Forum Hunters?

[riverc 1,317]

20 minutes ago, KoolBreeze said:

 

Good deal! Haven’t had much luck yet myself. Shot a doe for a friend the other day but that’s about it. I have video of a pretty good one a couple days ago though, so hopefully my luck is about to change. He was in front of the camera at 11:00am the other morning with his tongue hanging out, so I’m guessing the rut is heating up here. 

This one had one thing on his mind,a hot doe lol

[Freedomflyer 1,886]

Against the Law here to feed wild game period, they call it baiting, depending what district you live in you can buy, over the counter, up to 10 Doe tags in addition to a buck tag, a bull elk tag, and a cow elk tag, and antelope tag. If you want to pay and put in for them, you can put in for a drawing for a Moose, sheep, wolf, bear, and mountain Goat.  If you get drawn for a goat, that's it you can't put in for it again, there's not that many here. But you can put in for all the others every year in the draw.

 

This years bull, wasn't much of a hunt, working on a remodel for a client who owns 1280 acres of an 11,000 acre family ranch. He called me after opening day and said they had all filled their tags and I was welcome to come out and try to get one. Left my house at 11:30 it was  laying on the ground by 1:10 hanging in my garage by 2:30.  Goooood eating, only a couple of years old.

 

This was my youngest son's first buck, stalked it for about 3 hours shot it from only 80yds.

 

The other one with no snow on the ground is my oldest son's first buck, It was a hunt on private ground only 80 acres from where we stalked it there was only one tree to hide behind, after it dropped down over a small ridge I got him withing 40 yards, he shot it from behind a small sage brush.

 

In 2015 took my daughter and youngest son out elk hunting, we harvested 3 in one day, I was fortunate and was able to take a head shot so not one lick of meat wasted, my son's was a young calf but it had to have been the best eating of the 3,  cows always taste better than bulls no matter what the age. That was a busy year for butchering, I was ready to be done that's for sure.  We ended up with over 250 lbs. of burger besides all of the steaks, and roasts. :-)

Edited February 28, 2020 by Freedomflyer

[riverc 1,317]

4 minutes ago, Freedomflyer said:

Against the Law here to feed wild game period, they call it baiting, depending what district you live in you can buy, over the counter, up to 10 Doe tags in addition to a buck tag, a bull elk tag, and a cow elk tag, and antelope tag. If you want to pay and put in for them, you can put in for a drawing for a Moose, sheep, wolf, bear, and mountain Goat.  If you get drawn for a goat, that's it you can't put in for it again, there's not that many here. But you can put in for all the others every year in the draw.

 

This years bull, wasn't much of a hunt, working on a remodel for a client who owns 1280 acres of an 11,000 acre family ranch. He called me after opening day and said they had all filled their tags and I was welcome to come out and try to get one. Left my house at 11:30 it was  laying on the ground by 1:10 hanging in my garage by 2:30.  Goooood eating, only a couple of years old.

 

This was my youngest son's first buck, stalked it for about 3 hours shot it from only 80yds.

 

The other one with no snow on the ground is my oldest son's first buck, It was a hunt on private ground only 80 acres from where we stalked it there was only one tree to hide behind, after it dropped down over a small ridge I got him withing 40 yards, he shot it from behind a small sage brush.

 

In 2015 took my daughter and youngest son out elk hunting, we harvested 3 in one day, my sons was a young calf but it had to have been the best eating of the 3,  cows always taste better than bulls no matter what the age. That was a busy year for butchering, I was ready to be done that's for sure.  We ended up with over 250 lbs. of burger besides all of the steaks, and roasts. :-)

 

Nice pictures,looks like y'all have a good hunting area.That elk meat is good eating wish we had some here in my area.

[Freedomflyer 1,886]

We do have a great area, I feel extremely blessed to live where I live. I'm not as avid a hunter as most, but take advantage of opportunities to get onto private land whenever I can.  I'm too old to go chasing those critters over mountain ridges and through the trees. This bull I shot this year is the first one I've ever taken, I took a young one because I wanted it to be good eating.  Like I said the cows are always better eating.  Interesting how they started out as a plains animal and got pushed into the mountains, seems like they adapted very well, they can sure cover a lot of ground.

[PROV 1,439]

First pic is one I got two years ago. Guy in orange is my shack partner with his 8 pointer last fall. Next pic is my 8 point from last fall. Next view are from my deer stand. 100+ year old logging trail behind a swamp I have kept open.

[Bighanded 1,235]

28 minutes ago, PROV said:

First pic is one I got two years ago. Guy in orange is my shack partner with his 8 pointer last fall. Next pic is my 8 point from last fall. Next view are from my deer stand. 100+ year old logging trail behind a swamp I have kept open.

talk about relaxation!!  great view...the wife and I have a 2seater with wrap around rail/skirt and a top on it...and like you, we have it on the edge of an easement so...treeline on both sides and just a long POV both left and right for us...love to just sit out there and be still and listen.. we go at night a lot...9-11ish pm ..not to hunt, just to watch the various critters come through..deer of course, but we have some scent on a stump in front of a trail cam for bobcat and the foxes etc love to stop there as well..so we just sit and watch them come through... I'll typically doze off and the wife has to poke me when there's a critter or if I start to snore (grin)

 

 

[Bighanded 1,235]

the foxes loved to rub all over the bobcat lure..like catnip 

[Freedomflyer 1,886]

That's tough country to hunt, we have thick forest but that area is similar to our river bottoms which is where a lot of our white tails hang out. Any more, with the influx of people moving in, you have to know someone that owns property to do any deer hunting, then half the time that area is weapons restricted. Shotgun slugs, pistol, black powder, or archery.  Have a lot of tree huggers moving in protesting against our law of the land, getting laws passed and weapons restrictions,  not being good neighbors so to speak.  Not content with moving to a place they visited once, have to come in and change it to fit their personal needs and agenda. Then they wonder why the locals don't like them.  We still have millions of acres of Forest Service property that we have access to but these old bones are not that motivated to do that much walking anymore.  A lot of steep country where we're at and when you shoot something you better be prepared to g after it and that may be down into the bottom of a draw or ravine.  They always go down not up if you don't make a kill shot.  I have friends that hike miles and miles back in to get that trophy bull, then it's three trips back in with a buddy or two to get it out.  Don't have that drive or energy level anymore.  I've always looked at it like this, you cant eat the horns, and I'd rather eat a cow elk any day than a rutted up rank bull.

 

How'd ya like to have get this bohemoth out? Especially at the time of year it was shot, worrying about the meat not spoiling, not to mention the Grizzly Bears that can smell fresh kill up to 5 miles away! No thanks. I suppose this one really wouldn't be about the meat would it? LOL!  Makes me tired just thinking about it. At least the time of year I hunt the bears are hibernating.

[Freedomflyer 1,886]

Bears are out early this year, and hungry.  Wife saw this on Facebook, this is a town about 3 hours North of us. Assuming he took it from inside his pick up.

[Bighanded 1,235]

I don't know how we've managed to avoid bear on our property...they are in the area and townfolk still report them in their backyards...but in 16 years here, we've never had one come through...and I've got a dozen trail cams up...and we are out on property several times a week and we always watch for tracks of various animals.

 

I'm glad.. I really really don't want to have to deal with bear...even though they are relatively small little black bears...I'm not looking to tangle with one.

[PROV 1,439]

Yeah it's pretty thick up here and alot of swamp and beaver flooding. Most people quit hunting up here except us shack owners. Too many wolves and tough country to get a deer out of. Our stands are 2.5 miles apart with nobody in between. I haven't seen a human near mine in 17 years and he was lost. I gotta sit from dark to dark to up my odds of getting one. Had a pack of six wolves come down my trail once. They spread out evenly about every 50 yards and then did a drive. Closest one to me was 30yds.

[Freedomflyer 1,886]

Yeah,

      I am not a big bear fan they scare the crap out of me, nice to see pics of them but that's it. had an encounter 2 summers ago out riding an area that is somewhat known for bears, we don't go there a lot anymore, that was very scary, Grizzlies are fast and can run up to 40 mph and can close a gap of 100-200 yards very quickly.  The one we saw was about 150 yards away and that was 150 yards too close. It took off and ran over a small knoll, unfortunately the trail circled around to where it ran, there was 5 machines in our group we were 2nd to the last, we went around a corner and our friends that were behind us didn't come, we stopped and waited finally I turned around and got to the corner where we had last seen them. Just then they came flying around the corner wide eyed, that goofy bear had come down out of the trees right after my wife and I had gone by and came right to the trail in front of our friends, the trail was too narrow to turn around an fortunately where the bear was, the trail was about 12 feet below the bear. my friend gave full throttle and zipped past it with it looking down  at them as they went by.  Too close!!!  We all carry big caliber hand guns and bear spray but.......with a grizzly sometimes that's only a deterrent. Don't even get me started on the wolves. Since they reintroduced them to Yellowstone National Park they have decimated the Elk population, after 24 years they finally have started issuing wolf tags for hunting but only so many per year, certainly not enough to keep them under control. The mind set around these parts is the 3 S's, Shoot, Shovel, and Shutup!  Farmers have always been able to shoot them if their livestock has been in danger, but when they do they are raked over the coals and put through the ringer so if they encounter, they kill it  and bury it and don't say anything, not worth the hassle. Sorry to say but I hate wolves, they kill at times to just kill, I have seen a lot of footage of them killing elk and leaving it, training excercises for the young ones in the pack, they are killing machines.

 

The 2nd pic was taken by our friends, if you look close you can see the bear coming down out of the trees, from there it bee lined it for the trail.  3rd pic is obviously a tame bear but gives you an idea of the size of these things, and these aren't even the Kodiaks or Browns that are up in Canada or Alaska.  Did I mention that I don't Bow hunt? LOL I like them sleeping while I'm hunting.

Edited February 28, 2020 by Freedomflyer

[riverc 1,317]

We have black bears on our family property,they don't bother me.That's a different story with Grizzley's man they would scare me,they are too aggressive.

[Fishfiles 20,145]

1 hour ago, Freedomflyer said:

Grizzlies are fast and can run up to 40 mph and can close a gap of 100-200 yards very quickly.  

 

 

My bike does 19mph with gear reduction , I might could run 10mph for about 75 ft , maybe 80 , so if run into a grizzly , I am doomed , LOL !!! 

[Fishfiles 20,145]

1 hour ago, PROV said:

 Had a pack of six wolves come down my trail once. They spread out evenly about every 50 yards and then did a drive. Closest one to me was 30yds.

 Think they were making a drive on you

[Fishfiles 20,145]

1 hour ago, Bighanded said:

I don't know how we've managed to avoid bear on our property...they are in the area and townfolk still report them in their backyards...but in 16 years here, we've never had one come through...and I've got a dozen trail cams up...and we are out on property several times a week and we always watch for tracks of various animals.

 

I'm glad.. I really really don't want to have to deal with bear...even though they are relatively small little black bears...I'm not looking to tangle with one.

It is going to be that one you don't see that is going to get you , LOL 

[PROV 1,439]

Just now, Fishfiles said:

 Think they were making a drive on you

I was safe 12' up in my stand. They don't really scare me but I always carry a gun up there. They have lost their fear of humans.

[Bighanded 1,235]

we do my wife's annual family reunion at a place called Table Rock SC state park...they are loaded with black bears...and you have to really keep an eye out when you've got the grill going on the cabin patio.   the family rents a large cabin for the common area, meals, board games etc, several folks stay in the bedrooms there, but the wife and I haul our travel trailer down and the camp area for those is about a mile down the road..the wife didn't want to stay up half the night playing board games so she and her sister hopped in the truck and headed back to the campsite.. I had been riding earlier in the day on my lil honda Trail 90..so I had it at the cabin.. I told the girls to take the truck on back to the camper...that was about 10pm.. i stayed and played cards with the guys and when I looked up it was about 1am... I said, I gotta get back to camp....so I crank up my lil red honda and pull out...that's when i realized how dark it is out there and no one else was up and about that time of night..and that little 6volt headlight on that 40 yr old honda doesn't shine real far down the road...and having already encountered 3 bears on hikes earlier that day and one that had come to the cabin when the burgers were grilling...and momma's with cubs... my ol brain started to really think ...hmmm..if momma bear is on the roadside and isn't happy with my little sputter bike...do the geometry...angle of her attack, vs my  very slow ability to acellerate to a whopping 40mph on these hills...yeah... I'm screwed...LOL..fortunately I made it to camp, but that was the last time i've done that.

[Freedomflyer 1,886]

LOL!!! I will at least say that for my Can Am, if I have an open stretch of trail they aren't going to catch me! I've had both my 570's over 65+ mph on a flat stretch of road. Fish, You're screwed! LOL.

[Bighanded 1,235]

i remember long time ago.. I think it was on some prepper forum talking about motorcycles..and someone brought up the small bikes like my Honda CT90..and a guy said  "12 yr old zombie skateboarders  could run you down" ...and he's likely correct...WOT throttle from a dead start...ain't an impressive thing on those little bikes...they are a joy to tool around trails and back country roads for a relaxing old school ride, but if I needed to escape a bear or a zombie skateboarder.. I'd be lunch fer sure... i might be just being silly out of my ignorance of the animal... might be that a noisey motorbike would be enough deterence for a bear....but at 1am...the brain is working overtime on the fear/alert factor.

[PROV 1,439]

Here are some more shots from northern Minnesota, except the prairie shots were North Dakota.

[Scotticus 777]

Got this buck here in western PA a few years ago with a bow. It scored 161. 

[PROV 1,439]

Wow!! That's a trophy.

[Scotticus 777]

I hunted him for two seasons before I was able to get a good clean shot on him.  I saw him many times but out of bow range(under 25 yards).  I got lucky when he was in rut at the end of the second season.

[Outnback 101]

Don't really have time to hunt for myself anymore. When I do, it's a rare occasion. Elk are my passion, generally take from 5 to 9 hunters out each fall. Usually can get the job done in a weeks time per hunter. I prefer archery hunts, but will help rifle hunters as well. Been doing this for better than 23 years now.

 

This Bull scored 320+ Pope & Young. Got it "Hog Tied" in the box of my 6x6 Polaris !

 

 

 

 

This next photo is the same bull loaded from the 6x6 onto a trailer minutes later.

 

 

 

Got it hung up back at the cabin. That meat pole crossbar is 12' off the ground !