Post by: bearpaw on September 01, 2009, 06:57:44 PM
We need more hunters.
My guides want me to put the word out that we can use a few more bear hunters and archery deer hunters. We can start your hunt as soon as you can get here...........
Contact me now and recieve 25% off regular price for a fill in hunt.
Watch video and get more info: http://bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_bear_hunting.html (http://bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_bear_hunting.html)
http://www.bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_whitetail_deer_hunting.html (http://www.bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_whitetail_deer_hunting.html)
Photos Taken Today Starting At Sunrise
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 01, 2009, 07:15:42 PM
Post by: Machias on September 01, 2009, 07:40:38 PM
Post by: saylean on September 01, 2009, 07:56:44 PM
Best,
Douglas~
Post by: GoldTip on September 02, 2009, 06:46:50 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 02, 2009, 06:50:03 AM
#3 Bear, a 6 1/2 footer taken the first evening.....
Post by: Machias on September 02, 2009, 09:29:29 AM
Post by: MtnMuley on September 02, 2009, 09:32:53 AM
Post by: Ray on September 02, 2009, 09:34:22 AM
Post by: rezboy on September 02, 2009, 09:34:32 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 02, 2009, 09:38:46 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2009, 03:35:58 PM
Post by: BLKBEARKLR on September 03, 2009, 04:12:09 PM
Wish I could afford a bear hunt.
You can, just go do it!!! Don't think about it just do it
Post by: Machias on September 03, 2009, 07:43:37 PM
Post by: Titan-1 on September 04, 2009, 07:00:40 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 01:15:35 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 02:59:36 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 11, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 03:20:04 PM
Post by: Machias on September 11, 2009, 03:50:27 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 04:50:19 PM
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on September 11, 2009, 04:55:11 PM
-Steve
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 05:24:33 PM
Post by: markts on September 11, 2009, 05:32:43 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 05:48:48 PM
http://bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_bear_hunting.html (http://bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_bear_hunting.html)
I offered HW members 25% off :yike: the regular price because I am low on hunters this season. :tup:
Better get over here, the hunting is hot.......... :mgun: :hunter: :guns: :cue:
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 06:15:20 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 11, 2009, 06:30:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2009, 06:55:48 PM
The guys who have killed are all sitting on the front deck having a drink now.... :brew:
Post by: mulehunter on September 12, 2009, 08:19:00 AM
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 12, 2009, 11:24:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2009, 12:27:31 AM
Another guy shot at a real big bear at 150 yards the last few minutes of shooting hours. Says he felt good about the shot but couldn't find no blood or trail so we are going back at daylight to search the brush. :bash:
Three archery deer hunters started hunting tonight here in Washington, 1 guy had a 4x4 close but the right shot never presented itself.... :bash:
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2009, 03:44:34 AM
Get more info:
http://bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_bear_hunting.html (http://bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_bear_hunting.html)
Post by: bearmanric on September 13, 2009, 11:16:15 AM
Post by: bowhunterforever on September 13, 2009, 11:52:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 14, 2009, 01:46:11 AM
Well the big bear got away, seems it was a miss, no blood, no dead bear anywhere in the brush after searching this morning.
Bowhunter stuck a young buck tonight, but it was still alive when tracked after waiting, hopefully find it first thing in the morning....
bearmanric....after reading about your calls on H-W. I would like to try your favorite recommended bear call sometime....can never have too many tricks up your sleeve. I have some properties leased with a lot of bear on them, but in your opinion is a person better off to wait until there is less food?
Post by: bearmanric on September 14, 2009, 07:15:03 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 15, 2009, 02:22:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2009, 07:10:48 PM
Post by: MtnMuley on September 18, 2009, 04:00:14 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 25, 2009, 09:13:26 AM
Post by: Machias on September 25, 2009, 10:56:30 AM
P.S. The couple from Idaho, the Strong's, are on their way up this afternoon to chase turkeys with me this weekend. I'll take some photos and let you know how it goes.
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2009, 10:43:13 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2009, 11:11:15 AM
Post by: bowhunterforever on September 26, 2009, 10:09:48 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 27, 2009, 09:50:17 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2009, 12:29:24 PM
What is really exciting, we saw a big whitetail buck last night that we have never seen before. He is living smack in the middle of one of the properties. He's a 5x5, 21" to 23" outside spread, extra-extra-heavy mass, dark antlers, some 10" tines, good eye-guards, probably 170's.
He's super smart and did not provide a muzzy shot, but come late rifle his odds will be lowered a bit. ;)
This buck gets the blood flowing.....I hope I am able to provide a photo of him before the season is over....
Almost forgot to mention, I still have hunts available this year, guided or unguided on private land for whitetail..... :)
Post by: nw_bowhunter on September 27, 2009, 12:45:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2009, 05:45:37 PM
Post by: Craig on September 27, 2009, 06:52:59 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2009, 07:02:10 PM
Three mulies down during the first two days of my Utah ranch mule deer hunt, 24" 5x3, 24" 5x5, and a 17" 4x4, fourth hunter would have his buck too, but his gun doesn't shoot straight... :chuckle:
Hope to get some photos posted of these bucks soon.
WHITETAIL SIGHTED AGAIN
The big whitetail that we saw last week was spotted again today by one of our bear hunter's, the buck was bedded down next to the ranch road less than a half mile from the last place we saw him. We might get some close up photos of this guy with a lucky hunter... :)
WOLF DOWN
Talked to one of my guides who is hunting wolves with his dad in Idaho, on Oct 1, the opening day of the Idaho County wolf season they took the first wolf in Idaho County. What's really cool is they trailcammed these wolves in advance and then killed what they think is the same wolf shown in the attached trailcam photos. :) :) :)
They have been seeing another black one and he hopes to get it soon.... :)
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2009, 10:18:16 PM
Post by: rainshadow1 on October 03, 2009, 10:32:26 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2009, 10:37:49 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 04, 2009, 10:06:31 PM
Oct 1 2009,
Opening day of Wolf season in Elk City and Dworshak Zones, Dad and I headed out to our blind in "Secret Meadows". We reached the meadow at 6:45am, parked the 4 wheelers, 50 yrds from the blind, and walk out to the blind in the middle of the meadow. We got settled in and I range-found 4 or 5 different spots for dad then turned to watch my sector. No sooner than I got relaxed I caught some movement out the corner of my eye. I siad "*censored* there's a wolf" turned around and we both aimed in on him. He walked in the middle of the meadow stepped up on a small knoll looked at a couple "moo cows" and started to let out a howl. Dad and I counted down 3......2.....1 and bang I hit him next to his right eye and dad hit him center of the chest. Dropped him cold. Time was 7:00am.
I have also attached a few pics of him that we caught on our trail camera.
Post by: Machias on October 05, 2009, 07:19:47 AM
Post by: jackelope on October 05, 2009, 11:03:20 AM
congrats to the hunter.
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on October 05, 2009, 11:09:59 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 06, 2009, 05:36:08 AM
UTAH UPDATE
BULL ELK HUNT
This week we got a 4x4 bull in a general season any bull elk area. Any size bull is a respectable bull for an over the counter tag area.
COW ELK HUNT
Saw elk every day, but most were at very long distance and across canyons that were probably out of reach for Larry, the guy who was hunting. Yesterday morning I spotted a group of elk 3/4 mile away and we stalked to within 503 yards, no cover to get any closer so we decided to take the shot rather than risk spooking the herd. Larry had never shot much over 200 yards, but we set up with shooting sticks, it felt good, so he picked a broadside cow, held over about two feet and fired a shot, she never moved, I said "hold over a foot higher and shoot again", this time she moved about 20 yards and stopped again, I said "hold over only 1 foot this time", another miss. The elk moved a few more yards and stopped again, I said "try 4 feet over her back", another miss. I dug up a big rock and got Larry in a prone position, another miss. After about 12 to 15 shots we ran out of catridges and the elk had moved out to 648 yards and some started feeding again. :bash:
During the whole affair Larry had dropped one cartridge in the snow, we frantically sifted through the snow looking for this final chance, finally I found it, he chambered the round, took a very careful aim and another miss. :bash:
No fault of Larry, this was just farther than his ability permitted, or his gun was off. I have had plenty of guys and gals kill elk at this range and suspect the gun was off. We discussed the only two options, which included sitting and watching the elk feed or slipping out and hoping the elk would still be there later after we went and got more shells, we decided to sneak off the mountain and come back later to see if they would still be there. :chuckle:
We got back to the truck and as we drove back to check his truck for more cartridges we discussed sighting the gun, Larry said he had shot it just before driving over for the hunt and was confident it was dead on at 200 yards. After rumaging around Larry came up with 5 more of his carefully hand loaded catridges. Now another decision, do we try to sight in the gun with that few of cartridges, do we drive 2 hours to town and purchase more catridges which may require sighting the gun to different cartridges, or do we look for a 100-200 yard shot and make due with the 5 shells for the rest of the day. Larry opted that we look for closer elk and figured if he had a close shot he would be OK, he thought the gun should be fine.
We hunted the rest of the day only finding deer, when we were down to the last 30 minutes I told Larry we should check a nearby spot where we had seen some fresh elk beds out in a feeding area earlier. We got there and nothing, now we were down to 6 minutes, I told Larry we were hunting till the last minute was over, a hunt is never over till the last minute of shooting hours has passed. (honestly, that is what I told him). I headed around the next ridge looking for elk, as we rounded the ridge I looked at my watch, I said to Larry, "we only have 1 more minute", just then I looked down in the canyon and spotted about a nice 300 class bull and 6 cows. We quickly sat down and Larry settled into his shooting sticks (he never shoots without them), 3 cows are looking at us from about 80 yards, just as I figured the shot was gonna go off the cows whirled and ran, there was one elk still standing, Larry moved his gun onto that elk, I must have said it about three times "don't shoot...it's the bull" the cows stopped a couple more times, but just didn't stand quite long enough for Larry to sqeeze off a shot and then they were gone. :bash:
So we finished the 3 day cow hunt on an exciting but disappointing note. When Larry left I told him to check his gun and try to practice some long range shooting with a friend he has who shoots a lot at long range. He said he would be giving me a phone call and we would set up another hunt.
Looking back, hindsight is aways 20/20, I wish we would have moved through the open ground closer to the first herd that morning. After we started shooting it seemed the elk weren't even afraid of us, who knows maybe we could have gotten within 300 yards. I also wish I would have insisted that he shoot his gun before we started hunting, I still think it must have been off. One thing is for sure, we had a good time and that is what hunting is all about. :twocents:
UTAH MULE DEER
Here's a photo of a nice 24" muley Nick guided recently on our private ranch hunt in Utah.
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on October 06, 2009, 09:46:53 AM
Quote
After about 12 to 15 shots we ran out of catridges
Uh, ya think? I carry eight. Four in the gun, four in a pocket. That's it. -And they don't stock mine on the store shelf.
OK, you didn't say what cartridge he was touchin off. Lets go with the 30-06 with a 180gn bullet. Ballpark, I'm going with ~48" drop at 500yds off the top of my head. Add another 150yds to that? Without knowing the dope for the scope/load, I would not have taken the shot. Crawl on my belly I would...
-Steve
Post by: bearpaw on October 06, 2009, 10:42:54 AM
Those of you who live in open country or shoot long ranges know that this was a very practical shot for a good shooting weapon. Because we shot in 1 foot increments to as high as 6 feet over the back, that's figuring for as much as 85-90 inches of drop, and we had a good rest so if the gun was on, I should have been gutting an elk. I still think the gun was off. :twocents:
Too bad we didn't get the 80 yard cow at the end of the day, but that's why it's called "hunting" and not "getting". :chuckle:
Post by: HUNT on October 06, 2009, 10:48:01 AM
Great job on the bears this year. I need to get with you one of these years...... Nice thread!
Post by: luvtohnt on October 06, 2009, 10:59:14 AM
Brandon
Post by: NataSS on October 06, 2009, 03:36:12 PM
Post by: Little Dave on October 06, 2009, 04:23:25 PM
Great season.
Post by: Gutpile on October 08, 2009, 04:39:20 PM
Post by: mulehunter on October 08, 2009, 08:01:08 PM
Mulehunter :chuckle:
Post by: wolfbait on October 08, 2009, 08:37:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2009, 04:19:05 PM
Here's a nice mule deer from Utah and a nice mule deer from Idaho.
My wife has the whitetails nailed down and waiting for rifle season to open, we don't have many rifle whitetail hunters but hopefully will get a few photos to post.
Elk opened this morning in my area of Idaho and we have two bulls down so far....gotta go... ;)
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2009, 04:21:05 PM
Post by: Machias on October 15, 2009, 04:24:18 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2009, 04:39:07 PM
Post by: GoldTip on October 16, 2009, 01:52:20 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on October 16, 2009, 07:57:45 PM
gutpile....you are scaring me with those avatar photos... :chuckle: :chuckle:
:yike:...I see Gut has that spooky avatar up again. Thought he had ditched that one. Creepy. Imagine climbing up in your tree stand before first light and seeing that.............lol. Hey.........Bearpaw................didn't mean to spook ya the night before the general opener. Make sure you check those tree stands though....lol.
Post by: bearpaw on October 20, 2009, 12:47:51 AM
OH well, they had as much right to get him as us, and they were just a little faster.... :dunno:
Hope to post some photos of the bulls we got soon.
Trying to find time to get Cammy my shorthair out for a hunt, she is going nuts, I swear she knows it's bird hunting time.... :chuckle:
The big 170's buck is still alive in Washington, two guys are doing an unguided hunt on that ranch this week so hopefully we'll get some photos of them with him. :)
Post by: bearpaw on October 21, 2009, 08:42:17 AM
Post by: Machias on October 21, 2009, 09:24:57 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 22, 2009, 01:05:29 AM
Just like the old saying goes, the big ones always get away.... :dunno:
On a more positive note, my wife reported to me they killed a 4x4 whitetail today in Colville.
Post by: bearpaw on October 22, 2009, 01:39:37 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 22, 2009, 05:51:29 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 22, 2009, 05:53:47 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 22, 2009, 06:12:42 PM
Post by: nw_bowhunter on October 22, 2009, 06:16:15 PM
Post by: PacificNWhunter on October 23, 2009, 07:39:22 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2009, 10:28:24 AM
Last evening we found a new buck on the block. We had not seen this buck before at all, did not know he was even there. We were doing a drive to find the really big 36" we saw the other day and up jumps this guy. First hunter (a driver) misses the trotting shot, (dang he must be saying to himself) this buck heads around the hill and runs right into one of the posted hunters who makes a deadon running shot.
This will probably create a discussion but I am saying it anyway, "You can't kill anything if there isn't lead in the air." My hunters (bless them) have been holding out for the perfect shots and it just doesn't happen that often with big smart bucks. Sometimes you have to do the best with what opportunity they give you. Whether you agree with the shot or not, you have to admit this is not a bad buck. I gross scored him at 182 even this morning, he has about 6 inches of deducts. The carcasse is already at the meat processor and the head will go to Cindy at Double Cut.
Fingers still crossed for #36, my nickname for the elusive bad boy we were looking for.....
Post by: MtnMuley on October 23, 2009, 10:45:39 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2009, 11:15:13 AM
Last night my phone rang....I answer it "This is Dale", voice comes back at me "Big Buck Down", it was my daughter, she calls me every year when she kills her buck. Herself, her husband, and my 2 month granddaughter all went hunting yesterday evening after work. She says "He was at 338 yards bedded down, and I shot him once, right through the heart, he only ran 40 yards." Wow that girl has it going on right. I am not kidding you she kills her buck every year with one shot. (I will leave out her bear hunt when she was 13, that one wasn't so pretty, but she has been a natural born killer ever since.)
I asked "How big is he?" she says "He's not real big, but he has dark heavy horns, a 4x5, about 14" wide." I told her to take a picture with my granddaughter Brooke, she says "your kidding", I replied back "nope I want a picture with Brooke, we took pictures of you when you were just a baby on your first hunts". "OK" she said, so hopefully I will get a photo to post.
Idaho Elk
Yesterday we saw 4 different bulls, but all were out of range or moving too fast. No shots fired. One of the guys said that one was a real big bull, fingers crossed for that bull today and tommorrow. Only 2 days of season left in Idaho......
Post by: bearpaw on October 24, 2009, 08:30:03 PM
Today brought hail; rain storms, and we could not find #36 or any of his offspring, worst day of the week. The season ended today, the biggest questions in my mind are if #36 will survive the winter, and if we will be able to locate him next year. Fingers crossed for a mild winter..... :)
Tommorrow I head for Montana for more antelope and deer hunts. Check back for some good antelope action.... :)
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 24, 2009, 09:49:36 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 26, 2009, 08:42:05 PM
UTAH UPDATE
Had two hunters arrive at our Utah ranch last night, this morning my son took them hunting and they both killed their deer, a 20" and a 25". Love those first day kills. :)
Will post photos when I get them....
Post by: bearpaw on October 26, 2009, 10:08:16 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 27, 2009, 10:16:00 PM
Youth hunter missed a big whitetail buck this morning and then whacked a doe this evening.
Utah
One hunter hunting, they saw about 30 does and 8 bucks today, missed two bucks, going out again tomorrow.
Montana
Two antelope hunters start hunting tomorrow if we don't get rained out. If the mud is too bad we have to wait for it to dry up a few hours after the rain ends. We do have some good bucks spotted.
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 28, 2009, 10:26:04 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 28, 2009, 05:26:10 PM
Post by: nw_bowhunter on October 28, 2009, 05:50:58 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 31, 2009, 04:25:16 AM
After the two youngest boys killed their deer with my wife and Brandon in Washington, the family drove over and met me in Montana. Yesterday we pulled off a perfect stalk on a large group of does and we killed two doe antelope at 115 yards and 168 yards with one shot each. Today I glassed several groups of antelope and finally decided to try for a group that had one real good buck and several other respectable bucks. We walked about two miles around to get to the closest cover. We crawled up and I peeked over and the antelope were too far but I noticed a little closer route so we crawled backwards and moved around to a little closer position. We crawled the last 50 yards and were as close as we could get. I had previously explained the game plan to the boys who had flipped a coin to see who got the first buck.
I had told the boys when we crawl up that I would get Kody on the biggest buck and for Mark (dad) to make sure that Wyatt was on a different buck and to help him out. There were about 40 antelope so I explained to Kody where to pick out the largest buck. Then I whispered to Mark (dad) which buck we were shooting and which buck they should shoot immediately after we shot.
The antelope had no idea of the peril they were in. I was having trouble getting a reading but finally got 253 yards on the range finder. Then I guestimated the heavy crosswind (20-30 mph) and suggested holding about 1 1/2 foot to the right and a little high on the body, but not over. Everyone was ready and said they were rock solid, I told Kody to squeeze off the shot when it felt right.
A few moments passed and boom, he hit the big buck in the hind leg, the antelope sort of jumped and moved around but had no idea where to run and paused, I told Wyatt to take the third antelope from the right, it was in the clear and appeared about equal size to 5 or 6 others in the herd. Boom another leg shot, the herd ran off a good distance but both wounded antelope only moved a few yards, Wyatts buck was giving us a good broadside shot so I told him to shoot again, wow a miss, I told him to hold 6 inches higher above the rump and take another shot, boom, his antelope went down, then Kody's buck layed down broadside, I said hold on the rump and then pull up 6 inches over the rump, boom his antelope rolled over dead.
Now there was excitement, high fives and all that. We got some more video footage and started walking to the bucks. We took lots of photos with each buck and got to talking and things didn't add up so we range found the little knob were had shot from, wow 373 yards to one antelope and 490 yards to the other. On top of that we had about 30 to 36 inches of wind drift.
Apparently when I was having trouble getting a reading the range finder had locked in on some closer sage that was in the way. That explained why we had leg shots on both the first time and had to elevate more. I have to tell you, I am still amazed that those two boys combined made 4 hits out of 5 shots and killed both antelope at that range.
Destiny is a funny thing, we had passed several 350-400 yard shots the day before thinking it was too far for the boys. It was as if they were meant to prove their shooting ability. ;) Mark said he was glad he didn't have a tag, he would have hated to be the only one to not make the long shot.... :chuckle:
The one buck had a broken tip, the good side measures 14 inches. The big buck measures 15 1/2, both have beautiful capes and are getting mounted. It was a good day in the field indeed. ;)
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 31, 2009, 06:38:46 AM
Post by: CoryTDF on October 31, 2009, 07:24:47 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 02, 2009, 04:11:16 AM
Filled a few more tags will try to catch up soon.
Post by: whacker1 on November 02, 2009, 06:31:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 05, 2009, 04:09:13 AM
Killed a few more antelope the last few days, horns are stating to come off, but still plenty of bucks, have two deer hunts next. Will post photos when I have time.
Post by: bearpaw on November 06, 2009, 09:41:42 PM
Post by: Little Dave on November 07, 2009, 12:57:54 PM
Post by: huntnphool on November 07, 2009, 01:17:27 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on November 07, 2009, 07:31:15 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2009, 12:13:49 AM
huntnphool....you are right, I need a better camera, hoping to get one soon, probably a cannon. We did not get another chance at the biggest bucks in Idaho, but I am happy with the 182 and the others that we did get. Have killed a couple nice bucks in Montana, but no monsters. In Washington, I don't have hardly any guided hunters, most guys have chosen unguided hunts to save money and have not had the same success that we have on the guided hunts. The 170ish Washington buck has not been seen since late buck opened, but my fingers are crossed for that to change.
Wacenturian....I do know the guy you are talking about in Wyoming, his last name is spelled Denny, our last name is spelled Denney, so we are no relation.
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2009, 12:21:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2009, 01:18:10 AM
We spent the first day just covering as much of the 87,000 acre ranch as possible trying to locate a mega buck. I told Steve he would have more of a hunt if he killed his buck on the last day anyway. Judging from his look at that remark, I didn't think he agreed with that philosophical approach. :chuckle:
We saw hundreds of antelope and several 14+ the first day but nothing that was exceptional. On the second day we decided we better shoot when we saw a good one. Steve missed two 14ish bucks that day so I told him we had to shoot the gun to check the sighting, two misses usually means the scope is off, guess what, 5 inches high at 100 yds. :bash:
On day three we headed into the field knowing the gun was on the mark. I spotted a group of antelope a couple miles away and we worked in for the shot. We belly crawled the last couple hundred yards and were as close as we could get, about 330 yards. Steve took a careful prone shot but missed and the antelope headed out.
There were three bucks that looked pretty fair, especially since it was the last day of the hunt, so we took the long way around and managed to get on them again. This time we crawled to within about 220 yards. Steve had another good rest, we looked at the three bucks, picked the best looking one, and whammo, he hit the buck good, the buck ran a short distance but was having trouble and stopped, Steve anchored him with another shot in the spine. Turned out the first shot had taken part of the heart, that buck was a tough one indeed.
Buck measured 13 1/4 on both sides, although the buck was the smallest of our season, Steve had one of the most exciting hunts and was very happy in the end. We visited an old homestead, we had a stand off with an agressive porcupine, we watched muleys and prairie goats during awesome sunrises, and we experienced breathtaking sunsets, life just doesn't get any better. ;)
Gotta wonder the last time that old car was driven....
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2009, 02:07:48 AM
Well we finally had a half day off and a chance to try and fill our own tags. Anthony and I headed out for the ranch, suddenly a flash of a deer, wow that was a close one, we almost hit another deer. During the last hunt with Steve I had smacked a 3x3 mulie which took out half my headlights, hood, and fender. :bash:
To add insult to injury the day after the 3x3 accident, we happened into another road full of deer and smacked a muley fawn. :bash:
Luckily the fawn didn't take out my remaining headlights.... :o but later that same morning we got a flat that we had to change, dug out the spare and it was flat too.... :bash: Fortunately I had an emergency air compressor along and we were able to get the flat aired up, later at the tire shop I found out that the valve stem had a slow leak.
Well today we made it out to the ranch without any major setbacks. Upon reaching the property the first thing we saw was a herd of antelope all bunched up next to the road, upon closer look with the spotter, I saw the reason they were all buched up, a coyote was working them trying to get at one of the fawns. Unfortunately about the same time I spotted the coyote , the coyote spotted my truck and headed out, I didn't get a chance to offer up any lead poisoning.... :chuckle:
We spotted numerous herds trying to find a crooked horn that I had seen a week earlier or a really good buck. We were running out of time for our only chance to get antelope so Anthony decided to take a doe. We had 1 hour left to hunt so we checked out another area. At last we spotted a herd with 3 pretty good bucks. We put the sneak on them but they were on the move and everytime we we thought we were getting close it turned out they were just as far away, finally after a couple miles we hurried to the end of a rise and crawled out, there they were walking away at about 200 yards, I spotted the unique buck that had suckered me into walking so far, I tried to control my heavy breathing because the crosshairs were all over the antelope, I was scared to death I was going to miss, finally another sigh and it felt good, I tried to carefully squeeze the trigger, boom, I watched the buck go down in the scope.
Wow, I kicked back on the ground in relief. I said to Anthony "that ????????? made me walk a long ways, but I got him in the end". (You would have to view the video to hear what I said, dang it, I didn't realize he had it on.) :dunno:
We took care of the buck, stripped off everything we didn't need and started the long walk back. Then we drove around and recovered everything, I told Anthony "that's the hardest I ever worked for a goat" he said said "ya me too." He also said "I wished I would have held off shooting the doe because the other two bucks in that group were good ones too, and they didn't run far after the shot. I guess hindsight is always 20/20..... ;)
Here's a couple pics of my unique buck. :)
Post by: bearpaw on November 13, 2009, 05:06:52 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on November 13, 2009, 06:20:14 AM
Post by: Machias on November 13, 2009, 10:45:42 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 15, 2009, 09:13:41 PM
Watch it on Titan Outdoors. Chris will have the hunt on the next video he releases.
Post by: stumprat on November 15, 2009, 09:15:37 PM
Looks like another satisfied customer.
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2009, 02:36:11 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2009, 12:26:44 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2009, 12:44:26 PM
Yesterday we saw 8 or 10 bucks. This morning I was going hunting in one of the more rugged areas on one of the ranches. We come around the corner and a small tree was across the road, one guy who's tag is already filled got out to move the tree, he starts pulling it and happens to notice a deer about 200 yards away. He motions to us and points down the hill, I told my hunter he sees a deer, let's get up there. We sneak up and peak over the bank, sure enough a nice buck was staring back. Wow, no rest, the tree wasn't steady, then the buck moves out of sight. We waited a minute and then started sneaking in that direction moving to the left in an effort to keep the wind away from the buck. Pretty soon we spotted a fork horn buck, then a doe, but still no big buck. We slipped around the sidehill slowly and carefully trying to find the big boy. Suddenly up jumps two does at 30 yards, one snorts as they take off, I quickly moved downhill about 10 yards to a better overlook, then the big buck moved out into the open. He was facing straight away, alerted by the doe, I was afraid we didn't have much time, I told John to shoot him right in the butt, no rest handy, so he tried an offhand shot, he missed, I said reload an shoot again, another miss, then the buck moved behind some brush, but still didn't run. He is a dandy about 20 to 22 wide with at least 1 double eye gaurd and about 6 points per side.
We waited quite some time but saw nothing, then we quietly discussed the options, John decided he was going to sit and watch the area until dark tonight. My fingers are crossed, hopefully he sees him again today.
We are seeing bucks left and right now, the buck switch got turned on yesterday. ;)
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2009, 02:13:08 PM
Another unguided hunter saw two 4x4 bucks this morning, same story, bucks chasing does and not provinding a standing shot opportunity. He is back out again in the same area trying to put the smack on one of those 4x4's. The hunting is truly hot now.... ;)
Here's another nice Washington whitetail buck with double eye gaurds taken today by a 16 year old boy, his first buck, dad says the buck is getting mounted, talk about a happy kid. He and his dad are already booked again for next year.
Post by: coop2424 on November 16, 2009, 02:22:57 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2009, 05:17:48 PM
Post by: Machias on November 16, 2009, 06:37:12 PM
Post by: Wacenturion on November 16, 2009, 07:09:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 16, 2009, 07:26:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 17, 2009, 03:07:42 PM
This buck was actually shot last night and they searched 2 hours for it and gave up. Guide Ray asked me last night if he could go look for the buck this morning, he said if it's dead on the ranch he would find it. Knowing Ray is my best tracker, I quickly agreed. In the morning they took Ray to where the deer was hit. Ray noticed that the deer was stepping hard on one rear foot and followed the buck for over 400 yards through heavy cover and hundreds of other deer tracks by following that hard rear foot print. He went pretty much straight to the buck which had been hit in the rear quarters. Looks like we will be able to salvage most of the meat and I caped it to be mounted.
Post by: coop2424 on November 17, 2009, 03:10:03 PM
Post by: Houndhunter on November 17, 2009, 03:15:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 17, 2009, 03:21:50 PM
Post by: Houndhunter on November 17, 2009, 05:04:23 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 18, 2009, 07:10:27 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 18, 2009, 07:55:21 AM
Post by: coop2424 on November 18, 2009, 08:46:46 AM
Post by: Gobble on November 18, 2009, 08:52:37 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 18, 2009, 09:13:02 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 20, 2009, 08:23:37 AM
Another hunter wanted to get an early start home and left at noon, he was the only hunter to not get a shot. Saw two 4x4's but never had a good shot opportunity.
Another hunter killed a nice 5x5 at 2 PM.
And the fourth hunter missed one of those biggest bucks I have been talking about just before dark. Said it was really a nice buck.
For the season not as many deer were seen as usual, but we still had some great success with all but one guided hunter getting shots at bucks. Our guided hunter shot opportunity was 90% and our unguided hunter shot opportunity was about 50% for the season. All in all we had a good whitetail hunt despite lower deer numbers.
Amazingly, we failed to get the biggest buck on every ranch. Seems the big ones almost always get away.
Today I take care of some paperwork and then this afternoon I am headed to Utah for a Cow Elk & Bird Hunt, then back to Idaho for Cougar Hunting on Dec 1.... :)
Post by: bearpaw on November 22, 2009, 01:04:24 PM
John always wanted to shoot a buffalo so the next day we went buffalo hunting. Buffalo hunting is no big sporting event, they really aren't afraid of anything. However as you can see, on occasion they will decide to take off running if they feel something isn't right. They have been known to also trample a human or ram into a truck on occasion. When hunting buffalo you stay close to the truck so you can jump in for protection.
John wanted a smaller good eating animal so he shot a 2 year old cow. You can see the difference in the animal he shot and a bull in the fuzzy photo (tried to zoom in with a cheap camera). I also included the photo of another hunter with his young medium sized bull hanging (big enough for a great mount, young enough for fairly good eating). The old bull shown in the other photo is huge, he would make an outstanding mount and a lot of buffalo burger, too old for many good steaks. :chuckle:
Next on the agenda was to fill his antlerless deer tag, which as you might have guessed is no big sporting event either. This was the 6th time John hunted with us and we had a great time again, looking forward to the next hunt, sounds like it will be antelope.
Post by: Pathfinder101 on November 23, 2009, 10:33:15 AM
Post by: 1bowhunter1 on November 23, 2009, 11:00:06 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 23, 2009, 06:40:09 PM
Quote
Dont know how I missed this tread....Coolest one i've seen this year!! You have one tough job. Are you hiring? :chuckle:
I know I will be considered a liar, but it actually is a very tough job, if you knew all the details of everything that must be done to run a continuous guiding business, you would think I am totally insane for doing it for so long. :chuckle:
No matter how hard you try, there are always some hunts that do not go as well as you wished. The hardest part of the job is having an unsuccessful hunt. That is harder on the guide than the hunter. :(
Nontheless, I would not trade my good experiences in the business for any other persons experiences. :)
Quote
I have kicked around the idea of letting Pathfinder Jr shoot a meat buffalo sometime.That would be a fun experience for him taking that large of an animal. Send me a PM someday when you think he is ready... :)
Post by: bearpaw on November 23, 2009, 07:08:34 PM
Recieved 11/19/09
Dale,
What an incredible hunt in Montana! We now have 6 hunts together: 3 bears, a Whitetail buck with a bow, 2 Merriam turkeys, a cow elk, and now a Mule Deer and a Buffalo.
I never would have made a 400+ yard without you telling me where to put the cross-hairs. Wind and snow is something that you cannot practice very well at a shooting range, and that is one of the few reasons I like hunting with Bear Paw Outfitters. You have always put me on animals early in the hunt and coached me through the experience. You have to remain calm, and having someone watch and talk you through the shot really helps. To now get a trophy mule deer is another chapter, and dream that I wanted to fulfill. To feel like I have developed a friendship out of our experiences is even nicer.
The buffalo is a fun meat hunt. I would highly recommend to anyone that they use a bow for the hunt. Their size is absolutely incredible. To think that I shot a 750 - 800 lb cow was incredible. It looked so small compared to the bulls. It was not until I got up next to it that is struck me how impressive an animal it was.
Thank you again for taking care of me. We always have a lot of laughs and I look forward to seeing you every chance I can. I am now thinking about all those antelope on the 87,000 acre ranch in Montana. I don't have an antelope yet and with all the trophy bucks there it just makes sense to do that next.
Wishing you and Tara Happy Holidays, and a fantastic rest of the hunting season.
*****************************************
Unfortunately all the letters I recieve are not this nice. There are some hunts that are not successful. Not all of those hunters will accept the lack of success in a reasonable manner. Additionally, if a truck breaks down and the wrong guy misses a couple hours of hunting time and then that person is unsuccessful, he may not be to pleasant to deal with. I call it the 3% rule, it seems that out of every 100 hunters, there will be roughly 3% that think you did things on purpose to sabotage their hunt. That to me is the toughest part of the job, dealing with the people who think you didn't want them to have a good hunt. :(
*****************************************
But the good times greatly outweigh the bad times and that's why guides are willing to work so hard at what they do. :)
Post by: 1bowhunter1 on November 23, 2009, 07:19:28 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2009, 11:08:13 AM
Post by: sporked horn on November 26, 2009, 08:04:26 AM
Dan
Post by: Gutpile on November 26, 2009, 09:47:37 AM
Quote
I know I will be considered a liar, but it actually is a very tough job, if you knew all the details of everything that must be done to run a continuous guiding business, you would think I am totally insane for doing it for so long.
No matter how hard you try, there are always some hunts that do not go as well as you wished. The hardest part of the job is having an unsuccessful hunt. That is harder on the guide than the hunter.
Nontheless, I would not trade my good experiences in the business for any other persons experiences.
Liar? I dont' think so. Unreasonable expectations from hunters would drive me nuts. People complaing about every little thing would drive me nuts. There's no way I could be a guide. I suppose most of the clients are good but some must just be horrible. Guys pay a lot to take a guided hunt and even if you try your hardest it may not pan out. If they bitch and moan it would be tough to take knowing you did your best. If they tag out but still moan about everything it'd be very hard to handle. My guide experience sucked. By reading this thread it seems like you offer a much better service. It looks like you actually "hunt". Aside from that just the time away from home and family would be very dificult. That alone would be to much for me.
I can just see it. Bitching about weather, food, lack of animals, animals too small, country to thick, too rough, etc etc etc. I'm a business man myself and some folks arent happy unless they're mad.
Can't wait to see you 2010 thread.
Post by: bearpaw on November 26, 2009, 09:56:17 AM
We still have a number of hunts to do this year, so I hope to post more photos on this thread.... :chuckle:
Post by: buckhorn2 on November 26, 2009, 10:32:26 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 26, 2009, 10:45:43 AM
One of my guides has two cow elk hunters out today, one already filled out and the other guy missed a few elk over the last couple days, hopefully they get tagged out today with elk on T-Day... :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on November 26, 2009, 01:41:16 PM
I guess Anthony stalked them to within 80 yards bedded down, but he couldn't get a clear shot, she finally got up and ran up the hill to 175 and stopped, he smacked her in the shoulder, one shot. :tup:
I think it's goose hunting time tommorrow, will find out tonight. :)
Post by: bearpaw on November 28, 2009, 08:07:37 PM
Post by: rainshadow1 on November 28, 2009, 10:38:38 PM
Hope we get a brutal snowpack this season!
Post by: bearpaw on November 29, 2009, 07:17:41 PM
Post by: mulehunter on November 29, 2009, 07:27:45 PM
Mulehunter 8)
Post by: washelkhntr on November 29, 2009, 07:38:12 PM
Congrats on the hunt!
Post by: bearpaw on November 30, 2009, 12:01:52 PM
Also had 5 other shotgun turkey hunters, all were successful, and for two of those, a father and son from British Columbia, it was their first turkey. :)
"I love it when a plan comes together."
Post by: bearpaw on December 01, 2009, 11:22:05 PM
We found 11 sets of tracks, one of them was a whopper, but the freshest was probably a day old as it was heavy with frost and froze solid, we tried running the dogs and they could take it through any snow patches but every time they hit bare grond it was just too old of track.
Brain and Anthony walked 3 hours all over the bare ridge trying to strike up the cat in the general area but couldn't find a fresh scent. I circled around with the truck and checked every road I could find hoping to find where the cat may have gone but nothing fresh. I guess that is why they call it hunting and not shooting.... :chuckle:
Part of my hunting area got just a light dusting of snow late this afternoon after we quit hunting, hopefully there's enough to show the print of a track, we have our fingers crossed for in the morning. :)
Post by: bearpaw on December 04, 2009, 09:27:11 PM
Post by: Houndhunter on December 04, 2009, 09:44:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 04, 2009, 09:51:26 PM
At this point that 40-60 pounder better not eat too much deer meat....no, just kidding. :chuckle:
Our hunter would be very happy with any representative cat, so we are just holding out for an adult cat that's fresh enough to catch. We have seen a ton of old tracks, but the night time temps have been from 0 to 10 degrees for the last several days and nothing except that little fellow has moved. Each day we are getting closer though... :tup:
Post by: LittleJohn on December 05, 2009, 01:11:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2009, 08:04:54 PM
About 10AM we heard the dogs treeing on both tom's. We worked our way into both trees simutaneously. One cat was on top of the mountain and the other was in the bottom of a huge steep canyon. About 1 PM we killed the first cat and about 2:30 PM we got the other one. The first tom weighed about 120 pounds and skinned out a little under 8 feet. The second tom was the skinniest cougar I have ever seen. He had the body frame of about a 150 pound cat and he skinned out 8 feet 9 inches, but he only weighed about 120 pounds. He seemed perfectly healthy and was in country with plenty of game. We can only surmise that he had been hunting females so hard that he had run himself down. If you look at the photos, the biggest cat (the skinny one) is the one laying and you can see his shoulder blades and ribs in the photo. The smaller cat is actually the one being held up in the bear hug. The smaller tom is the cat in the tree photos.
We did not get pictures of the bigger tom in the tree because just as we got to the tree the big tom started to come out. Brian hollared at the cat and frantically grabbed dogs to keep them out of harms way in case Dick only wounded the cat. I helped Dick pick out a shot on the nervous cat and I also managed to video the shot and video the cat hitting the ground and running off down the canyon.
Brian ran after the cat as I waited for him to let me know if the cat was down or if I needed to cut the dogs loose again. Suddenly one dog got loose and headed after the cat, I hollared at Brian that a dog got loose as I visioned the wounded cat grabbing Pam and biting her head. Pretty quick I heard Brian hollering back that the cat was dead, whew that was a relief.
We later found that Dick had made a heart shot, we photographed and videod the dead cat and the successful hunters. By the time we got both cats and everyone back to the trucks it was after 11 PM at night. The hike back out of that big canyon was a tough one, the cold weather and high winds took it's toll on all of us. We were coughing from burning our lungs breathing all the cold air. I thought I might have frosted my cheeks, but today they felt fine so apparently I didn't. One thing is for certain, you always appreciate and remember the tough hunts the most. Dick was ecstatic over his lion and so is Anthony, both will be headed to the taxidermist. I will attach a few extra photos of the country, the dogs, both cats etc.
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2009, 08:24:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 08, 2009, 08:26:52 PM
Post by: coop2424 on December 08, 2009, 08:57:42 PM
Post by: LittleJohn on December 08, 2009, 10:25:41 PM
Post by: saylean on December 08, 2009, 10:32:24 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on December 09, 2009, 01:23:51 AM
Post by: Houndhunter on December 09, 2009, 09:59:14 AM
Post by: Machias on December 09, 2009, 10:22:16 AM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on December 09, 2009, 11:20:22 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 09, 2009, 12:38:23 PM
We cut some tracks this morning, turned loose on a single track but ended up with a female and three (2/3 sized) kittens. Surprisingly the kittens had no spots. This was the first hunt for one of my son's 10 month old pups and she treed one of the 60 pound kittens at a seperate tree on her own. We left them all unharmed on the mountain of course, but it was still a great first hunt for my son's pup.
It's still colder than heck here, supposed to be below zero tonight and tomorrow morning...bbbbbbrrrrrrrrr. :chuckle:
Post by: mulehunter on December 09, 2009, 06:03:47 PM
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: bearpaw on December 10, 2009, 08:17:38 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 10, 2009, 08:48:11 PM
We treed the cat pretty quickly and didn't have a very long hike in, that was nice after the long hike the other day. Bob brought both his bow and a modern firearm just in case. (Either way, he wasn't going home without a cat.)
As you can see in the photos the cat was perfect for a bow shot. I had the video going and Bob put an arrow right into the lungs. The cat jumped out of the tree, hit the ground right in front of us coming our way, just as I shouted "look out" our eyes met the cat's eyes and she turned and headed away from us, (whew).
Brian and Anthony cut loose two young dogs who were right on her tail and then they were right on the dogs tail. The cat went about 100 yards and bayed up on the ground. Bob and I hurried to catch up and then Bob put a couple more arrows into the cat to quickly finish it off.
After the cat was down Bob looked at me and said "you know I don't have any 3 yard pins....and now I know what you guys mean when you say things can get western at times....:chuckle:
The cat is a young female about 90 pounds, not a big cat but a representative cat that will look good in Bob's house. Best of all Bob had one of the most exciting hunts in a while and all the western action is on video that we copied for him to take home to show friends and family.... ;)
I love it when a plan comes together..... :)
Post by: mulehunter on December 10, 2009, 08:57:43 PM
Great action, I would pass this one. ;) Looking for Bigger one!
Bad news I must stay here for my daugther happy birthday this weekend. Dang... but I am working on going and finish my first kill Cougar ever in five years! :drool:
Mulehunter :rolleyes:
Post by: bearpaw on December 10, 2009, 09:00:31 PM
Post by: Machias on December 11, 2009, 09:05:43 AM
Post by: Houndhunter on December 11, 2009, 09:14:56 AM
Post by: Machias on December 11, 2009, 09:30:19 AM
lovin the hound pics. you runnin a good breed too ;), better then those curs some other guys run eh machias :chuckle:
:)
Post by: rainshadow1 on December 11, 2009, 10:40:15 AM
Bob's Cougar is about the same size as the "Star" of my new calling sequences (only alot fluffier over there in 20 below!) This captive cat here is something like 20 months old last time I recorded her.
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2009, 03:45:06 PM
We like the walkers, but we are not color blind either. We have a couple blueticks, a couple plotts, and a couple mixed breed hounds. Actually I have owned top dogs of all breeds through the years.
My son is breeding up a small sized strain of House bred walkers that start hunting early and can hunt more often than larger dogs that get too tired from a hard race. Most weigh 42 to 48 pounds. They are hard treeing, quick on their feet, and will stay with a mean bear or bayed lion on the ground. The photo of the three walkers is one of his best females on the left, her 10 month pup in center, and a 28 month pup on the right, who is already one of our main dogs. This was the 10 month male pup's first hunt and he bayed the lion on the ground well. The day before, another 10 month female pup on her first hunt, treed a 60 pound male kitten on her own while the other dogs were treeing on the adult that we had started.
It takes a lot of self confidence for any dog to tree alone when it can hear the other dogs treeing not far away. We were happy to see the pup do that on her own on her first hunt. :)
We have enough video to do another two or three youtube cougar videos for the Bearpaw website, just need to find time to get them edited. :bash:
Post by: Special T on December 11, 2009, 03:51:14 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2009, 03:57:46 PM
On a positve note we came back to the house and had a huge breakfast of bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, and eggs....we are all better and ready for tomorrow. :)
Post by: Wacenturion on December 11, 2009, 04:59:40 PM
Post by: mulehunter on December 11, 2009, 06:38:33 PM
I am excited!
Mulehunter :)
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2009, 07:03:43 PM
BP it looks like you have multiple collars on the dogs? What for?
Special T, that's a good question for those who don't know why those collars are on the dogs.
One collar is just a regular dog collar with name & phone numbers.
Another collar is a radio collar, we do not turn any dog loose without one. Hounds can cover a lot of ground quickly so the radio collars are very important in case you lose a dog, it gves off a beeping signal and with a directional antenna it aids in finding your dog. This is especially important after an unsuccessful hunt when the dogs are no longer barking and are still in the field, you need to be able to find that dog and take him home.
The third collar is a tri-tronics training collar, we normally run them on any younger dog so that if they do something wrong we have some way to train them about what is wrong.
Post by: mulehunter on December 11, 2009, 07:15:35 PM
BP it looks like you have multiple collars on the dogs? What for?
Yes What Bearpaw just said exactly, When I run hounds I am deaf but I usually bring my dogs home safe. What I use and LOVE IT!
Link http://www8.garmin.com/astro/ Its GREAT STUFF! Need practice on this in deep TERRIAN then you will get GOOD at this.
If it past 16 hrs live battery on Gps At least I put Westcoast collar on my dogs in Case.. Cuz it hold 8,000 hours or 16,000 So I have three collars on my dogs. GPS, Westcoast, Trino Shocks.
Mulehunter
Post by: bearpaw on December 11, 2009, 11:18:18 PM
Prior to having radio collars I lost numerous dogs back in the late 70's and early 80's and have no idea what happened for sure to those dogs, possibly heart attack, killed, or stolen? In 1983 I bought my first radio collars and since then I can account for what has happened to every single dog I have turned loose. This equipment is similar to what bio's use for tracking wildlife, except they operate on a different frequency.
Post by: mulehunter on December 12, 2009, 01:04:34 AM
I forgot to mention that in addition to hearing a beeping sound, there is also a meter that shows signal strength on most radio collar reciever boxes, I would imagine that is how mulehunter reads his reciever.
Prior to having radio collars I lost numerous dogs back in the late 70's and early 80's and have no idea what happened for sure to those dogs, possibly heart attack, killed, or stolen? In 1983 I bought my first radio collars and since then I can account for what has happened to every single dog I have turned loose. This equipment is similar to what bio's use for tracking wildlife, except they operate on a different frequency.
I am learning everyday how to pick up signal after Gps collar battery died. I am getting better everyday with using Antenna reciver collar! ;)
My LONGEST LOST hounds were 6 days and found them alive!! NEVER AGAIN! Recently spring I couldnt catch them after passed 17 hrs and I had to pick up last dog next day noon. Bears are hard to Run sometime in Idaho LOT EDUCATION BEARS! Not Funny after working hard finding myself. I am glad Lord is right behind me.
Mulehunter :rolleyes:
Post by: Special T on December 12, 2009, 07:39:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 12, 2009, 08:17:02 PM
Then the cat tracks went over the other side of the ridge and everything stopped. :bash:
The high winds had literally removed all tracks, no cougar tracks, no deer tracks, no nothing. We spent another couple hours trying to find tracks everywhere we thought they could have gone. Nothing.....
Well I guess that is why they call it hunting and not getting. :dunno:
It's still snowing and there's a foot of snow drifted against the house door since we came in and the forecast says snow through tommorrow. We will hunt in the morning, but we are probably just going through the motions until this storm ends. :twocents:
Post by: bearpaw on December 17, 2009, 07:25:01 PM
This morning conditions were perfect, I knew it was going to be the day. I hit another fresh track only this time there was no wind. I checked another couple roads and found the tracks crossing another road, this cat was really moving. About an hour after daylight we started the dogs on the track. Off they went all three opening good. At another point in the race we were able to get one of our 10 month old puppies on the trail. All four dogs were treed after a couple hours and we started the long trek in to the tree. We took the other 10 month puppy with us on a leash.
Dan (age 74) told us that a cougar was on his bucklet list, he didn't care how big, as long as it was a legal cat he wanted it, in fact he has wanted to get a cougar his whole life. I videod many parts of the hunt for him and as we neared the tree he exclaimed, I'm glad I didn't wait another year, I might not have made it to the tree.
We slipped quietly into the tree the last hundred yards and sure enough all four dogs were there, even the 10 month pup. We took some photos and some more video and then Dan readied for the shot. I told him to put one right through the cat's chest and he placed the bullet perfectly. The cat hit the ground dead with only a few dying quivers remaining, just enough to excite the pups whom we had left unleashed to get in on the action. They did a great job and after we got them leashed up we set the cat up for photos.
Dan told us he has had a lot of great experiences in his life but this day ranked right up there as one of the best. A remark like that from a man as accomplished as Dan really makes you feel good.
Post by: rainshadow1 on December 17, 2009, 08:27:31 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on December 18, 2009, 07:36:06 AM
Post by: bucklucky on December 18, 2009, 09:06:19 AM
Post by: Machias on December 18, 2009, 10:33:09 AM
Post by: Houndhunter on December 18, 2009, 11:13:32 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 18, 2009, 09:29:47 PM
Post by: Ripper on December 22, 2009, 06:52:40 PM
Post by: YellowDog on December 22, 2009, 10:09:05 PM
That picture of the cat laying in the tree is rally cool!
Post by: Houndhunter on December 26, 2009, 09:40:18 PM
Post by: mulehunter on January 02, 2010, 12:22:02 PM
Caught him and Treed two times and bayed other LONGEST morning! :chuckle:
I had great time. Still released all of them. I am looking for NICE Tom to fill my tag. Hopefully next time.
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: bearpaw on January 03, 2010, 06:54:21 PM
mulehunter sounds like you had an awesome time nonetheless, glad to hear the doggies are gettin it done for you, the big ones are tough to find, but you have the determination and that is what it takes... :brew:
houndhunter when are you headed back again, sorry to hear the weather didn't work out, there are way more variables in houndhunting than most people realize...keep us posted... :)
machias have you had your dogs out yet this winter? :dunno:
Post by: Machias on January 03, 2010, 07:09:02 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 03, 2010, 07:46:13 PM
Post by: mulehunter on January 03, 2010, 07:54:26 PM
I were ALONE whole two half days recently in wood. Amazing thing I cant hear ONE THING but LOVING to hunt Cougars and Bears. I will not let deaf stop me from hunting with dogs.
Bearpaw, Thanks.. I am trying to respect small Cougars and looking for NICE ONE and Full size mounted up on my WALL and will always REMEMBERED!
I love the part of hunting.
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: Machias on January 03, 2010, 08:08:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 05, 2010, 01:07:35 PM
"Warning"
This is my first attempt to put together a youtube video myself. My other viideos were done by someone else.
The live hunt at the end I videod this year with an inexpensive little camcorder. Well I already can see that has to be upgraded to a better camcorder.... :chuckle:
The other hunts and footage were previous years and I just used a little handheld digital camera in movie mode. It actually looks almost as good as the camcorder footage... :chuckle:
I was disappointed in the downloaded quality, it looked better before I downloaded it. I got some inexpensive software to try and it was the same old story, you get what you pay for.... :dunno:
Post by: washelkhntr on January 05, 2010, 01:19:55 PM
Post by: Ray on January 05, 2010, 01:24:56 PM
Post by: whacker1 on January 05, 2010, 01:48:35 PM
Post by: Austrian Hunter on January 05, 2010, 02:02:33 PM
looked pretty good to me. The last minute was worth waiting for.
:yeah:
Post by: bearpaw on January 05, 2010, 02:26:07 PM
Yeah, the last minute is the best, I had to use a lot of photos and footage mixed together to try and tell enough stories to be worth watching. I have a lot of rifle footage and the rifle video will be mostly all live footage, I also have a bunch more archery footage on tapes that i need a mini-dv deck to convert. I'm still hunting till the end of January, so it may take a while to get started and get them done.
Post by: Hillbilly270 on January 05, 2010, 02:28:46 PM
also posting so i can follow.
Post by: bearpaw on January 06, 2010, 11:54:12 AM
We have a half dozen lions roughly located, just waiting for one to make a move away from the rocks. We lost a cat the other day in some really bad cliffs. It was a hot track, the dogs were smoking the trail, but the cat headed for the cliffs and lost the dogs in the rocks. Brian and Anthony had to repell down to recover the dogs. :yike:
The area we are hunting has plenty of cats but there are rocks and cliffs everywhere, makes it a real challenge to catch a cat.
Post by: Houndhunter on January 06, 2010, 03:33:47 PM
The area we are hunting has plenty of cats but there are rocks and cliffs everywhere, makes it a real challenge to catch a cat.
that has been a problem for my family also, they almost had to call in a heli to retrieve a dog once
looking forward to more lion pics
Post by: Pathfinder101 on January 07, 2010, 07:41:39 AM
Post by: mulehunter on January 12, 2010, 06:28:24 PM
Mulehunter
Post by: bearpaw on January 18, 2010, 11:05:20 PM
I get to sleep in till 6AM tomorrow.... :)
Post by: LittleJohn on January 19, 2010, 01:43:42 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2010, 10:04:44 PM
Post by: mulehunter on January 22, 2010, 10:11:23 PM
Mulehunter :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2010, 02:31:02 AM
But the 5 point elk shed is awesome, we measured it last night, all the points were from 14" to 21", 48" main beam, circums ranged from 7" to 9.5". The one side totalled 140, so if the other side matched and if the bull had a 40" spread he would have been a 320" 5 point bull. I would love to see that bull this coming year. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2010, 03:08:13 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2010, 03:30:49 AM
Post by: whacker1 on January 23, 2010, 07:30:49 AM
Post by: rainshadow1 on January 23, 2010, 09:50:51 AM
Man, I wish we were having winter here. It's been mid 50's with 5 - 7000 ft snow levels... Not much good for locating cats to call in the Olympics! (I've got several guys who want me to go with them, to call and film.)
Those frosty, fresh snow pics are making me envy a little!
Post by: mulehunter on January 23, 2010, 11:02:13 AM
Mulehunter :rolleyes:
Post by: MtnMuley on January 23, 2010, 03:17:58 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2010, 09:09:50 PM
Hopefully tommorrow my other hunter will be successful. :)
Anthony chased another cat this morning in almost the same area as yesterday. Lion got into the cliff's again and he had to recover the dogs again. This is an extremely tough area to catch a cat, we probably should be trying to call here around all these rocks. :bash:
Post by: bearpaw on January 25, 2010, 07:08:38 AM
Anthony chased another lion that hung the dogs up in the cliffs. He had to recover the dogs again from the rocks, this cat jumped up and over 30 foot cliffs. :bash:
We also got the last elk hunter his cow elk. We have been hunting along the unit boundary, the elk bed down off the unit up over the top of the mountain in the day and then cross the fence (the boundary) during the night to come down and feed in some big sage openings. We check the openings first thing in the morning at daylight. You have to get to them before they cross the fence and are out of the unit. The three main herds had crossed the fence going out of the unit before daylight. I went farther than usual checking the boundary and at the last canyon we jumped a group of about a dozen cows. They headed up the ridge toward the fence, they would stop and then move again just as Mike would get ready to shoot. When they reached the fence 9 jumped but 3 elk stopped on our side of the fence and Mike made a 400+ yard shot and dropped his first elk, it was an exciting moment to say the least. Mike's elk was only one jump from getting away. :)
Post by: LittleJohn on January 25, 2010, 01:18:28 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 25, 2010, 01:41:37 PM
]Anthony just called a short while ago, dogs were barking loud in the background, our hunter just shot what Anthony estimated to be a 130 pound tom. They again had to help the dogs through the rocks for hours, but determination finally paid off. He said it will probably be dark by the time they get out, they are a long way in. He said he took lots of photos so I will post some pics of the elusive "cliff hanger tom" when I get them. :)
Post by: LittleJohn on January 25, 2010, 01:47:05 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 25, 2010, 03:18:16 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 26, 2010, 02:53:57 PM
Anthony figured he weighed about 130 which is probably pretty close since he skinned out at 8'9". Not a real large tom, but he had a real nice head, I think he will score about 14.5 which should put him well into SCI under handgun and might make the B&C 3 yr award book. (460 mag, 1 shot, stone cold dead, almost didn't fall out)
They figured they walked between 4 and 5 miles each way, started right after dawn and got back to the truck just at dark. Had to push the dogs up over three different cliffs then walk way around to get themselves up. Both guys very tired last night, but nothing a good newyork steak and a few beers couldn't help though. :brew:
Post by: Pathfinder101 on January 26, 2010, 02:56:35 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 26, 2010, 03:03:01 PM
Post by: Hillbilly270 on January 26, 2010, 05:16:43 PM
alright next.....i'll start the betting. how much do you think this cougar will weigh when you get a mass email next week? i'll put the over/under at 250lb.
I say over.
Post by: bearpaw on January 27, 2010, 04:53:38 AM
We are finished in Utah for the season, I am headed to Montana next for some buffalo hunts. :)
Quote
how much do you think this cougar will weigh when you get a mass email next week?Hillbilly that's funny but it wouldn't suprise me to see someone do that. :chuckle:
Post by: bucklucky on January 27, 2010, 02:30:25 PM
Post by: Rudy on January 27, 2010, 05:53:03 PM
Post by: mulehunter on February 03, 2010, 08:22:41 PM
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: bearpaw on February 03, 2010, 10:04:29 PM
Post by: whacker1 on February 03, 2010, 10:06:15 PM
Post by: bearpaw on February 03, 2010, 10:12:18 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on February 04, 2010, 09:09:33 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 01, 2010, 04:56:55 PM
This is a cow, cost only $1150 to shoot with the special I have right now.
Post by: bearpaw on March 01, 2010, 05:08:32 PM
Post by: rainshadow1 on March 01, 2010, 05:17:47 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 01, 2010, 10:55:11 PM
Bulls 1200 to 2100 pounds
Here's the formula they say for buffalo:
Hanging weight is about 50% of live weight
Package weight averages about 74% of Hanging weight.
1000 live = 500 Hanging = 370 Packaged Weight
Post by: bearpaw on March 01, 2010, 11:24:21 PM
Idaho Moose Hunt BearPaw Outfitters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBTyKSjdqIQ#)
Post by: huntnphool on March 01, 2010, 11:34:50 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 01, 2010, 11:42:08 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 02, 2010, 07:46:44 AM
Post by: Houndhunter on March 03, 2010, 02:14:47 PM
Post by: bearpaw on March 03, 2010, 04:07:01 PM
We are going to start scouting turkeys pretty quick now.
Don't know if everyone realized it, but Utah extended their application deadline until March 8.
Post by: bearpaw on March 14, 2010, 09:11:38 AM
I still have a handful of buffalo that need taken this month, we have a hunt going on the last week of this month if anyone wants to join. Here is a link to read about the buffalo hunts:
http://bearpawoutfitters.com/montana_buffalo_hunting.html (http://bearpawoutfitters.com/montana_buffalo_hunting.html)
Bearpaw Outfitters do wild hunts for elk, but I have a friend with a high fenced elk hunting operation and he has two big bulls that he needs shot before the end of the month. He has reduced the prices on these by $2000 and $4000 dollars if you can get one of them. One should measure 390" to 400", and the other should measure about 430".
Now here's the kicker, these are usually guaranteed hunts, but these two bulls are survivors of several hunts. They have figure out how to elude hunters on the 5,000 acre ranch where they are located, so no guarantee you will get one, they have eluded several hunters, but you will have fun trying to get one.
Post by: whacker1 on March 15, 2010, 09:12:45 AM
Post by: bearpaw on March 16, 2010, 11:45:45 AM
Archery Cougar Hound Hunt in Washington, Bow Hunting with Bearpaw Outfitters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8_zoFvSO0M#)
Post by: Pathfinder101 on March 16, 2010, 12:04:54 PM
Post by: turkey slayer on March 17, 2010, 08:49:29 AM