'Alene. These are the cabins we have for our north Idaho guests.
Fish.🤣
What’s your fish/cabin rentals rates for a weekend?
Some people who came to fish a couple hours paid $200 and said it was a blast. I hadn't thought about rates with an overnight stay yet but will get something figured out.
Post by: bearpaw on August 02, 2024, 10:54:05 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 02, 2024, 11:02:14 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 02, 2024, 11:09:19 AM
Brian’s log home is coming along, he was hoping to be in it this fall but it’s going to be next year before it’s ready. Metal roofing is one of the next goals!
Post by: Machias on August 02, 2024, 11:17:57 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 03, 2024, 06:19:25 AM
A friend called and said there was a fire that started close to our home near Colville and said if we needed help to give him a call back and he would come. I started searching fire websites to see exactly where the fire was located, at first nothing, then it showed up on this web page: https://app.watchduty.org/
The next place the fire showed up was on onx maps, but still not on some other fire web pages. (that was a surprise)
Now we could see the fire was only 8/10ths of a mile from us!
On a community facebook page I learned that the fire had expanded to 2 acres, then 2,5 acres, then the next update it was at 8 acres! That sort of sent me into panic mode, the breeze was blowing straight at us. We got sprinklers going next to the house hoping to get things soaked before the power company shut off power to the area.
Next we got out a chainsaw, filled it with fuel, and ready to cut, the plan was if the fire crossed the one road between us and the fire we would cut down every tree that's close to our house, falling them away from the house.
I gave my wife a short list of the unreplaceable things to get out of the house:
- The box of important papers
- Her hope chest with family keepsakes
- Photo Albums
- A few of my mounts with the best horns
I figured if we had to leave in a hurry to take the most unreplaceable things, most everything else could be replaced.
Other friends and family either called us or we called them and were on notice to come if the fire expanded much more. One friend with a water tank and pumper was headed our way, another friend called and said just let him know if he should bring his big horse trailer, he's only about 5 minutes away, another friend showed up with her horse trailer in tow to help save some of our belongings if needed. My wife called the older neighbor lady who didn't even know there was a fire, she told her to hookup her horse trailer so she could load her horse and leave if needed.
My next step was to get the tall ladder in the house so we could grab mounts off the high vaulted wall if needed.
About that time we got the first good news, a next door neighbor to the property on fire had jumped on his dozer and drove it cross country to the fire and had nearly dozed a ring around the fire, we had already seen a chopper flying back and forth with water, and according to the neighbor on the dozer it sounded like they had it nearly contained. WHEW!
Zach and Gilbert who were waiting to help out if needed decided to take the 3 hunters in camp hunting and headed out.
Thank god for good family, friends and neighbors, just knowing we had so much extra help if needed was monumental. Thankfully we were able to dodge that bullet and their help wasn't needed! I noticed this morning they estimated the fire burned 5.6 acres.
Post by: teanawayslayer on August 03, 2024, 06:30:51 AM
Post by: kellama2001 on August 03, 2024, 08:41:43 AM
Post by: Ghost Hunter on August 03, 2024, 12:10:43 PM
Post by: nwwanderer on August 03, 2024, 01:24:40 PM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on August 04, 2024, 06:26:34 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 04, 2024, 07:23:58 AM
Fire has destroyed a lot of people's lives, I feel fortunate they got it stopped before it really turned into a big out of control blaze. A huge shout out to the neighbor with the dozer and the DNR for getting a chopper and ground crew there quickly. Most of the area is comprised of lots ranging in size from 1 to 20 acres, a lot of homes would have burned.
It seems like the DNR has stepped up their response and putting out these fires faster in the last couple years.
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on August 04, 2024, 08:37:26 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 10, 2024, 03:28:38 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 13, 2024, 03:26:36 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 19, 2024, 01:25:44 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 19, 2024, 01:28:23 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 19, 2024, 02:16:08 PM
Post by: pianoman9701 on August 19, 2024, 02:33:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 26, 2024, 02:28:41 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 26, 2024, 02:35:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 26, 2024, 02:45:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 26, 2024, 03:00:15 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 26, 2024, 03:30:32 AM
Post by: nwwanderer on August 26, 2024, 05:59:59 AM
Post by: Rainier10 on August 26, 2024, 07:00:39 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 26, 2024, 09:07:27 AM
What is in the bobcats mouth? First pic you posted today. Fawn or big rabbit?
I think it’s a snowshoe.
Post by: Machias on August 26, 2024, 03:13:24 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 29, 2024, 07:43:40 PM
Awesome photos, thanks for sharing!!
My pleasure Fred :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on August 31, 2024, 06:23:55 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 31, 2024, 06:26:45 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 02, 2024, 05:34:31 PM
Post by: jrebel on September 02, 2024, 05:39:55 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 02, 2024, 05:49:35 PM
Montana Antelope
If anyone has a Region 7 "south of the yellowstone" antelope tag we have some really fantastic bucks running around, and very few of our hunters drew antelope this year, we could use 2 to 4 more hunters!
Washington Whitetail
I still have room for a couple late season whitetail hunts.
Idaho Mule Deer or Whitetail
I have a couple groups that cancelled hunts so I have about 8 hunts and tags available to be rebooked, some for southern Idaho and some for northern Idaho.
Idaho Elk
I think I've got a couple guys who are going to have to cancel elk hunts, so I will probably have room for a couple elk hunters and can get tags reissued to the new hunters.
Lion & Bobcat
We have room for another couple hunters in Jan or Feb.
Washington Fall Turkey
I have room for a couple late November fall turkey hunts.
Post by: bearpaw on September 02, 2024, 05:51:12 PM
Those are nice animals. That bull is a stud with lots of character. :tup: :tup:
Thanks! :yeah: my fingers are crossed for that guy to go down..
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2024, 06:55:55 AM
Post by: nwwanderer on September 03, 2024, 08:46:48 AM
Post by: Machias on September 03, 2024, 02:41:57 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2024, 02:10:31 PM
Saw one (red fox) hit on the road last week on the Palouse Hwy just outside of Valleyford.
Definitely getting to be more of them.@
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2024, 02:26:56 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2024, 02:32:35 PM
Post by: Machias on September 16, 2024, 03:50:21 PM
Post by: jrebel on September 16, 2024, 06:01:34 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 19, 2024, 05:39:57 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on September 19, 2024, 08:06:39 PM
Post by: ljsommer on September 19, 2024, 08:14:29 PM
Been getting photos of some decent whitetail. We severely cut back on whitetail hunters after the last blue tongue outbreak so the bucks could rebuild, our strategy is working.
Wow! I can't wait for this season! See you in November! I sure hope my wife is able to connect and get her first deer.....hell, her first animal of any kind!
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2024, 01:06:02 PM
Been getting photos of some decent whitetail. We severely cut back on whitetail hunters after the last blue tongue outbreak so the bucks could rebuild, our strategy is working.
Wow! I can't wait for this season! See you in November! I sure hope my wife is able to connect and get her first deer.....hell, her first animal of any kind!
Sounds awesome, tell her to have a cougar tag in her pocket too, no extra charge if she gets one. I've only posted photos of the larger bucks, there are numerous medium and smaller bucks too, shooting opportunity is usually close to 100%. With some luck maybe one of the big bucks will show himself?
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2024, 01:12:56 PM
Fox in Stevens county? Great turkey/magpie catch!! Thanks
Yes, Stevens County
Post by: bearpaw on September 21, 2024, 10:46:37 AM
Our whole first group of 6 archers were all on only their first or second bowhunt. They all got to see bulls and we had 5 bull elk shooting opportunities, mostly under 30 yards, but unfortunately only one hit and it wasn’t a good hit, the bull quit bleeding and were weren’t able to get it. I’m hoping it wasn’t a mortal wound.
Everyone did have a great time and they all said we will see them again.
Post by: hunter399 on September 21, 2024, 12:27:57 PM
Wishing you and your crew ,goodluck on your hunts.
Yes ,that Fox is pretty rare for Stevens county,I've only seen one my entire life here. We would have more Fox if we weren't infested with coyote,my opinion.
Keep those trail cam and harvest pics coming.👍
Post by: bearpaw on September 21, 2024, 03:00:44 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 21, 2024, 03:18:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 21, 2024, 04:20:00 PM
Post by: teanawayslayer on September 21, 2024, 07:08:17 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 22, 2024, 12:09:41 AM
You still keeping baits going or using hounds?
We're doing all methods of hunting, not just one method.
Post by: nwwanderer on September 22, 2024, 07:42:44 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 22, 2024, 08:50:21 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 22, 2024, 08:55:34 AM
As it should be, thanks for the share!!!
Most of the bear hunters like that we mix it up with some time doing different methods. Quite a few comment that it's nice not having to sit at a bait all day. Sometimes a hunter may not want to do one method or another, but most like mixing it up. Sometimes we have a hunter who is biased against one form or another of hunting, I think its a good experience for them to see or hear the other bear hunters in camp talking about how much they enjoyed the method of hunting used for each hunt. Quite often hunters tell us its different than they thought it would be and have a new more positive view of the different methods.
Post by: bearpaw on September 30, 2024, 10:50:49 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 30, 2024, 11:08:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 30, 2024, 11:23:33 AM
Post by: Bob33 on September 30, 2024, 12:37:47 PM
It was a late night, this bull come to water right at the end of the evening, at 15ish yards Michael sent the arrow from his recurve, he’s shooting heavy arrows and it was nearly a pass through, the double lunged bull dropped in less than 50 yards. It was an emotional time, Michael had been trying to get an elk with his recurve for 5 years. Congrats Michael, well done!That's pretty neat that he got this with a recurve. Very nice.
Post by: bearpaw on October 01, 2024, 08:13:44 PM
It was a late night, this bull come to water right at the end of the evening, at 15ish yards Michael sent the arrow from his recurve, he’s shooting heavy arrows and it was nearly a pass through, the double lunged bull dropped in less than 50 yards. It was an emotional time, Michael had been trying to get an elk with his recurve for 5 years. Congrats Michael, well done!That's pretty neat that he got this with a recurve. Very nice.
:tup: He was one of the happiest hunters I've seen in a while.
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on October 01, 2024, 08:28:14 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 05:48:36 AM
Brian chased a big boar with the hounds early in the hunt, it covered an insane amount of rough country, the bear would bay up and then run, it never stayed in one spot long enough for Michelle to get there and then it crossed a state line into another state so that put Brian into “dog recovery mode”!
While trying to catch up with the chase he ran into a game warden, he explained the chase had started about 15 miles away in Idaho and that they weren’t hunting with the hounds in the other state, that he was just trying to catch the dogs. The game warden was very good about it and allowed him to continue after the hounds. Brian finally hiked in a drainage and caught the tired hounds and the score for the hunt was bear 1, hunters 0!
The next day was a bust, no bear was seen or chased. Day number three was a bust in the morning but the hunt took a swing for the better right as the day was ending as this big boar came carefully in to the bait that Michelle was watching. She put the crosshairs on the bear and the hammer down and the big bear took off, disappearing as fast as it had appeared.
Brian brought in Chewy our blood tracking dog, he is like a miniature bear Houdini, Chewy found the big bear and our last hunt of the year ended fantastically, congrats Michelle on getting such a great bear!
Post by: nwwanderer on October 03, 2024, 07:00:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 09:11:40 AM
Chewy shines, good job!!!!
:tup:
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 09:16:00 AM
The guides just bedded this bull, a little weak on paddle length but great brows, he will make a nice mount. My fingers are crossed, hoping he doesn’t move too far overnight?
Zach and his hunter are on this bull this morning, waiting to hear if they got him. :hunter:
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 09:42:47 AM
The guides just bedded this bull, a little weak on paddle length but great brows, he will make a nice mount. My fingers are crossed, hoping he doesn’t move too far overnight?
Zach and his hunter are on this bull this morning, waiting to hear if they got him. :hunter:
MOOSE DOWN!
Waiting for photos and story...
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 10:49:11 AM
After glassing the area they moved around a bit trying to get different angles of view, finally they bumped the bull out of his bed that was out of sight and he stopped for a moment, Ed put one round where it counts and the bull went down in a few yards!
It appears to be the same bull spotted the day before season, weak on the paddles but good fronts, Glen notched his tag with a smile on his face, a lifelong dream of a Washington moose completed!
Post by: RB on October 03, 2024, 10:52:32 AM
Post by: brew on October 03, 2024, 11:01:44 AM
Post by: jrebel on October 03, 2024, 11:02:31 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 11:17:55 AM
Nice bull.....looks like he has some width to him. Congrats to the hunter.:yeah: I wish he was a year or two older, those paddles would be much better, this would be a very good bull in a few years, but in this day and age its a gamble to pass a bull that you would shoot on the last day. I used to tell moose hunters we would look at 5 to 10 bulls a day and to wait until we found the right bull, but we can't take that chance now that wolves and ticks have devastated the moose population, if a hunter likes a bull we don't try to talk them out of shooting it.
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2024, 02:40:11 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 04, 2024, 07:45:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 04, 2024, 07:58:20 PM
Post by: kellama2001 on October 08, 2024, 01:46:40 PM
Post by: Machias on October 09, 2024, 12:28:37 PM
Several years ago I found a cat track late in the evening, too late to turn out. Plus it was less than a mile from the WA border. I wondered what would happen if I had turned out and the dogs trailed over into WA. I called the WDFW the next day and posed the question. If I could clearly show that I started the track in Idaho, but the dogs treed the cat in WA, could I go in, get the dogs leashed up and head back over to Idaho. They said if we catch you, you will be arrested. I never released anywhere near the border. Just wasn't worth it for me. Glad Brian was able to go in and get them without any hassle!!
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2024, 01:32:59 PM
Awesome last bear!!!
Several years ago I found a cat track late in the evening, too late to turn out. Plus it was less than a mile from the WA border. I wondered what would happen if I had turned out and the dogs trailed over into WA. I called the WDFW the next day and posed the question. If I could clearly show that I started the track in Idaho, but the dogs treed the cat in WA, could I go in, get the dogs leashed up and head back over to Idaho. They said if we catch you, you will be arrested. I never released anywhere near the border. Just wasn't worth it for me. Glad Brian was able to go in and get them without any hassle!!
That figures, the big difference was it was in Montana, not "anti-hunting" State of Washington, thankfully!
Post by: bearpaw on October 13, 2024, 07:59:17 PM
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on October 13, 2024, 08:09:01 PM
Post by: kellama2001 on October 14, 2024, 05:27:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2024, 05:11:49 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2024, 05:15:35 AM
Last night they spotted another bigger bull they are going after today. Good luck today guys!
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2024, 05:21:07 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 18, 2024, 07:41:15 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 18, 2024, 11:16:43 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2024, 10:23:05 AM
Here’s a couple Montana pronghorn taken yesterday and this morning, we are flat covered up in pronghorn again on our leases, send a message or give me a call, plan your hunt for next year now!
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2024, 10:35:35 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2024, 10:54:00 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2024, 12:04:12 PM
Post by: ljsommer on October 23, 2024, 12:08:08 PM
A father and two sons traveled from Missouri to hunt mule deer for their first time. Elijah the youngest boy was the first to notch his tag the first day. Corbin the older brother drilled his buck the second day, and dad missed a buck on the third day. That gave the boys some serious ammunition, but hopefully dad finishes up today! There’s a dandy buck they spotted that they are still trying to find again (bottom photo).
Beautiful! You said they were from Missouri, but what state were these bucks taken in? ID?
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2024, 01:58:31 PM
A father and two sons traveled from Missouri to hunt mule deer for their first time. Elijah the youngest boy was the first to notch his tag the first day. Corbin the older brother drilled his buck the second day, and dad missed a buck on the third day. That gave the boys some serious ammunition, but hopefully dad finishes up today! There’s a dandy buck they spotted that they are still trying to find again (bottom photo).
Beautiful! You said they were from Missouri, but what state were these bucks taken in? ID?
Yes, Idaho bucks.
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:03:04 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:05:28 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:24:08 AM
We just started a whitetail deer hunt in Montana, these are some of the bucks we are looking for on this hunt:
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:26:08 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:38:44 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:43:59 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2024, 07:58:56 AM
Post by: Machias on October 29, 2024, 10:54:46 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on October 29, 2024, 11:55:43 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 03, 2024, 08:52:21 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 04, 2024, 08:23:54 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 04, 2024, 08:41:22 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 04, 2024, 08:45:27 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 11, 2024, 10:12:27 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 11, 2024, 10:13:37 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 11, 2024, 10:15:31 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 11, 2024, 10:17:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 11, 2024, 10:23:28 AM
Post by: ljsommer on November 11, 2024, 12:05:48 PM
Something I want to throw out, we've got too many cougar and bear running around the properties this year, we don't normally include bear on a whitetail hunt, but this year we didn’t have many bear hunters in WA so I am asking our deer hunters to please also buy bear and cougar tags, there will be no extra charge even if you are lucky enough to get all three animals during your deer hunt!
We are excited to come over and I'll make sure the wife has her bear tag, but it looks like most of those Colville area GMUs are already closed to cougar based on quotas: https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations/big-game/cougar
...which is crazy, because there's a lot of cats over there.
Post by: jstone on November 11, 2024, 05:07:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2024, 08:21:27 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2024, 08:41:23 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2024, 08:52:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2024, 09:01:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2024, 09:06:06 AM
Post by: kellama2001 on November 20, 2024, 08:52:06 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 22, 2024, 01:56:00 PM
I love reading all the updates and seeing all the smiles, congrats to all the successful hunters! :tup:
Thank you :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 22, 2024, 02:02:11 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 22, 2024, 04:53:59 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 22, 2024, 04:59:22 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 07, 2024, 11:35:30 AM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 07, 2024, 12:25:55 PM
Post by: jrebel on December 07, 2024, 12:29:16 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 07, 2024, 01:39:20 PM
Now if the can survive the winter and predators.....they will be even nicer next year. Great looking animals :tup:
:yeah: for sure
Post by: bearpaw on December 07, 2024, 01:41:57 PM
Bring on the cougar hunting.
We saw some good cat tracks pre-season and then my first two hunters cancelled, one of my guides caught a good cat the first day of season and let it go, then snow went from bad to worse before another hunter could get here. We are waiting on fresh snow, raining right now, hoping it turns to snow, we have a guy waiting for the phone call.
Post by: Rainier10 on December 07, 2024, 05:25:15 PM
Post by: nwwanderer on December 10, 2024, 04:41:10 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2025, 03:43:12 AM
The next time we chased him or a cat similar to him, he crossed several roads to the south of where we last seen him, we cut him three times crossing roads that night, he was really covering country, at the last place he crossed that we could find, we started his track at first light, unfortunately there were high winds most of the night, so we knew there would be some drifting going on, but you still have to try. We started the dogs and they screamed out of the canyon on the tracks, but as they approached the top of the ridge, everything came to a screeching halt and we could tell the dogs had lost the tracks due to drifting snow. Daniel waded up through thigh steep snow to try and help the dogs, and I searched all the surrounding roads to see if he had crossed again after we had checked them earlier, I even snowmobiled as far in the top of the ridge from a different angle so I could see the open southern hillsides just over the top from where the dogs made the lose, but from my vantage point near where the dogs lost the cat, I could scan the wide open hillsides for any visible tracks, and there were none, the high winds had drifted in even every deer trail. Our snowmobile tracks in many higher areas were completely gone from just a few hours before. Daniel had the same issue where he hiked in to help the dogs, everything was drifted in.
We kept an eye on that area, hoping that cat would cross again, eventually he did cross out of there, or at least it was a similar tom, but another hound Hunter found the tracks just before I got to that road, and he ran the cat, it was another windy night, and the cat tracks went very low and crossed into some flats where his dogs lost the cat and he couldn't find him again. We have both been hunting that entire area since then hoping to find that cat, but we haven't seen him again and none of us are sure exactly where that cat went after that or when he’ll show up again?
Keep in mind these tracks could have been different cats because you really never know exactly how many cats are in an area, and it’s really a lot of guess work on when and where one of these toms will show up again.
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2025, 06:11:05 AM
Its sort of a perfect winter so far for deer and elk, there wasn't much snow in December, now in January we've had numerous small snow storms, but the snow has been mostly melting off the low areas and the southern exposure, so its been easy for ungulates on winter range, but there's still a fair amount of snow up high in the mountains.
The cats are pretty low now hunting deer and elk on winter range. We've been getting just enough snow after each melt to keep us hunting fairly steady in January.
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2025, 06:11:44 AM
The cat had walked a road a short distance and then jumped off the road into the sage, we found where it caught a deer about 25-30 yards off the road, you could see where the cat layed in the snow next to the deer as it held onto the deer until it expired, then it started dragging the deer to a hiding place, Zach was following the drag marks, I looked over about 80 yards and saw a bushy low limbed juniper, I said I bet the cat drug the kill to there, sure enough Zach found the kill stashed under that juniper. The cat had opened up the guts and eaten all the liver as they most always do first, then it had eaten some rib meat and part of the backstrap off one side before leaving. Quite often a cat will eat more on a new kill but it was dark when Zach first found the track and I think he spooked the cat off the kill.
Allan said he wanted to go after this cat because the weather forecast didn't look too good for the next few days, so we walked the dogs to the cat tracks and released them, Zach was over at the bushy juniper at the deer kill and made sure the dogs got on the cat tracks leaving the kill. It was a pretty quick chase and the dogs ended up treed only about a quarter mile up the mountain from the road. (Cats usually stay within a few hundred yards of their kill until it is consumed.)
We got up to the tree and it was a good sized beautiful female, Allan said he definitely wanted that cat so we got the dogs tied back and he drilled her. She jumped when hit so Daniel and the hunter took off after her, Daniel radioed back that they found her about 150 yards down the mountain, he said he would put a dog leash around her neck and pull her to the road, he radioed back again when he was back at the truck, we released the dogs and they followed the tracks straight to the truck.
I never turn dogs loose to go after a wounded cat unless it's absolutely necessary. We always try to find wounded cats ourselves, most of the time they are dead, sometimes they are still alive and the hunter has to shoot again, occasionally we do have to turn the dogs loose to catch them again. This is how we do it because I've had too many dogs hurt over the years (and some have died) chasing wounded cats. Lions are deadly, if a wounded cat turns on a hound the chances are not good for the dog, so we try to track wounded cats down ourselves.
Here's some photos, you can see Rip approaching the juniper where the cat had hidden the kill and then all three dogs following the tracks from the kill:
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2025, 06:22:10 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 19, 2025, 06:23:34 AM
Post by: nwhuntinman on January 19, 2025, 08:51:42 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 21, 2025, 09:10:06 AM
After the last hunt I watched the weather a few days and there was another warmup coming, I figured cats would move, we still had a little snow and was supposed to get a little more, so I called and got the next hunter headed our way as soon as he could from Ohio. Peter is one of the hunters I had postponed from December, he was wanting a 140-150 tom or better. Again we searched for the toms we have seen but couldn't catch up with a fresh track. As luck would have it a good tom had crossed a day before Peter arrived but it was too old to chase. We had passed a couple females and it was getting colder again and cats weren't moving as much, I kept trying to find the last tom that crossed before Peter got here but that tom must have made a kill and be laying on it somewhere. On the last day of the hunt Peter said if we can find any adult cat he wanted us to chase it so he could take a look at it.
Luck was on my side that early morning, I found a decent sized female track, I called the other guys to come and when the guys got there we all headed up the mountain on snowmobiles. The cat had come down to a river to get a drink, it turned around and went back up the hill. I had seen this cat several days earlier when it last got a drink so I figured it had a deer kill up on the mountain above there. We put three dogs on the tracks, they would do OK where there was snow and then they would lose it in the bare rocky areas. Daniel hiked up the mountain to help the dogs and I circled around from the left in case it went that way. Daniel found two different deer kills, only about 100 yards apart and one was fresh, Daniel found fresh lion tracks leaving that kill and got one of the dogs lined out, I brought two other dogs over and got them lined out again and the chase was on with all three dogs headed the right direction.
The dogs worked their way up nearly to the top of the mountain and then treed, only a few hundred yards from the road on the top. We waited a while to see if the cat would stay or jump, it looked like it was going to stay so I found a place to turn the sleds around, I looked at my dog receiver one more time and could see the dogs were on the move again so I shut off my sled. I could faintly hear the dogs, then pretty quick we could hear them better, apparently the cat had jumped and it "with the dogs in hot pursuit" was headed downhill fast at an angle to our left. They went about a half mile and treed again behind us and much closer to the bottom of the mountain. So we found another turnaround and headed further back in to the end of the road.
The dogs were only about a quarter mile from the end of the road so we headed in on foot. Peter would hopefully get a good look at the cat and could decide if he wanted to shoot it. It was super steep, Peter had a knee replacement last year and had never seen any ground this steep in his life. The footing was difficult and I was worried Peter could slip and take a long tumble down the mountain so Zach give him a dog leash to hang onto and I followed closely behind, hoping we could stop him if he slipped. In reality if he had slipped all three of us might have taken a tumble!
It took us a while but we finally made it to the cat which was in a big gnarly tree. It actually was a little better cat than I had thought, Peter immediately said he liked it and was going to shoot it. We got the dogs tied back and Peter loaded a round and was taking aim, it's like the cat knew it, he started getting nervous and started coming down. I was afraid Peter would struggle to get to another tree so I told him he needed to shoot if he was going to shoot. The cat was headed down head first and was just about to jump, boom, Pete hit the cat, he snarled but I didn't see where the bullet hit, the cat hit the ground and was gone in a flash, Daniel took off following immediately, he saw some blood but lost the blood trail in a bare rock slide so I figured the cat must not be hit too hard and I cut one dog loose. Daniel radioed and said the dog was opening and moving the track so I cut the other two dogs loose.
We gathered things up and was starting down when Daniel called on the radio, the dogs had caught up to the cat and it was dead on the ground, thank god! I was really worried about the dogs catching a wounded cat on the ground and getting hurt, so that was fantastic news. We climbed down the steep hillside, notched the lion tag, and took some photos. The cat had ran straight toward the snowmobiles so it was a very short drag out with the cat. Peter was more than happy with his cat so that worked out well after all, even though it wasn't the big tom he had originally wanted. He had a great time but told us he had never imagined that the country could be so steep.
Post by: bearpaw on January 21, 2025, 09:29:53 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 21, 2025, 10:09:51 AM
Post by: Craig on January 21, 2025, 02:47:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 11:14:14 AM
Awesome stories and pictures. I got my cat in December and I already want to go again. watching those dogs work is something else.:yeah: hunting hounds can get in your blood
Post by: Machias on January 22, 2025, 02:02:27 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 03:21:46 PM
Even though they are from Michigan their flights had a stopover in Texas, and that day American Airlines was all screwed up and they got hung up in TX for half the day along with many other passengers. They finally made it to my place in Idaho about 11PM. They got a little sleep and we headed out early, long before daylight. We found about 6 to 9 cats had moved, I'm honestly not sure because there were single tracks, females with kittens, and a good big tom, all over the place, we weren't sure which tracks were made by the same cats and which were different cats. It appeared that the big tom had actually moved the day before and that numerous female and kitten tracks were all fresher and over the top of the tom. I spent a few hours trying to figure out where the tom went after the last tracks I found, but with all the drifting I think his tracks got drifted in and I never was sure where he went.
Colton wanted any adult cat but I advised them that I thought we should hold off another day and try to find that big tom. On one hand I hate doing that because if we don't find another cat then its my fault if they don't get a cat, but we prefer to hunt toms and if you don't pass females you won't get many toms. Additionally it was the first day of the hunt and I figured we were very likely to find another cat before their hunt ended so I recommended passing all the cats that first day so we could look for that tom.
On the second day it was much colder again and the only cat I found had crossed on private land. I searched all over for that big tom and he simply had vanished, probably made a kill, and none of the other cats had moved either. On the way back to my truck I hit fresh tracks again of the same cat that had been on private land. As soon as I had left earlier in the darkness that cat walked right back out over my tracks and onto the road and followed my snowmobile tracks out of the private land to where we could chase him. It appeared to be a decent young tom, the stride was about 41", not the big tom, but we probably should try to catch him, so I called the other guys, they had nothing, this cat was our only chance for the day and the weather was looking even colder the next few days.
We turned the dogs loose right after daylight, the track was pretty fresh and the dogs covered ground fast, they went up near the top of the mountain and then back around the side of the mountain, it wasn't too long and they were barking treed by some rock cliffs. They weren't really locked in very good so I knew they weren't looking at the cat, it was more a situation as if they ran out of tracks and this is where he must be. I figured the cat probably kept going past the rocks and the dogs were unable to get past the cliffs, I figured we would need to help the dogs find the tracks where the cat left the other side of the rock cliffs.
Suddenly one of the dogs starts opening going on the backtrack towards where we had started the track, pretty quick the other two dogs are doing the same thing. I let the dogs get about halfway back towards where we had started the track and I told the guys I thought the dogs were backtracking, we all thought the same thing. I told them I would go back to the other side of the mountain and pick the dogs up where we started the cat, and I'll bring them back to here so we can find where the cat left the rocks and start the dogs again.
I get back to the other side of the mountain and I could hear the dogs treed near the top of the mountain, probably not far from where they were when I was listening with the other guys on the other side of the mountain. I waited a while to make sure they were going to stay treed and then I headed back around the mountain to the other guys.
The other guys had also heard the dogs treed from that side of the mountain so we all rode up a short spur road that got us a lot higher and closer. The hike in was pretty easy, we went over the top of the mountain and they were treed less than a hundred yards down the backside, as soon as we hit the top of the mountain we heard them load and clear and I could tell they really thought they had the cat. But, I told the guys I wasn't sure if there would be a cat in the tree or if maybe they found a bed at the base of a tree and thought the cat was there. I was really still thinking the cat had gone the other way from the rocks and we would probably have to get the dogs and go back to the rocks.
We approached carefully from the side so if there was a cat we didn't encourage him to jump. We got closer and closer, suddenly there he was in a big juniper. He seemed comfortable so we got the dogs tied back, took some photos, and Colton took a careful aim, boom, the cat was dead on impact, he slowly rolled out of the tree and only twitched a few times on the ground. Awesome, I told Colton that's the best shot this season. We took plenty of photos and then struggled climbing the steep hillside back up to the top with that cat. Then an easy downhill and we were back to the sleds, I love it when a plan comes together.
Looking back, it appears the cat had jumped out of the rocks and had backtracked back and forth across his old tracks several times before the dogs got caught up and pressured him up a tree. He was treed only about 60 yards away from the old tracks where we had first chased him. It's pretty normal for cats to back track I see them do it often in an attempt to confuse the dogs. I actually think they do it far more often in today's world than they did 30 years ago before there were so many hound hunters and wolves hunting them as we have today. One thing for sure, Mt Lions are very intelligent animals, they learn from everything they encounter.
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 03:27:08 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 03:28:13 PM
Great write ups Dale, Nice cats!!thanks Fred
Post by: Rainier10 on January 22, 2025, 03:36:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 03:47:29 PM
I love this time of year. Thanks for the detailed write ups. Makes me feel like I’m back in camp.right on Rick :tup:
Post by: wadu1 on January 22, 2025, 04:02:06 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 04:08:40 PM
Great write up Dale, I could even feel the cold.
BBBrrrrrr, I didn't even take my snowmobile suit off to hike in, I almost always do that to keep from overheating. Right now we are waiting for another warmup, its been in the negative territory lately. At least a skiff of snow to cover old tracks would be nice, but nothing in the immediate forecast, it would be a pain trying to sort through all the deer and elk tracks on winter range. Half the time the cats walk in the elk and deer trails or the elk and deer walk over the cat tracks.
Post by: actionshooter on January 22, 2025, 07:36:42 PM