ida homer
Well-known member
Had a good year. Swung for the fences in NM and WY, but a tough year for drawing tags.
So just banked a few points and hunted OTC.
Luckily still got to do a lot of hunting, which was awesome. Mostly solo, but we usually do an annual deer camp which is always fun.
Saw this buck the second day at 600 yards, a pretty 3x3 I wish I would have tagged but still had a few weeks of season left.
A buddy shot a pretty nice perfectly intact velvet buck on 10/10. I've never seen perfect velvet that late.
Had a rut fest going on below me while I debated on whether or not to pursue that buck.
I'm convinced the first 10 days of October is the new 3rd week of September in terms of the elk rut these days.
There was a nice clean 6x6 in the brush behind this satellite that I didn't get pictures of. Didn't have an elk tag
for this unit of course.
A life time of camping, backpacking and hunting in Idaho and we've never had bear issues in camp until this year.
A hunting buddy shot it during our elk hunt. We are not avid bear hunters and typically prefer not to shoot them,
however this was a problem campground bear. I estimated him at 4-8 years old. We'll find out in a couple months.
Got up early for a day hunt the 2nd to last day of the season. No secret spot, just some low country that sees
early migration activity. Sometimes you'll see the younger bucks start nosing does which makes for lots of action.
Froze my ass off in 4 degree weather with 10mph winds on my glassing knob. But the action was good.
Stopped counting does at 100 by 10am and had seen just 1 forky when this 3x3 came out of the draw below
sniffing a doe. The most difficult part was getting him to stop moving for a shot. Both shots with the new CA Ridgeline were
right on the money at a healthy distance. Although we never laid eyes on any bucks in that 4+ year age range
this season, we still saw a ton of deer. Average of 75-100 (+/- 10 bucks) per day throughout the 3 week rifle season.
IMO, things are looking good pending no record winters for a couple years. My water bladder never thawed out until
halfway through the packout, so that was a pain in the ass.
Never had a chance at a mature bull this year. Had shots at 4 spikes/raghorns throughout the season but I was either solo
and they were in a nasty hole or I wouldn't have had time as I had to be at work Monday morning sharp.
Here was a cool bull bedded at 90 yards from my glassing knob, but didn't have a rifle tag for this unit.
Looking forward to 2020, hopefully it yields some tags.
So just banked a few points and hunted OTC.
Luckily still got to do a lot of hunting, which was awesome. Mostly solo, but we usually do an annual deer camp which is always fun.
Saw this buck the second day at 600 yards, a pretty 3x3 I wish I would have tagged but still had a few weeks of season left.
A buddy shot a pretty nice perfectly intact velvet buck on 10/10. I've never seen perfect velvet that late.
Had a rut fest going on below me while I debated on whether or not to pursue that buck.
I'm convinced the first 10 days of October is the new 3rd week of September in terms of the elk rut these days.
There was a nice clean 6x6 in the brush behind this satellite that I didn't get pictures of. Didn't have an elk tag
for this unit of course.
A life time of camping, backpacking and hunting in Idaho and we've never had bear issues in camp until this year.
A hunting buddy shot it during our elk hunt. We are not avid bear hunters and typically prefer not to shoot them,
however this was a problem campground bear. I estimated him at 4-8 years old. We'll find out in a couple months.
Got up early for a day hunt the 2nd to last day of the season. No secret spot, just some low country that sees
early migration activity. Sometimes you'll see the younger bucks start nosing does which makes for lots of action.
Froze my ass off in 4 degree weather with 10mph winds on my glassing knob. But the action was good.
Stopped counting does at 100 by 10am and had seen just 1 forky when this 3x3 came out of the draw below
sniffing a doe. The most difficult part was getting him to stop moving for a shot. Both shots with the new CA Ridgeline were
right on the money at a healthy distance. Although we never laid eyes on any bucks in that 4+ year age range
this season, we still saw a ton of deer. Average of 75-100 (+/- 10 bucks) per day throughout the 3 week rifle season.
IMO, things are looking good pending no record winters for a couple years. My water bladder never thawed out until
halfway through the packout, so that was a pain in the ass.
Never had a chance at a mature bull this year. Had shots at 4 spikes/raghorns throughout the season but I was either solo
and they were in a nasty hole or I wouldn't have had time as I had to be at work Monday morning sharp.
Here was a cool bull bedded at 90 yards from my glassing knob, but didn't have a rifle tag for this unit.
Looking forward to 2020, hopefully it yields some tags.
memtb
Good season, dude!!
