Bowhuntrben
Well-known member
Thank you for taking us along. One of the best write-ups I’ve ever read and easy to see it was an epic adventure.
Vanish and FireTiger's 2020 Journal
- Thread starter vanish
- Start date
I only wish there was a way to take photos without actually using a camera. Some great memories in my brain with no way to share them!
After the elk trip, we had a couple of pronghorn hunts. First up was buck pronghorn in Colorado with the muzzleloader. We've done this hunt several times and it is easily one of our favorites. This is a low pressure fun hunt for us where we try to have some fun stalks and bring home some bucks. We're not looking for record book animals here.
We had enough time the evening we made it down to do some scouting and even make a quick stalk that ended in a bust. We're not looking for big animals, but this goofy little guy got a pass.
We saw a few good bucks but they were in a terrible position for a stalk so we left them and decided to return in the morning, hoping they would give us a better chance.
We came back the next morning and one of the bucks, one with a herd, was right where we left him. The other was gone. It seemed like the herd might move to a stalkable position so we decided to just wait. Two young bucks were closer, but they got the pass. While watching them, a new herd came in from behind. One buck with three does and heading towards an area with some cover. I took off after them!
There was a fenceline that seemed to head straight to them with some large sage and yuccas. I quickly closed the distance. As I neared, I couldn't see them due to a slight rise, so I slowed down. I was looking for them ahead of me, but movement caught my eye off to my right. Darn, they were on the other side of the fence, and almost directly towards the sun. This was not where I had expected them, and the low sun lit me up. The closest doe caught me, and that was the end of the first stalk.
I attempted a stalk on the original herd as they seemed to have moved closer, but abandoned when I realized they were still much further away and there was no cover nearby. I had already logged three miles by the time I got back to the truck.
We had a second breakfast and refilled water while we glassed. There were pronghorn around but not where we could get to them. There was a continuous back and forth on whether we should drive around to locate other animals or we should wait for one of the groups we could see to make a move. This particular spot has good terrain for the muzzleloader, so we were hesitant to leave. There was one group we were watching with four does and a buck that I kept thinking was going to move to a place we could stalk.
In the distance, we saw a lone buck approaching a fenceline from some private land. This got the attention to the smaller herd's buck. He ran off to assert his dominance, leaving his does to wander closer to us. FireTiger took this opportunity to make a stalk under the assumption the buck would be back for his does. As she got into position, the buck came back, but stood at 220 yards.
The rival had been pushed away, but he was not out of sight. While FireTiger waited, the second buck came back toward the fenceline again, which pulled the target buck away again. When this happened, the doe group once again moved closer, at one point coming as close as 25 yards to FireTiger.
The next time the buck came back to his does, he was intercepted by a 50 yard shot from her gun.
I gathered my pack and the kill kit along with some water as it was getting HOT and met up with FireTiger. We dragged the buck over to the bush you could see above for a little bit of shade and got to work breaking him down. As we finished one side, I picked up a pair of binos and took a quick look around. In the past, we've had some curious pronghorn come investigate the scene. While nobody was coming toward us, I spotted a buck about 600 yards away from us trying to get some water. There were cattle drinking and he could run up and then run back 50 yards, unsure what to do.
FireTiger was like, I got this, you go get him! I quickly reloaded and took off with minimal gear. The buck seemed to disappear for a bit during my stalk and I began to get nervous the cattle had pushed him away. Knowing that in the past I've been burned by making the wrong assumption about where an animal went, I continued on. Good choice as a few minutes later I saw the buck working directly toward me!
I set up the bipod and lay in the dirt in the wide open with just a small rise between us. He walked right into my lap.
It was 10:30am and both tags were notched! I headed back to FireTiger where she was finishing up her buck. Thankfully, my buck was closer to the truck. I packed up her animal and we moved to mine and took some photos, whereby she began breaking him down while I took hers back to the coolers and prepped the truck for heading home. It was so hot in the back of the truck, I nearly passed out.
We had packed for four days, but were home that afternoon. We did the only logical thing and repacked to head to Wyoming the next day.
We had enough time the evening we made it down to do some scouting and even make a quick stalk that ended in a bust. We're not looking for big animals, but this goofy little guy got a pass.
We saw a few good bucks but they were in a terrible position for a stalk so we left them and decided to return in the morning, hoping they would give us a better chance.
We came back the next morning and one of the bucks, one with a herd, was right where we left him. The other was gone. It seemed like the herd might move to a stalkable position so we decided to just wait. Two young bucks were closer, but they got the pass. While watching them, a new herd came in from behind. One buck with three does and heading towards an area with some cover. I took off after them!
There was a fenceline that seemed to head straight to them with some large sage and yuccas. I quickly closed the distance. As I neared, I couldn't see them due to a slight rise, so I slowed down. I was looking for them ahead of me, but movement caught my eye off to my right. Darn, they were on the other side of the fence, and almost directly towards the sun. This was not where I had expected them, and the low sun lit me up. The closest doe caught me, and that was the end of the first stalk.
I attempted a stalk on the original herd as they seemed to have moved closer, but abandoned when I realized they were still much further away and there was no cover nearby. I had already logged three miles by the time I got back to the truck.
We had a second breakfast and refilled water while we glassed. There were pronghorn around but not where we could get to them. There was a continuous back and forth on whether we should drive around to locate other animals or we should wait for one of the groups we could see to make a move. This particular spot has good terrain for the muzzleloader, so we were hesitant to leave. There was one group we were watching with four does and a buck that I kept thinking was going to move to a place we could stalk.
In the distance, we saw a lone buck approaching a fenceline from some private land. This got the attention to the smaller herd's buck. He ran off to assert his dominance, leaving his does to wander closer to us. FireTiger took this opportunity to make a stalk under the assumption the buck would be back for his does. As she got into position, the buck came back, but stood at 220 yards.
The rival had been pushed away, but he was not out of sight. While FireTiger waited, the second buck came back toward the fenceline again, which pulled the target buck away again. When this happened, the doe group once again moved closer, at one point coming as close as 25 yards to FireTiger.
The next time the buck came back to his does, he was intercepted by a 50 yard shot from her gun.
I gathered my pack and the kill kit along with some water as it was getting HOT and met up with FireTiger. We dragged the buck over to the bush you could see above for a little bit of shade and got to work breaking him down. As we finished one side, I picked up a pair of binos and took a quick look around. In the past, we've had some curious pronghorn come investigate the scene. While nobody was coming toward us, I spotted a buck about 600 yards away from us trying to get some water. There were cattle drinking and he could run up and then run back 50 yards, unsure what to do.
FireTiger was like, I got this, you go get him! I quickly reloaded and took off with minimal gear. The buck seemed to disappear for a bit during my stalk and I began to get nervous the cattle had pushed him away. Knowing that in the past I've been burned by making the wrong assumption about where an animal went, I continued on. Good choice as a few minutes later I saw the buck working directly toward me!
I set up the bipod and lay in the dirt in the wide open with just a small rise between us. He walked right into my lap.
It was 10:30am and both tags were notched! I headed back to FireTiger where she was finishing up her buck. Thankfully, my buck was closer to the truck. I packed up her animal and we moved to mine and took some photos, whereby she began breaking him down while I took hers back to the coolers and prepped the truck for heading home. It was so hot in the back of the truck, I nearly passed out.
We had packed for four days, but were home that afternoon. We did the only logical thing and repacked to head to Wyoming the next day.
Mudranger1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2010
- Messages
- 2,895
Congrats on a couple nice bucks!
CORN
Active member
Nice bucks!!! Good write up!
wolfpup
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2015
- Messages
- 496
ML antelope all in one morning.... you guys are my heroes!
We slept in a bit the next morning before heading to Wyoming. We had the meat from the bucks cleaned up and in the refrigerator aging. It is actually closer to where we were hunting in Wyoming than where we had been in Colorado the day before.
We each had a doe tag in a unit with decent public access. I had expected FireTiger to draw a buck tag as well, but she was unlucky.
Our drive took us past the Mullen fire which brought on five minutes of driving through the apocalypse. The smoke was so thick you couldn't see the cars coming the other direction until they were within a couple hundred yards.
We got to the unit around noon and stepped out of the truck to change into our hunting clothes. Oh my goodness, the wind was nutty. I know this is Wyoming but I could barely get the truck door open. I won't even tell you about what happened when I tried to take a leak. I reminded FireTiger about shooting in winds like this. We're not good enough to compensate for this kind of drift, so shots are going to need to be directly into or with the wind.
We would most likely be hunting an HMA as we had two of the early limited access permits and had been there before. I was surprised at the lack of pronghorn we'd seen in the first part of the unit compared to a few years prior. FireTiger was looking at the map and saw a good looking ridge that would grant a place to get out of the wind not too far off the road.
We grabbed the binos and covered the few hundred yards to the ridge and immediately started spotting animals. She found a group bedded halfway up the slope and said its go time. There was a post seemingly above them on the hill that we marked as our destination, then we headed back to the truck to get the rifle. As we approached the post, she got low to keep out of sight. I followed just behind. Upon peaking over, the group was only 150 yards away. One of them had seen our movement, so they started to stand up. It was too late though, as FireTiger already had them in her sights.
We got her taken care of and then I was up. There was a couple different groups using that same ridge, one being about half a mile away. By the time we had everything settled and I got back out there, the more easily stalkable group had gotten up to feed and were now out of reach. Only the buck was nearby, which did me no good.
The second group was in a wide open basin, but bedded facing away. My chances didn't seem good and I almost left to look for a different animal to stalk, but I figured I was here I might as well try. As I got lower down the ridge, a small ditch and slight hump revealed themselves. I would be able to use those together to cut off a large chunk of the distance. Giddy at this revelation, I began chipping away at it. Perhaps too quickly, as I spotted them now moving back towards the ridge. Poor timing for me! If I had waited where I originally was, I would have had an easy stalk, but now I was more exposed than ever. They went behind a hill on the ridge, so I took that as my chance to move, but I has miscounted and one was still waiting behind out of my sight. She caught me and it was over at 350 yards.
I made it back to the truck but had burned more time than I realized. We drove deeper into the unit, getting closer to where we'd had success in the past, when FireTiger spotted a group bedded on a hill facing the road. Looping in behind them would give me a perfect shot.
We continued to drive until we were out of sight before I hopped out to stalk. I had an approximate guess on where they were, but it was hard to tell just how "long" the hill was. While trying to loop to get the wind in my favor for shooting, I came across a buck with a doe, and then a second buck. They were already in range but I had a problem. I had grabbed my gun instead of FireTiger's. I only had a 6-9 bipod on it. Every time I went prone to shoot, I couldn't see over the slightest of rises between us.
They were not spooked, but were also not my biggest fan. While working on that doe, I eventually wound up in range of the original group I had meant to stalk. Most likely due to agitating the other three, the group was now on their feet and bunched together. I had the same problem there, with the terrain not favoring my bipod. Finally, after much futzing, I had a lone doe give me a shot. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about the problem wind. She was quartering away and due to being completely perpendicular to the wind it drifted all the way behind her.
They spooked but didn't run that far. I waited until they were out of sight over the next ridge before following. I was able to get in range once again, but my target doe was still at a bad angle. As I tried to readjust, a second group of pronghorn above me I hadn't seen ( tunnel, tunnel vision... ) busted, taking my target with them.
We were out of light for that day so found some nearby BLM to camp on for the night.
The next morning we awoke to less wind, but snow. Funny to think it had been 95 when we were hunting two days earlier. We returned to the spot where I'd had the encounter the night before and I couldn't believe but there was a small herd a mere 500 yards away. There was a ridge I could use to cut the distance. They seemed distracted as the buck was pushing them back and forth. Using the ridge and the snow I was able to get to 240 yards and get my doe. I didn't take a photo as things were kind of wet and muddy with the snow. It was completely sunny by the time I got back to the truck.
We each had a doe tag in a unit with decent public access. I had expected FireTiger to draw a buck tag as well, but she was unlucky.
Our drive took us past the Mullen fire which brought on five minutes of driving through the apocalypse. The smoke was so thick you couldn't see the cars coming the other direction until they were within a couple hundred yards.
We got to the unit around noon and stepped out of the truck to change into our hunting clothes. Oh my goodness, the wind was nutty. I know this is Wyoming but I could barely get the truck door open. I won't even tell you about what happened when I tried to take a leak. I reminded FireTiger about shooting in winds like this. We're not good enough to compensate for this kind of drift, so shots are going to need to be directly into or with the wind.
We would most likely be hunting an HMA as we had two of the early limited access permits and had been there before. I was surprised at the lack of pronghorn we'd seen in the first part of the unit compared to a few years prior. FireTiger was looking at the map and saw a good looking ridge that would grant a place to get out of the wind not too far off the road.
We grabbed the binos and covered the few hundred yards to the ridge and immediately started spotting animals. She found a group bedded halfway up the slope and said its go time. There was a post seemingly above them on the hill that we marked as our destination, then we headed back to the truck to get the rifle. As we approached the post, she got low to keep out of sight. I followed just behind. Upon peaking over, the group was only 150 yards away. One of them had seen our movement, so they started to stand up. It was too late though, as FireTiger already had them in her sights.
We got her taken care of and then I was up. There was a couple different groups using that same ridge, one being about half a mile away. By the time we had everything settled and I got back out there, the more easily stalkable group had gotten up to feed and were now out of reach. Only the buck was nearby, which did me no good.
The second group was in a wide open basin, but bedded facing away. My chances didn't seem good and I almost left to look for a different animal to stalk, but I figured I was here I might as well try. As I got lower down the ridge, a small ditch and slight hump revealed themselves. I would be able to use those together to cut off a large chunk of the distance. Giddy at this revelation, I began chipping away at it. Perhaps too quickly, as I spotted them now moving back towards the ridge. Poor timing for me! If I had waited where I originally was, I would have had an easy stalk, but now I was more exposed than ever. They went behind a hill on the ridge, so I took that as my chance to move, but I has miscounted and one was still waiting behind out of my sight. She caught me and it was over at 350 yards.
I made it back to the truck but had burned more time than I realized. We drove deeper into the unit, getting closer to where we'd had success in the past, when FireTiger spotted a group bedded on a hill facing the road. Looping in behind them would give me a perfect shot.
We continued to drive until we were out of sight before I hopped out to stalk. I had an approximate guess on where they were, but it was hard to tell just how "long" the hill was. While trying to loop to get the wind in my favor for shooting, I came across a buck with a doe, and then a second buck. They were already in range but I had a problem. I had grabbed my gun instead of FireTiger's. I only had a 6-9 bipod on it. Every time I went prone to shoot, I couldn't see over the slightest of rises between us.
They were not spooked, but were also not my biggest fan. While working on that doe, I eventually wound up in range of the original group I had meant to stalk. Most likely due to agitating the other three, the group was now on their feet and bunched together. I had the same problem there, with the terrain not favoring my bipod. Finally, after much futzing, I had a lone doe give me a shot. Unfortunately, I had completely forgotten about the problem wind. She was quartering away and due to being completely perpendicular to the wind it drifted all the way behind her.
They spooked but didn't run that far. I waited until they were out of sight over the next ridge before following. I was able to get in range once again, but my target doe was still at a bad angle. As I tried to readjust, a second group of pronghorn above me I hadn't seen ( tunnel, tunnel vision... ) busted, taking my target with them.
We were out of light for that day so found some nearby BLM to camp on for the night.
The next morning we awoke to less wind, but snow. Funny to think it had been 95 when we were hunting two days earlier. We returned to the spot where I'd had the encounter the night before and I couldn't believe but there was a small herd a mere 500 yards away. There was a ridge I could use to cut the distance. They seemed distracted as the buck was pushing them back and forth. Using the ridge and the snow I was able to get to 240 yards and get my doe. I didn't take a photo as things were kind of wet and muddy with the snow. It was completely sunny by the time I got back to the truck.
TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
I have been held up on posting to my hunt log for a couple of days now while I was trying too read up on all your adventures. Great stuff. I'm sorry for the loss you suffered and I am glad that you were able to get out together and have some successful hunts. Hopefully you will have some elk meat for the freezer soon.
Wow, time flies when you're having fun ... or just busy!
Friday
We made the drive to NW Colorado and made it to our camping spot with enough time to do a quick climb up the ridge and glass. We only found cattle close by, with one long range elk cow. We were not worried.
We returned to camp to make dinner and uhoh ... someone left the Coleman stove back on our loading bench. It is usually in a bin with all the other kitchen gear but I had taken it out to wash it. 5 days living on cold food, oh joy! Did you know that powdered mash potatoes fluff up fine with cold water? They were better than I expected. We figured we could plead with a neighboring camp if we really needed to heat something but we'd be fine for now.
A spartan camp. Bins go in the cab at bedtime.
Sunset in NW CO elk country
Friday
We made the drive to NW Colorado and made it to our camping spot with enough time to do a quick climb up the ridge and glass. We only found cattle close by, with one long range elk cow. We were not worried.
We returned to camp to make dinner and uhoh ... someone left the Coleman stove back on our loading bench. It is usually in a bin with all the other kitchen gear but I had taken it out to wash it. 5 days living on cold food, oh joy! Did you know that powdered mash potatoes fluff up fine with cold water? They were better than I expected. We figured we could plead with a neighboring camp if we really needed to heat something but we'd be fine for now.
A spartan camp. Bins go in the cab at bedtime.
Sunset in NW CO elk country
Saturday Morning
A couple pairs of hunters passed our camp before we were ready to go. We had a pretty good idea of the glassing hill we wanted to be on for the morning and hoped they were headed somewhere else. As the sun rose we were nearing our destination and thankfully only saw a pair of hunters working towards a ridge further away. We got to our glassing point and set up. Things were fairly uneventful, but we thought we could hear a couple different bugles. FireTiger kept watch while I circled around to check out the basin to our left.
It sounded like the bugles were right below me. As I circled they got louder and louder. Finally, I spotted a herd of elk on the next ridge, but a good 800+ yards away. Those bugles really carry far in this open country. I could see another hunter positioned even farther away from them, but it was obvious he could at least hear them. I don't know if he could see them. I returned to give FireTiger the news.
We decided to move around our glassing knob to watch the action, as she hadn't seen nor heard anything since I had left. Well action we definitely got, but most of it was not quite what we were looking for. We kept finding more and more hunters keying in on the bugles. Now, we're all cow hunting, but almost for certain a bull is going to have cows with him here. We found at least 7 different parties working their way in on this herd, so we just held back. Over time as other hunters started noticing each other, it reduced to two parties that seemed to have a chance. There was a father/son coming in from the top right, and a group of 3 below. From our perspective, the group of 3 didn't seem to realize just how close the elk were to them, as they seemed to be looking at things in their hands and facing our direction. It was quite comical.
Meanwhile, the father was guiding his son into position. We watched as they used the oak brush to close the distance. We could see the father ranging while ( assumed ) the son was trying to get a rest. The elk were on to them, and they never got a shot before the herd moved off. The herd moved to our left, still on the same ridge, and only about 200 yards from where they had been. We finally got a chance to see there were two bulls; a raghorn and a very nice six, as well as at least 20 cows.
The herd hung up as they reached the end of the oak brush along that ridge. This allowed the father/son a second chance to sneak in. The group of 3 folks still seemed oblivious. The father/son closed to range, but it seemed like the boy was trying to steady an off-hand shot and once again they got busted before he was steady. This whole time we had been debating whether it was worth our time to keep watching these elk that were obviously watched by other people. Well, it paid off as this time when they busted, the majority of the herd dropped down off that ridge, circled up the valley, then turned 90 degrees and headed straight for the saddle to our left. Fire Drill time! FireTiger got in position for a shot over there while I headed down to watch if they took another turn. After a minute or so of not seeing the elk, I heard a shot, and then two more, but something wasn't right. It didn't seem loud enough.
I crossed back over to find the herd trotting away from us. It turned out there was another hunter positioned below us on our same ridge, and the elk came into range for him just moments before FireTiger was going to shoot. The elk were in range for her but were clumped together. She'd had a shot after the hunter had fired, but elected not to shoot not knowing exactly where he was. We couldn't see it but he did indeed get a cow as we could see the celebration.
As the elk in this area had moved out and there were at least 15 hunters visible, we decided to return to our original glassing point. It had been quite awhile so we took the opportunity to trade off some naps.
A couple pairs of hunters passed our camp before we were ready to go. We had a pretty good idea of the glassing hill we wanted to be on for the morning and hoped they were headed somewhere else. As the sun rose we were nearing our destination and thankfully only saw a pair of hunters working towards a ridge further away. We got to our glassing point and set up. Things were fairly uneventful, but we thought we could hear a couple different bugles. FireTiger kept watch while I circled around to check out the basin to our left.
It sounded like the bugles were right below me. As I circled they got louder and louder. Finally, I spotted a herd of elk on the next ridge, but a good 800+ yards away. Those bugles really carry far in this open country. I could see another hunter positioned even farther away from them, but it was obvious he could at least hear them. I don't know if he could see them. I returned to give FireTiger the news.
We decided to move around our glassing knob to watch the action, as she hadn't seen nor heard anything since I had left. Well action we definitely got, but most of it was not quite what we were looking for. We kept finding more and more hunters keying in on the bugles. Now, we're all cow hunting, but almost for certain a bull is going to have cows with him here. We found at least 7 different parties working their way in on this herd, so we just held back. Over time as other hunters started noticing each other, it reduced to two parties that seemed to have a chance. There was a father/son coming in from the top right, and a group of 3 below. From our perspective, the group of 3 didn't seem to realize just how close the elk were to them, as they seemed to be looking at things in their hands and facing our direction. It was quite comical.
Meanwhile, the father was guiding his son into position. We watched as they used the oak brush to close the distance. We could see the father ranging while ( assumed ) the son was trying to get a rest. The elk were on to them, and they never got a shot before the herd moved off. The herd moved to our left, still on the same ridge, and only about 200 yards from where they had been. We finally got a chance to see there were two bulls; a raghorn and a very nice six, as well as at least 20 cows.
The herd hung up as they reached the end of the oak brush along that ridge. This allowed the father/son a second chance to sneak in. The group of 3 folks still seemed oblivious. The father/son closed to range, but it seemed like the boy was trying to steady an off-hand shot and once again they got busted before he was steady. This whole time we had been debating whether it was worth our time to keep watching these elk that were obviously watched by other people. Well, it paid off as this time when they busted, the majority of the herd dropped down off that ridge, circled up the valley, then turned 90 degrees and headed straight for the saddle to our left. Fire Drill time! FireTiger got in position for a shot over there while I headed down to watch if they took another turn. After a minute or so of not seeing the elk, I heard a shot, and then two more, but something wasn't right. It didn't seem loud enough.
I crossed back over to find the herd trotting away from us. It turned out there was another hunter positioned below us on our same ridge, and the elk came into range for him just moments before FireTiger was going to shoot. The elk were in range for her but were clumped together. She'd had a shot after the hunter had fired, but elected not to shoot not knowing exactly where he was. We couldn't see it but he did indeed get a cow as we could see the celebration.
As the elk in this area had moved out and there were at least 15 hunters visible, we decided to return to our original glassing point. It had been quite awhile so we took the opportunity to trade off some naps.
Saturday Afternoon
We were taking shifts keeping an eye on the public in front of us. I had just taken over when I caught some movement in a tiny opening 500 yards out. I put up my binos and ELK! I think FireTiger thought they were in gun range as she had just nodded back off and I woke her pretty suddenly. We watched 20+ cross through a half mile of aspens in a matter of minutes and finally pass over the opposite side out of our view. We both had thought they would stop somewhere in front of us but they must have been pushed hard.
Shortly after that, a group of hunters passed by along the ridge edge to our right. We knew this was a double edged sword. They would definitely push any elk out of where we were watching, but would they head where we could get a shot? They weren't even out of sight when the first elk appeared from nowhere and trotted right past us at 300 yards. Awesome! I excitedly pointed them out to FireTiger but she clued me in to something important. All three elk were bulls!
Well, this still had us on edge anticipating elk to appear at any moment, and a few minutes later we were rewarded. This elk came straight up and over our glassing point. It was another small bull though.
We continued keeping an eye on the area in front of us until the group of hunters was all the way at the point where we had seen the herd go over the top. By then it seemed that if there were elk in this grove, they would have smelled these hunters and come out somewhere we could see them. FireTiger elected to take us back to the "busy basin."
I was a bit skeptical due to the number of hunters we had seen there in the morning, but after returning to our other glassing point I was surprised to not turn any up. I hadn't heard that many shots, so I am not sure where everyone went, but it appeared we had the place to ourselves. Glassing eventually turned up a new herd coming from the general area back towards where we had just left! They disappeared into a thick bottom. Every once in awhile we'd pick one out in the brush, so it seemed we needed to head down.
The bottom was much more difficult to glass than we had been hoping for, so we decided to try some lost calf calling. This yielded no results. As we moved around, I found a BIG bull just below the top of the rim across from us. FireTiger looked at me like I was nuts suggesting we go up there with only an hour of shooting light left. I thought I could see cows with him, but I wasn't 100%. It was looking almost straight into the sun and most of what I could see were his antlers moving around. I tried to find a good approach and eventually agreed with FireTiger. They didn't seem to be going anywhere, so we put them in our pocket for the morning.
FireTiger wanted to hunt our way back. I couldn't blame her as maneuvering in that four foot tall sage in the dark is not the most pleasant thing. There was an old trail on the map about 1/4 mile away, so we headed for it hoping it still existed in some form.
Just shy of the trail, straight in front of us, I looked through a bush and saw ears. "ELK!" "Where?" "Right in front of us!"
FireTiger got to work on the stalk. They were about 220 yards out but the only shot would have been completely off hand, and that's not how she rolls. She closed the distance while I stayed back with Hank watching the show while obscured by the bush. The one cow would look our way every once in awhile and then return to feeding.
Closer ... closer ... finally I see FireTiger setting up her kneeling bipod. BANG!
Nothing happens. The elk look around like "What was that?" and I am confused, too. After what seemed an eternity, FireTiger begins to walk even closer. The elk see something and start to move off. I throw out a couple quick cow calls and some stop to look. BANG!
This time the elk disappear, except for one I hadn't seen before tried to run me over. He did a 90 at the last moment, thankfully.
Hank was very excited at this point and practically dragged me to FireTiger, where I got to learn what happened for certain. On her first shot, though she could clearly see through her scope, she hit the dirt right in front of her barrel. I've done that 3 times while pronghorn hunting so I felt the pain. On her second shot, she was fairly certain she watched the cow elk stumble into the tall sage. The shot was a whopping 35 yards.
A short bit of looking confirmed.
We had about a half an hour of light left, so quickly got to work. We decided to do the gutless method, completely removing the skin and get all the meat into game bags. It would be done in the dark but the conditions were good for working in, and the weather the next day was supposed to be questionable. We had only gone in with one backpack so she could be very mobile if necessary, so I packed out everything but the quarters (neck/brisket/rib/backstrap/tenderloin/liver/heart) that night, and we would return the next day to get the rest of the meat out in one trip. Blood looks weird under green light. It was ~1.8 miles back to camp. I think we got back sometime around 9pm.
We were taking shifts keeping an eye on the public in front of us. I had just taken over when I caught some movement in a tiny opening 500 yards out. I put up my binos and ELK! I think FireTiger thought they were in gun range as she had just nodded back off and I woke her pretty suddenly. We watched 20+ cross through a half mile of aspens in a matter of minutes and finally pass over the opposite side out of our view. We both had thought they would stop somewhere in front of us but they must have been pushed hard.
Shortly after that, a group of hunters passed by along the ridge edge to our right. We knew this was a double edged sword. They would definitely push any elk out of where we were watching, but would they head where we could get a shot? They weren't even out of sight when the first elk appeared from nowhere and trotted right past us at 300 yards. Awesome! I excitedly pointed them out to FireTiger but she clued me in to something important. All three elk were bulls!
Well, this still had us on edge anticipating elk to appear at any moment, and a few minutes later we were rewarded. This elk came straight up and over our glassing point. It was another small bull though.
We continued keeping an eye on the area in front of us until the group of hunters was all the way at the point where we had seen the herd go over the top. By then it seemed that if there were elk in this grove, they would have smelled these hunters and come out somewhere we could see them. FireTiger elected to take us back to the "busy basin."
I was a bit skeptical due to the number of hunters we had seen there in the morning, but after returning to our other glassing point I was surprised to not turn any up. I hadn't heard that many shots, so I am not sure where everyone went, but it appeared we had the place to ourselves. Glassing eventually turned up a new herd coming from the general area back towards where we had just left! They disappeared into a thick bottom. Every once in awhile we'd pick one out in the brush, so it seemed we needed to head down.
The bottom was much more difficult to glass than we had been hoping for, so we decided to try some lost calf calling. This yielded no results. As we moved around, I found a BIG bull just below the top of the rim across from us. FireTiger looked at me like I was nuts suggesting we go up there with only an hour of shooting light left. I thought I could see cows with him, but I wasn't 100%. It was looking almost straight into the sun and most of what I could see were his antlers moving around. I tried to find a good approach and eventually agreed with FireTiger. They didn't seem to be going anywhere, so we put them in our pocket for the morning.
FireTiger wanted to hunt our way back. I couldn't blame her as maneuvering in that four foot tall sage in the dark is not the most pleasant thing. There was an old trail on the map about 1/4 mile away, so we headed for it hoping it still existed in some form.
Just shy of the trail, straight in front of us, I looked through a bush and saw ears. "ELK!" "Where?" "Right in front of us!"
FireTiger got to work on the stalk. They were about 220 yards out but the only shot would have been completely off hand, and that's not how she rolls. She closed the distance while I stayed back with Hank watching the show while obscured by the bush. The one cow would look our way every once in awhile and then return to feeding.
Closer ... closer ... finally I see FireTiger setting up her kneeling bipod. BANG!
Nothing happens. The elk look around like "What was that?" and I am confused, too. After what seemed an eternity, FireTiger begins to walk even closer. The elk see something and start to move off. I throw out a couple quick cow calls and some stop to look. BANG!
This time the elk disappear, except for one I hadn't seen before tried to run me over. He did a 90 at the last moment, thankfully.
Hank was very excited at this point and practically dragged me to FireTiger, where I got to learn what happened for certain. On her first shot, though she could clearly see through her scope, she hit the dirt right in front of her barrel. I've done that 3 times while pronghorn hunting so I felt the pain. On her second shot, she was fairly certain she watched the cow elk stumble into the tall sage. The shot was a whopping 35 yards.
A short bit of looking confirmed.
We had about a half an hour of light left, so quickly got to work. We decided to do the gutless method, completely removing the skin and get all the meat into game bags. It would be done in the dark but the conditions were good for working in, and the weather the next day was supposed to be questionable. We had only gone in with one backpack so she could be very mobile if necessary, so I packed out everything but the quarters (neck/brisket/rib/backstrap/tenderloin/liver/heart) that night, and we would return the next day to get the rest of the meat out in one trip. Blood looks weird under green light. It was ~1.8 miles back to camp. I think we got back sometime around 9pm.
Sunday
After sleeping in, we headed back in to get the rest of the meat. Sure enough, it was cruddy out. Glad we were only packing this morning! We did decide to just debone the whole thing as we didn't feel we needed to bring them home.
Deboned weights: Front Shoulders total 37 pounds, Hind Quarters total 78 pounds
Lost a little bit of one front as the shot had gone right through it.
We were headed out before lunch time, so we decided to reward ourselves with a hot meal from a "local" eatery. I got the breakfast burrito named after the town and highly recommend it.
We decided to drive US 40 home and glad we did as I-70 was stopped dead. Berthoud pass could have been a little less exciting for my tastes, though! We had about 5 inches of fresh snow and it being a Sunday afternoon meant all the leaf watchers had been out.
After sleeping in, we headed back in to get the rest of the meat. Sure enough, it was cruddy out. Glad we were only packing this morning! We did decide to just debone the whole thing as we didn't feel we needed to bring them home.
Deboned weights: Front Shoulders total 37 pounds, Hind Quarters total 78 pounds
Lost a little bit of one front as the shot had gone right through it.
We were headed out before lunch time, so we decided to reward ourselves with a hot meal from a "local" eatery. I got the breakfast burrito named after the town and highly recommend it.
We decided to drive US 40 home and glad we did as I-70 was stopped dead. Berthoud pass could have been a little less exciting for my tastes, though! We had about 5 inches of fresh snow and it being a Sunday afternoon meant all the leaf watchers had been out.
FireTiger asked what I wanted for my birthday, so I told her I wanted 3 things.
1.) Chicken wing and Fancy beer dinner
2.) Discord gaming party
3.) To go hunt by myself for a couple of days.
I slipped out early afternoon one day and did the long drive to my turkey unit. I made it with exactly one hour left before sunset. Not a ton of time but there are a lot of turkeys here and I wasn't going to be picky as this would probably be my only chance to turkey hunt this fall with the season ending at the end of the week.
I had what I figured was an ace up my sleeve - their preferred roost area. The wildcard would be other hunters. Not only was it turkey season but also the last weekend of the muzzleloader hunt. As I hustled towards my intercept location, I did spot another hunter headed in the same general direction, but far enough away it shouldn't be a problem. I circled a little bit further away just in case.
As I approached the trees, I could hear calling in multiple directions. Rather than wait where I expected them to gather to fly up, I decided to cut the distance towards one of the flocks away from the direction I had seen the other hunter. I found them working a field edge straight towards me. I nestled in to wait, hoping there was at least one male with the group. I thought I had heard that distinctly deeper tone in some of the chatter. After a few minutes they started filing past me, hen hen hen... etc.
As the last hen, a young one at that, was passing me at 20 yards, I decided I should probably take the bird in hand. There's more turkeys here than the bios really want, bringing home a hen won't hurt the population one bit. BANG! She flops over and the rest of the turkeys are like `wtf mate`? As they start to gain their wits, I see there was yet another flock only 50 yards down the edge headed right toward me, and this one had at least one male. Darn. But dinner and more would be served!
We ate her a couple days later. After this photo, I seasoned and wrapped her in lettuce leaves. Roasted @ 350 for 2.5 hours. Really, really good. Even the leg meat was delicious. Advantage of being a young one, I suppose.
By the way, this was the 10th turkey we've taken with waterfowl steel loads.
1.) Chicken wing and Fancy beer dinner
2.) Discord gaming party
3.) To go hunt by myself for a couple of days.
I slipped out early afternoon one day and did the long drive to my turkey unit. I made it with exactly one hour left before sunset. Not a ton of time but there are a lot of turkeys here and I wasn't going to be picky as this would probably be my only chance to turkey hunt this fall with the season ending at the end of the week.
I had what I figured was an ace up my sleeve - their preferred roost area. The wildcard would be other hunters. Not only was it turkey season but also the last weekend of the muzzleloader hunt. As I hustled towards my intercept location, I did spot another hunter headed in the same general direction, but far enough away it shouldn't be a problem. I circled a little bit further away just in case.
As I approached the trees, I could hear calling in multiple directions. Rather than wait where I expected them to gather to fly up, I decided to cut the distance towards one of the flocks away from the direction I had seen the other hunter. I found them working a field edge straight towards me. I nestled in to wait, hoping there was at least one male with the group. I thought I had heard that distinctly deeper tone in some of the chatter. After a few minutes they started filing past me, hen hen hen... etc.
As the last hen, a young one at that, was passing me at 20 yards, I decided I should probably take the bird in hand. There's more turkeys here than the bios really want, bringing home a hen won't hurt the population one bit. BANG! She flops over and the rest of the turkeys are like `wtf mate`? As they start to gain their wits, I see there was yet another flock only 50 yards down the edge headed right toward me, and this one had at least one male. Darn. But dinner and more would be served!
We ate her a couple days later. After this photo, I seasoned and wrapped her in lettuce leaves. Roasted @ 350 for 2.5 hours. Really, really good. Even the leg meat was delicious. Advantage of being a young one, I suppose.
By the way, this was the 10th turkey we've taken with waterfowl steel loads.
From the turkey unit, I drove straight to my deer unit. As mentioned earlier, this is a new unit for me when it comes to deer. I wanted to try to spend the mornings hunting more open country to hopefully gain some intel on where the deer were moving, and then the afternoons I would attempt to push tight to bedding. One of the problems with this plan, it seemed to me based on my summer scouting trip, is that there is just so much bedding cover that its hard to guess where they will bed.
I awoke the next morning a bit lazily. I wanted to check out some newly opened land so I pretty much started off roading hunting. The fields were freshly harvested, which surprised me as that didn't happen until near the second week of November last year.
I quickly realized a second problem, this time with my morning plan; it was the last day of muzzleloader season. The deer probably weren't going to be dumb enough to be in the wide open after potentially having been shot at for the last eight days, and there were still plenty of hunters it seemed. Top that off with unexpected fog, I probably should have pivoted to getting deep in some cover, but I didn't. I did manage to find a good looking buck hanging with a doe, but they were dead center of a private section. A small flock of feeding sandhill cranes provided some bonus entertainment, but the photos were terrible.
Late morning, I decided to get into the field. I found an area that had muzzleloaders hunters working on both sides but was fairly difficult to access. My thought was this would be a good place for deer to hide. I was rewarded with a spike bedding nearby, but otherwise things were quiet. It seemed most of the muzzleloader hunters were headed home after lunch as it was a steady sound of trucks headed West.
That afternoon I worked in towards the bedding. I figured I would be ok jumping something just to gain the intel. I'm considering this a bonus trip as I really plan to hunt mid-November.
I don't know if you can tell, but the grass in front of me is like four feet tall. The stuff with green on top to my left is like nine feet tall. This is what I mean by there being LOTS of bedding cover.
I continued exploring, trying to follow deer trails or sandy washes as the ground was very dry, the grass was stiff and crunchy and there was crispy plenty of leaves down. A buck must have become nervous as I saw him slip down the edge of some cattails. He didn't bolt which was a good sign. It also indicated to me that he didn't want to go in the cattails and I can't blame him as they are ten feet tall and brutally thick. This would give me something to work with as far as directing movement.
I found a trail intersection and marked it for later. There were cattails on a couple sides and thick brush on a third, and the trails were very obvious. I worked one direction for a coupe hundred yards before spotting one of the few remaining muzzy hunters, so I headed back to take the other fork. Not far from that fork I was in awe at the sign when I took a step exposing a treestand right in front of me.
Debate the merits of using another's treestand all you like, but it is legal here and I had a safety strap with me. I would never stay in the stand if the hunter came along but I also would find it silly to set up my own stand anywhere near someone else's, and around this place you can find them set up long before the person ever intends to use it. Anyway, I climbed up to sit for awhile and see if the spot felt as good as it did while I was on the ground.
The wind was from an unusual South East direction. I was well in the clear as far as scent drifting towards where I expected deer, but it was almost too perfect. The deer would mostly have to walk with the wind to head past me. Not having a better plan, I decided to stick it out.
With just over an hour of daylight left, I had my first deer come out. A doe came from straight east and walked past my right side at about 40 yards, then curved off to the north. She was not on any of the trails heading past the stand.
Fifteen minutes later, I had a few does appear due west of me at about 60 yards. They headed north and eventually caught my scent, but kept on heading north.
Next up was a pair heading from south to north. They passed by well within shooting range, probably 15 yards. Again, they weren't on any particular trail.
To my South, something was working through the thick, small trees. It eventually appeared at about 35 yards. A bobcat! He was so fluffy! It might be hard to believe but this was the first time I've seen one live. I got to watch him for about 5 minutes as he worked eastward, but could never get a photo.
All in all, eight deer passed by but no bucks. Hmm, doe bedding area, or did I just get unlucky?
I awoke the next morning a bit lazily. I wanted to check out some newly opened land so I pretty much started off roading hunting. The fields were freshly harvested, which surprised me as that didn't happen until near the second week of November last year.
I quickly realized a second problem, this time with my morning plan; it was the last day of muzzleloader season. The deer probably weren't going to be dumb enough to be in the wide open after potentially having been shot at for the last eight days, and there were still plenty of hunters it seemed. Top that off with unexpected fog, I probably should have pivoted to getting deep in some cover, but I didn't. I did manage to find a good looking buck hanging with a doe, but they were dead center of a private section. A small flock of feeding sandhill cranes provided some bonus entertainment, but the photos were terrible.
Late morning, I decided to get into the field. I found an area that had muzzleloaders hunters working on both sides but was fairly difficult to access. My thought was this would be a good place for deer to hide. I was rewarded with a spike bedding nearby, but otherwise things were quiet. It seemed most of the muzzleloader hunters were headed home after lunch as it was a steady sound of trucks headed West.
That afternoon I worked in towards the bedding. I figured I would be ok jumping something just to gain the intel. I'm considering this a bonus trip as I really plan to hunt mid-November.
I don't know if you can tell, but the grass in front of me is like four feet tall. The stuff with green on top to my left is like nine feet tall. This is what I mean by there being LOTS of bedding cover.
I continued exploring, trying to follow deer trails or sandy washes as the ground was very dry, the grass was stiff and crunchy and there was crispy plenty of leaves down. A buck must have become nervous as I saw him slip down the edge of some cattails. He didn't bolt which was a good sign. It also indicated to me that he didn't want to go in the cattails and I can't blame him as they are ten feet tall and brutally thick. This would give me something to work with as far as directing movement.
I found a trail intersection and marked it for later. There were cattails on a couple sides and thick brush on a third, and the trails were very obvious. I worked one direction for a coupe hundred yards before spotting one of the few remaining muzzy hunters, so I headed back to take the other fork. Not far from that fork I was in awe at the sign when I took a step exposing a treestand right in front of me.
Debate the merits of using another's treestand all you like, but it is legal here and I had a safety strap with me. I would never stay in the stand if the hunter came along but I also would find it silly to set up my own stand anywhere near someone else's, and around this place you can find them set up long before the person ever intends to use it. Anyway, I climbed up to sit for awhile and see if the spot felt as good as it did while I was on the ground.
The wind was from an unusual South East direction. I was well in the clear as far as scent drifting towards where I expected deer, but it was almost too perfect. The deer would mostly have to walk with the wind to head past me. Not having a better plan, I decided to stick it out.
With just over an hour of daylight left, I had my first deer come out. A doe came from straight east and walked past my right side at about 40 yards, then curved off to the north. She was not on any of the trails heading past the stand.
Fifteen minutes later, I had a few does appear due west of me at about 60 yards. They headed north and eventually caught my scent, but kept on heading north.
Next up was a pair heading from south to north. They passed by well within shooting range, probably 15 yards. Again, they weren't on any particular trail.
To my South, something was working through the thick, small trees. It eventually appeared at about 35 yards. A bobcat! He was so fluffy! It might be hard to believe but this was the first time I've seen one live. I got to watch him for about 5 minutes as he worked eastward, but could never get a photo.
All in all, eight deer passed by but no bucks. Hmm, doe bedding area, or did I just get unlucky?
The next morning I wanted to check out a dry creek bottom in the area. I like the looks of it for a rut funnel and wanted to identify if there were any particular tight spaces along its reach. I passed a few does as I crept up along it. My tag is good for either species so I was also hoping I might spot some mule deer in the open along this stretch, but maybe that's asking too much.
Exploration revealed a spot with a small cluster of cedar trees with a small opening to the space between them. What an excellent spot for a ground ambush! The trails along the edge tightened right in front of it. Depending on wind direction, there was also a good looking tree on the other side of the trails. I just hope it isn't cattle trails! No mud pies were found so I have high hopes. I sat until lunch time with nothing but a nice day but I really think this spot has potential later in the year. In other units I have hunted, the bucks cruise these fingers looking for does.
The afternoon hunt was a difficult decision, but I selected heading back to the same stand. This time I would enter from a different direction that worked better with the wind. That wind was a bugger though. It was steady from the south east until I was in place. Then it seemed to switch back and forth between SE, S and W ... which doesn't leave a lot of options. Considering the majority of deer had been to my south the day before, I stuck with the plan.
As the evening marched on, I began to wonder if i had made a mistake. It was one dull afternoon. Nothing happened until 25 minutes before end of light when four does passed through from my SW to my NW at around 60 yards. They hit my scent trail and held for a few minutes but never spooked. Seems like this stand could really do with being about 50 yards to the NW.
With 15 minutes to go, I started hearing that slow steady stepping to my south. My whole being said buck. I clipped on to my string and got in position. He finally appeared 30 yards out working broadside from S to W of me. With the low light, I couldn't tell exactly how big he was, but I could tell he was wider than his ears. He entered and opening in front of me and I stopped him with a grunt. Thud --- CRACK! The buck bounced a few yards back where he had come from and spun to look where he had been standing.
Confused, I hung my bow back up and pulled out my binos. The deer looked fine and that sound?! The buck looked to be a little younger than I had originally guessed. After several minutes he settled down and walked right back through in front of me on the same trail. He gave me the same exact shot as the first time but I elected to pass for two reasons; he was a little younger than I am looking for and more importantly, I didn't know what I had hit and figured the chances were good I'd hit it again.
As he walked off, a second buck followed through on almost the same trail, turning away just before he hit my opening. He was about the same age and smaller antler wise so would have gotten the pass anyway. Darkness settled in as a third deer walked through. I gave them a few minutes then got down to investigate.
I found the arrow very near where the deer had been standing, broadhead open. As you can see, the back half of my arrow is broken off. I've never seen this happen with a carbon arrow. I must have deflected on something, turning the arrow vertical upon which it hit a limb breaking the arrow in two. It is clearly visible I did not hit the deer. One of those bad/good misses. Being totally dark now as the moon was absent, it was difficult to determine what exactly I had hit.
Exploration revealed a spot with a small cluster of cedar trees with a small opening to the space between them. What an excellent spot for a ground ambush! The trails along the edge tightened right in front of it. Depending on wind direction, there was also a good looking tree on the other side of the trails. I just hope it isn't cattle trails! No mud pies were found so I have high hopes. I sat until lunch time with nothing but a nice day but I really think this spot has potential later in the year. In other units I have hunted, the bucks cruise these fingers looking for does.
The afternoon hunt was a difficult decision, but I selected heading back to the same stand. This time I would enter from a different direction that worked better with the wind. That wind was a bugger though. It was steady from the south east until I was in place. Then it seemed to switch back and forth between SE, S and W ... which doesn't leave a lot of options. Considering the majority of deer had been to my south the day before, I stuck with the plan.
As the evening marched on, I began to wonder if i had made a mistake. It was one dull afternoon. Nothing happened until 25 minutes before end of light when four does passed through from my SW to my NW at around 60 yards. They hit my scent trail and held for a few minutes but never spooked. Seems like this stand could really do with being about 50 yards to the NW.
With 15 minutes to go, I started hearing that slow steady stepping to my south. My whole being said buck. I clipped on to my string and got in position. He finally appeared 30 yards out working broadside from S to W of me. With the low light, I couldn't tell exactly how big he was, but I could tell he was wider than his ears. He entered and opening in front of me and I stopped him with a grunt. Thud --- CRACK! The buck bounced a few yards back where he had come from and spun to look where he had been standing.
Confused, I hung my bow back up and pulled out my binos. The deer looked fine and that sound?! The buck looked to be a little younger than I had originally guessed. After several minutes he settled down and walked right back through in front of me on the same trail. He gave me the same exact shot as the first time but I elected to pass for two reasons; he was a little younger than I am looking for and more importantly, I didn't know what I had hit and figured the chances were good I'd hit it again.
As he walked off, a second buck followed through on almost the same trail, turning away just before he hit my opening. He was about the same age and smaller antler wise so would have gotten the pass anyway. Darkness settled in as a third deer walked through. I gave them a few minutes then got down to investigate.
I found the arrow very near where the deer had been standing, broadhead open. As you can see, the back half of my arrow is broken off. I've never seen this happen with a carbon arrow. I must have deflected on something, turning the arrow vertical upon which it hit a limb breaking the arrow in two. It is clearly visible I did not hit the deer. One of those bad/good misses. Being totally dark now as the moon was absent, it was difficult to determine what exactly I had hit.
Had to head home for the rest of my birthday. Peanut butter Reeses pie in addition to the wings.
This weekend we are headed to FireTiger's unit for the rifle opener. Hopefully she can find a whitetail buck. There's a big cold front coming in with sub 10 degree temps and snow predicted for Sunday. She's stated outright that she's not going to be picky this year.
This weekend we are headed to FireTiger's unit for the rifle opener. Hopefully she can find a whitetail buck. There's a big cold front coming in with sub 10 degree temps and snow predicted for Sunday. She's stated outright that she's not going to be picky this year.
Saturday was 30 degrees colder than it had been, so we thought the deer hunting would be good.
We set up in our escape route position opening morning before anyone else had even arrived at the property. It was even colder than we expected and we were wearing everything to stay warm.
Some time between 7:30am and 8:00am FireTiger finally called out movement. She wasn't quite sure what it was but it was definitely a buck, and not a very big one. He wasn't running but he had definitely been pushed. Escape route success! She had told me she'd shoot any adult but not a fawn or spike, so guess what this deer is? I pulled out my camera but it had been bumped on and timed out, so I had to restart it. By the time it was ready, the buck had trotted within 15 yards. I tried to stop him but he was straight down wind.
That had us all excited for the next deer to hopefully follow the same path.
Excitement wore off and cold set in by 11am, so though we had packed food for the day, we decided to warm up in the truck for a couple hours. We got back about noon, ate some sandwiches and both fell asleep.
Before we left I had taken a quick look at the property line. Yeah, this place had been grazed much harder this year than year's past. Usually I feel like there's about 20 cows on the property. This year there are over 200 head. I don't think it is holding deer like is usually does.
We set up in a different area for the evening. I quite liked the spot and know the deer been in the nearby russian olives and come to feed nearby in the evening. The wind direction was very favorable.
We saw a hundred or so turkeys.
Despite wearing my puffy and a blanket, Hank was cold.
Prime time was all bovine. Apparently they liked to feed there in the evening, too. We were completely surrounded and probably should have moved.
We were supposed to stay but a big winter storm was moving in. It was supposed to drop another 20 degrees with possible sub-zero temps. The forecast for Sunday kept dropping all day, so we made the call to bail.
Headed back out tomorrow for the evening hunt with plans to stay through Saturday if necessary.
We set up in our escape route position opening morning before anyone else had even arrived at the property. It was even colder than we expected and we were wearing everything to stay warm.
Some time between 7:30am and 8:00am FireTiger finally called out movement. She wasn't quite sure what it was but it was definitely a buck, and not a very big one. He wasn't running but he had definitely been pushed. Escape route success! She had told me she'd shoot any adult but not a fawn or spike, so guess what this deer is? I pulled out my camera but it had been bumped on and timed out, so I had to restart it. By the time it was ready, the buck had trotted within 15 yards. I tried to stop him but he was straight down wind.
That had us all excited for the next deer to hopefully follow the same path.
Excitement wore off and cold set in by 11am, so though we had packed food for the day, we decided to warm up in the truck for a couple hours. We got back about noon, ate some sandwiches and both fell asleep.
Before we left I had taken a quick look at the property line. Yeah, this place had been grazed much harder this year than year's past. Usually I feel like there's about 20 cows on the property. This year there are over 200 head. I don't think it is holding deer like is usually does.
We set up in a different area for the evening. I quite liked the spot and know the deer been in the nearby russian olives and come to feed nearby in the evening. The wind direction was very favorable.
We saw a hundred or so turkeys.
Despite wearing my puffy and a blanket, Hank was cold.
Prime time was all bovine. Apparently they liked to feed there in the evening, too. We were completely surrounded and probably should have moved.
We were supposed to stay but a big winter storm was moving in. It was supposed to drop another 20 degrees with possible sub-zero temps. The forecast for Sunday kept dropping all day, so we made the call to bail.
Headed back out tomorrow for the evening hunt with plans to stay through Saturday if necessary.
