I thought Id give you all a little run through of my 2014 Hunting season, but before I start I want to say thank you to all those men and women that have sacrificed so much to give us the freedoms we all enjoy every day.
My season this year sort of started in July when I got that letter we all wait for anxiously when we know we have put in for special permits. I received a Mtn Goat tag for the crazies & an Elk archery tag for the breaks!! I have had the breaks tag in the past and have been successful so the goat tag was going to take precedence. The preparation planning and constant daydreaming add to the excitement of the coming hunting season more than ever before. A good buddy of mine drew the goat tag a couple years ago and my dad was on the hunt with him so I knew the area I wanted to go first. The next two months flew by and before long it was the middle of September and we were headed west from the flat side of the state to try and kill my first MTN goat. I had planned to be gone at least 8 days had in my mind that I would hold out for a mature billy. We saw goats within the first hours of the first morning. Day three rolled aroud and I found myself in the steep slippery shale with the crosshairs on a billy that I was going to be happy coming home with. A 400 yrd shot from the 7mag and my billy is down but slowly sliding down the mountain. He stopped for probably 10 seconds before he went into a full tumbledown the mountain. Which resulted in him completely knocking his horn off which I never could find. He was pretty beat up but on the bright side he was 200 yards closer to me. He turned out to be a 5 year old Billy that measured 9 1/4 on the horn he had left. I was slightly disappointed about the horn but was proud of the goat and the horn will be fixed. Where he ended up was so steep my brother in law pretty much just sat down and braced his feet and held on to the goat while I skinned and quartered. It was about a mile back to the horses and we were in camp before dark to enjoy fresh backstrap and a cold one to recap the day.
Bro In Law
20Uploads/corysphone268_zpsc60aabaf.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
These goats came to within 45 yrds the day after I killed mine. They had a billy with them that I swear would go 10 inches and they were 50 yrds from the horses in a grassy meadow!!!! What are the ODDS!! Ha
We hung around an another day hoping to find a bear but with the warmer weather I headed home to get the goat to the taxi. My wife and kids were happy to see me home a week early. BUT I had planned for another week and I did have that pesky breaks elk tag in my pocket
. So I took care of a couple things at home for a couple days and was headed back west to try and kill my bull. I wasn't going to be as picky as usual because my time was going to be limited to go back. The next morning found me with bulls bugling on both sides of me as it got light and mosquitoes the size of Buicks biting through my camo. At 9 oclock I put a stock on this guy and he offered a shot that I couldn't pass up. We had him in the pickup by 4 were packed and headed home.
A couple weeks of work and antelope season was upon me. I tried several times to kill a certain buck with my bow but cold never seal the deal. I had a boy at home home that was dying to go on his first lope hunt as tis was on my mind when I didn't pull the trigger on a couple average buck that were in bow range. On opening morning my 4 year old Hazen I were headed out to look for lopes and I decided I would shoot the first buck that would let Haze watch the process. We had a buck in the pickup by ten and he was sure that lope hunting was the easiest thing ever. I had one excited little boy!! Dad was pretty stoked too!! It was the smallest lope I have killed in several yeasr but none of them as special as this one.
A month of work progessed along with a little yote calling and helping an out of state friend get his mule deer. I found my self impatiently waiting for the deer rut to start.
With the seriously low deer numbers and the number of people at an all time high my expectations were not as high as normal but Im not one to quit. I have been very blessed and have 3 180+ deer on the wall, I was prepared to eat my tag if I could not find the right one. The cold and snow made for excellent deer hunting but my trophy was not to be found. I passed on a couple that were close but not what I wanted. My dad even passed on these same deer as I think we were both enjoying the days spent together in the field more than the need to kill anything. I was going to be out of town to visit family for Thanksgiving week so my season was winding to a close. I was disappointed that I had not fired a shot at a buck but was feeling very fortunate of what I was already able to accomplish. There was one more day of decent weather left and dad couldn't tag along so I decided to go have on more look around before I put the ketchup on my tag. At daylight I spotted a buck that was a long way off and on the move but could I could tell right away away that I needed to get a better look a him. After a 4 mile hike and a 100 yard belly crawl through the snow I knew he was the caliber of deer had been looking for for almost 2 weeks straight. One 230 yrd shot and 2014 was in the books.
When I walked up on this deer I stood there in almost shock. Taking in what I had killed this year and memories I made with my son, family and friends. I feel so blessed to live where I do where I'm surrounded by good people and beautiful country. I hope I never take it for granted. Thanks for tagging along. .....Now on to a pile of yotes and maybe a big Cat! God Bless
My season this year sort of started in July when I got that letter we all wait for anxiously when we know we have put in for special permits. I received a Mtn Goat tag for the crazies & an Elk archery tag for the breaks!! I have had the breaks tag in the past and have been successful so the goat tag was going to take precedence. The preparation planning and constant daydreaming add to the excitement of the coming hunting season more than ever before. A good buddy of mine drew the goat tag a couple years ago and my dad was on the hunt with him so I knew the area I wanted to go first. The next two months flew by and before long it was the middle of September and we were headed west from the flat side of the state to try and kill my first MTN goat. I had planned to be gone at least 8 days had in my mind that I would hold out for a mature billy. We saw goats within the first hours of the first morning. Day three rolled aroud and I found myself in the steep slippery shale with the crosshairs on a billy that I was going to be happy coming home with. A 400 yrd shot from the 7mag and my billy is down but slowly sliding down the mountain. He stopped for probably 10 seconds before he went into a full tumbledown the mountain. Which resulted in him completely knocking his horn off which I never could find. He was pretty beat up but on the bright side he was 200 yards closer to me. He turned out to be a 5 year old Billy that measured 9 1/4 on the horn he had left. I was slightly disappointed about the horn but was proud of the goat and the horn will be fixed. Where he ended up was so steep my brother in law pretty much just sat down and braced his feet and held on to the goat while I skinned and quartered. It was about a mile back to the horses and we were in camp before dark to enjoy fresh backstrap and a cold one to recap the day.
Bro In Law
20Uploads/corysphone268_zpsc60aabaf.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
These goats came to within 45 yrds the day after I killed mine. They had a billy with them that I swear would go 10 inches and they were 50 yrds from the horses in a grassy meadow!!!! What are the ODDS!! Ha
We hung around an another day hoping to find a bear but with the warmer weather I headed home to get the goat to the taxi. My wife and kids were happy to see me home a week early. BUT I had planned for another week and I did have that pesky breaks elk tag in my pocket
. So I took care of a couple things at home for a couple days and was headed back west to try and kill my bull. I wasn't going to be as picky as usual because my time was going to be limited to go back. The next morning found me with bulls bugling on both sides of me as it got light and mosquitoes the size of Buicks biting through my camo. At 9 oclock I put a stock on this guy and he offered a shot that I couldn't pass up. We had him in the pickup by 4 were packed and headed home. 
A couple weeks of work and antelope season was upon me. I tried several times to kill a certain buck with my bow but cold never seal the deal. I had a boy at home home that was dying to go on his first lope hunt as tis was on my mind when I didn't pull the trigger on a couple average buck that were in bow range. On opening morning my 4 year old Hazen I were headed out to look for lopes and I decided I would shoot the first buck that would let Haze watch the process. We had a buck in the pickup by ten and he was sure that lope hunting was the easiest thing ever. I had one excited little boy!! Dad was pretty stoked too!! It was the smallest lope I have killed in several yeasr but none of them as special as this one.
A month of work progessed along with a little yote calling and helping an out of state friend get his mule deer. I found my self impatiently waiting for the deer rut to start.
With the seriously low deer numbers and the number of people at an all time high my expectations were not as high as normal but Im not one to quit. I have been very blessed and have 3 180+ deer on the wall, I was prepared to eat my tag if I could not find the right one. The cold and snow made for excellent deer hunting but my trophy was not to be found. I passed on a couple that were close but not what I wanted. My dad even passed on these same deer as I think we were both enjoying the days spent together in the field more than the need to kill anything. I was going to be out of town to visit family for Thanksgiving week so my season was winding to a close. I was disappointed that I had not fired a shot at a buck but was feeling very fortunate of what I was already able to accomplish. There was one more day of decent weather left and dad couldn't tag along so I decided to go have on more look around before I put the ketchup on my tag. At daylight I spotted a buck that was a long way off and on the move but could I could tell right away away that I needed to get a better look a him. After a 4 mile hike and a 100 yard belly crawl through the snow I knew he was the caliber of deer had been looking for for almost 2 weeks straight. One 230 yrd shot and 2014 was in the books.
When I walked up on this deer I stood there in almost shock. Taking in what I had killed this year and memories I made with my son, family and friends. I feel so blessed to live where I do where I'm surrounded by good people and beautiful country. I hope I never take it for granted. Thanks for tagging along. .....Now on to a pile of yotes and maybe a big Cat!
God Bless
