2023 Show Us Your Game Hunting Photo Contest - Concludes!

Coyote Hunting for the first time ever this year and this extremely friendly little fluff kept us company the whole time. Unbothered by gunshots, even.

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Sadly no hunting for me this year :( darn back injury I just want surgery already. Maybe next year!

However I love seeing everyone's photos as its the only way I am hunting :)

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I did okay this year so far for a disabled guy and I rely on friends and family more than ever as each season passes.
One hunt I love is hunting Blacktail deer in the steep coastal mountains north of Pemberton BC.
This year my good friend Tony went up the day (sunday)before I arrived and set up my treestand ladder. He hunted that evening and the next morning but saw only does.
My brother and I arrived the next day in the afternoon and we all just hung out in camp and had a good time.
The weather was borderline but good and cold at night, I hoped the timing was right and the bucks would be moving.
So Tuesday morning saw us leave camp for the trail up to the spot and as Tony and I settled into the stand, the deer were moving and we nearly got busted. It was a short morning hunt as a nice buck came in on my side of the stand. I nudged tony and pointed to his rifle, giving him the first chance of the morning. He had to leave for a funeral on wednesday so it was only right to give him the first opportunity. He made the shot and the deer was down so we decided he would drag it out and I would stay in the stand as it was just 8:30 in the morning.

I sat and watched a few groups of does and fawns move through and then at around 10 am or so , in comes 3 does on my right side, walking in a line that would take them right under my stand. I scanned the bushes behind them, looking for a buck but just saw the does. Just as the first doe got about 20 yards from the stand..... out steps this huge bodied blacktail from behind the one tree that was blocking my sight line. I wasted no time flicking the safety off and getting the sights lined up. At the shot he just dropped, a few yards from the treestand ladder. I remained motionless afterr the shot and the does had not detected me. I waited for them to move off before I moved a muscle. Last thing I wanted was spooked does thumping back up the trails. That would ruin the spot for the day at least.
When I got down to my deer I was bit struck by his body size and was stoked to see the nice thick dark rack , a 2 x 3 and not a trophy in some peoples books but I've been hunting that spot for over 20 years and this is one of the bigger bodied deer we have taken there.
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The next morning I was by myself in the stand again and around the same time of day this guy walked thru my sight lines. Saw lots of does and fawns that morning and was marvelling at the health and numbers of fawns I was seeing. When this guy walked thru I almost let him go but it was getting real warm and it was going to get to warm for the deer I already had hanging so I ended my hunt with this guy. A typical coastal Blacktail 2pt and he's gonna be great eating.
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So another successful season in the region 2 treestand and I was fortunate enough to punch both my region 2 tags in the short time we were up there.
One more deer tag to fill before the season ends and spike fork bull moose are open in my region 3 spot so the season isn't over yet.

Thanx for the great contest @internationalshootingsupplies!!!!
 
I did okay this year so far for a disabled guy and I rely on friends and family more than ever as each season passes.
One hunt I love is hunting Blacktail deer in the steep coastal mountains north of Pemberton BC.
This year my good friend Tony went up the day (sunday)before I arrived and set up my treestand ladder. He hunted that evening and the next morning but saw only does.
My brother and I arrived the next day in the afternoon and we all just hung out in camp and had a good time.
The weather was borderline but good and cold at night, I hoped the timing was right and the bucks would be moving.
So Tuesday morning saw us leave camp for the trail up to the spot and as Tony and I settled into the stand, the deer were moving and we nearly got busted. It was a short morning hunt as a nice buck came in on my side of the stand. I nudged tony and pointed to his rifle, giving him the first chance of the morning. He had to leave for a funeral on wednesday so it was only right to give him the first opportunity. He made the shot and the deer was down so we decided he would drag it out and I would stay in the stand as it was just 8:30 in the morning.

I sat and watched a few groups of does and fawns move through and then at around 10 am or so , in comes 3 does on my right side, walking in a line that would take them right under my stand. I scanned the bushes behind them, looking for a buck but just saw the does. Just as the first doe got about 20 yards from the stand..... out steps this huge bodied blacktail from behind the one tree that was blocking my sight line. I wasted no time flicking the safety off and getting the sights lined up. At the shot he just dropped, a few yards from the treestand ladder. I remained motionless afterr the shot and the does had not detected me. I waited for them to move off before I moved a muscle. Last thing I wanted was spooked does thumping back up the trails. That would ruin the spot for the day at least.
When I got down to my deer I was bit struck by his body size and was stoked to see the nice thick dark rack , a 2 x 3 and not a trophy in some peoples books but I've been hunting that spot for over 20 years and this is one of the bigger bodied deer we have taken there.
nZ0NTV1.jpg

o6MABXB.jpg


The next morning I was by myself in the stand again and around the same time of day this guy walked thru my sight lines. Saw lots of does and fawns that morning and was marvelling at the health and numbers of fawns I was seeing. When this guy walked thru I almost let him go but it was getting real warm and it was going to get to warm for the deer I already had hanging so I ended my hunt with this guy. A typical coastal Blacktail 2pt and he's gonna be great eating.
MOsl1Mo.jpg


So another successful season in the region 2 treestand and I was fortunate enough to punch both my region 2 tags in the short time we were up there.
One more deer tag to fill before the season ends and spike fork bull moose are open in my region 3 spot so the season isn't over yet.

Thanx for the great contest @internationalshootingsupplies!!!!

Nice blacktails!

I don't think most people appreciate how tough they can be to hunt - IMHO they are one of the more difficult animals to take in NA.
 
I have been mentoring a mate this year.
He got drawn for cow elk and by chance so did I.
So he has experienced a few highs and lows of hunting cow elk.

Got him on a few places and he’s seen his share of elk. We had a nice herd come out and the cow in the pic was 215m
I dropped her while he missed his at 140m.

So we now move onto white tails. I have a good set up in a local WMU.
I plugged my 5x5 one afternoon and just the past Wednesday he dropped his buck at 60yards.
Boy is he a happy hunter now.

He’s just got his PAL and hunters safety and he’s wanting to do his RPAL now.


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My November WT 4X4 Buck

Here is my November 23/2023 WT 4X4 Buck. It's a very short story. I actually walked out to my ground blind and this time brought a folding chair.

No sooner had I sat down and placed the safety to fire on my Ravin Crossbow, a smaller 4x4 WT buck walked by at 30 yards. Behind him was this larger 4x4 buck that was going to kick his butt...lol...!

I raised my crossbow and watched as they started to move away. I grunted with my voice and the larger buck stopped and looked back at me. I immediately deployed the Ravin R26 crossbow. The 400 fps bolt slipped through him like a hot knife through butter, hit the frozen ground on the opposite side of the buck, and then ricocheted into the timber.

I watched as the buck sped off into the bush as if struck by lightning. I did not see him fall, but I heard him crash approximately 60 yards from me. I normally wait 30 minutes on an arrow harvest, but I knew he was down.

I went home and told my wife. We went out to the spot where he had gone down and there he was, stone-dead. We took some pictures and loaded him into the Mule UTV. The rest is history.

He will be great eating, and I'm thankful for having such a great experience. This was definitely a gift from God for me.

Thanks for reading my story!.......:)


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I’m not much of a storyteller, but I’ll try and put some words down on paper…

This year was a friend of mines first big game hunting experience. It started out on our first day off with myself and a mutual friend Craig. Craig and I set out on our way into the backcountry of northern Alberta and setup camp at one of our regular hunting spots. This particular camp site is used by guides in the spring who hunt black bear, but it’s empty in the fall.

By the time we were getting close to our camp it was already dark and we had spotted a few sets of fresh tracks nearby, so we decided to stop and do some cow calling in the dark. The next morning we went back to the same place and Craig continued cow calling for most of the morning with no real results other than the regular squirrels squawking at us and the normal bush noises that keep you wondering if there’s an animal nearby. Our friend Justin showed up later that same day and setup camp with us. We carried on with our ritual of having a few drinks around the fire and enjoyed each other’s company until it was way past our bedtime.



The next morning came early and Craig woke me up at the crack of dawn, but justin was still sleeping. Craig and I enjoyed a coffee and put an extra cup on for Justin while we chatted about the day and tried making a plan. We were debating wether to wake Justin up or let him sleep and if Craig and I should go together, or part ways to cover more ground. I decided to give Justin’s tent a shake and see if he jumped out of bed or kept sleeping and let him decide how the seating arrangement was going to be. A few minutes later he came alive, grabbed his cup of coffee and decided to ride shotgun in Craig’s side by side because he was feeling a bit under the weather. I went the opposite direction in search of big Alberta bull moose.

30-45 minutes later I reached my spot to start calling. I parked my quad and walked in quite a ways, took off my coat and setup for my regular routine with my rifle leaning against a tree nearby. I made one cow call and after calling I did my regular thing of noting the time so I know how far to space out my next call and as I glance at my phone it shows I have a message on my inreach, “moose down”. I’m not going to lie, I really didn’t want to leave my spot and I was quite a ways from them, but neither of them really knew how to handle a moose to gut and quarter it so I encouraged them to get started without me and I waited to make one more call before heading their way.

When I showed up the boys had some spotty cell service and were trying to watch YouTube moose gutting videos, but this is the first image I collected. A guy who was about 7 minutes into his big game hunting career and had a moose down in the exact same spot Craig was calling in the day before. The moose was standing on the quad trail less than 300 yards from where Craig was standing the day before.



Then the work started. Justin had no idea how much work was involved in handling a moose and this one was far from a monster. I’m definitely not the fastest guy at cutting up an animal so it took us a few hours, but I think I do a good job. Guts out, skin one side, lay down a fresh clean tarp under the spine, flip the skinned side down on the clean tarp, skin the other side, cut in half between rib 4 and 5, quarter the two pieces with a sawzall and a long coarse blade, into game bags, loaded in the back of the side by side and wrap it up in a tarp with the edges sealed with duct tape. Easy Peezy.
 
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