Setup #1

We heard a bull sound off a long ways off.  My buddy and i made our way over there and set up.  I heard some breaking up the draw and was intently watching up there making sure i had some shooting lanes.  All of the sudden i hear the unmistakeable sound of an arrow hitting home.  My caller just arrowed a spike bull from behind me:)

Two bulls were together and the other was a forked horn bull.  I forgot i had a head mounted video camera on and decided if i could turn on the cam, i was killing that bull.  Yep, he let me turn on the camera:)

So we gave them a little bit of time to expire and kept calling a little for fun.  Ended up pulling in a few more bulls that we could only watch and film… Now the fun was over for the day and the work began….The bulls were actually close enough together in the end that we dragged one over too the other for some photos and processing.

Finished them up in short time and got back for a decent nights sleep!

The next day we went in to pack out our meat in the morning and returned to plan an evening hunt for our other buddy.  Didn’t take long and we had another young bull come running in and he got deflated as well…

So, again we quarted and packed this bull out to the road and headed back to camp to get a good nights rest.  Camped next to us was a 15 year old kid and his dad.  We asked the dad if we could take his boy in for a morning hunt when we went to get that meat.  He said sure if he could tag along.  Perfect!  Didn’t take long and we called in a nice 5×6 that the kid got.  I didn’t bring my camera in because were were just packing meat, but did get it on video with my new Countour head cam.  Anyway, quick season here and looking forward to getting after bulls in another state.  Safe hunting to all and have fun..

I was referring to this bear as Scarface to some of my buddies.  Anyway, went to sit for a morning and ended up bumping into him when i was making my way through the briars on the way to my stand.  We ended up playing cat and mouse for a minute or so and he finally gave me a good shot.  Quick recovery and i was back to looking for elk.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Our daughter starts school this year so we decided to go the First week of season in Oregon.  Kailee(our daughter) loves camping and Elk hunting as much as we do and we did not want her to miss out.

Hunting started early on Saturday the 28th.  We decided to go out early and listen for a potential bull sounding off in the early mourning hours.  Unfortunately not a  was heard.  After 3-4 blind call sets the silence was broken, not by a bugle but by the sounds of 4 Wolfs howling and barking within 100 yards of our set up.  Agitated and angry with the ODFW I decided we would hunt were the Wolf pack wasn’t.

On Sunday the 29th at approx 0800 my friend Richard Bigham and I were walking down a ridge line when we heard commotion coming from our left.  As we peeked over the edge there were two smaller bulls raking trees and stomping the ground.  As the bulls worked the trees over Richard and I separatedand moved in to position in an attempt to possible get two shots.  The bull he was set up on bolted rapidly down the hill and the bull I was set up on turned broadside at 60 yds.  As the arrow took flight I did not see it hit it’s mark and figured I ad missed and shot a bit low.  As Richard and I searched for my Arrow we found a “Large” amount of blood spray a few feet of were the bull was standing.  Not feeling good about the shot we sat down for an hour and had a Wilderness Athlete Bar and a Hydrate and Recovery Drink.  After an hour we started following the blood trail…  I’ll let the pictures do the talking for a bit!

As you can tell by the pictures, season is starting off very well.  The pictures also show something I am not accustomed too.  A dead Elk laying on the edge of a road.   As my bull took off down the hill he had the courtesy of expiring on the edge of a main road.  I sure wish someone would have driven by during the hour of nausea and honked!

After the meat was hung and we were clened up we were back at it again!  We were not able to get Toni’s or Richard’s tags filled but the memories will last a lifetime.

Well now it’s off to Montana on Tuesday.  That is of course after Toni and I get Kailee off to her first day of Kindergarten that is!  I wouldn’t miss that for the world, not even a 380+ bull broadside at 20 yds. 

I would like to thank the following companies and individuals for supporting me in my addiction with Elk hunting.  Primos Hunting Calls, Sitka Mountain Gear, Wilderness Athlete, Elk 101, Winners Choice Custom Bowstrings,  Schnees, Kim Creel (Primos Hunting Calls), AMA Archery in Klamath Falls, my Dad for taking care of the house and yard, and mostly my wife Toni.

Typical of Wyoming, there were antelope everywhere, and anticipation was high as we rolled into our area the day before season.  I have hunted this unit in the past and knew of several productive water holes that we immediately checked out and set up blinds.  With the number of antelope running around it always seems like it should be a slam dunk.  However, hunting antelope with a bow never seems to be a slam dunk. 

On opening day I opted to stay close to a vehicle and try to find something to spot and stalk and let Lucas and Jonathan crawl into the blinds.  Darris wasn’t going to arrive until later that night.  This allowed me to be close in case someone was successful.  Thankfully, Jonathan was able to break the ice early in the first afternoon of hunting.  The buck came in for a drink and Jonathan made a good shot and was able to watch his first pronghorn, as well as his first big game animal ever with a bow and arrow, fall within sight. 

Jonathan's First Antelope

Darris arrived that night, and the plan was to put Lucas in the blind that Jonathan had killed out of and then Darris and I would use his ATV to search the drainages for some hidden water holes.  Much to our dismay we found quite a few water holes that were being used.  We made a decision on what we felt were the best ones and set up a few more blinds.  Darris and I climbed into the new hides and were ready to wait the rest of the afternoon.  As it started to heat up the clouds started to build.  Sure enough, less than 2 hours into my first sit the skies opened up and it flat out poured rain and hail long enough to cause the floor in my blind to be covered with water.  Needless to say this is not what one hopes for when banking on antelope coming to a waterhole. 

The following day I relocated to another part of the ranch that appeared to have dodged the storm.  After a short sit in the blind I had a doe come into water and was able to make a good shot. 

Good to be on the board!

Jonathan was being the shuttle man that day since he had already filled his buck tag.  In the process he was able to locate a doe in an approachable position and slip in on her.  He sent an arrow right behind the shoulder and was officially tagged out!

Jonathan with his Doe; Tagged out!!

Lucas and Darris spent most of that day sitting in the blind, but never had anything present a good shot.  The following day they were back in the same blinds.  If they could only keep the sheep and cattle out of their water holes they might have some action.  Everytime an antelope would approach they would be spooked by the commotion that the livestock would make.  Finally lucas had a unique doe come right into his set up and was able to kill his first antelope ever. 

Lucas' Trophy Horned Doe!

With 4 tags filled the trip was already a success in my book.  If Darris could kill his first antelope, and we could fill our buck tags it would just be a bonus.  Darris headed back to the area Lucas killed his doe, while Lucas and I headed back to the area Jonathan shot his buck.  I was going to sit in the blind on the water hole and Lucas was going to still hunt down a drainage to the south and look for more water holes.  Lucas decision paid off.  He was able to find a hot water hole and tuck into some cover and wait for one of the many bucks using the huge sage flat to get thirsty.  Like previous sits on the trip shortly after noon he had a good buck headed his way.  He was able to get a shot and killed his first buck, likely a pope and young qualifier!

Lucas with his P&Y Pronghorn

Unfortunately Darris had to head home and was unable to fill his tag on his first antelope.  We had a blast and he was able to see some new country which is always a great time.  I would venture to say that this will not be his last attempt at archery hunting antelope.  With Lucas and Jonathan tagged out and Darris headed into the sunset I was the only one left to hunt. 

I headed to the blind early and was prepared to shoot the first buck that presented a good shot.  The first buck to arrive to water came on the wrong side of the blind and never offered me a great shot.

The buck came in on the right side of this photo next to the dam

I wasn’t about to force a shot on the last day and let him walk.  A few hours later another buck approached and it looked like he would walk around the blind and come in right in front of me, but as he neared the water he started to take the path of the first buck.  I decided to get a little aggressive, went to my knees and slowly opened a side window on the blind.  I expected to get busted due to the noise as it was completely still, but the buck continued on and presented me a broadside shot at 30 yards! 

Far from the biggest buck in WY, but the tenderloins tasted great!

It was a good feeling tagging this buck and ending the trip on a positive note.  One of these years I will catch up to one of the big boys that hangs out in the wide open sage flats of Wyoming!!  With coolers full of meat we were loaded up and headed home to get ready for the next adventure!

September is FINALLY HERE! That means opening day of my NM elk hunt is just a couple of short weeks away!!! Things have been pretty crazy around here, and finding time to keep up with the scouting needs for my hunt has been difficult at best. I had planned to hit the trail cameras this last weekend and do some scouting, but duty called and my wife and I headed to Phoenix to represent Sitka Gear at the Big Game Classic at Cabelas. 800 miles, 2 seminars and a couple of busy days of talking Sitka with tons of people later, we finally made it back to New Mexico and started getting serious with the plans for the elk hunt!

My beautiful wife at the Sitka Table at the Big Game Classic

Doing a seminar at the Big Game Classic

With my duties done, it was time to get up north and pull the trail cameras and see if the big boys had come off of the mountain yet. Sometimes, what you see “on the way” is the best part!

Hope he sticks around until January!

Now, for the trail cameras …. not the size we are looking for, but, the bulls are starting to move (along with a couple of other critters …. and the country is showing signs of the rut being right around the corner!

A couple more years and he will be a stud!

Another good young bull

If his horns only matched that body!

Maybe part of the reason the big boys are not around yet?

This tree started out at about 8 feet tall, and was reduced to nothing! We saw a number of trees like this right in the area where the cameras are placed, indicating there are multiple bulls close. We also found an old apple tree with branches broke off over 9 feet high in the tree!

Even though the size of the bulls on the cameras is not what we had been hoping for, seeing the number of elk moving through the country is very encouraging. The mornings have gone from warm to cool, and that smell is in the air – the big boys will be out in no time at all. We will be looking at one more area about 6 miles to the north and west later in the week. I will post more as we have more.

As always, good luck out the, God Bless each of you and your families, and remember, a bad day hunting is better than any good day at work!

August 22nd was rainy, but nice and warm so we hit the river anyway…”we’re here, we might as well try it”.

Although it was hard to see in the water and any disturbance on top, we did ok.
My friend Glen got one only staying about 1/2 hour…

I got one and my bud Tim got 3…

Last Sunday, Aug. 29th, , dawned absolutely beautiful…

This time it was just me and my bud Gary(Tim’s dad)…another good morning…

This coming weekend we’ll be camping, bowfishing, fishing, and shooting getting ready for the fall season…can’t wait!

Good Luck to all you guys out west that have seasons underway, or are about to open!!

on are way in

As the week went on a lot of glassing and even some blown stocks

After about the fifth day we had some success with this great buck that rough scored 110 P&Y

We had tree days left so we stared glassing some more

On the last evening i was able to connect on a nice buck

 buck rough scores 94 P&Y

This was a great trip after a rough start we where able to come out with two great bucks.

My first Sitka sticker went on my 2011 GMC Sierra

I started out my journey for my first post on a little road trip with my wife to go and visit family in South Bend, IN for a few days.  We wound up going up to Saugatuck, MI for the day on Saturday to ride the sand dunes and then spend the day milling around town.

300 feet above Lake Michigan

In town, we walked around the awesome little marina town which was full of people vacationing, hanging out at the Yacht Club, enjoying some of the local shops(very artsy place), watching the first day weigh-in of a fishing tournament, and we even found a little Black squirrel that was enjoying the chips that were being tossed to him!

Some of the lake trout waiting at the weigh-in station

He wasn't scared at all...

Sunday morning found me spending some time with my cousin on a quiet little river he likes to go and fish.  It was very calm and serene….the fishing was a little slow, but who can argue with fishing on a cool Midwest morning and sharing my excitement of being on the Sitka Pro Staff with my cousin.  He loves to bowhunt whitetails, so we had quite a bit to talk about and we did manage to land a couple of bass…

Not huge but fun to pull in with light tackle

 The rest of the day on Sunday we spent with more family before hitting the road early Monday morning.  Funny thing about the whole trip, the farm that my buddies and I hunt in Southern Illinois just happens to be on the “EXACT” same route that our drive to Indiana is on…Good Ole I-57.  My wife, being the trooper that she is was more than willing to let me go and spend a little time running through some soy beans and corn to check on a few stands and of course, some trail cams…nothing like trail cam photos in August!!  It is like Christmas!

Me and my Sitka Cap and Flash 20 pack in the Edamame!

It was much easier to duck down and walk through this corn row than it was dodging the briars on the field edge.

 I was able to locate a couple of our trail cams and download some pics off of them onto my laptop that I carried out in the field with me in nothing other than my Flash 20 Pack.  This pack worked really great for its first outing in the whitetail woods: hauling sony digital camera, HP mini laptop, my Stratus jacket, Kelvin vest, Bandit, Sitka Cap, Stratus Beanie, and Traverse bottoms with the new Optifade Forest pattern…just a little taste test for what is to come!!

Loaded down with gear and room to spare...Flash 20!!

 

And the end result….

This guy is gonna look really nice after he sheds that soft stuff and polishes that crown of thorns up!

And his little brother…

Pretty 8 point that is going to be a good one...maybe next year!

The Perches….

The culvert stand on the edge of the corn field