Post by: bearpaw on September 18, 2011, 10:42:00 PM
Right now I am sitting in elk camp in Utah it's late at night and I am whipped, this was our second day of hunting, on the first day it was pretty slow, elk aren't bugling good here yet and we never heard a bull until just before dark. About 15 minutes before the end of the day this bull bugles so we beat feet to try and get a look. We are hiking along and stepped up on a big rock overlooking the valley, suddenly Mike spotted 9 cows in the open but there's no bull. We are glassing all over trying to find the bull then all of a sudden there he is walking up to his cows. I checked the yardage, he's over 500, dang it, so we sneak as fast and quiet as possible to cut the yardage, we crawl up to a good rock and get the rifle settled for the shot, I checked the range, it's about 358, good enough, I looked at the bull again through my binos, he is about a 300 maybe 320 absolute tops, I whispered "hold on, I don't think he's big enough". :bash:
I looked long and hard and there's just no way this bull is going to break 320 and it's the first day in a Utah limited-entry area. Myron has waited 11 years to draw a tag and we had already decided we were setting the minimum at 330 going into the hunt. So we both agreed he wasn't a first day bull and watched him walk away. The area we are hunting doesn't normally produce Utah's biggest bulls, but we should be able to take a 330 to 380 bull if things work out right.
Today we saw 5 moose, some mule deer another 300 class bull, a 5x5 bull, and two bear. Still no big bull spotted. Tommorow I am checking two waterholes that should be getting some elk action. Good Night....
Post by: washingtonmuley on September 18, 2011, 10:53:51 PM
Post by: buckhorn2 on September 18, 2011, 10:55:27 PM
Post by: fvh40 on September 19, 2011, 11:20:04 AM
Good Luck Dale:yeah:
Post by: mulehunter on September 19, 2011, 11:40:41 AM
Mulehunter :tup:
Post by: Gringo31 on September 19, 2011, 12:02:37 PM
Best of luck Dale!
Post by: bearpaw on September 19, 2011, 06:08:15 PM
Post by: jamesjett on September 20, 2011, 03:52:13 PM
Post by: bearmanric on September 20, 2011, 04:36:41 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2011, 05:56:14 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2011, 06:13:12 PM
Post by: oneezreiter on September 20, 2011, 06:14:41 PM
Post by: True Sportsman on September 20, 2011, 06:16:03 PM
This is the water we are sitting on right now...hopefully my phone will attach the photo.
Even upside down, that looks like pretty country.
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2011, 06:32:38 PM
better go now, Sun is down about prime time.
Post by: Gringo31 on September 20, 2011, 08:45:31 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 20, 2011, 09:56:39 PM
I sent Anthony over to check out another nearby area while we were sitting. We met back after dark and Anthony had great news and video to boot. He figured the bull he saw was at least a 330, I looked at the video and I think he is 330-340+ so we are going after him tommorrow. :tup:
The bull is covering country, Anthony watched him chase a 4 pt off and he dogged a few cows trying to find a hot one. We are guestimating where he will be by morning and starting our search there.
It's late I'm heading to my sleeping bag under the stars. Thank god it's warmer tonight, I about froze to death a couple nights ago. :chuckle:
Post by: Machias on September 21, 2011, 08:57:10 AM
Post by: True Sportsman on September 21, 2011, 02:50:37 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 23, 2011, 11:20:09 PM
At least it wasn't as cold overnight I awoke and I wasn't shivering, but next time I will take my warmer sleeping bag no matter how warm we think it's going to be. :chuckle:
We got ready to go after the 330 bull well before daylight. But Anthony and I had been discussing Myrons rifle, it had seen a lot of activity, carried over rocks, carried on ATV's, and we were worried about it being dead on in case we had to do some long distance shooting, the 330 bull was in pretty open country. I would post a photo of the 330 bull and where he was at, but it was too far away to take pics with our cameras, we do have video and when I edit video it will be on the video I make. So anyway we decided we better check the rifle so we waited for daylight to shoot. Just as I'm getting ready to shoot at a makeshift target, two other hunters pulled in to unload wheelers and they headed out hunting. It was tough to let someone ahead of us but as it turned out the rifle was 8 inches high at 50 yards. :yike:
I thank god we had the determination to check the rifle before leaving on our wheelers. :tup:
I bore sighted the rifle by looking at the target through the bore and scope and then shot 3 more shots with the last about 1 1/2" high at 100 yards. Myron had 9 cartridges left, we jumped on the wheelers and took a different route up the mountain to avoid our earlier competition. We stopped and thoroughly glassed every nook and cranny of the mountain. We took turns glassing various canyons and bugling in dozens of areas. We saw a rag 4x4 and some cows but by 11:00 am it appeared we were done for the morning, no answers back and no big bull. :bash:
We were all hungry and thirsty but decided not to go back to the truck as we originally planned for lunch, instead we all wanted to keep hunting right through the heat of the day and make our limited water supply last the day. Boy was I wishing we would have brought lunch and more water with us. :bash:
We glassed some more and then just before noon we decided to all go watch a canyon with water scattered in several spots. We were on the wheelers, Anthony who was leading at the time came around a corner of the trail in heavy cover and there was about a 320 bull in the road, the bull ran off the road and up the hill. I came around the corner and Anthony comes running down the trail to tell me what happened and that we needed to get a better look at that bull, "it's a pretty good bull at least 320" so we quickly headed up the trail to try and get to where we could see up the mountain. Anthony went around another couple corners in the trail and a cow and calf took off up the opposite ridge, then up jumps the biggest bull we had seen yet on this trip, everybody jumps off the wheelers, Myron is getting his scope on the bull and asks if it's the same bull we had just seen, Anthony replies "NO, But Shoot Him"... :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
I was fumbling trying to get my video camera out, running, and on the bull for the shot and "BOOM" the bull falters, Anthony said "shoot again", Myron takes aim again "BOOM" and the bull goes down. Even though the bull was 308 yards, we can all clearly see it's the biggest bull we have seen during the hunt. We are all excited and congratulating Myron on the shooting and the bull manages to get into an upright bedded position. He tried to get up twice and we were going to shoot again, but twice he couldn't seem to get up, so I said "let's move in closer for a better killing shot".
The bulls antlers are better than I had predicted to Myron when he booked the hunt and I was feeling pretty darn good at this point. We quickly organized our gutting and packing neccessities and started up the hill to the bull. We made it about 80 yards, and suddenly Anthony who's leading says "He's getting up!" Myron takes a shot and misses over the back. The bull stumbles uphill and out of sight quickly before Myron can get another shot. :yike: :bash: :bdid:
I asked Quigly "nickname of a guide school student who has been doing a class with us for the last month" can you find that bull's bed and follow the bloodtrail, "Yes Sir, I'll find it". So Quigly heads up the ridge and the other 3 of us head back to the wheelers. We drove around the ridge to the other side where Anthony and Myron could watch this big hillside. I went farther up the canyon to watch just in case the bull had already gone farther up the canyon.
Seconds pass, more seconds pass, (Where's the bull?), a minute or two, and then probably ten minutes pass, :bash:
Finally Quigly calls me on the radio, "I found his bed but there's no blood and the ground is too hard, there's no tracks!" :yike: :yike: :yike:
I replied "Stay right there, I'm coming up to help." I finally reach Quigly gasping for air and see the dillemma myself, NO BLOOD! :bash:
I look around and could see where an animal had passed through some grass that was turned, finally found a track and had Quigly move up to the track. Pretty soon I find a couple more spots of disturbed soil and I have Quigly move forward with each new find. I told him to look around at each location for any blood, finally after 50-60 yards Quigly spotted a tiny drop of blood, (we are on the right trail). I made it another 20-30 yards and couldn't find another sign of any type. I am now feeling the full effects of bad judgement, "We should have shot that bull again before we headed up the ridge." I am now having visions of looking the rest of the afternoon and never finding the bull. I can imagine us watching for ravens over the next few days as the bull was hit hard enough he could barely get up and couldn't run fast at all, he is bound to die somewhere. :bash: :bash: :bash:
The brush is thick and there's too much grass on the ground, I seemed to have lost his trail as there are no visible signs of passage by any recent animal. So I moved downhill about 30-40 yards and was poking around in the maple brush when the bull jumps up 10-15 yards away, I can see his antler tops as he plows his way through the brush and out of sight, "THANK HEAVEN" at least we haven't lost him yet. I called down to Anthony and told him to "Reposition farther up the road because the bull was headed down through the thickest brush.", then I said "Try to get a shot but holler at us before you shoot so we can hit the ground." :yike:
I told Quigly to move around the ridge to where he could see down to the road so the bull didn't escape around the sidehill without us knowing. I am still worried about no blood trail and the hard ground not leaving tracks. I move to where the bull was hiding and I find another bed and some ruffled leaves in the direction he headed downhill, but still no blood. :bash:
I am feeling much better now and thinking we are going to kill this bull somehow. I stumble around trying to find footprints or disturbed leaves, I'm making my way slowly through the brush when suddenly the bull jumps up again and heads downhill, "He's up again and headed straight downhill!" I hollered. Then the bull stepped into some shorter back high brush and stopped, I moved to within about 8 yards and the bull refused to move any further, he just stood there popping his teeth at me, I hit him with a rock, still no movement, I hollered down, "He won't move any farther, you are going to have to come up the hill and shoot him."
I think I more or less eluded before, Myron has some severe leg problems that limits his mobility in rough country, but he started working his way up the mountain through the thick maple brush. The bull and I stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, I was afraid to get any closer since the bull was on his feet and capable of moving fast when he wanted, and he was obviously very mad at me.
Finally Anthony hollered up the hill, "We can see him well enough to shoot!" so I backed off 20 yards and Myron hammered the bull in the shoulder again. He dropped like a sack of potatoes but continued to thrash around. I waited for Myron to battle his way up, and I asked "What kind of bullets are you shooting?" Myron replies "Ballistic Tips, everyone says they are deadly!" I explained quickly that they blow up too fast and don't penetrate big game that well, let's put another one into his ribs up close to try and get into the lungs. Myron shot the bull again with the barrel 3 feet from the ribs and we still had to wait 5 minutes for the bull to expire. We all felt terrible for the bull and Myron felt especially bad apologizing for his shooting. I said "Myron it's not your fault, you hit the bull in the shoulder twice, people talk these bullets up for big game and as you can see they may work on deer but ballistic tips are not suited for big game like elk and bear, it's not your fault, don't blame yourself."
The bull finally expired and we set him up as well as we could on the steep hillside and thick brush for pictures. We all admired the bulls headgear and then began the task of piecing the bull up and packing him out. We got the wheelers loaded and headed back to the truck. At the truck we drank water like horses and swallowed our lunch like heathens. We loaded everything up and headed to Myron's friend's house, we got the quarters hung up, then I caped the head for Myron's long trip back home.
I logged my laptop onto the B&C website and we entered all the horn measurements. The bull lost a lot with his very short right G-5 and had only 37 inches inside spread, but with 51 1/2 and 50 inch main beams, 19 1/2 and 21 inch G-4's, and circumferences all above 7 inches, the bull grossed 348 even. The bases were awesome too, 12 and 12 1/4. Finally done late that night we tried to get a motel in the nearest town so we could all shower, they weren't open, we ended up pulling camp and driving an hour to the next town where we got our badly needed showers and warm beds, and slept until 10 the next morning. :chuckle:
I didn't get to call this bull and can claim no amazing guiding skills by any of us resulted in this bull, all I can say is that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, we were persistent and darn lucky. :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
(I would have sent in a short message when we made the kill, but I forgot to charge my phone and it was dead.)
Post by: RadSav on September 24, 2011, 01:51:00 AM
Sounds like Quigly got a bargain in his schooling. Might go another 10 years and not get a chance to learn that kind of old school tracking. Bet he never forgets the day Bearpaw pulled a rabbit out of his hat and turned it into a 348 bull! Love it when those cocky youngsters are stopped in their tracks with that stunned look of "How in the F*&% did he do that?" Pure skill and maturity young man :chuckle:
Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed it.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 24, 2011, 06:06:08 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 07:25:06 AM
I will offer a few more details about the bulllet performance. He was shooting a 300 Win Mag, so it was plenty of gun. But not a single bullet made it more than halfway through the animal. The shoulder shots had broken the shoulder, but did not penetrate the chest cavity. One shot had broken a back leg about 4 inches above the knee. The last shot when he poked the barrel 3 feet from the bulls ribs had disintegrated by the time it got to the first lung, did not appear to touch the second (farther) lung and not a single bullet touched the other opposite side of the rib cage. I was shocked and I am certain that Myron will never buy Ballistics for bigger game again.
I will say, I bet they would cut a coyote in half.... :chuckle:
Post by: norsepeak on September 24, 2011, 07:25:20 AM
Post by: bobcat on September 24, 2011, 08:01:22 AM
Bowhunter45, Ballistic Tips are made by Nosler. The Hornady's may be similar, or look similar, but they're not Ballistic Tips. I use them but would never use them for elk or bears. I shot an antelope with my 270 and 150 grain Nosler ballistic tips a few years back. The distance was 315 yards, so it's not like the bullet's velocity was excessively high, the antelope was broadside and the bullet went in right behind the shoulder. It dropped him in his tracks, so that was good, but I was surprised to see that not even one bullet fragment made it to the rib cage on the far side. The bullet hit one rib going in and apparently disintegrated. I never did find the bullet or even a piece of it. It made a mess of the lungs but I surely would not trust that same bullet for anything bigger than a deer.
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 08:08:07 AM
Post by: bobcat on September 24, 2011, 08:18:32 AM
I do think they can't be beat for an antelope bullet. Or, as you said, coyotes. :o
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 24, 2011, 12:36:45 PM
BTW BearPaw I should still have a box of those under the seat in the truck we used on my Bear Hunt this spring. :chuckle:
Post by: mulehunter on September 24, 2011, 01:52:39 PM
Mulehunter. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 04:09:42 PM
I had two hunters, Kelly had brought his wife antelope hunting with me in 2009, we had a fun and exciting hunt and she killed a nice buck in Montana so Kelly booked a bear hunt for 2010. At the last minute Kelly's schedule got messed up so he had to reshedule his hunt for this year. My other hunter Bob had hunted whitetail with us before and seems to be at his best on stand as he has been retired for several years and can't get around too well any more. They both arrived on Aug 31 to start bear hunting Sept 1.
Day 1 and 2
On the first morning I had Bob on a stand in the middle of a tremendous amount of bear sign. Within a couple hours another hunter killed a bear within 100 yards of Bob, that was a bit of a bummer, but that's hunting. We had decided to hunt public land that day instead of one of my private leases. So that was just the way it goes. :dunno:
Later on the first day Mike (now nicknamed Quigly) missed a nice bear. Then a little later Scott shot and wounded a big bear at 220 yards, Brian and Scott were tracking it and suddenly a bear appears in front of Luke about 1/4 of a mile away, so Luke hammered that bear, as it turns out it was the wounded bear that Scott had wounded, anyway Luke killed it so he tagged it, that bear squared 6'-4".
Kelly, Bob, and I hunted several days seeing plenty of good tracks and other sign, but no bear. :bash:
I would put Bob on the best stand I could find and then take Kelly with me to try other hunts. Most of my other guides and their hunters were seeing bear and even though Kelly, Bob and I were getting along great, it was beginning to seem like Kelly and Bob had the wrong guide for the bear killing part of the hunt. I have some really talented younger guides working for me and I have to admit, we all have a lot of friendly competition going on between us and they were doing much better than I was, so I was starting to feel the pressure of the younger guides finding more bear and making the older guide not look so good. :chuckle:
We covered a lot of ground trying to find bigger bear, we watched feeding areas, we watched waterholes, we still hunted, we roadhunted, I checked apple trees, we hiked around mountains, we checked swampy areas, I pulled just about every rabbit out of my hat and not a one of them would turn into a bear. :chuckle: I have no idea why Bob and Kelly still had any faith in me. :dunno:
A few other bear were seen by the other hunters but nobody else killed any other bear the first two days.
Day 3
Bill was the only person to shoot at a bear on the 3rd day and unfortunately he thought he missed as he couldn't find any sign of a hit.
Day 4
In the morning I sent Ray with Bill as he is my best tracker, on the way in they spot a huge brown bear but can't shoot because they don't know for sure if Bill already had a dead bear or not, so they let it go. Ray found where the bear was standing the evening before when Bill shot and found the bullet in the ground, with no blood or meat on the bullet and figuring shooting angles, Bill had obviously shot too high completely missing the bear. Bill hunted that area the rest of the day seeing only a sow and cubs.
Kelly, Bob, and I had seen coyotes, whitetail, muledeer, moose, elk, but still no bear. This morning I posted Bob in an area that Anthony had seen two bear the day before and Kelly and I hiked into an old favorite spot I used to hunt years ago, there was quite a bit of sign so we just kept still hunting farther and farther. By 10 am we had seen two bear but had no shot opportunities, we were probably a couple miles from the vehicle and around a very steep mountainside and through some heavy cover. We sat down and was watching some good brush, I asked Kelly why he booked a Washington hunt instead of an Idaho hunt where he lives, he said "All I could find in Idaho are bait or hound hunts and I wanted to do a spot and stalk style bear hunt, he said the harder I work for a bear the more I will like it, plus I had a good time on my wife's antelope hunt in Montana!", so that's why he booked the bear hunt with us in Washington.
It was now after 10 am and we normally all meet for lunch somewhere, I needed to pick up Bob by noon, the lunch for everyone was in my vehicle, and nobody else knew where I was parked, so I asked Kelly if he wanted to stay and watch this area and I would hike back in with his lunch later, or if he would rather hike out with me for lunch. Kelly opted to stay put and watch for bear, I told him I would try to be back by 3 pm with food and more water. This was another time I had not planned on staying on the mountain all day and neither of us had packed enough water or food for the whole day in the heat and it was nearly hot enough to fry eggs on the rocks, anyway I left Kelly and headed out to the vehicle to go get Bob. :chuckle:
At lunch we all discussed various plans for the afternoon hunt and after lunch I posted Bob in a little different location and then I drove back to my parking spot, loaded my pack with food and drinks for Kelly, and headed back up the mountain. I was late getting back to Kelly and he told me he had shot at a bear two or three hours earlier, but thought he had missed. I made my way down to where he said the bear was, I found bear tracks of a 200ish bear, but no blood and no dead bear anywhere in the brush. While I was looking for the bear Kelly saw another bear, but it was too far to shoot and so he passed. We started hiking out a little before dark, but found ourselves getting out long after dark. Thankfully the other guys had picked up Bob for me so he didn't have to wait for Kelly and I. When we got back to the house half the guys were already in bed. :chuckle: I learned that Anthony was on a good bear for 30 minutes but they could never get a good shot. Nick and John also spotted a big bear, again they couldn't get a shot and ended the day with no bear. Talk about bad luck, we were feeling the wrath. :chuckle:
Day 5
The next morning I posted Bob in a new location hoping for some action, then Kelly and I loaded our packs for the day and headed up the mountain to the same area as we hunted the day before. On the way in I spotted bear tracks over the top of our footprints from the day before. We got to a good vantage point and for two or three hours, off and on, we watched a 2 1/2 year old black bear working berries, Kelly was going to shoot him as he wanted good meat as much as anything, but every time Kelly was about to pull the trigger the bear would move and then he wouldn't have a good shot. I told him not to shoot unless he was sure it was a good shot. We also saw another bear but it was out of range and just too far to be shooting at a bear. Finally about 11:30 Kelly thought he heard something close to us in the brush, we both listened closely, sure enough "snap-crack", it was definitely a bear working the brush, suddenly we get a quick look at a nice sized brown bear moving through the brush at 50 yards, but not enough time to get on him and shoot. :bash:
I told Kelly the bear had to be well over 200 pounds, that was probably the wrong thing to say, I could tell I only excited him with that remark, then suddenly we saw the bushes moving again at 100 yards, Kelly got on the bushes with his scope but we couldn't see the bear, the bushes quit moving and now nothing again. :bash:
Pretty soon the bear stepped into an opening and broadside at about 200ish yards and Kelly took aim using my shooting sticks for a rest, "BOOM" the bear drops but immediately is back up and heading downhill as fast as he can go with only his front legs pulling him and dragging his hind end. I told Kelly "You spined him, he can't get away, let's just see if we give him a few minutes to lay if he will die, I hate to rush over there and push him farther down the mountain." I called the other guys and asked them to get Bob for lunch and told them we had shot a good bear. So we sat and watched for 20 minutes, finally I couldn't take it any longer, "Let's go find him!" I said as I stood up and we both headed over to where the bear was last seen.
Kelly searched about 50 yards north of me and I searched where I thought the bear was at, I couldn't find any blood (bear often do not bleed if fat blocks the bullet hole), but I did find bent over grass blades and some disturbed soil so I thought I was on the right trail, in about 5 minutes I saw the bear's outline in the brush and it appeared he was dead, "Kelly, I found him, he's over here". I moved in closer and poked him with a stick, yep he's dead, but OH MY GOODNESS, this is the worst case ever of myself miss judging a bear. This bear isn't well over 200, he is well over 300 and maybe close to 400 pounds, he's a pig of a brute... oh no, it's 2 miles to the vehicle... :yike: :yike: :yike:
I called again for some help packing the bear out and then began skinning and boning. The fat on the bear's back was 3 to 4 inches thick, he was a fat bugger. By the time the other guys reached me I had the bear skinned and pretty much pieced out and ready to pack out. They had him off the mountain well before dark, but we all had sore feet that night from the steep mountainside. :chuckle:
We measured the hide and the bear squared 6'9", he didn't make 7 feet, but he was still a dandy. The head was big with inscissors worn off smooth with his gums and his canines worn off about 1/4"-1/2", he definitely was an old bruiser. I told Kelly I wasn't too sure how he would eat but Kelly has since emailed me that the bear was good eating and he and his wife are enjoying it. I look forward to my next hunt with Kelly, he said he'll be back.
In the morning Bill had gone back to his hunting spot to watch for the bear he had missed or for the big bear he had to pass. He wasn't there for long and he spotted his bear on the hillside, "BOOM, bear down!' Bill gets over to his bear and discovers that he shot the wrong bear, he had a yearling, anyway he tagged it and took it to the house. Bill is down here in Idaho archery elk hunting right now and he was just telling me at lunch today he wishes he wouldn't have screwed up on the yearling, but like I told him, that big bear is good enough reason to look forward to next year. You may remember Bill from last year's Bearpaw thread, he killed a nice bear last year, but not as big as the one he saw this year.
Our bear success was not as good as usual this year and I didn't have other hunters coming in right away so I invited the guys with unfilled tags to stay extra days. Scott was able to stay longer and he killed a real nice bear a couple days later. I was glad to see him get another crack at one after losing a wounded bear to Luke. So that all worked out well in the end. Bob couldn't stay but I invited him back later for a doe hunt since he's well over 65 and can take a doe here.
Photos of Kelly's Bear
Post by: firefighter4607 on September 24, 2011, 04:39:55 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 24, 2011, 04:59:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 06:23:18 PM
Idaho Archery Elk
I am having a blast, currently I am in Idaho and we are archery elk hunting. Nick is guiding Bob on an 8-Day Archery hunt. Bob has never killed an elk but so far Nick has called in a 330ish bull to 30 yards but Bob was afraid to draw with the bull that close, one spike that Bob missed, and today a huge bull to 15 yards that Bob said dwarfed the 330 bull. They had the bull close for 20 minutes, they could hear his lips flapping, Bob drew 12 times, but his only clear shot was a straight on chest shot he was afraid to take. So Nick and Bob are back after one of these bulls this afternoon. Tommorrow is the last day of Bob's hunt, I hope he releases an arrow soon.
Nick was a little stressed out and I told him, "Nick you did your job, Bob is having a hell of a hunt and he is learning a lot about elk, you are doing your job well, don't worry!"
I have a couple unguided hunters who have been in bugling bulls almost every day too, but they haven't connected either. I will keep you posted how this works out, but so far we are just having a blast with the elk hunting this year. Hopefully pictures soon.... :IBCOOL:
I almost forgot to mention, Brian missed a 5x5... we have been razzing him about that! :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: bobcat on September 24, 2011, 06:29:03 PM
Are you guys talking about the Hornady's Superformance SST's?
BTW BearPaw I should still have a box of those under the seat in the truck we used on my Bear Hunt this spring. :chuckle:
No, we were talking about Nosler Ballistic Tips.
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 06:34:33 PM
My wife Tara is guiding two hunters (actually they are more our family friends than hunters) and this morning they got on two 4x4 whiteys at about 40 yards, needless to say, the cap went off, but powder didn't, he started to lower the gun and off goes the powder..... oooopppppps :chuckle:
Tara split the guys and put them in different spots to try and get another shot, as luck would have it, the other guy got a standing shot at the same bucks from 50 yards and missed. Well at least they are having a blast and putting smoke in the air.... :chuckle:
I am anxiously awaiting to hear the results of the afternoon hunt. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 06:36:49 PM
Post by: RadSav on September 24, 2011, 06:43:32 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 06:49:52 PM
One thing about missing...you get a lot more stories to tell at the end of the year. Some of my happiest hunters were ones that couldn't hit the barn door.
You are exactly correct, the friends I just mentioned hunt every year with us and even come and help with building projects, they usually miss 5 to 10 bucks and a few turkeys each season, they just are not good shots, but they have a blast anyway and usually at least one of them ends up getting a buck and at least one gets a turkey. Life wouldn't be as good if we didn't see them at least once or twice a year.
Next spring they told Tara they are coming up to help me put in my new "man-patio" that I want to build.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 24, 2011, 06:54:12 PM
Good story Bearpaw. I wish you'd write up a story on every hunt you do, that was an enjoyable read.Yeah your right bobcat.. there is a big difference ...what I ment was people see a polytip and assume it is a ballistic tip which it is but nosler bullets with the ballistic tip are hollow points to where hornaday SST is not ...SST just has a polytip in it ..animals i have shot with the SST done real well on bear ..I never explain myself good enough I guess :chuckle: :chuckle: :tup:
Bowhunter45, Ballistic Tips are made by Nosler. The Hornady's may be similar, or look similar, but they're not Ballistic Tips. I use them but would never use them for elk or bears. I shot an antelope with my 270 and 150 grain Nosler ballistic tips a few years back. The distance was 315 yards, so it's not like the bullet's velocity was excessively high, the antelope was broadside and the bullet went in right behind the shoulder. It dropped him in his tracks, so that was good, but I was surprised to see that not even one bullet fragment made it to the rib cage on the far side. The bullet hit one rib going in and apparently disintegrated. I never did find the bullet or even a piece of it. It made a mess of the lungs but I surely would not trust that same bullet for anything bigger than a deer.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on September 24, 2011, 06:55:07 PM
This is the water we are sitting on right now...hopefully my phone will attach the photo.Dang that looks really sweet.... :yeah:
Post by: bobcat on September 24, 2011, 07:13:34 PM
Quote
Yeah your right bobcat.. there is a big difference ...what I ment was people see a polytip and assume it is a ballistic tip which it is but nosler bullets with the ballistic tip are hollow points to where hornaday SST is not ...SST just has a polytip in it ..animals i have shot with the SST done real well on bear ..I never explain myself good enough I guess
No you explained yourself just fine. I just wanted to be clear as to which bullet I was talking about. As you know, a bullet with a plastic tip is not necessarily a Ballistic Tip. "Ballistic Tip" is just the name of a bullet Nosler makes. They also make the Accubond which is an entirely different bullet but has the same plastic tip. And as you said Hornady makes bullets with plastic tips and they are not Ballistic Tips either.
Post by: bearpaw on September 24, 2011, 07:15:16 PM
Post by: bobcat on September 24, 2011, 07:16:31 PM
Barnes is now making a tipped Triple Shock that we are converting to. Better ballistics with the tip.... :twocents:
Those are an awesome bullet, but man they are spendy! Seems like they're a couple dollars per bullet, no?
Post by: RadSav on September 24, 2011, 09:03:30 PM
Barnes is now making a tipped Triple Shock that we are converting to. Better ballistics with the tip.... :twocents:
Saw a sheep taken with one of those up in NWT this year. 350 yards went in at the hip and stopped under the hide just behind the opposite shoulder. One leaf was broken, but penetration was good. Not as much tissue damage as I've seen with the Accubond or Interbond though. If it were me I'd go Hornady. That bonded bullet seems to have the best tissue damage while maintaining weight and penetration. Been very impressed with what I've seen taken with those.
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 24, 2011, 09:51:23 PM
Are you guys talking about the Hornady's Superformance SST's?
BTW BearPaw I should still have a box of those under the seat in the truck we used on my Bear Hunt this spring. :chuckle:
No, we were talking about Nosler Ballistic Tips.
Bobcat I saw where Hornaday SST was mentioned and I asumed you were talking aout the new SUPERFORMANCE SST's that have a red plastic tip on them?
I was wondering because I have been shooting 165gr 30-06 Hornaday SUPERFORMANCE SST's this past yer and used them on my Spring Bear hunt this year.
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 24, 2011, 09:54:55 PM
Michelle, what caliber were your cartridges, I will have Tara check for them? :tup:
I was shooting 165 gr 30-06. We put them under the seat.
Post by: bearpaw on September 25, 2011, 08:29:28 AM
Post by: seth30 on September 25, 2011, 08:36:17 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2011, 10:50:54 AM
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2011, 05:51:38 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 26, 2011, 05:57:25 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2011, 06:06:04 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 26, 2011, 06:24:11 PM
Just amazing how tough bear are....
Luke put the smack on him with 1 more shot and has a 6'4" bear to take to the taxidermist. :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: quadrafire on September 26, 2011, 06:48:39 PM
Were those quarters covered on the trip out? Looks like alot of dust.
OOps. from the elk hunt. UT
I'm thinking I shouldn't even bear hunt- as how hard they are to kill.
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2011, 09:45:19 AM
You shouldn't be afraid to bear hunt, just wait for a good shot, if the bear runs after the shot, look dilligently, get help if needed, you will do fine. :twocents:
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2011, 11:23:33 AM
I recieved a phone call from the Holiday Inn near Seatac, the guy explains that he has two guests from the Czech Republic, the father was going to British Columbia to go moose hunting, his son was along as an interpreter, but the Canadian Customs wouldn't let them in. :yike:
"They want to know if you have any moose hunts or other hunts that you can take them on?" I replied, "If he is a rifle hunter the only open seasons right now are bear and coyote." I was advised they would consider it and they would give me a call back. It wasn't long and the phone rang again, they wanted to come bear hunting and they would be at my place later that day. I waited up for them that night and got them situated in a cabin after they arrived. The son could speak english well enough to understand, but I couldn't understand a word the father said. :chuckle:
Days 1 to 3
I got them up for breakfast, we got his license in town, and we headed out bear hunting. Over the next couple of days I covered a lot of country road hunting to sort of give them a good tour. We also did a lot of glassing and we watched some feeding and watering areas. We saw coyotes (no shot opportunity), whitetail, mule deer, moose, and elk. On the 2nd day we got into some blue grouse and the father killed 2 grouse that I filleted and we had for lunch on Day 3, which was very much to their liking. Photo is the father with guide student Mike "Quigly".
Day 4
By now we were all getting to know these guys pretty well and were really enjoying them. The father learned a few english words from his son, so he would say "Good Morning" every morning to my wife and "Thanks" after every meal. :tup:
I decided to go back to an area I had hunted in the first week of the season that had played out, but i figured that possibly another bear had moved in. I looked through various berry patches all morning and nothing, worst of all the berries had dried up and most had fallen off. We even watched some apple trees for a few hours, saw another coyote (out of good shooting range), so didn't shoot. For lunch I drove to a little different spot, I parked the rig where we could see in several directions and proceded to rumage for some food. :chuckle:
The son wanted to take a little walk so he headed one way. The father and I glassed while we snacked, when we finished snacking I went back to glassing and he got up to stretch a bit and wandered about 50 yards away from me. I was busy glassing when I heard him running at me and waving his arms frantically, I couldn't understand a word he was saying but I knew he had seen a bear. He grabbed the rifle and we quickly went to where he had been, about that time the son caught up to us, they exchanged some sentences I couldn't understand and then the son whispered that the bear had walked right into his father and then taken off running. We kept moving along looking frantically for the bear, suddenly it stepped up onto a rock outcropping about 50 yards away, the father pulled up to take a shot and the bear ran out of sight, I could see glimpses of him as he ran, I gave a couple quick whistles and the bear stopped agin to look back at about 80 yards, this time the rifle barked and the bear dropped and rolled. "Great Shot" I exclaimed as I patted the father on the back. The son translated back and forth between us as we made our way up the hill to the bear. We took photos and drug the bear to the road. We loaded up and headed for home where I took care of the skin and carcasse.
The next day the father donated the meat to a friend of mine here in Colville, but before my friend took it I cut a roast off one of the rear hams. That evening we had beef roast and well seasoned slow roasted bear, both father and son was really surprised at how well the bear tasted and it was pretty much all eaten for dinner. The father wants to come back and hunt moose, maybe he will be lucky and draw an Idaho tag, but I told him the odds were slim to draw a Washington tag.
I hated to see them go, I have to say I really had a great time with both of them, we had a lot of fun seeing Northeast Washington's out-of-the-way areas, and we discussed everything from hunting to world politics. I found out they are plenty fed up with government spending too. :chuckle: The son used to earn a very good living making advertisements for businesses on European TV, but he says the economy is so bad that he is barely staying in business now. I told him we have all the same problems here too.... :bash:
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on September 28, 2011, 01:29:20 PM
Post by: quadrafire on September 28, 2011, 05:38:44 PM
I was curious about the washington licensing without hunter education. Maybe he made it in on age?
Funny story really----came to hunt Canada and can't get in, then make a little side trip to NE Wa and get into grouse and a bear to boot. Gotta love it.
You sound like Machias on the international relations :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2011, 06:18:24 PM
There has been one exception that affected us for about 6 years. Here's an interesting story.
Through the 80's and 90's I had dozens of hunters from Japan, Korea, China, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, Australia, and a host of other countries. There was an old law on the books from World War II that had been forgotten about for many decades. That law prevented aliens (non-citizens) from possessing or using firearms in Washington. After 9/11 occured the state started enforcing that old law and would nnot allow persons from abroad to hunt in Washington. This destroyed my international business that I had built up, costing myself thousands every year not to mention the lost commerce to the state and local economy. I called Olympia (several departments) and nobody was going to help. (they could care less, tough luck was their attitude toward me)
I began complaining that hunters from Washington could hunt around the world, but hunters from other countries could not hunt in Washington. I wrote letters to the people who could make a difference, governor, attorney general, senators and representatives, SCI, NRA, HHC, and others. Of all the people I wrote, a handful of legislators, SCI, and the HUnters Heritage Council, started working on this issue. For 4 years a change in the law couldn't make it through the liberal Washington legislature. Finally with the additional pressure from the Olympics in Vancouver BC, the legislature passed legislation again allowing aliens who posses a hunting license or invitation to a sporting event, to carry guns in Washington.
The Hunters Heritage Council (Ed Owens), SCI, and a handful of legislators (Blake, Morton, Kretz, and others) saw it through several years of trying to get that new law passed. I thank you all for working so hard to pass that law, your hard work made the hunt for the gentleman from the Czech Republic possible. In the last couple years I have also had hunters from Mexico, Australia, and Denmark here in Washington. Those hunts were only possible due to your determination to pass that law and in these rough times, I need all the business I can get, no doubt it's a help to the local economy in NE WA as these international hunters all visit restaurants, sport shops, and other local businesses. Every one of these hunters have made significant purchases while in Colville.
I SINCERELY THANK YOU ALL..... :hello:
my apologies for not mentioning everyone that helped with passing the new law....
Post by: bearpaw on September 28, 2011, 06:26:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 29, 2011, 09:15:44 PM
season ends tommorrow. We didn't kill any elk on this hunt, 4 bulls were missed, oh well, that's bow hunting. There are 11 bulls we have seen in the drainage we have been hunting, 3 of them are over 300 class and one of them we call the MacDaddy, he is huge and has a jurassic bugle.... :chuckle:
Hoping we can get a few of these on the rifle hunt in a couple weeks. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on September 30, 2011, 04:23:43 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 01, 2011, 09:48:21 PM
Some smaller 3x4 and 4x4 bucks were spotted this evening, but no shooters, will be looking for bigger bucks again tommorrow. It's been tough getting around, summer rain storms have washed the roads very badly, having to use quads a lot more since the trucks can't get in a lot of the roads.
Tommorrow feels like the day.... :tup: :tup: :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on October 02, 2011, 10:55:01 AM
Nick and Ron had seen a real nice buck early that they didn't get then they saw some more does and small bucks, then a little later in the morning they spotted a pretty nice bedded 5x5. Ron liked the buck and elected to take him. :tup:
Right after he shot another bigger buck jumped up and ran off that they hadn't seen. :bash:
Nonetheless Ron is very happy with his buck, it measured about 22", not as nice as the big one that got away yesterday, but this one is hanging on the meat pole. :tup: :IBCOOL:
Post by: blindpig on October 03, 2011, 10:04:01 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2011, 10:47:46 AM
Here are a couple pictures of some of the elk we were working during archery season. We had numerous opportunities on bulls and failed to connect, we have seen at least 11 different bulls in this drainage, I am hoping to kill a couple of them in rifle season later this month. I was going to put a drop camp here where these elk are, but the group wants me to put them in a more remote location, so I could use at least two more hunters who want to hunt these bulls. The one photo has two bulls, the herd bull has his head down next to the cows, the bull on the right is a sattelite bull. There is a really big bull in the area that I don't have a picture of, he is probably over 350, Nick called him to within 30 yards of his hunter but the guy froze up and never released an arrow.
Post by: Huntboy on October 03, 2011, 10:57:25 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 03, 2011, 02:06:34 PM
Jeff killed his buck this morning, after glassing and looking over several deer they spotted a mature looking 20" 4x4 and Jeff said that's the one, as usual a 1 shot kill at 308 yards for Jeff who makes a 1 shot kill just about every year. His dad Jack (age 87) didn't feel too well this morning, so he didn't hunt, but he is feeling better now and he's going out this evening. :tup:
my fingers are crossed, hope to have pictures soon...
Post by: Machias on October 03, 2011, 03:22:24 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 04, 2011, 08:28:47 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 04, 2011, 08:36:04 PM
Post by: Michelle_Nelson on October 05, 2011, 01:15:53 AM
Post by: FSTaxidermy on October 07, 2011, 09:02:46 AM
Post by: Camp David on October 07, 2011, 12:50:54 PM
Great stories and pics :tup:
Post by: Guy on October 08, 2011, 12:29:40 PM
Great moose too!
Post by: DIYARCHERYJUNKIE on October 08, 2011, 12:42:14 PM
Here's a nice Washington moose that Don shot yesterday, it measured 48" wide. Don stayed at our place and we told him areas to hunt on his own unguided. We get quite a few guys who do that, we can also help them get the animals out if they need help. Anthony said he rough scored it and thought it might make the book. :tup:
how much to stay and hunt unguided? Is it on your prop or public land? I love hunting colville but the unit i hunt isnt open for late archery.
Post by: bearpaw on October 09, 2011, 03:55:56 PM
Here's a nice Washington moose that Don shot yesterday, it measured 48" wide. Don stayed at our place and we told him areas to hunt on his own unguided. We get quite a few guys who do that, we can also help them get the animals out if they need help. Anthony said he rough scored it and thought it might make the book. :tup:
how much to stay and hunt unguided? Is it on your prop or public land? I love hunting colville but the unit i hunt isnt open for late archery.
We offer trips in which you hunt public land or private land. For Whitetail hunting, check out my options on this page: http://www.bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_whitetail_deer_hunting.html (http://www.bearpawoutfitters.com/washington_whitetail_deer_hunting.html)
Mention the H-W Special and I will give you $200 to $300 off....
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2011, 12:32:19 AM
Horseback Drop Camp
Here are some pics of setting up one of our horseback drop camps. The horse on the left at the trailer is "Bell", next to her "Patriot", and Bell's colt named "Chile" is on the right. He is only a few years old, this was his first time at packing in a camp (he did pretty well for his first time). As you can tell these are some pretty stout mountain horses, they have he muscle to negotiate marginal trails with a heavy load. I can also put anyone of about any size on these horses and they will get them into the back country.
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2011, 12:44:28 AM
This is a pretty cozy camp suitable for up to 6 hunters. The wood stove easily heats the tent and the camp box has everything a guy would need, hunters only need to bring their sleepinng bag, preference of food, and personal hunting gear. I let my drop camp hunters stay the whole season if they want, the longer the better the odds of success.
Season opens this morning, hopefully we'll get a few good ones like last year. :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2011, 01:48:50 AM
The first week of October we had three hunters, Ron, Jeff, and Jack, all had hunted with us for numerous different hunts. The guys headed out at sunrise, Nick and Ron hunted off ATV's since half the ranch was unaccessible by auto due to excessive washouts caused by heavy rains this summer. Ron enjoyed the wheelers more anyway... :chuckle:
In a short time Nick and Ron got on a good buck that was pushing 27 inches. Ron missed about a dozen times so they went back to the ranch house to sight in the rifle at lunch, sure enough, the scope mounts were loose, Brian removed the scope and tightened the bases, then sighted the gun in again. That evening they didn't get a chance at any good bucks but on the second day Nick and Ron got on another couple bucks and Ron said he wanted one of them. This one is not as big as the one Ron missed, but he's very happy with the buck. Ron left early and headed back home, I recieved the following message back from him:
Hey Dale,
I wanted to drop you a note to let you know how much I enjoyed the Utah mule deer hunt. You were right when you recommended that hunt for me. It was a very relaxing and fun trip. I wanted to also let you know what a fine job Brian and Nick did on the hunt. I had some problems with my scope being off (damn airlines!) and your son turned into a gunsmith and worked his ass off trying to get it sighted back in.
Nick was a tremendous guide. He was personable and skilled and really went above and beyond to make sure that I had a wonderful time. We had some minor setbacks with equipment, etc. but Nick took everything in stride and worked his butt off to make sure the hunt was not only successful but enjoyable. I look forward to hunting with you guys again next year and I would have no problem at all recommending you for any of the hunts I have been on with Bearpaw Outfitters.
Give me a call or email in the off season so we can plan our elk tag strategy for next year.
Thanks again,
Ron
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2011, 02:21:08 AM
Post by: wayner on October 10, 2011, 10:53:56 AM
Post by: bearmanric on October 10, 2011, 11:43:33 AM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on October 10, 2011, 11:48:31 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2011, 01:34:23 PM
Ric, my wife Tara and Anthony have been scouting around Colville getting ready for the opener. We definitely don't have as many deer as prior years, but there are a few good bucks running around. I think you will do fine in any of the northeast units, just hunt a little harder than usual.
Thanks Skyvalhunter, I have to be honest, I have it pretty easy. I can remember when I was just getting going good and things did not always run as smoothly. My guides are an awesome group of young guys who have all been with me for several years and they do all the hard work for me anymore. Each of us have our strongest points and we all know how to work together to make up a pretty effective team. :tup:
Idaho Opening Day At the Lodge roughing it.... :chuckle:
After I made my posts on H-W early this morning I went and jumped in the jaccuzi for 30 minutes and nearly fell asleep, it was hard to get out but it was time to get everyone up. We all ate some of my mom's cooking and everyone was off good and early, it's only 3 miles from the lodge to the hunting area, but they each headed to a different area. Nick started up his trail well before dark, within 20 minutes after shooting hours began Nick spotted a couple bucks, one buck was definitely not a first day buck but they kept trying to get a better look at the second buck. They had watched him for some time feeding and finally got a good look at him, Greg decided this was the buck. He and his partner had shot at the lodge yesterday and we found out these boys guns were sighted in well and these boys are shooters. We all figured anything out to 400 yards was as good as dead and Greg didn't disappoint us, one shot at the buck quartering away with his 7mm, the buck dropped in his tracks, end of story. "I love it when a plan comes together." (pictures below)
Brian and his hunter Taylor also saw a couple 4x4's but they were not quite good enough. Brian said he thought the one might have been a little wider than Greg's buck, but not as high or as heavy, Taylor opted to pass both bucks. I haven't heard from Ray yet, he went after a giant buck that he was after last year. He has the same hunters with him this year as last year Mike and Kris, (they both killed nice bucks last year but didn't get the monster), except this year only Mike is hunting, Kris is along to just take it easy, watch, and have fun with Mike and Ray. :tup:
Post by: Elkrunner on October 10, 2011, 01:47:39 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 10, 2011, 01:52:59 PM
Great stories. I am digging that snow!
Well I have to tell you, were were definitely digging in it, 12-13 inches of it.... :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
It warmed back up and the deer are moving some, there wasn't much acivity for a few days during the storm. :twocents:
Post by: firefighter4607 on October 10, 2011, 02:15:33 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 13, 2011, 10:52:23 AM
We packed Luke in two days in advance of season and advised him to glass and pick out a buck for opening morning. Each day I recieved a message that read "I'm OK". Then finally I recieved the message I was waiting for that read "buck down" and it gave me the gps co-ordinates to retrieve the deer. Yesterday Brian and Taylor rode in to get the deer and bring out the hunter and camp. The buck is no monster, but Luke said it was his biggest buck ever and he picked it out of a group of 6 bucks. Luke said the buck was sparring with a wider buck, but he liked the height and the cheater point on the buck he shot. He made an awesome one shot 386 yard, cross-canyon kill with his 270. "I love it when a plan comes together".
(pics show Brian headed in with the horses, Luke and his buck, breaking camp, and heading back out)
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on October 13, 2011, 10:55:20 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 13, 2011, 11:12:17 AM
It will be very interesting to see who can hold out till the bitter end for a big one tommorrow, who will get a big buck, who will fold their cards and shoots a lesser buck, and who will get nothing. Tommorrow is the last day of the hunt, I will keep you posted.... :tup: :tup: :tup:
Until the story unfolds, "What would you do?" :dunno: :chuckle:
Post by: Camp David on October 13, 2011, 11:21:54 AM
Post by: gunnarnewt on October 13, 2011, 11:45:20 AM
Post by: DIYARCHERYJUNKIE on October 13, 2011, 07:59:52 PM
Post by: MDGrand on October 14, 2011, 09:32:26 AM
I am all for trophy hunting and growing the genetics of a group of animals, but I tend to follow this well known credo.
:twocents:
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2011, 04:48:55 AM
Yesterday afternoon Ray and Mike got into the big bucks. They spotted about a 25-26 incher but the stalk didn't work out. Then just before dark they spotted a really big buck they estimated around 30", give or take an inch, but it was too late to get to him. They tried to find the big one again in the morning but came up emty handed and Mike had to leave about noon, so no deer for Mike. :(
Nick and Eric got on a good big buck but had no way to close the gap, Eric who had shot a good group at 400 yards at the lodge decided to take the shot, he missed the buck twice at 428 yards, he hit just over the back both times, so no buck for Eric either. :(
Brian and Taylor rode in on horseback to a location we haven't hunted yet this season. They saw two bull elk within shooting range but elk doesn't open till the next day. Then they were watching a big rock slide area and Brian noticed a porcupine so he went down to investigate the porky. He left Taylor sitting and watching for deer. Taylor decided he wanted to go see the porky but left his rifle where he was watching from, when he got down to Brian up jumped a big buck (roughly 170 class) but Taylor didn't have his rifle, by the time he got to the gun, the buck was gone, they tried to find it again but no luck. Fortunately Taylor is still hunting so he will hopefully get a crack at another buck. :(
We don't normally see high numbers of deer in this area, the 4 guided and 1 unguided hunters who we hunted the last 5 days saw just over 150 total deer, 36 bucks, had 16 shot opportunities, everyone saw at least good 4x4 or better bucks, and 4 out of 5 of them shot at good 4x4 or better bucks. Even though they had some misses and bad luck, and we only killed the 2 good bucks, it was still a great hunt and everyone had a fun time. :tup:
Ray says the 30 inch buck is extremely wired, he only came out the one evening just at dusk, he grabs a mouthful and his head is back up looking for danger in every direction. Now if we can just figure out a way to kill that 30 inch buck without bumping him out of the area..... :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2011, 04:54:05 AM
My wife, Ray, and Anthony will be hunting whitetail today in Washington. They have been watching numerous bucks so hopefully will have a good hunt. It's about time to head out hunting so I better sign off. Good luck to all wherever you will be hunting.
Post by: turkey slayer on October 15, 2011, 06:01:42 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2011, 01:14:22 PM
Washington Update
My wife called and said one of her hunters killed a 5x4 buck in Washington, she just got back home and said she was covered in blood and needed to clean up so she could start lunch. I will post more info and pics as soon as I get them.
Idaho Update
Taylor and I decided to do a little road hunting and glassing this morning. We had glassed several spots and hadn't seen much, only 5 does, a very slow morning. We were sitting there glassing another hillside when a coyote started making occasional howls. I said to Taylor, "I don't see any deer, what do you say we go try to call in that yote?"
We quietly slipped away from the truck and took up a good vantage point about 200 yards away from the truck looking down over a nice mountain pasture. The coyote had sounded like he was probably a half mile away. As soon as the wind slowed I put as much volume through my coyote call as I could muster. I waited a few minutes and called again with as much character as I could give a dieing rabbit. I waited a couple more minutes and I called a third time. I no sooner finished that call and I spotted Wile E. Coyote trotting toward us from the right at about 300 yards. I motioned with a finger for Taylor and I could tell by his excitement that he saw it too.
We just waited, Wile would advance 50 yards and listen. Then he'd advance again and listen for his rabbit lunch. At 150 yards Taylor put the smack on him, one shot, dead fawn killer. :bfg:
Turns out artificial rabbit didn't settle to well with his digestive system. :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on October 15, 2011, 09:39:57 PM
After the coyote kill one of the guys jumped a 5x5 bull elk at 30 yards today but was unable to get a shot, he said it was just to brushy.
Washington
This morning Tara posted Kevin and then went to sit with his dad. It wasn't long and they heard 1 shot so they went back to see what Kevin shot at. Kevin just got out of the military after 17 years and this was his first deer ever, nice way to start. Congrats to Kevin..... :tup:
There were a few other close calls but this was the only buck we got today in Washington. Two bear were seen today, wished I had a bear hunter in camp. :chuckle:
Post by: turkey slayer on October 16, 2011, 08:04:25 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 17, 2011, 07:49:13 PM
We had 5 guided hunters in camp, three branch antlered bucks are taken so far. One guided hunter only had 2 days to hunt, so he is coming back next weekend, the other is still hunting. We had 4 unguided hunters who hunted 2 days, they saw a huge buck but didn't kill anything, so we invited them back for the late buck season at no charge. (will get more pics of the other 2 bucks when I can)
Idaho Update
We have had a couple really tough days, it stormed hard all day yesterday. One guy come back in at lunch with severe chest pains (maybe heart), he has been taking it easy since. Another hunter just can't handle the Idaho mountains and can not make it more than 100 yards from where we park. Amazingly, Nick has gotten him on a 5x5 bull the first day, a cow yesterday, and he has seen several moose and a few deer, but no shots yet, but today he said he needed a day off so he didn't hunt today. Another hunter has a bad sore throat after hunting in the rain yesterday so he took today off too. Then to top it off, sliding around on the rough muddy roads one truck slid into a big branch and broke a shock and a windshield. :bash: :bash: :bash:
Oh yeah, and I am sneaking along with one of the hunters and I didn't notice he stopped to glass a couple does. I am moving slow through some old growth timber and suddenly theres a nice 5x5 muley about 80 yards, head down feeding. I turned around to see if Taylor was on him and he is 50 yards behind me glassing. :bash:
I am trying to get Taylor's attention and just when he spotted me, so did the buck so I couldn't move, Taylor figure out what was going on and started sneaking to me. Just as he reached me he pulled up to take the shot and the buck ran, Taylor took off after the buck, I tried to stop him but it was not going to happen, instinctively I figured the buck would turn right and run into the wind as soon as he was out of sight so I moved 100 yards to the right to watch, I couldn't beleive it, another 4x4 buck, not as big, but standing right in front of me feeding, then he picks his head up and runs off. Finally Taylor and I got together later, hopefully we have a better strategy worked out for the next time. :bash: :chuckle:
Hoping for a better day in Idaho tommorrow.... :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2011, 12:05:46 AM
I also got a very nice note from one of the Washington hunters that just got back home:
Dale and Tara,
Thanks for a fun hunt and some really good meals. Of course getting a nice buck is always great as well. Ray was good to spend time with and tried to be certain I had a good time and saw lots of game. God we did see lots of turkeys. The accommodations were very comfortable and I hope to book with you guys again. Feel free to share my comments and I've attached a couple of pictures. He weighed 210 lb's on the hoof. That is a really a big deer where I'm from.
Thanks Again
Richard
Post by: NWBREW on October 19, 2011, 02:31:29 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2011, 08:39:18 AM
Who can tell me what isn't right..... :dunno:
Post by: seth30 on October 19, 2011, 08:41:35 AM
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2011, 08:45:38 AM
No tail on the second pic
That was a great guess, it appears to be true, but the tail is just hanging out of sight. :tung:
Post by: seth30 on October 19, 2011, 08:46:41 AM
Post by: Gringo31 on October 19, 2011, 10:49:10 AM
The only other thing I can find wrong with those pics is that I'm not in them :chuckle:
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2011, 10:53:51 AM
The weird growth stuff on the throat patch of that buck seems odd....
The only other thing I can find wrong with those pics is that I'm not in them :chuckle:
Good eye, the hair was roughed up a bit on his neck, but that is all it is.
We'll see if anyone else can spot it, if not I'll offer a clue that will probably give it away easy, but I really thought somebody would nail it right off.
Post by: Camp David on October 19, 2011, 12:04:07 PM
Post by: wormfood on October 19, 2011, 12:14:08 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2011, 12:18:10 PM
No tail on the second pic
Clue:
You were on the right track.....
(gotta run, I'll check back tonight)
Post by: Camp David on October 19, 2011, 01:46:34 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 19, 2011, 08:44:22 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 24, 2011, 12:37:36 PM
Washington
There are definitely fewer deer than last year and we are working for them. But success has been pretty good and as a bonus we killed another bear that was probably between 275 to 300 pounds, that hunter was very happy. We also had numerous youth and senior hunters who smacked some does during the youth/senior/disabled hunt. Will try to round up more photos of these critters to post.
Idaho/Utah
We got into some more elk but did not kill any more of them, the guys are out again today elk & deer hunting. Missed some more opportunities on a few more big bucks, Taylor missed out on one of them that was probably pushing 180 class, then 2 days later Taylor killed a smaller 5x4 mule deer. One of my guides was out hunting for himself not far from the lodge and smacked a dandy buck, it grossed 179 5/8, if the one back fork was even with the good fork, the buck might have made book, of course how many times have we all said that. What's funny, Bryan almost passed this buck because he didn't think it was as good of buck as it is, he said it was a case of ground enlargement when he walked up to it, Bryan's buck is the top pictures... :chuckle:
The last picture is a big NT buck that a friend gave me of a buck killed just a few miles from where we hunt, I am told it was the guy's first deer and taken by muzzleloader, it supposedly green scored 232. I imagine it will show up on monstermuleys.com, what a pig, I wished we would have gotten that buck.... how many times have we all said that, unfortunately we didn't have anything to do with it other than drooling over the photo! :yike: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
I will post some more pictures when I get them gathered up.
Post by: bearpaw on October 24, 2011, 06:23:05 PM
Post by: Thenewguy on October 24, 2011, 06:41:27 PM
Post by: bearpaw on October 25, 2011, 02:24:12 AM
Dale, I read your story on the Elk shot with "ballistic points". I am a little concerned as I am shooting 139 gr sst hornady bullets from my 7mm-08. I have practiced all year with these rounds and am very accurate. The exit wound I had on the deer sunday was incredible (i know elk have much thinker skins). Are these bullets to quick to expand for larger game such as Elk?
I am not familiar with those bullets so I can't comment one way or another, I would suggest posting the question in the Guns & Ammo board, someone will know more than I do about that bullet. http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/board,9.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/board,9.0.html)
Post by: bearpaw on October 30, 2011, 07:24:40 PM
Bear, Pig, or Beaver
I was looking for a last minute bear hunter a couple weeks ago because we had three bear coming into the orchards on one of the properties. Well Bob answered my request and showed up about Oct 20 for a late bear hunt. Anthony posted Bob to watch for bear and he hunted with a youth doe hunter that evening. Just before dark Bob smacked this nice dark chocolate bear with his 30/06. This is an interesting bear, it's a boar but the head was small, he wasn't real long but his belly dang near drug on the ground because he was so fat, he basically was built like a sow. You can tell in the picture he was fat like a pig, Anthony figured he weighed about 275 and my wife figured 300, everyone in camp went with 300-350 as you all know how that goes, but he actually was not weighed, either way he was a fatty, what was even more interesting was his tail. The solid part of the tail (not counting the hair) was 7 inches long and 4 inches wide and almost flat, none of us have ever seen a bear with such a big flat tail. :chuckle:
Bob saw another one of the bear and thought it was as big as this bear, there are still two bear hanging around the orchard, one is only about 130-140, but maybe someone else will want the bigger bear (probably another boar) before season ends. :dunno:
Congrats to Bob on his ? kill.... :chuckle:
Post by: Machias on October 31, 2011, 12:51:48 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 01, 2011, 02:41:06 AM
Post by: THunt on November 01, 2011, 05:41:13 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 01, 2011, 06:35:43 AM
Post by: Guy on November 03, 2011, 06:48:34 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 17, 2011, 03:59:48 PM
Post by: mulehunter on November 17, 2011, 06:40:15 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 22, 2011, 03:34:03 PM
We took some pics then pulled him out with tow straps hooked to the truck and took more photos, then we loaded him whole and headed for home. On the way home we saw the other big bull, I felt kind of bad seeing another huge bull when we had just killed a bull that wasn't as big. A little way down the road Jeff said "I'm still happy with my bull, with us it's more about the experience than the size of the animal." That's when I knew he really was happy with his bull. I love it when a plan comes together.
Another hunter with a late whitetail draw tag shot a 4x4 whitetail yesterday. Then this morning John hammered a nice 8 or 9 inch tom. Sorry I don't have pics of the whitetail.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 22, 2011, 03:37:45 PM
Post by: Machias on November 22, 2011, 03:40:43 PM
Post by: Special T on November 22, 2011, 03:57:58 PM
Post by: Camp David on November 22, 2011, 03:59:09 PM
Post by: turkey slayer on November 22, 2011, 07:11:28 PM
Post by: mulehunter on November 22, 2011, 07:30:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on November 23, 2011, 09:07:05 AM
How do you load the bull whole? You have a winch in the back of that Ford?
:chuckle: There was four of us so it was pretty easy.
I have loaded a whole moose with 2 people before by backing up, lifting the head onto the tailgate, tie the moose to two trees, one tree on each side of the front of the truck. One guy backs the truck up slowly while the other other guy wiggles the moose so it can slide in as you force the truck backwards underneath the moose. (don't do this with a moose you want to do a shoulder mount, it could damage the cape)
______________________________
Just recieved a text message from Anthony, he is finishing up our Montana deer hunts, he said Orin (about age 12) just killed a big whitetail that he figures will go 150 to 160. That's our best whitetail for the season, I will try to post a picture with my cell phone.
Post by: buckhorn2 on November 23, 2011, 09:19:57 AM
Post by: Special T on November 23, 2011, 09:40:11 AM
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2011, 07:38:03 AM
Dan here and Joey (previously shown) hunted with Anthony in Montana, Dan got his mule deer the day after Joey killed his whitetail, congrats to Dan....
Whitetail
Bill hunted the late buck season in Washington again this year. Last year he killed a nice 4x4 but wanted a bigger buck this year. He and I were out on the first morning of his hunt, we found a big buck track at an orchard on one of the ranches. It looked like the buck was chasing does so I told Bill he might want to sit and watch the orchard that evening. Right before dark this dandy showed up and Bill put the hammer down. Congrats to Bill on a fine buck....
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on November 24, 2011, 08:05:51 AM
Post by: ANDERWAGON on November 24, 2011, 09:35:55 AM
Bearpaw, looks like a great season. Lots of happy people and some hooked kids.
Nice work out there…
:tup: :tup:
Post by: bearpaw on November 24, 2011, 07:11:08 PM
Steve from Michigan shot a nice antelope with me in Montana 2 years ago. He returned this year to hunt MuleDeer and killed this buck with Anthony a couple weeks ago. Congrats to Steve on another great hunt.
Dale,
Had a great hunt with Anthony in Montana! Thanks for everything.
____________________________________
Whitetail
Richard from Wyoming used to be a camp cook for me in my Idaho deer and elk camps. Four years ago he drew a moose tag and he killed a good bull moose. Three years ago he came cougar hunting in Idaho with us but while target practicing with his .50 pistol he accidentally blew off the end of his thumb in a freak accident and had to go to the hospital, long story short, it ended his cougar hunt early. Last year he returned for another cougar hunt and killed a nice cougar with Anthony and myself in Idaho. While he was there hound hunting with us he decided he wanted to put in for the Montana deer tag to hunt whitetails. He hunted a week ago with Anthony and killed this whitetail, a nice buck for a super nice guy.... congrats to Richard.
Post by: bearpaw on December 13, 2011, 10:16:51 PM
Martin made an excellent shot, we took lots of photos and got out to the vehicles just before dark..... :tup:
Post by: NWBREW on December 14, 2011, 02:41:24 AM
Post by: Guy on December 14, 2011, 09:39:57 AM
That "portrait" photo of the cat is outstanding!
Post by: Machias on December 14, 2011, 03:18:46 PM
Post by: mulehunter on December 14, 2011, 03:26:57 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 14, 2011, 06:03:40 PM
Sounds like it's about dinner time, the danish guys have been cooking a danish gourmet meal for the last 3-4 hours, we are having danish meatballs for a starter, tuna something or other as a starter, then some danish potatoes, danish salad, and New York Roast (a rack of uncut New York Steaks) as the main meal, and some type of danish desert to finish up, along with some wine, crown royal, and beer. :tup: :tup: :tup:
1 Hr Later:
OMG - It was delicious, I am sore, it was no meal, it was a feast fit for kings, a lot of kings, we were only able to eat about 1/4 to 1/2 of any of the dishes, we'll be eating leftovers for days. :chuckle:
Don't know how the desert tastes it will have to wait till tommorrow. :chuckle:
Post by: Arteman on December 14, 2011, 07:49:10 PM
Post by: RB on December 14, 2011, 07:58:13 PM
Post by: bearpaw on December 17, 2011, 09:09:15 AM
The Danish hunters left this morning, I was sorry to see them go, they were great fun and have given me an open invite to come hunt in Denmark or Poland with them. I also think they will be back next fall for Utah Trophy Elk Bugle Hunts. That should mean some more fun and photos next Septemeber. :tup:
Post by: Ripper on December 17, 2011, 11:07:28 AM
Post by: 400out on December 17, 2011, 11:18:53 AM
Post by: Machias on December 17, 2011, 09:54:26 PM
Post by: Badge251 on December 20, 2011, 08:32:56 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2012, 10:44:38 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on January 22, 2012, 10:45:59 AM
Just smacked a Tom :bdid:, story later.
Cool, Dale. We want pics for sure.
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on January 22, 2012, 10:53:38 AM
Post by: TeacherMan on January 22, 2012, 11:49:22 AM
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2012, 03:40:04 AM
The last 4 days we have been hunting in nonstop rain and snow, the higher elevations have 30 to 40 inches of fresh snow, the lower elevations have homes that are flooding from the rain. During the storm we have only seen a handful of deer and elk, nothing has been moving. Finally last night the big guy in the sky turned off the tap. We headed out early this morning looking for tracks and sure enough found a tom track right at daylight to put the dogs on. It was a short race, the cat headed down off the mountain from where we started him and straight toward where the truck was parked. I couldn't believe it, the dogs sounded treed halfway down the mountain really close to my truck.
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2012, 03:44:13 AM
Geir was pretty excited, the whole experience of hunting through all that nasty weather while wondering if we'd even get a break in the weather, then the high of finally finding a track and chasing it, made his trip from Norway well worth it. We drug the cat out to the truck and headed for the house.
Post by: bearpaw on January 23, 2012, 03:49:15 AM
We started in with the snowmobiles and a ranger with tracks. I wanted to make it all the way to the top where we could sit and spot. We had the whole afternoon so I figured we could spot a bull Geir wanted and get to him before dark.
Mother nature had different plans for us, we kept getting stuck in the deep snow and never did get to where I wanted to glass. Finally we gave up and headed back down to a road near the bottom. We headed around the bottom looking up the draws. We finally spotted a decent bull but not as big as Geir wanted, probably a 310 to 320 bull. We headed eastward then we spotted a moose on a distant ridge, we were watching the moose as we drove closer and suddenly a big bull broke out of the brush next to the road and headed up the hillside.
Geir kneeled down in the snow and put 3 quick shots in the bull with my 257 Roy, the bull dropped. We had to hurry to get pictures, it got dark as we took photos and we dressed out the bull after dark. Then we got him back to the trucks and headed for the house, it was about 10 pm when we pulled into the driveway and our butts were whipped, but it was a heck of a great day for Geir and he gets to take two nice trophies back to Norway.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on January 23, 2012, 05:24:58 AM
Post by: Machias on January 23, 2012, 08:14:21 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on January 23, 2012, 09:17:35 AM
Post by: BOWHUNTER45 on January 24, 2012, 02:40:29 PM
Post by: bearpaw on January 25, 2012, 08:11:21 AM
Post by: NWBREW on January 26, 2012, 10:14:48 AM
Post by: Machias on January 26, 2012, 10:16:53 AM