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What has been your favorite hunt of all

You guys have had some hunts to be envied. My favorite hunts these days are the hunts with my young boys. We do a week long family hunt out west each year. Antelope hunts are great. Hunt for a day or two, then screw around with the kids the rest of the time. Locally, my 8 year old has had a few tags in the last couple years. It’s really been fun to see his dedication to the hunt and perseverance, and the joy he feels when successful.
 
I like all the hunts with adventure, adversity, interesting animals, and beautiful country. Solo hunts are pretty amazing. Also the ones with family and friends. The ones with my dogs are pretty great too...
 
Man, it’s hard to decide on just one … here are my top four.

#1 2021 AK Caribou. The whole adventure was absolutely wonderful!

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#2 2024 Whitetail. An incredible morning of rutting bucks, along with some amazing wing shooting!

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#3 2024 WY Elk. The logistics and remoteness of the hunt, added with the amount of animals seen, the people in camp, and the spectacular scenery makes this one pretty darn special.

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#4 2023 MT Bison - my son’s cow hunt on the Crow Reservation. Some of the prettiest country I have ever seen. Pretty cool to watch him tip over a bison.

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I'm grateful to say there have been many great hunts, and some I've shared previously. A big part of why I keep at it is the uniqueness of each adventure. The other biggest factor is the people I get to share these adventures with.

One of the great ones was a 2010 mountain lion hunt that lasted hours, and included the cat schooling us pretty good. We worked it out, and memories were made!Lion.jpgLion2.JPG
 
I'm grateful to say there have been many great hunts, and some I've shared previously. A big part of why I keep at it is the uniqueness of each adventure. The other biggest factor is the people I get to share these adventures with.

One of the great ones was a 2010 mountain lion hunt that lasted hours, and included the cat schooling us pretty good. We worked it out, and memories were made!View attachment 353961View attachment 353963
Let’s see that mount! I have one at the taxi and can’t decide on a pose.
 
I’ve went after one specific buck in all my years of hunting on public land. It took three years for me to finally catch up with him. I had to crawl under a bunch of brush into an old cutover about an hundred yards and get into a small oak tree that was about 12” in diameter. I couldn’t see much past thirty yards from my 9’ stand height. I saw him one time in daylight following a hot doe and shot him at four yards from the tree I had snuck up into on Xmas day in 2018. Watching that deer walk underneath my stand was a thrilling experience! That hunt is right up there with my girls getting their first deer…I’ll never forget it. 56744670685__10782797-026A-4973-9EE7-D86018C41562.jpegSTC_0199.jpeg
 
None of my best hunts resulted in traditional trophies. All three are elk hunts with my son. First was his first hunt (Utah youth elk hunt). He killed a cow with rifle. The next year was a muzzleloader cow hunt in Colorado 201 for my son. He took a cow and had an absolute blast chasing bugling elk. Then the next was a muzzleloader elk hunt in NM unit 15. Ne elk were harmed but we had a blast. It has been a life long dream to elk hunt with my son. It has not been a disappointment and each and every time I get to hunt with him it turns into my favorite.

I can’t wait for my next favorite hunt!
 
There have been so many great hunts over the years, it’s hard to choose. Great times with great people, some still with us and others now gone. But there are two that I still distinctly remember the sheer excitement.

#1- Deer and sea ducks on Afognak. Every day when we were out I just remember as feeling so surreal. Sitting in a layout boat, surrounded by calling long-tailed ducks is still a lifetime highlight.

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#2- The only LE elk permit I’ve ever drawn. The hunt itself was over in a morning, but I had a blast scouting all summer. The anticipation was killing me. I got to hunt some awesome country, look at lots of bulls, and I ended up with one that made me really happy. Really glad I drew it when I did.

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This is a terrible picture. I can’t find the original. I killed my first elk on the first morning of my first elk hunt. 2007 Colorado public land archery hunt. I was hooked. It changed the trajectory of my life. That day was a big part of why I moved out west.

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Hard to know what favorite means, but if I only ever got to live one day of hunting in my life, it would be the day my son shot his first deer - only a couple months ago.

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If instead, it was a hunt with me behind the trigger, it would probably be another trip with my children from a few years ago when I pulled them out of school to go chase pronghorn.


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I believe my life’s favorite hunts are ahead of me, and will involve my kids.
 
All of them! When I look back on them. In the moment most of them were pretty grueling. I have enjoyed a lot of hunts with different people and a lot of solo hunts. Some extremely grueling/stupid hunts and some private property grocery hunts. I enjoyed all of them and the unique and challenging opportunities they presented. The only one that stands out more than any others was my most recent hunt. A 4th season Colorado elk hunt with my 8 year old daughter. The first hunt she got to be a part of from start to finish. She got to learn about tracking, smelling, and then watching them for about 20 minutes before we closed the deal. IMG_5941.jpegIMG_5942.jpegIMG_5943.jpegIMG_5944.jpegIMG_5945.jpegIMG_5946.jpegIMG_5947.jpeg
 
Handgun Whitetail with my oldest as sidekick. I think he was 13?

I would have to re-scan the photo, but his first WT when he was 12. I knew the buck would be there. I told him to watch the spot where I knew it would come out. I laid back to take a power nap and told him to wake me when the buck came out. He woke me with the crack of his 6.5x55mm. He poleaxed it.

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