This was my son's first year of big game hunting. The year started out with spring bear but unfortunately neither of us was able to tag one. I was pretty proud of him as he put a lot of hours in the stand through cold, wind, rain, and heat. We saw a lot of really cool bear activity, including a black sow with three blond cubs on a regular basis but those single bears just kept eluding us. We had probably 6 or 7 legal bears on the trail cam throughout the spring but they just never came in while we were there. While he was disappointed of course, he was already looking forward to the fall and deer season.
Sept. rolled around and it was elk season for me. Opening day had me parking my truck about a 1/4 mile from the entrance to my quarter with a short hike in the dark to set up on the edge of a large hay field on the edge of my land. I set up in a small clump of new growth poplar trees about as tall as me so I had some cover but could see out over the field in hopes of catching something crossing. As my watch alarm signaled it was legal time I realized that I couldn't really see one of the major elk trails that entered my quarter from the neighboring bush. I took a step forward to give myself a better view of that direction and was shocked to see an elk about a hundred yds away! I could see he was a spike bull but with elk I'm not picky. They're just too tasty to pass up. He was moving at a fast walk and I quickly got down into a more stable sitting position and gave a chirp on the cow call. Nothing. He didn't even look my way. I called again but he was either deaf or just totally ignoring me and continued towards the far bush at the same pace. By this time he was heading into a low spot and I lost sight of him through the tall grass since I was sitting. I quickly half belly crawled, half normal crawled about 10yds to the edge of the little rise I was on so I could get a better view of the low spot and the slight hill on the far side of it where I expected him to be heading. Once I got into position I could see him moving and as he came into full view on the side of the small hill he finally stopped mostly broad side and I once again took up a sitting position and fired. He dropped like a stone. Shot distance was about 150yds and the 210gr TSX from my Kimber Montana .338 Federal did the job again. This was by far the easiest elk hunt I've ever had. Usually I'm hiking miles for days in some rank terrain and frame packing the meat out for hours. It took all of 6 minutes to get my elk this year and I was able to drive my truck right up to him.
My hunting partner and I were lucky enough to get drawn for mule deer this year and headed out for opening day of muzzle loader season. We were hunting an area unfamiliar to us but a good friend hunted the area frequently and had set us up with permission to hunt in several prime locations. We hike quite a few miles the first day but didn't see a single mule deer buck. The next weekend we headed to a different spot and immediately spotted a group of bucks bedded down on the far end of a ravine. They were a long way off but even so I could see heavy antlers on the furthest buck so we decided to give it a try. There was really no way of approaching them without them either seeing or smelling us before we could get into muzzle loader range and the stalk was a bust. They took off headed towards the next big draw. This time, given the direction they went, we knew we would at least have the wind in our favor so we hiked up to the next ravine and started slowly working through it. We split up a bit to cover a bit more ground and as I crested a small hill in the bottom of the ravine I could see some really thick cover at the bottom and just had that feeling that they had bedded down there. I took off my pack and sat down scanning the bottom but it was just too thick and I couldn't see anything. I decided to have a quick snack before moving on and just as I opened my pack up the four bucks jumped out of the thick bush and headed up the far side of the ravine. As they got halfway up the slope they stopped about 125yds away. I quickly dropped to a prone position and put the crosshairs on the big bucks shoulder and fired. As the smoke cleared I could see him limping up the slope on three legs. I started reloading as fast as I could while keeping an eye on him. He managed to get to the top of the ravine, then about 50yds along the top before starting back down into it. I was beginning to get really worried I had made a bad shot and only wounded him through the leg but then he stopped and I saw him wobble badly. He walked another 20 yds then dropped and tumbled a few times down the steep side. I lost sight of his body but I could see his antler sticking up through the tall grass and knew he was a good one. I was pretty elated when I walked up to him. He ended up grossing just over 200 non-typical. The 290gr T-EZ had broke the near shoulder, did massive damage to the vitals, damaged the bone in the far shoulder and stopped just under the hide on the far side. It mushroomed perfectly and weighed 289gr after recovery.
So now, with elk and mule deer out of the way, it was time to concentrate on getting the boy his first deer. I had decided to run a bait up north as I figured it would be a good way for him to get a deer in a controlled and comfortable environment. He would have a steady rest and adequate time to make a good shot. I had never really done it before but with some good advice from friends we set up in a location away from any quad trails and roads and relied on my pack mule capabilities to frame pack in all the bait. It was a lot of work hiking in all the bait and the stand but I believe hard work makes the success all that much sweeter. He spent several days in the stand over a couple weeks but just had the worst luck. I would sit there and have several different young bucks come in during the day but as soon as he was in there, nothing. As the season progressed I sat there a bit more and watched this spiker come in 3 days in a row. He was pretty amazing and would attack any other deer that came in except for the significantly bigger bucks but even then he would push his luck and edge back in until he would get run off again. He even got into an all out war with another spiker. I've never seen two spike bucks fight that aggressively. It was pretty entertaining to watch. Anyway, on the 4th day my son had time off from school and we headed out. Sure enough, just like clock work, the spiker came in and he made a perfect shot dropping him on the spot. He had heard my stories about the spiker and was so happy about getting him. I don't think he stopped smiling for at least an hour after. It was the highlight of my season by far.
Unfortunately my luck ran out after that and I ended up keeping my whitetail tags intact. My daughter also had poor luck and didn't get a deer either. We had fun though so that's the main thing. All in all it was an amazing season spent with family and friends with some healthy meat in the freezer in the end.
Sept. rolled around and it was elk season for me. Opening day had me parking my truck about a 1/4 mile from the entrance to my quarter with a short hike in the dark to set up on the edge of a large hay field on the edge of my land. I set up in a small clump of new growth poplar trees about as tall as me so I had some cover but could see out over the field in hopes of catching something crossing. As my watch alarm signaled it was legal time I realized that I couldn't really see one of the major elk trails that entered my quarter from the neighboring bush. I took a step forward to give myself a better view of that direction and was shocked to see an elk about a hundred yds away! I could see he was a spike bull but with elk I'm not picky. They're just too tasty to pass up. He was moving at a fast walk and I quickly got down into a more stable sitting position and gave a chirp on the cow call. Nothing. He didn't even look my way. I called again but he was either deaf or just totally ignoring me and continued towards the far bush at the same pace. By this time he was heading into a low spot and I lost sight of him through the tall grass since I was sitting. I quickly half belly crawled, half normal crawled about 10yds to the edge of the little rise I was on so I could get a better view of the low spot and the slight hill on the far side of it where I expected him to be heading. Once I got into position I could see him moving and as he came into full view on the side of the small hill he finally stopped mostly broad side and I once again took up a sitting position and fired. He dropped like a stone. Shot distance was about 150yds and the 210gr TSX from my Kimber Montana .338 Federal did the job again. This was by far the easiest elk hunt I've ever had. Usually I'm hiking miles for days in some rank terrain and frame packing the meat out for hours. It took all of 6 minutes to get my elk this year and I was able to drive my truck right up to him.
My hunting partner and I were lucky enough to get drawn for mule deer this year and headed out for opening day of muzzle loader season. We were hunting an area unfamiliar to us but a good friend hunted the area frequently and had set us up with permission to hunt in several prime locations. We hike quite a few miles the first day but didn't see a single mule deer buck. The next weekend we headed to a different spot and immediately spotted a group of bucks bedded down on the far end of a ravine. They were a long way off but even so I could see heavy antlers on the furthest buck so we decided to give it a try. There was really no way of approaching them without them either seeing or smelling us before we could get into muzzle loader range and the stalk was a bust. They took off headed towards the next big draw. This time, given the direction they went, we knew we would at least have the wind in our favor so we hiked up to the next ravine and started slowly working through it. We split up a bit to cover a bit more ground and as I crested a small hill in the bottom of the ravine I could see some really thick cover at the bottom and just had that feeling that they had bedded down there. I took off my pack and sat down scanning the bottom but it was just too thick and I couldn't see anything. I decided to have a quick snack before moving on and just as I opened my pack up the four bucks jumped out of the thick bush and headed up the far side of the ravine. As they got halfway up the slope they stopped about 125yds away. I quickly dropped to a prone position and put the crosshairs on the big bucks shoulder and fired. As the smoke cleared I could see him limping up the slope on three legs. I started reloading as fast as I could while keeping an eye on him. He managed to get to the top of the ravine, then about 50yds along the top before starting back down into it. I was beginning to get really worried I had made a bad shot and only wounded him through the leg but then he stopped and I saw him wobble badly. He walked another 20 yds then dropped and tumbled a few times down the steep side. I lost sight of his body but I could see his antler sticking up through the tall grass and knew he was a good one. I was pretty elated when I walked up to him. He ended up grossing just over 200 non-typical. The 290gr T-EZ had broke the near shoulder, did massive damage to the vitals, damaged the bone in the far shoulder and stopped just under the hide on the far side. It mushroomed perfectly and weighed 289gr after recovery.
So now, with elk and mule deer out of the way, it was time to concentrate on getting the boy his first deer. I had decided to run a bait up north as I figured it would be a good way for him to get a deer in a controlled and comfortable environment. He would have a steady rest and adequate time to make a good shot. I had never really done it before but with some good advice from friends we set up in a location away from any quad trails and roads and relied on my pack mule capabilities to frame pack in all the bait. It was a lot of work hiking in all the bait and the stand but I believe hard work makes the success all that much sweeter. He spent several days in the stand over a couple weeks but just had the worst luck. I would sit there and have several different young bucks come in during the day but as soon as he was in there, nothing. As the season progressed I sat there a bit more and watched this spiker come in 3 days in a row. He was pretty amazing and would attack any other deer that came in except for the significantly bigger bucks but even then he would push his luck and edge back in until he would get run off again. He even got into an all out war with another spiker. I've never seen two spike bucks fight that aggressively. It was pretty entertaining to watch. Anyway, on the 4th day my son had time off from school and we headed out. Sure enough, just like clock work, the spiker came in and he made a perfect shot dropping him on the spot. He had heard my stories about the spiker and was so happy about getting him. I don't think he stopped smiling for at least an hour after. It was the highlight of my season by far.
Unfortunately my luck ran out after that and I ended up keeping my whitetail tags intact. My daughter also had poor luck and didn't get a deer either. We had fun though so that's the main thing. All in all it was an amazing season spent with family and friends with some healthy meat in the freezer in the end.
