2023 Hunting Adventures Recap

rtraverdavis said:
Great story and incredible tom, @Desk Pop. Your hunt recaps, especially your hound hunting stories are always a highlight. Chasing a mountain lion behind dogs, no matter if a trigger is pulled at the end or not, is something I have to try one day. Thanks for the continued inspiration.
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Thank you very much for the kind words Randy.

Let me know if you're down my way during winter sometime.
 
May - The snow began to melt, but I think all the deer in the photo from March were coyote food by April. I did a couple turkey hunts, and got one at the end of the month when the snow was finally gone.

We also did some fishing with the kids at a pond in town. My little dude caught this one.Screenshot_20240406-072637.png

I also found the groundhog that had popped his head out of his hole on February 2, saw his shadow and caused nine extra weeks of winter. I shot him and smiled. The best part of May, however, was draw results started coming out...
 
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So, I was talking on the phone that afternoon with my buddy C. We were excited. We've been trying for one of these ewe tags a while. It would be a wilderness backpack hunt, and he was hoping he could join.

We also had the draw results for our home state, but hadn't drawn anything.

I asked if he had heard from his dad, Court, who had put in for sheep.

He said he hadn't.

A little background... Court has the best draw luck I've ever seen. He drew the Silver State desert tag about ten years ago. The prior season, he drew an Ely elk tag in NV AND the single random NR Oak Cr rifle mulie tag in Utah with like ten points. Just insane luck. The other thing about him is that he only puts in for the top end units. Our strategies are different. He will be like, "why wouldn't you put in the units with the biggest animals?" I'd say, "because the odds are way worse." He would just shake his head. I guess with his luck, may as well shoot for the moon.

The other thing about Court is that he holds his emotions in. I draw a ewe tag and my secretary asks why I am screaming in my office. Court is the opposite.

So, we joke on the phone: "I bet he drew, but didn't even think to call."
 
My phone buzzes at like 10:30 that night.

It is C.

"My dad drew a ram tag. We were talking about other stuff, then right at the end of the call he was like, 'oh yeah, I got that sheep tag.'"

All of the sudden, I don't care about September elk hunting.

We're going sheep hunting!

Twice.
 
June - You may remember from my 2022 highlights, my buddy C got married the last summer and I was his best man. He married an awesome girl.

How awesome?

I'll tell you.

I've been trying to get C to go to Africa since we met. We have been on three DIY Hawaii hunts, and hunted a lot of stuff in a lot of states. But never Africa. He wanted to, but it was just a bit of a stretch. When he got married, he had owned his house for a couple years, but moved to her house across the state. He made a solid profit on the sale of his home, so his new wife said, "you should take that trip to Africa you've been wanting to."

When your wife says this, you picked a winner.

So, we'd booked the hunt, and our wives would join us.

I'd been all over Africa, and hunted it a few times. I even met my wife in Kenya. We'd been back a lot, doing mission work and country hopping on a shoestring budget...but she'd never hunted there with me.

June 2023 was finally here, so I said goodbye to my kids and a dozen dogs who we left with their aunt and grandparents, and we took off to the airport.
 
C and I booked a hunt in the Eastern Cape, RSA. It has a huge variety of game, and is affordable. It has some species I haven't gotten, but also has the common stuff.

I also wanted a hunt where C could hunt in varied ecosystems and areas and experience more.
 
I really like hunting weird, obscure species. On my first safari in Namibia, I got some neat antelope species, but was most excited about getting a genet, wildcat and a cape cobra that almost bit my PH. In Argentina, I got six animals, but was most excited about the capybara, 100-pound rodent. Basically, I'm a nerd.

I also like hunting with hounds any chance I can.

So on this trip, I was after three species with different hound packs: blue duiker, bushpig and another caracal. I also really wanted a vaal rhebok, a smallish (40 pound ) antelope that is a true mountain species that has to be hunted in very specific mountain ranges and elevations.

But I was most excited about just sharing a safari with my wife and friends.
 
I felt like I was fairly up to speed on African antelopes. New one for me. Looks like the long eyelash trend so popular in the States currently is influencing RSA fashion.
 
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