Post by: bearpaw on August 20, 2010, 02:52:14 AM
In all the excitement the hunter's arrow fell off the rest and he was unable to get it straightened out in time, he got no shots on that set up, but it was exciting and will remain fresh in the memories of all involved for years to come.
Today we hunt water again, two real good bucks were seen this morning by the hole we will be hunting, I really expect my last hunter to get his goat tommorrow, fingers crossed. His son already shot a nice buck (his first archery hunt) on the same waterhole 2 days ago "fingers crossed". It's nearly time to get ready to leave, better go.
I will post some pics as soon as I get a chance.
Post by: rasbo on August 20, 2010, 04:38:26 AM
Post by: Gringo31 on August 20, 2010, 05:42:21 AM
Post by: Kain on August 20, 2010, 10:15:37 AM
Post by: whacker1 on August 20, 2010, 10:18:11 AM
Post by: mulehunter on August 24, 2010, 09:01:06 PM
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: Little Dave on August 24, 2010, 10:43:24 PM
Look forward to the pictures & stores.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on August 24, 2010, 11:11:05 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 25, 2010, 07:33:56 AM
Post by: bearpaw on August 25, 2010, 08:09:30 AM
But we spotted some bucks which were hanging out in some good broken stalkable country and planned to try some more stalking on Saturday. One group of twelve bucks had about a 15 incher plus another real special buck who's horns lay flat out each side of his head, wished I would have drawn a tag this year.... I would look for him if noone else got him, oh well, maybe next year.
Saturday the 21st treated us much better. We did some spot & stalking in the morning, got close a few times but couldn't close the deal so then we put Gerald on a new waterhole in the afternoon. Just before dark one doe and 3 bucks come in, Gerald shot at one of the bucks and they all ran out, pretty soon they all come back and Gerald got another shot, unfortunately another miss. We found and checked both arrows and they looked clean with no sign of a hit.
On Sunday morning the last day of the hunt I went to start the truck and had a flat tire, a cactus casualty...LOL. We lost a 30-40 minutes but finally headed out and got Gerald in the blind as quick as we could. Then Anthony and I went looking around, we bumped a few antelope including a buck a previous hunter had wounded in the neck, and we found another buck that had a limp with a front leg, Gerald must have hit with the second shot the night before, even though his arrows were clean, we had seen this buck previously and he had not been limping, so it had to be Gerald's second shot from the night before.
We watched the 15 inch buck with the neck wound bed down and then headed to get Gerald from the blind. We carefully approached the sage bottom where the big buck was bedded. We had him pretty well pinpointed "we thought". Being careful with the wind, we glassed the sage for horn tips every few steps. Finally it appeared the buck must not be there, we went right into the middle of the sage hoping he would get nervous and stand up. Finally we whispered to each other that he must have left and decided to check the nearby water hole, nothing there either.
Next we walked back to the sage bottom, I figured we would walk up the bottom in case the buck had moved farther up the bottom. Suddenly I spotted horn tips, only 30 yards from where we had already been, I used the rangefinder, 50 yards exactly. We got on our knees to try and make it another 5 yards to the last sage bush between us and the buck. We crawled a few steps and suddenly here come the cows over the horizon looking and mooing wondering what we were doing, WOW, we're getting no breaks on this hunt.
Yep just as you guessed, the buck saw the cows and stood up knowing they were looking at something. I whispered to Gerald that we were busted by the cows and the buck was now standing and looking our direction, draw your bow, raise above the sage brush, and arrow him, as Gerald raised up I ranged again and whispered 48 yards. He just barely missed the bucks back. As I said before, we are getting no breaks on this particular hunt.... we watched the buck run fast out into a large open area. It was now obvious this buck was not hurt badly at all, somehow his neck wound had visibly bled, but obviously the arrow from several days before had missed the spine and jugular and it appeared this buck was healing up well.
Next we took Gerald and hid him in a wash near where the other wounded antelope likes to cross, then Anthony and I went looking for that buck. Finally some luck, we jumped him on a small ridge and he ran straight for the wash where Gerald was hidden, but he bedded down about 100 yards short, dang, after a while I could see Gerald was trying to find a way to make a move on the bedded buck. Anthony and I tried to get in the back ground behind the bedded buck and waved my arms at Gerald to hold tight.
That got the buck's attention and Gerald saw us, we motioned for Gerald to stay hidden. Pretty soon the buck got nervous and got on his feet again, but I was worried about which direction he would go. Antelope never go the direction you want them to...LOL. As luck would have it we got another lucky break, the buck started moving toward Gerald's position in the wash.
As we watched we couldn't beleive it, the plan was coming together. The buck slowly worked his way toward the wash, I moved to the left so I could just see Gerald hidden in the wash, just as the buck was about to get to Gerald he veered left, I was too far away, I couldn't tell if the buck was in range or not, by now it appeared the buck might be too far away, then suddenly we thought we could see Gerald raise his bow. The buck did not stop and it seemed like forever waiting for some reaction. Then suddenly the buck kicked and bolted a short distance. He stopped and you could tell he was having trouble standing, then I watched him keel over in the video screen. We went to meet Gerald and see his buck, upon close inspection we found that Gerald had hit the buck in the front leg the night before.
We skinned and boned the buck and headed for town. Gerald was a little late leaving, but he left with a smile on his face and an antelope in his cooler. Man I love it when a plan comes together…
All 6 archers had shot opportunities at 40 yards or less and three of the guys connected. Unfortunately, 3 guys did not get to fill their tags but all had a great time and that is the most important thing. The archery antelope hunt was a great start for our 2010 season, bear and archery deer are next, starting Sept 1st, I can't wait.
PS - The last photo in this post is of some headstones we found on the prairie in the middle of nowhere that obviously was somewhere to someone. I will add success photos in the next post.
Post by: bearpaw on August 25, 2010, 08:11:30 AM
Post by: seth30 on August 25, 2010, 08:24:10 AM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on August 25, 2010, 07:57:43 PM
Post by: mulehunter on August 26, 2010, 07:51:12 PM
Mulehunter
Post by: gasman on August 26, 2010, 07:57:43 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 03, 2010, 05:18:02 AM
Unfortunately two of my bear hunters cancelled at the last minute. So we only have 1 guided hunter and 1 unguided hunter out this week. On the first day 12 bear, 3 cougar, a bull moose, and several good bucks were spotted. All the close bear were smaller ones so they were passed. We finished the day with a grouse for our efforts.
On the second day, 4 bear, a bunch of deer, two cow elk and a 5x5 bull elk were spotted. The unguided hunter watched the 5x5 for over a half hour, next week I have a bowhunter for elk so hopefully this bull hangs around the same area. Again smaller bear were passed yesterday, but just at dark last night a big brown was spotted with the guided hunter. They left that bear where he was at and are headed out this morning hoping to put the hurt on him. Anthony figured he was at least 250 and a really pretty shade of brown. My fingers are crossed for the day.
If anybody wants a cheap bear hunt, I will resell the two bear hunts that were cancelled for $2500 for both hunts, that's only $1250 each, we normally get $1950 for a bear hunt.
Post by: bearpaw on September 04, 2010, 07:20:22 AM
Anthony and the guided hunter saw the big brown they were looking for, the bear was on the move, every time he stopped Lars would get on him and the bear would move again. Finally after watching the bear move along for over 100 yards, it stopped and Lars took the shot at 308 yards. (about the max I like to shoot at bear)
He missed and the bear disappeared. Just to be sure Anthony went and checked for a blood trail, but nothing. They came back to the house and we did some shooting, the gun would only hold about a 2 to 2 1/2 inch group at 100 yards so we swithched him into a 7 mag that he and brian both shot a 3/4 inch group with. Anthony and Lars went back out for the evening but only saw a sow with 2 cubs and some deer, they are back this morning after the bear they missed yesterday.
The unguided bear hunter has been hunting a place where he has shot 3 bear in previous years with us. We had scouted it out and there is a real good bear working the brush in a big canyon area so Bill is hunting that canyon. So far he has seen deer, elk, and bear sign but no actual bear. The guided hunter has been seeing all of the bear, but I knew it was just a matter of time and Bill would get his chance. Last night Bill watched the good bear for a long time slowly getting closer, it was a little out of range so Bill didn't shoot, thinking it would keep getting closer. Just before dark it went behhind some bushes but didn't come out before dark, so Bill is back there this morning after that bear.
I commended Bill for doing the right thing and not shooting beyond his comfortable range. As I explained, most bear shot at long distance are not recovered and that ruins the opportunity to get that bear. Because the bear did not get wounded or spooked out of the area, there is a very good chance Bill will get him.
I will keep you posted if we are able to close the deal on either of these two larger bear we are trying to get or if we lower the bar for a smaller bear.
On another note: we scouted up another two point bull elk and a new wallow yesterday, can't wait for archery elk to start, we have several elk scouted up.
Post by: bearpaw on September 05, 2010, 09:09:59 AM
Anthony spent a couple hours making sure there was no dead bear or blood trail and they finally gave up. When they came in for lunch I could see Lars was bummed out, I told him that he should shoot on the bench again just for a confidence builder and I tried comforting him that the third time is always a charm.
He shot a good group and they left for the afternoon hunt. This time they went to a new location to try something different. They had been glassing for quite some time and suddenly they spotted a bear working the brush and slowly moving toward them. Anthony had the video going as they watched the bear get closer and closer.
Finally at about 150 yards, Lars took the shot, you can see the bullet impact in the video, knocked the bear on his butt, then the bear tried getting up, Lars sent another round for good measure, but the bear wasn't going anywhere. They had seen 12 bear in 4 days, passed several small ones, missed a couple big ones, but... as it turned out, the third time was a charm for Lars... I love it when a plan comes together.
Post by: Ray on September 05, 2010, 09:12:51 AM
Post by: mulehunter on September 05, 2010, 09:14:35 AM
Mulehunter :drool:
Post by: bearpaw on September 05, 2010, 09:27:38 AM
Post by: ribka on September 05, 2010, 09:53:28 AM
Post by: LittleJohn on September 05, 2010, 07:37:39 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on September 05, 2010, 07:51:34 PM
Post by: PAW66 on September 07, 2010, 08:34:16 PM
How did Bill do? Was he able to close the deal?
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2010, 10:20:50 AM
On Bill's second to last evening he was watching a waterhole, he had a 30 yard encounter with a yearling bear and there was a lot of fresh sign in the immediate area so Bill decided to go back to the same place the next morning (his last day). Bill was in position watching when he spotted a nice black bear, the bear stopped and Bill put a 160 grain 7 Mag into the shoulder area, the bear faltered but took off on a dead run into the brush. Bill could hear the bear over across a small draw making a huge amount of noise breaking brush, but it wasn't going anywhere so he started sneaking in, he couldn't beleive the amount of noise that this bear was making.
As Bill got closer the noise continued, it sounded like the bear was going crazy, Bill was close to the bear but couldn't figure out why he couldn't see any brush or anything moving, his heart was pounding harder and harder as he got closer and closer, suddenly he realized the noise wasn't on ground level, he glanced up the closest big fir tree and spotted the bear halfway up the tree, it was moving all around the tree, breaking limbs as it moved. Bill tried to position himself for good shots, but the bear just kept moving all around the tree, he hit the bear several more times but was having trouble getting a killing shot because the tree was so thickly limbed and the bear wouldn't stop moving. Finally his 5th shot brought the bear crashing to the ground.
At this point I got a phone call, "Hey this is Bill, I shot a 200 pound bear and I need help getting it out, you won't believe the story". I sent Brian to help Bill get his bear, when they got back I interviewed Bill on video and he told us the story. It's Bill's 4th bear with us so he is going to tan this one to put over the back of a rocking chair, he already has bear rugs, and a half mount, so he is going to wait for a real bruiser for a lifesize someday.
We currently have a group of 6 in camp, so far two of them have missed bear, one hit a bear just before dark that rolled downhill and took off, it quit bleeding and we had to gve up the trail just before midnight so it unfortunately got away, two of them killed bear yesterday, one guy slept in this morning to rest up and the others are out hunting.
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2010, 01:25:31 PM
I attached pictures of a smaller black bear we got yesterday. We had this bear at 35 yard, he seen us and ran to 50 yards and stopped broadside, I told TJ how big I thought the bear was and he smacked him with a 300 WinMag, knocked that bear right off his feet, anchored him to the ground, that is what I like to see, awesome shot. This was the guy's first bear, very happy indeed.
We also killed a brown yesterday, but those pics are on a different camera, will try to get the pics posted when I can.
One of the hunters from Mexico smoked a big coyote this morning, one shot at roughly 120 yds, need to get him on a bear...LOL, he hasn't had a shot at a bear yet, but if he can kill a coyote, a bear is in certain trouble. Those coyote pics are also on a different camera, I will try to get them posted when I can.
Post by: ratherhunt on September 09, 2010, 01:32:37 PM
Post by: whacker1 on September 09, 2010, 01:49:02 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 09, 2010, 03:20:36 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2010, 08:13:33 PM
from Mexico or New Mexico?
Mexico City, Mexico
Post by: whacker1 on September 09, 2010, 08:15:46 PM
from Mexico or New Mexico?
Mexico City, Mexico
Very cool - Do you get many hunters from out of country?
Post by: mulehunter on September 09, 2010, 08:46:43 PM
Mulehunter :)
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2010, 11:53:25 PM
from Mexico or New Mexico?
Mexico City, Mexico
Very cool - Do you get many hunters from out of country?
We get a few hunters from other countries every year, we have had lots of Canadians and Mexicans, plus a few hunters from Japan, Korea, China, Australia, NZ, England, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Sweden, Lebanon, and one from India, but my biggest market by far, more than all the other states and countries combined, are average working class hunters from Washington.
Post by: bearpaw on September 11, 2010, 01:27:41 PM
Saw about a dozen bucks this morning, but had left the bow behind and was rifle bear hunting, should have been deer hunting. :bash:
Fingers are crossed for more kills. :)
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 11, 2010, 01:44:08 PM
Post by: buckhorn2 on September 11, 2010, 01:52:07 PM
Post by: Raul Duke on September 11, 2010, 08:46:43 PM
[are average working class hunters from Washington.
this would be me & my co-worker.LOL
He mentioned today, that he wants to go somewhere (montana,texas,ect) and go on a hunt.
We talked about it for a wile and said it would be nice to plan ahead for next year.
Funny thing was I remember your outfits name, from this site.
Got home today and emailed him your website addy.
Really hope to be intouch with you for next years hunt.
:brew:
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2010, 02:03:44 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2010, 02:10:25 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2010, 02:26:25 PM
This morning my wife took the other hunter and went to sit and watch the same exact spot as the small black bear in the bush picture (above). There were two bear working the brush in dufferent spots, but they only saw a quick flash of one, a brown bear. They also watched some turkeys, some bucks, and a coyote, a very good morning indeed. Lance is getting a nap now and will be back after one of those bear this evening. :)
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 13, 2010, 03:16:09 PM
That yote looks like it has a fairly decent coat for this early in the year! Dale are the yotes starting to change there coats early this year over in your area? Wonder if that means it is going to be a bad winter.
Post by: bucklucky on September 13, 2010, 03:20:15 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 13, 2010, 03:23:26 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 13, 2010, 07:31:38 PM
Michelle, the yote hides are priming up early due to the cool days and nights we have had. But I can't say we will have a hard winter until it's here. Until then I have to keep a positive attitude that we don't have another hard one. Wait till you see the bear hides I am sending you from the hunters, some really nice thick fur. :)
Post by: bearpaw on September 16, 2010, 07:10:55 AM
Then Anthony blew a head gasket and I spent most of the rest of the day recovering his vehicle. Tara took care of TJ the rest of the day.
TJ killed his bear several days ago and has been deer hunting, there are two pretty good bucks he is holding out for, I am sure the one is an easy P&Y, he's nice and tall. Two days ago TJ had them at 40 yards but couldn't get the shot, a 3rd smaller buck was wide open, but TJ opted to hold out for the big boys. Yesterday he only saw smaller bucks, I have him in a blind right now waiting for the big boys.
Lance shot a coyote two days ago and yesterday he got a nice black bear about noon with Ray. In the afternoon they found another bull elk, but as they were moving in to work the bull, a storm hit and the bull shut up, they are going after the same bull again this morning, my fingers are crossed. (I will post more bear pics soon.)
Post by: Raul Duke on September 17, 2010, 06:15:25 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 25, 2010, 12:27:18 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 25, 2010, 12:32:54 PM
We still have some buffalo hunts available this fall/winter season.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on September 25, 2010, 01:06:11 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 27, 2010, 02:24:17 PM
We are through with bear now. I was out looking for deer this morning and see that another bear has moved in on one of the properties and just tearing the heck out of the orchards. Wished we had one more bear hunter.....
Whitetail
3 Muzzleloader whitetail hunters this weekend all shot at bucks, unfortunately not all got their deer.
My wife guided two of the hunters and did not take pictures, I'm gonna have to talk to her about that.... :chuckle:
Sorry no pictures of this hunt. I know.... :bash:
Elk
Brian has archery hunters in Idaho and we had an archery hunter in WA, so far been on quite a few bulls, one 2x2 killed, 340ish 6x6 got away, 5x5 passed, another big bull called close last night but no shot opportunity. Elk have been pretty quiet where we hunt most of the month but they are really talking now, bugles every day now.
Mule Deer
An archery mule deer hunter just started hunting yesterday, only saw does yesterday, then this morning he was on 3 muley bucks and got a phone call, his sister just passed away, so he headed for home immediately. Poor guy had only hunted a day and a half, I have to feel bad for the guy.
Buffalo
Three more buffalo hunters are out shooting prarie dogs as I write, they will shoot buffalo tommorrow.
Pretty busy, talk later....
Post by: Ray on September 27, 2010, 08:44:37 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2010, 08:43:16 AM
Is there something wrong with that bison's eyeball?
You have a good eye Ray... :chuckle:
Not really, looked like it had a piece of cheat or something in it, should clean right up.
Post by: rasbo on September 28, 2010, 11:17:51 AM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 28, 2010, 11:30:52 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 05, 2010, 12:14:56 AM
We are into our busy season now, a muley buck killed four days ago on our Utah opener, two more buffalo and a cow moose killed three days ago, another muley killed yesterday, and the next muley hunter starts tommorrow. Will post some photos when I can.
Post by: buckhorn2 on October 05, 2010, 04:33:26 PM
Post by: rasbo on October 06, 2010, 04:47:32 AM
We are Ready and counting the days. Let me know when you want us there. Thanks DEL
[/quote}What? you dont have a date picked out??I would be chomping at the bit to go shoot one of them ...heck if ya get out to late weather on the roads could really suck...Good luck Del
Post by: buckhorn2 on October 06, 2010, 10:54:17 AM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on October 06, 2010, 11:05:54 AM
Post by: NRA4LIFE on October 06, 2010, 11:31:57 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 11, 2010, 11:00:45 PM
Where are the buffalo hunts? Are they considered fair chase?
The buffalo ranch is northeast of Billings Montana
As with all hunting it depends on who you talk to. By B&C or P&Y standards no, this buffalo hunt is not fair chase. By SCI standards it is fair chase. They are privately owned on 12,000+ acres, no high fence, but with a standard cow fence that they could jump or run through if they wanted at any time. We will go out in the morning and we are going to find them and shoot one. As long as we are careful and take our time we will get within 50 yards. I have actually been closer to totally wild yellowstone buffalo than I can get to these bison on the ranch and so I consider the buffalo that migrate out of the park and get hunted to be less fair chase and wild than these. :twocents:
You can have a fun vacation, kill an animal, and fill your freezer with healthy eating meat. Most people refer to it as more of a shoot than a hunt, I figure it's much better than buying beef that someone else kills for you. :twocents:
Post by: bearpaw on October 11, 2010, 11:12:35 PM
Just waiting for Dale to okay me a date and we are off Rasbo. Hope to get some good pictures it looks like Dale has been busy and things are hitting the ground.
buckhorn2 I have you scheduled for Nov 2 as we last talked.
Post by: bearpaw on October 11, 2010, 11:22:56 PM
We started our Idaho mule deer hunts yesterday. It wasn't a very good day, collectively we saw 96 does and only 9 bucks, a 3x3 that was missed was the biggest buck seen yesterday.
Today was a much better day. About 15 bucks spotted, two 4x4's passed by a hunter who has killed several anmals with us and is looking for a B&C, a 3x3 killed, a 2x3 killed, and another buck wounded that got away unfortuntately. This morning Brian had two bull elk bugling, can't wait for elk season to start in 3 more days. Another 5x5 bull spotted and another fresh wallow found.
Ray is after the big buck from last year that he figured was way over 30". He has it located, fresh rubs, wide trail worn through brush by wide horns, fresh beds, Ray is like a coyote on a blood trail, we may get this buck this year.
Tomorrow afternoon I am hoping I can break away for a day, I have a hunter doing a quality Utah private ranch elk hunt, would love to be there to video the kill. Last year every hunter killed a 280 to 340 bull, that pretty good for elk hunting in an over-the-counter tag area.
Post by: bearpaw on October 12, 2010, 07:03:45 PM
Post by: gasman on October 12, 2010, 07:16:36 PM
Post by: Machias on October 12, 2010, 07:40:58 PM
Post by: saylean on October 12, 2010, 07:45:51 PM
Welcome back, thanks for your service. :brew:
Post by: ribka on October 12, 2010, 07:57:55 PM
Nice buck. Should be some good eating!
Post by: bearpaw on October 13, 2010, 02:46:25 PM
Ray "WSMNut's guide" has been after a huge 30+ buck for two years now, Ray has the buck pretty well patterned, yesterday Ray posted WSMNut and his wife in the bedding zone of the big 30"+, WSMNut was sitting there and a spike come walking right up to him with a bigger buck following. When the spike was out of the way, WSMNut had a 15 yard shot on his 25" buck. That must have been exciting. Today they are back in the same area with WSMNut's wife trying to get the 30+, my fingers are crossed.
One of the other hunters "Dave" missed a buck the other day. This morning he missed two more nice bucks so they came in at lunch to check the gun, sure enough it was hitting way low, he said he had fallen the other day and he didn't realize his gun must have hit the ground. Hopefully he sees another good buck before the hunt is over.
WSMNut is the top photo. (sorry all I have available at this time is the blurred photo)
Post by: whacker1 on October 13, 2010, 05:50:04 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 14, 2010, 10:28:17 AM
now he's home on leave, he's on American soil, and the buck isn't a big one, but Mike is happy.
No better feeling in the world. Congrats Mike!
Post by: bearpaw on October 14, 2010, 01:22:46 PM
A total of four big bucks taken, two more nice bucks taken, four bucks missed, numerous bucks passed, and a giant buck spotted that got away yesterday for the next group to look for, all on our first Idaho Mule Deer hunt of 2010. It was a heck of a hunt, one of the best in a long time, I love it when a plan comes together.
Post by: Gringo31 on October 14, 2010, 01:38:58 PM
I can imagine THAT is what helps make an outfitter keep going. Well done!
Post by: Machias on October 14, 2010, 02:18:30 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 14, 2010, 04:16:14 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on October 14, 2010, 04:19:14 PM
Post by: Charlie on October 14, 2010, 06:40:19 PM
Post by: winston2789 on October 14, 2010, 06:56:37 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on October 14, 2010, 07:08:38 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 07:19:01 AM
Here's photos of a 6x6 Utah Bull Elk taken recently: Gentleman Bill (inside joke) with his 2010 Utah Bull Ek. :)
Check out the new recovery method.... :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 07:20:48 AM
more pics
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 07:43:43 AM
But, I think I have created a monster, he has already booked my best Montana mule deer hunt and is going to make monthly payments out of his retirement checks so he can afford to go on the mule deer hunt he has dreamed about his whole life. Next fall I will post his deer pictures, because like our best elk hunt, we have had 100% success on our best mule deer hunt.
Post by: Machias on October 16, 2010, 09:02:51 AM
So how did that bull fit in the one man kayak! :)
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 09:11:02 AM
I wanted to video this hunt but we killed 3 mulie bucks the day before and I was stuck in Idaho caping and butchering. So I missed it... :bash:
I imagine he tied a rope on and they pulled it out with the tractor. This hunt is on a big agricultural ranch and tractors are used to recover the elk. We hunt the place like whitetails, sit in raised blinds or as bill was posted watching a game trail coming to the fields.
Post by: seth30 on October 16, 2010, 09:12:12 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 09:17:01 AM
Post by: seth30 on October 16, 2010, 09:33:32 AM
Post by: bow4elk on October 16, 2010, 09:45:13 AM
Just a little side note, I hear comments all the time about how all the rich folks go hunting with guides. Like most of my clients, Bill is another working class guy, a retired maintenance worker from an electrical plant. He has a modest retirement and is just now starting to go on hunts he has dreamed his whole life about. He called me over two years ago and asked what his chances were of taking a mountable elk. I told him it's tough to go on one elk hunt and expect to get a trophy class bull. I told him about my best elk hunt and suggested that rather than hunting up to 10 or more years like the average elk hunter to try and get a nice bull, go one time on the best hunt you can afford. He has been sending me $500 payments for the last 2 years whenever he can afford to send the money. On Wednesday he shot this bull, the look on his face shows it was worth it. This was a once-in-a-lifetime hunt literally, he worked his whole life to do this someday when he retired. I am just happy to have been able to make this happen for Bill.
But, I think I have created a monster, he has already booked my best Montana mule deer hunt and is going to make monthly payments out of his retirement checks so he can afford to go on the mule deer hunt he has dreamed about his whole life. Next fall I will post his deer pictures, because like our best elk hunt, we have had 100% success on our best mule deer hunt.
Great advice and story!! I'm sure that is rewarding to put guys on good animals, especially guys like Bill who set a goal, worked hard, and made it happen.
Post by: seth30 on October 16, 2010, 09:52:45 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 10:43:46 AM
Just a little side note, I hear comments all the time about how all the rich folks go hunting with guides. Like most of my clients, Bill is another working class guy, a retired maintenance worker from an electrical plant. He has a modest retirement and is just now starting to go on hunts he has dreamed his whole life about. He called me over two years ago and asked what his chances were of taking a mountable elk. I told him it's tough to go on one elk hunt and expect to get a trophy class bull. I told him about my best elk hunt and suggested that rather than hunting up to 10 or more years like the average elk hunter to try and get a nice bull, go one time on the best hunt you can afford. He has been sending me $500 payments for the last 2 years whenever he can afford to send the money. On Wednesday he shot this bull, the look on his face shows it was worth it. This was a once-in-a-lifetime hunt literally, he worked his whole life to do this someday when he retired. I am just happy to have been able to make this happen for Bill.
But, I think I have created a monster, he has already booked my best Montana mule deer hunt and is going to make monthly payments out of his retirement checks so he can afford to go on the mule deer hunt he has dreamed about his whole life. Next fall I will post his deer pictures, because like our best elk hunt, we have had 100% success on our best mule deer hunt.
Great advice and story!! I'm sure that is rewarding to put guys on good animals, especially guys like Bill who set a goal, worked hard, and made it happen.
It is one of the most rewarding things about being a guide, however, it is a terrible feeling when you are unsuccessful. This may be hard to beleive, but I think it's harder on the guide than the hunter when you are unsuccessful. :twocents:
Post by: bearpaw on October 16, 2010, 12:55:32 PM
Hi Dale:
Sorry you couldn't make it, the hunt was the most exciting and fun hunt I have ever been on. We did ground sitting, spot and stalk and stand hunting. Everybody was great especially Kim, who went above and beyond to get me a nice elk.
I will have to say that you missed some footage that would make any hunter's heart race. Kim let me start Monday. We started in a stand and saw lots of elk, but only one that might be considered a shooter. It had real pretty white tips, but Kim said this was not a first day bull. Went back out that night and had 100 + elk in field but no shot. The second morning we walked in by the corn field to ground sit. We had elk bulging not 80 yards from us but the wend was wrong and we could hear them running. They went over toward the ranch owner and he shot a nice elk with his bow. We sat awhile and then move to where you see me in the picture. From there we watched 4 late bulls come from the corn and cross about 90 yards from us. One was a nice 6 X 6 but had a broken rack. That night we sat by the corn in a stand and saw small bulls and a few cows. Saw tons of ducks going in the corn(exciting). The third morning, because there was only one other hunter, we did a spot and stalk. Got out there before shooting light and the elk were bulging about 100 yards from us. We knew the one we wanted, not by sight, but sound. At the end of his bugle, he sounded like a bear growling. They were going to cover early, but we crawled within 80 yards of the "hoss", but could not get shot due to the terrain before he went to cover(a heart pounder). Later that morning we tried to intersect three more bulls that were reported to us. Got to them just as they went into the reeds and could only see the tops of their racks.
That night(3rd night) we went back to a stand that Kim thought would be good based on the elk pattern. Sure enough, here they came, over 100 of them with probably 30 bulls. Kim found what he thought was the best(he has a great eye for that). It is a game of chance which way they would feed, and it was in our favor that night. Most of the elk were going away from us, but about 4 bulls seem to be headed our way. My bull started at about 380 yards and when he got to 293 yards I shot him. I did Bearpaw outfitters proud, as I did not miss. He didn't go down, so Kim handed me another shell, and I about reamed out my chamber trying to get it in, as I was shacking so bad. Hit him the second time, and it looked like he was going down but wanted to shot third so he would not suffer. I let Kim put the third shell in my gun!
Thanks so much.
Bill
Post by: wsmnut on October 17, 2010, 09:31:56 AM
Thanks for everything regarding the Idaho deer hunt that my wife and I just finished. We had planned and saved for a year for this and it more than met our expectations. The opportunity to see new country and learn from experts was terrific, and the food and accommodations were top notch. Seeing deer and moose everyday was quite a change from Washington! You and your staff made us feel completely comfortable, which was just what my wife needed on her first hunt. She was on cloud nine even before she tagged that beautiful buck. She talked all the way home about the hunt and about doing it again!
That is the measure of success for me. Can't wait until next year. Our best wishes to Ray and your Mom.
Thanks,
wsmnut
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on October 17, 2010, 09:40:32 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2010, 12:44:54 PM
Dale,
Thanks for everything regarding the Idaho deer hunt that my wife and I just finished. We had planned and saved for a year for this and it more than met our expectations. The opportunity to see new country and learn from experts was terrific, and the food and accommodations were top notch. Seeing deer and moose everyday was quite a change from Washington! You and your staff made us feel completely comfortable, which was just what my wife needed on her first hunt. She was on cloud nine even before she tagged that beautiful buck. She talked all the way home about the hunt and about doing it again!
That is the measure of success for me. Can't wait until next year. Our best wishes to Ray and your Mom.
Thanks,
wsmnut
We thoroughly enjoyed having you folks in camp and looking forward to seeing you next year. I packed out another 5x5 mulie two days ago but it wasn't as big as either of your bucks. A father and son were hunting together in the horseback drop camp and the son had already killed that buck, they were hiking up the ridge hunting for his dad and he was a little in front of his dad, up jumps a huge 30"+ at about 25 yards, I guess the son was in the way and his dad couldn't shoot. Even though they didn't get the big one, they were happy just getting to see a buck of that caliber.
Post by: bearpaw on October 20, 2010, 08:17:58 AM
10 Whitetail Bucks were taken on our opening weekend hunt in Washington. A father brought his 3 kids and all three tagged out, the biggest buck was a nice 20" 4x4. Even though at least a half dozen bucks were missed we still had a great hunt. Titan Outdoors put the hammer down on a 5x5 and a 4x5, watch the hunts on their next video, they put together some awesome videos that are all about Pacific Northwest hunting, mainly Washington. Their new video just released a couple weeks ago has two bucks they shot with us last year.
Note - We have a guided hunt available Oct 24-26. Anthony would be your guide and he does extremely well. We also still have a few openings for unguided hunters during the rest of the October rifle season.
Post by: bearpaw on October 20, 2010, 09:03:37 AM
Our first deer hunt was awesome, only a couple hunters in the first group did not shoot, and that was because they passed smaller bucks and never got to shoot the big one. Most of the hunters killed 25" to 26" bucks including WSMNUt and his wife. In my horseback drop camp the son had already killed his deer, he and his dad were hiking up a ridge and he got in front of his dad, I guess a huge buck jump up only 25 yards away but the dad couldn't shoot because the son was in the way. They said it was over 30" and built like a box, horns grew straight out, then turned and went straight up, biggest buck they have ever seen. When I packed them out they said it was the best hunt of their life even though they didn't get the big one. Most of my hunters from the first group said they plan on doing another hunt in the future, so it was a great hunt all the way around.
Our second hunt sucked, it was for deer and elk, it has been unseasonably warm and the game has not been moving since it heated up, five hunters in camp, three bucks missed and a few small ones passed, only two bulls seen and too far away to shoot. The only highlight is that a 15 year old boy did get his first deer. I hate it when we have a hunt like this but all we can do is try harder and sometimes that simply doesn't seem to make a difference. :bash:
For some reason all the guys say they want to come back hunting again, and one of the guys who missed is coming back to Idaho next year, must have been my mom's good cooking... :)
Our third group just arrived last night. I told them this morning at breakfast that our first hunt was excellent but the second hunt was not a good one. But I pointed out that after several bad days there should be some game moving sometime soon and hunting should pick up, especially if it cools off. Brian just texted me a few minutes ago that they missed a big 25", 170's class buck this morning. Last night the hunter said he shot his rifle just before driving here to hunt, but they are going to double check the rifle on a target just to be sure it's on.
We are seeing some really good bucks this year in Idaho and we aren't getting them all, so I think there is going to be some real hogs next year. :twocents:
Post by: bearpaw on October 20, 2010, 09:53:06 AM
The hunt on our private mule deer ranch was great as usual. The highlight was 86 year old Jack Barnickol taking another 4x4 buck. He and his son Jeff (about age 65) hunt somewhere with us every year. You may remember Jack and Jeff hunting in Montana and Utah in my Bearpaw Season thread last year. They both shot nice bucks in both states and Jack whacked a couple coyotes. Anyway every year Jeff calls to let me know if Jack thinks he will be around another year to go deer hunting. The other night I got the call, Jeff said Jack figured he was good for another hunt so mark them down for 2011 on the Utah ranch.
Mule Deer Tags - The deer season goes until Nov 10 on this ranch and I still have two landowner vouchers to get tags. The deer aren't especially big on this ranch but it's a blast to hunt, I usuallly see 50 to 100 deer daily, and most hunters get a decent buck. We have seen the occasional 28-30 inch buck but most bucks taken are under 26". You can do an unguided hunt or a guided hunt, which ever you prefer.
Cow Elk Tags - I also still have cow elk hunts available, you can do a 1 cow hunt, or a 2 cow hunt and success is usually 90% to 100% on the guided hunts. I can also arrange unguided hunts for cows if that is more what you want.
Post by: bearpaw on October 21, 2010, 09:22:48 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 21, 2010, 09:24:05 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 23, 2010, 05:03:04 PM
Idaho Is Rough Country
I would love to report that every week of season was perfect, but anyone in the business knows that probably isn't true. The last group of guys were really nice guys but most were not cut out for hunting Idaho. They all thought they could handle it but most struggled with the country. The Guides are still spotting big bucks at long range, but the hunters can't get to them. Success has dropped down and some guys left for home early, discouraged by the elevation and steep country.
Horse Wreck
I'm packing out a drop camp one night at about 1 AM, I thought I would save a second trip and loaded the horses pretty heavy, I must have misweighed one side of the pack on cowboy, anyway I was only a halfmile down the trail on my way out and the pack rolled on cowboy "the rear horse in my string", he erupted so I jumped off my horse and ran to the rear of the string, I got a hold of Cowboy who had gotten one leg hung up in the breast strap but I couldn't get the breast strap loose in time, then he really exploded and I had to let go of him, he run into the other horses, caused them to take off and they all disappeared into the darkness. For a halfmile down the canyon I could hear tent poles and gear hitting the rocks as it was thrown from packs. There's two stretches of trail that are a sheer drop off and I knew I was going to find one or two horses laying in the creek bottom with broken legs and ribs. So I started down the trail searching for lost gear with my headlamp and stacking gear in intermittent piles for later pickup. Needless to say the worst things to pick up were the box of sandwich bags and bag of 250 plastic spoons that got scattered from here to hell... By some miracle the horses all made it past the sheer drop offs, in fact they all made it all the way to the truck, I walked all the way out stacking gear as I went, when I got to the truck, there wasn't a single pack or item on any horse, by far the worse horse wreck I have ever had... :chuckle:
I looked over the horses, just one had a bad cut which I had the vet come and look at the next day. That horse is done for the season but is healing up good. I spent the next 3 days gathering up gear, some broken, some OK. On one trip in I met a friend coming out the trail, she was laughing as I told her what happened. She said she rode all the way in just to see how much gear was laying around...LOL I guess that's just another chapter for my book of "what not to let happen". :chuckle:
Stroke
I had a guy staying at the lodge who had triple by-pass surgery this summer. Anyway we had him sitting watching a waterhole but I think it was the stress of high elevation that got him, he passed out completely and was disoriented, he had forgot to bring his medication so we had to go to town to get him straightened out, and then he left early because he was afraid to finish the hunt.
Kidney Stones
This morning one of the hunters had a kidney stone attack, he couldn't go hunting and after sitting around for a few hours decided to try and drive to meet his wife in Boise. Hope he makes it OK. Fortunately he killed a buck yesterday before the attack started.
Stopped By Police
To top the week off, I am coming into town, I looked down the road and the cops had some sucker pulled over, (another cop is sitting across the street) I am thinking how stupid is that, two cops sitting along the same stretch of street and a guy goes speeding by both cops....LOL
I comfortably cruise past both cops and the other one pulls out behind me with lights on so I quickly pull over. The officer walks up asks for registration, proof of insurance, and DL. I poke around and find all the pertinent info, then he says, do you know why I pulled you over?
"NO, Was I going to fast, and I look at the road sign I am pulled over next to that says 40 MPH." The officer says: "This is a 1 block School Zone." I don't see any school, but I don't want to argue. He says I'll be right back and heads to his car. Pretty soon he comes back with a speeding ticket, he says: "You were doing 34 in a 20 school zone, but I let you off easy with 10 over, it's a much lesser violation". I said "I honestly didn't see any school zone." He says "We mark it as well as we can." I sign and he lets me loose to endanger the public again. So I drove around the block to see this school zone. Sure enough there's a 100 yard stretch that does have a light on the side of the 4 lane busy street. I have traveled this street probably a hundred times and never seen the sign or flashing lights before. There is even a school 1 block away on the street to the north.
SHOOT, last thing I needed was to finish off the week with a speeding ticket.
On the bright side, my wife had a good week in Washington and next week has to be an improvement for me!!! :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: Machias on October 23, 2010, 11:29:15 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 24, 2010, 09:06:41 AM
Glad you didn't get hurt in the horse wreck. I can only imagine what that sounded like...err actually I know exactly what it sounds like! :chuckle:
Well that's why I had to turn the horse loose, it was starting to get out of hand and I knew I needed to get out of the way, was hard to let go though, knowing it could turn into a disaster. Still can't believe now horses went over the edge into the creek bottom.... :o
If something is going to go bad it will happen in the middle of the night with a packstring.... :bash:
Post by: bearpaw on October 24, 2010, 09:15:17 AM
Nontheless it has been one of our best deer seasons in Idaho. I think shot opportunity was over 90% and we saw a lot of big bucks we didn't get, which means they will be bigger next year. As long as we don't have a hard winter, we are going to kill some more dandies next year. :)
Post by: Gringo31 on October 24, 2010, 02:50:10 PM
Thanks for sharing em!
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2010, 07:45:40 AM
Last hunter whacked a fork horn yesterday afternoon just before season ended and is headed home today wth some meat for the freezer. We start hunting Montana on the 27th, I'm about ready to head out. Rancher says he has been seeing some good bucks as usual, so hopefully it will be another great hunt.
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2010, 04:42:26 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2010, 04:55:01 AM
The first boy is legally blind, but when everything is right he can see just good enough to shoot, Anthony was able to get him positioned for a shot at this buck which was standing still in the open on the skyline. His dad was especially excited that Rhett got his first whitetail buck. His brothers took a couple does, next year one of them will buck hunt, they take turns each year, one gets to buck hunt and the other two shoot does.
Post by: bearpaw on October 29, 2010, 04:59:13 AM
Bucket List Buck
This guy was booked for last year but was riding his bike getting in shape when he was hit by a passing car, he almost died, had reconstructive surgery 4 times on his face. MT FWP refunded his license fees and I moved his hunt to this year. He told me this was one of the things on his bucket list. He missed two other nice bucks but finally scored on this one. He had tears in his eyes when he walked up to the buck. Sounds like a cougar is his next target for his bucket list, hopefully next year.
Post by: whacker1 on October 29, 2010, 06:05:21 AM
Post by: Machias on October 29, 2010, 08:41:34 AM
Great photos!!
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2010, 12:53:30 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 12, 2010, 01:01:47 AM
Post by: ribka on November 12, 2010, 06:11:33 AM
Post by: Titan-1 on November 12, 2010, 08:37:55 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 14, 2010, 04:07:03 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 21, 2010, 01:20:21 PM
We were glassing an area and a whitetail doe ran through so we watched, pretty soon we saw two different big bucks, Jay shot and hit one of the bucks and it run out of sight, we figured we'd give him 30 minutes before checking on blood, while we were waiting another similar buck came into view so Steve tried to get a shot but the buck managed to get into the brush. While we went to trail the hit buck, I had Steve take a different position in case we pushed out the other buck.
We hit blood about 50 yards down the trail from where the buck was shot and followed it. The blood trail kept getting better and better and suddenly we spotted a deer on the ground ahead, we set him up for pictures and video and then we drove the brush patch for Steve. Steve saw the other buck twice but couldn't get a shot.
The next day out Steve shot this other buck, not quite as big as the buck the day before, but still a great first whitetail. In fact it was a first whitetail for Jay too.
Note - Two broken tines on Steve's buck from fighting.....
We just finished an awesome late buck hunt in Washington, we just killed a big moose yesterday, Anthony has a 5x5 whitetail on the ground today in Montana. Hunting has been great everywhere we have hunted this year. Lots more great photos to post as soon as I have time.
Post by: bearpaw on November 21, 2010, 03:05:56 PM
Post by: Machias on November 21, 2010, 06:21:53 PM
Post by: ribka on November 21, 2010, 06:30:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 23, 2010, 11:55:51 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2010, 12:26:23 AM
Chris Meyers and Adam Mehrer of Titan Outdoors and country singer Jonathan Harris also hunted whitetails with us last week during late buck season in Northeast Washington. Check out the buck that Adam got, at first sight we thought this buck was a muley (mule deer are closed during the late whitetail hunt), a second look as he escaped confirmed he was a whitetail that we definitely wanted to get. Luckily we saw him again the next day and Adam put him down with his Olympic Arms .300SSM, I won't forget some of his first words when we got to the buck, "There's no ground shrinkage on this buck". The last picture was taken on the last evening after the hunt it was a very good afternoon hunt.
You can get the Titan Outdoors CD to watch their hunts with us here: http://www.titanoutdoors.com/ (http://www.titanoutdoors.com/)
Jonathan sings country music really well as everyone who hunted last week can attest. I highly recommend getting his CD here: http://www.jonathanharris.net/ (http://www.jonathanharris.net/)
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2010, 12:35:23 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2010, 12:45:23 AM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on November 24, 2010, 01:46:43 AM
Post by: NWBREW on November 24, 2010, 01:50:58 AM
Minus the coyotes. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2010, 02:08:24 AM
Very nice Dale. Looks like another great year with bearpaws. So how many pounds of meat do you think goes through your hanging shed there a year.
Minus the coyotes. :chuckle:
It varies from year to year, but we handle quite a bit. Wished we would kill more yotes to help out the other wildlife.... :chuckle:
Post by: mulehunter on November 24, 2010, 06:04:05 AM
Mulehunter
Post by: Machias on November 24, 2010, 08:52:55 AM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on November 24, 2010, 03:15:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 21, 2010, 10:53:01 PM
Post by: Machias on December 22, 2010, 08:51:26 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 22, 2010, 08:11:21 PM
Post by: Ray on December 22, 2010, 08:25:42 PM
Post by: ser300wsm on December 22, 2010, 08:30:03 PM
Post by: mulehunter on December 22, 2010, 08:35:02 PM
Congt! My Male Pup ran once on Female Cougar and did ok and He need to see Cat then He will start work better. I am thinking about taking him hunting with two older. Glad it work great.
Mulehunter ;)
Post by: bearpaw on December 23, 2010, 08:19:14 PM
I had seen this cat's old track several days earlier and was waiting for him to move again. I figured he was on a fresh deer kill and that usually takes 5 to 7 days for a cat to finish and then he will go hunting again. I went back to the same area at 2 or 3AM every morning looking for tracks. Finally I cut his track on a main road heading up onto a big mountain. I checked the tracks closely, yes its probably the same cat, I figured him to be about a 140 pound tom, I drove as far as I could then unloaded the snowmobile and headed for the backside of the mountain. Sure enough he was on the move and had crossed another road while looking for his next victim. I next swung around the mountain a different direction thinking I might find him crossing the next road at a common cat crossing. Sure enough there were his tracks, this tom was really on the move, by now I had cut several miles and hours off the chase that the dogs would have to do after daylight. This was the last road to look for his tracks and it was only an hour till daylight so I screamed down the trail for my truck.
Anthony and I grabbed the dogs and headed back out on the snowmobiles for the last set of tracks. Upon getting back to the freshest set of tracks we leashed the dogs and walked them to the tracks, Tucker stuck his head into a track and immediately howled his request to be released. We let Tucker and Bell go and listened as they worked they way along the track getting farther and farther around the mountain away from us.
Finally we decided we had better come in from a different direction so we headed around a different way to get to where they were headed. We got around to where we expected to find the dogs but couldn't hear them. We would go a ways on snow machine and then listen. Finally we could hear them in the distance and headed out on foot. Now I could really see the excitement building for Fritz as we got closer and closer to the frantically barking dogs.
Suddenly I spotted the cat and pointed it out to Fritz. We quickly moved in and once we took some photos, video, and leashed the dogs, Fritz got in position for the shot. I told him where to hit the cat and he put the bullet right on the mark, the cat died immediately and fell out. Hand shakes and more pictures followed and then we headed off the mountain. Once we got back to the snowmobiles I took Fritz back to the truck first so he could warm up. Then I went back loaded the dogs and we got out of there. It turned out the cat was about 140 just as I had guessed from the tracks. "I love it when a plan comes together."
Post by: Machias on December 23, 2010, 11:24:27 PM
Post by: huntnnw on December 24, 2010, 05:34:43 AM
Post by: whacker1 on December 27, 2010, 09:15:00 AM
Post by: bearpaw on December 27, 2010, 09:58:56 AM
I know that silver trooper and suburban :chuckle:
We have been thinking of replacng the Trooper, but I'm just not sure the Washington hunts would be the same without it...lots of stories go with that Trooper...LOL
Post by: bearpaw on January 08, 2011, 08:50:03 PM
NICE cat. Hey if you get a chance can you post a photo or two of your sled and dog box set up.
Just saw your post machias. Sorry I'm a little behind on my thread.... :chuckle:
I will post more pics soon, we will be out tommorrow and I will try to remember to take a few better pics of our setup.
Post by: bearpaw on January 08, 2011, 09:01:58 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 08, 2011, 09:04:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 08, 2011, 09:14:40 PM
Post by: Machias on January 08, 2011, 09:26:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 08, 2011, 09:36:37 PM
Nice cat!!! Thanks for sharing! I drove over to Missoula today and bought another dog. Looking forward to getting him out in the woods soon.
What kind of dog did you get, much experience?
Post by: bearpaw on January 08, 2011, 10:04:22 PM
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,65462.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,65462.0.html)
and here's the video...
Cougar Hunting In Washington (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foe9-jnK6d4#)
Post by: Machias on January 09, 2011, 09:51:09 AM
Nice cat!!! Thanks for sharing! I drove over to Missoula today and bought another dog. Looking forward to getting him out in the woods soon.
What kind of dog did you get, much experience?
Another Leopard Cur, he's been on several bear and just a couple of lions, but doing a good job. I hope to get a little break in the weather so the coons start moving and get him out on some coon. When I get back from Utah I will be trying to find a lion over in Idaho.
Post by: bearpaw on January 11, 2011, 02:30:05 PM
Nice cat!!! Thanks for sharing! I drove over to Missoula today and bought another dog. Looking forward to getting him out in the woods soon.
What kind of dog did you get, much experience?
Another Leopard Cur, he's been on several bear and just a couple of lions, but doing a good job. I hope to get a little break in the weather so the coons start moving and get him out on some coon. When I get back from Utah I will be trying to find a lion over in Idaho.
Coons are always good for dogs... Glad to hear you have gotten dogs again and hope you have some luck in Idaho. You live close enough that should be an easy trip to make.
Post by: bearpaw on January 11, 2011, 04:10:03 PM
Brian had been hunting for a couple days and had spotted 10 or 12 fresh female tracks but no fresh Tom tracks. I must admit, I was hoping they didn't kill until I could get back to Washington. I finished up some Utah cow elk hunts and set the cruise control as I headed back to Washington. Weather was pretty poor and it took longer than usual, but I made it home and went to bed for a while.
We all got up very early and headed out. I was going to hunt some country that had produced many large toms for us in prior years. The permit holder and his friend were riding with me and Brian headed out to check a different drainage that has also been one of our best hunting areas for cats. There was about an inch of fresh snow on the highway and I was fast approaching an area where cats like to cross, I started slowing down and I had just finished telling the guys that occasionally cats cross in between these houses when I spotted familliar looking tracks. I slammed on the brakes, I exclaimed "That looked like a cat" as we slowly slid to a stop. I backed up and sure enough there were the tracks of a big tom coming right out of someone's drive-way on the left side of the road and crossing into another driveway on the right side of the road. There were four different homes within two hundred yards of the tracks. The cat had huge feet and the stride was good but not overly long. I told the guys I figured it was a 140+ tom, a real nice mature tom. I also told them that I had recieved permission on three seperate occasions in the past from homeowners in this immediate area, and I was always given permission as people don't like the cats hanging this close to their homes. Brian and I have also responded to WDFW cougar complaints at one of the neighbors in the past. I figured it would be no problem getting permission. We were all excited and knew there would be some hunting action today.
I called Brian and informed him where the cat had crossed and where it was headed. We both spent several hours running all the other roads in the area checking for tracks, but the cat had not crossed anywhere else. I went back to where the tracks crossed the highway and we parked by the mailboxes that the cat had walked by. One of the guys looked behind the truck and noticed a person had come out from the home where the cat tracks were headed. I jumped out and introduced myself. I explained our situation, showed him the fresh cougar tracks walking into his driveway and going between his house and shop, and mentioned that we had a cougar permit and wanted to try and catch this cat. Turns out the guy has grandkids that come to visit and he wanted the cat removed. He said we could sit in the trucks in the driveway as we waited about 45 minutes for daylight so we could turn the dogs loose at daybreak.
Just before daylight the guy come back out and said his wife was upset and didn't like having "HUNTERS" on their property. I told him we would leave and see if one of the neighbors would mind if we went in through their place. He was nice, told us where his fence was at, and suggested we go next door and walk around his property, and he said he was sorry. I sort of felt sorry for the guy, I could tell he wanted the cat removed and that he felt bad for not letting us hunt after all.
We went to the neighbor and they were up, so I knocked on the door, they said "no problem, go get him". I told them if we were lucky and got the cat we would stop and show it to them. We walked around the neighbors fence (respecting the landowner's wife's wish) and found where the cat left his place. We turned the dogs loose and they headed up the mountain. Brian took off walking behind the dogs, the hunters and I listened from the truck as the hound music faded up the mountain. Next we drove around to the other side of the mountain trying to hear the dogs again. I could hear them but just barely, it sounded as if they were treed back towards the top above from where we started the track. So we headed back to where we had started the tracks and followed Brian and the dog's foot prints up the mountain.
We worked our way up the steep hill and could soon hear the dogs again near the top. Their howls now seemed to louden with every step we took. Finally we made it to the tree, Brian and all the dogs were already there, the cat was a dandy, he had a good head and Brent was using a bow, I figured the cat would easily make P&Y. It is always an experience for people to see a big cat up close and I like to give people time to take it in, it's an experience that few get to enjoy, and I like to make the most of it. We took some photos and video, then Brent readied for the shot. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the sharp angle up into the tree and told him to take his time, he released and "whack" his first arrow hit the tree 3 feet below the cat. Luckily the big cougar had no response to the arrow hitting the tree, I told Brent to just take his time and make sure of his anchor point and to center the peep. He settled down for the next shot and released again, "smack" a perfect hit, the cat jumped out of the tree and took off, Brian headed after it with a couple younger dogs hot on it's heels. Pretty quick he hollared back, the cat was dead less than 100 yards from the tree. We looked over the cat, Brent had made a great shot, next we took photos, and then we loaded everything up for the pack off the mountain.
Coming off the mountain was awesome, great scenery, good dogs, friendly people, a truly memorable experience, life just doesn't get any better.
We stopped by the neighbors house who had allowed us to chase the cat, they were awestruck by the size of the cat and releived that it was gone from the neighborhood. The cat was about 150 pounds, an older tom with very yellow teeth and a good melon sized head, a definite P&Y. I attached a few photos below and will post a video after I get time to edit another one.
Post by: MtnMuley on January 11, 2011, 04:14:01 PM
Post by: Machias on January 11, 2011, 04:28:37 PM
P.S. Have you been getting my e-mail or PMs? :)
Post by: TeacherMan on January 11, 2011, 04:32:46 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 11, 2011, 04:42:03 PM
Machias, I will look back for your message in my inbox and reply, thanks...
Teacherman, I have always said, "Washington has some of the best lion hunting in the world." Two different years before cat hunting was outlawed, we killed the largest cat taken in North America for the season. One of those cats used to be the P&Y world record, it has dropped a few spots since then, but it weighed 205. :yike:
We have 3 lifesized cats in our house and if I kill another big one before quota is met, it will get life-sized too. :twocents:
Post by: jstone on January 11, 2011, 05:23:33 PM
Post by: whacker1 on January 11, 2011, 05:33:58 PM
Did the guy with the wife that didn't want "hunters" on the property come out to check it out? I bet he appreciated it more than any.
Post by: bearpaw on January 11, 2011, 11:08:14 PM
Bearpaw - very cool last story. And the point of the program was to take the cats that are a nuisance or potential conflict to humans and livestock. I think that animal fits that profile better than most. Congrats to you.
Did the guy with the wife that didn't want "hunters" on the property come out to check it out? I bet he appreciated it more than any.
Actually he is a very nice guy, he used to work with a close friend, but he was gone to work so we didn't want to "harass" his wife... :chuckle:
You are right though, this is exactly a cat that needed removed. ;)
Post by: mulehunter on January 12, 2011, 01:14:58 PM
Mulehunter :)
Post by: bearpaw on January 16, 2011, 03:54:44 PM
Just for the fun of it, which tracks do you think are tom tracks and why?
Post by: MtnMuley on January 25, 2011, 03:33:47 PM
Post by: TeacherMan on January 25, 2011, 11:42:20 PM