Merry Christmas

It was a slow bow season but it's not over yet!  The late split started on Monday and I'll be hitting the woods with some buddies during the late muzzloader season. With two weeks of hunting left and two tags who knows what could happen! Pictures to come Lord willing! On this Chirstmas don't forget the reason for this season: Christ, my (and hopefully your), Savior came to earth as a baby to one day die for the sins of the world! The most amazing story ever! John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10.

Bow Season Update

It's been a very slow season for me.   I know there are good bucks around I just have not hardly seen any.  I had a good one my very first hunt of November that never presented a shot.  Then a week ago I saw a really nice buck (could have been toothpic) chasing a doe but never came closer than 100 yds.  But that is all except for a few 1.5 year old bucks.   I have one more chance tomorrow afternoon hopefully something comes by.  

Toothpic lives!

Its been a three year story and the saga continues.  After more than a year since I hit him in the shoulder and got no penetration.  I figured that he had died, moved off, or someone else had got him but as of  Thursday (camera dates are off) he was still out there! Going after him this weekend!  One sighting in a year isn't much but its enough to get me excited.

Colorado Elk Hunt 2014

For the past three years Eric and I have been anticipating this hunt! Even all that anticipation did not prepare me for adventures that would take place. I took a few short video logs throughout the trip just to help give you guys an idea of what it was like. After a two-day, 20 something-hour trip, and once base camp was set up, I took the first video (Oct 9th).

(Base camp wall tent)

The next day, after devotions with our small group, Eric and I got all our gear together for our spike camp. We brought enough gear and food to stay on the mountain four nights if need be. After a 13 mile drive from base camp, we were dropped off at the trail head. That's when the work began! We packed in about 2 miles from the trail head and set up our spike camp at 10,600ft. We were able to do a little scouting and spotted a herd of elk in a high isolated meadow. Two bulls bugled deep into the night and got Eric and I very excited for the coming morning and the open of season! We also glassed a monster mule deer buck at 200yds for a while that night. Here is the video from that day (Oct 10th).

(All the gear we took up to spike camp)

 (If you look close you might see mule deer.  Right from our tent.)

Opening morning arrived with the sound of bugling bulls! We got ready quickly and started after the sound. With 10 minutes till legal shooting light, Eric and I found ourselves laying prone hiding in some long grass on the top of a hill looking down on two bulls at just over 200yds. It was too good to be true, and with 5 minutes till shooting light they went into the woods never to return. We spent the rest of the day without seeing any more elk, though we did see some nice mule deer bucks. At last light, Eric spotted elk once again on the high meadow. Our plan the next day: somehow find a way to that high meadow.

 (Oct 11th)

Sunday Oct 12: the most adventurous and toughest day of my life. We started climbing the mountain at first light and after about two hours we had reached the tree line on this particular 11,600ft summit. It was tough and slow going. We had to pick our steps carefully and hold onto trees, but we made it. At the top we stopped, took some pictures, and sat there for a while. When we went to continue, we were dismayed to find a rock slide between the summit and the meadow with the elk. There was no way around it--only across it. We took our time and were very careful, but I wouldn't want to do it again! We made it across and found out that we were still over 400yds from the meadow. About that time we had a huge thunder snow roll in. For the rest of the day it was cold, wet, and windy. We took refuge under some pine trees for several hours before moving in closer to the meadow. We were not able to find a vantage point, so we took our chances and sat on the edge of the meadow. There was a high ridge in the middle, so Eric and I sat on opposite sides. Luckily, Eric's bull came by at four in the afternoon, and he made a great shot and put it down. We were both freezing and were glad to get to work again. It took us two hours to cut up the elk. We packed out half the elk that night on a tough downhill hike in the wet fresh snow. Once we got back, I was extremely fatigued and was feeling very sick (altitude and dehydration, I'd guess). The weather was still nasty (windy and in the teens), and we felt it safest to wait until the next morning to get the rest of the elk. I could not even eat supper, and just went straight to bed. It was a little scary being out on the mountain while so tired and sick. I felt far away from anything safe and warm. The next morning was very cold, and all of our water and filter were frozen and had to be thawed out. All our gear was wet, and we were tired. Thank the Lord for answered prayer because the afternoon brought warmth and sunshine. We made an ETA to be picked up at noon (via satellite texting). As we were packing the first half of the elk out from spike camp, I told Eric that if I saw a bull I would not shoot it because I was too fatigued to pack out two elk the remaining miles. That turned out not be true! Not five minutes later I looked up over my shoulder to see a bull standing on the hill! I tried whistling to Eric as he was ahead of me 50yds, but he couldn't hear me and he just kept walking down the hill. I had to dismount my pack, chamber a round (did not want to fall walking down the mountain and shoot myself), take off my scope cover, and extent my bi-pod. All the while Eric was still walking down the hill. How the bull did not see us, I have no idea! I guessed that he was 250yds as I did not have time for my rangefinder (it turned out to be 311yds). What a blessing the bull ran down hill towards us and expired only a couple hundred yards from the trail! We spent the entire rest of the day packing out elk. It took seven trips to get all the meat off the mountain. A huge thanks to Eric and his brother in law for the help!!!

(Our thunder snow sanctuary)

 (View from our sanctuary)

(Back at base camp! Heat!!!!)

(Eric's Uncle tagged out while we were on the mountain too!)

The rest of the trip included packing out a calf and cow that the rest of our party took as well as butchering all of the meat. We finished cutting it up in time to enjoy a few hours on Wednesday (Oct 15th) around the fire before our long trip back on Thursday and Friday. The trip was a whirlwind, but I was still able to spend a lot of time with my dad, though not while hunting. Even though he did not tag out, we had a generous party and he still came home with some meat. We went 5 for 8 in our group in a 20% success unit! What a trip!!!

  

 (My dad on Sunday)

 (Pat with his cow.)

 (Cutting meat)

 (1,000 pounds of meat!)

180 grain core lokt balistics for the 30-06 at 10,000 feet from this app came in handy! It's called bullet drop and is free check it out. 

What an adventure! Stories to come once I get home! Long drive ahead...

Look at that price per pound on potato wedges!  Just getting off the hyway. I'll keep posting as long as I have coverage. 

Just pulled into the hotel 17 hours in the car... Wow

I see mountains!

Story time!

Since I'm posting we did get a couple ducks last week it was nice to be out!

Hitting the road @ 4:45 Colorado bound!

Preseason update:

Hunting season is just around the corner! We leave for Colorado a week from Wednesday!  

I love shooting my bow especially in the fall. I recently got a bear grizzly recurve to add to the target practice time but I probably won't hunt with it yet this year. You have to spend a lot of time practicing with them to be ethical.

Best buck on the trail cam so far.  He be a tough one to pass. 

Elk Trip!

The Elk hunt is only three weeks away!  Being prepared physically for the mountain hunt got set back a little with the recent appendectomy. But I'm coming back around. 

Just finishing up some side jobs to save up a lil extra cash and getting the packing list ready. This is really going to happen! 

Will try to keep you posted throughout the trip. I might also try to do a video journal while in Colorado to share on the blog when I get back. 

Trail Cam

Went through 1,000 photo's tonight looking for toothpick.   He wasn't there nor were any other bucks I recognied. This was the best one an up and comer!

First duck hunt of the year! Though I came back empty handed it was a blessing to be in God's creation!

Hunting Bucks the Way that Works: The Hard Way

A Crash Course for Hunting Big Bucks
By Ronnie Hemsworth
 

To consistently harvest mature bucks on public land or private land, for that matter, you must hunt smarter and harder than all the other hunters out there while outsmarting the wary old bucks as well.

Preseason:

Get maps and learn them.  Find the pinch points, food sources, water, and ridges. Get on the ground and walk it; know the land like the back of your hand. Learn the structure, cover, and topography; and find the trails, scrapes, rubs, and bedding areas. Go shed hunting in the winter and run trail cams in the summer and try to learn as much as you can about them. Exercise in the summer to stay in shape. Get your bow professionally tuned and set up to fit you. Make sure your guns are dialed in and check it periodically through the season. Hone your shooting skills from different positions and situations and with different obstacles (remembering to watch arrow flight and not line of sight) and distances. Run short sprints before shooting to simulate adrenaline. Get so you don't have to worry about the shot.

Once season starts:

Do not pick one spot and hunt it all season. Deer are too smart, and doing that not only gives yourself away to them, but it also gives yourself away to other hunters. Don't look for a perfect spot. If you do find one, deer won't be there and you can almost guarantee that other hunters will be. Go deeper to the spots where others won't venture. Get a blind and a mobile stand and pick 6+ spots. Never decide where to hunt until the day of—basing your decision off of deer movement and wind direction. Hunt high deer movement areas (hunt does to kill bucks), and use the old grunt tube to draw them in close, if need be. Keep changing it up so the deer can never pin point you. Hunt the places no one else does, because that's where the big boys go. Save your time to hunt on cold snaps and the few days after them. Hunt the rut! You’ll typically want to hunt the first two weeks of November the hardest.

In the stand:

Hunt as long as possible. You'd be surprised how many bucks move between 10-3 on cool days! Remember that deer heavily use the senses of sight, smell, and hearing, so control those factors as best you can.

Smell: Use scent killers and keep your outer layers in a bag full of leaves and never take them out. Wash your under layers in scent free detergent. Try to layer your clothing to prevent sweat. Hunt high spots staying away from holes and low spots where the wind will swirl. Hunt the wind! The use of scent drippers, cover scent, scent attractant, and hunting scrapes can be effective.

Sight: Hunt with cover both in front of you and behind you to break up your silhouette, and stay in the shadows, if possible. Use appropriate camo. Limit movement and wait for deer to look away or be blocked before drawing. Use a decoy (I've never done this but would like to).

Sound: Make sure your stand uses felt to eliminate sounds. Remove debris from ground when using a blind. Wear quiet clothes. Sit still. Use grunt tube to bring them in close. Make sure you have blind spots where the "grunting buck” (you) might be. If a buck comes in, he will be looking for a real deer. Rattling antlers can work, too, but sometimes being quiet is best.

During late season:

Stalk during the day and hunt food sources at dusk (my favorite way to hunt). Be stealthy. The deer will be herded up in bunches, and that's a lot of eyes, ears, and noses to outsmart!

Lastly, be patient! They say it takes an average bow hunter five years to kill his first deer. That’s because it takes about that long to learn the stuff listed in this article the hard way—by making mistakes. I beat the average, and it only took me three years. I just made five years’-worth of mistakes in those three years. :)  Hard work pays off!

 

Photos by: Eric Locker

Colorado Elk hunt is a go!

My dad and I along with a couple other friends all drew elk tags in Colorado for this falls rifle hunt! I've never hunted elk or hunted in Colorado at all and with the bonus of going with my dad I'm very excited!  Time for a couple months of hill work outs in anticipation!

I grew up with a family friend who raised elk hopefully I can remember that his bulls are not standard ;) (picture of his world record farm raised bull) 

Turkey Curse Ended

Patience finally paid off!  It only took four springs of turkey hunting, we will not talk about misses to save my pride, until I was finally able to take my first turkey!  After so many early mornings and frustrating public land hunts, I was invited to stay at a cabin and hunt private land.   The hunt started off just the way you want with turkeys gobbling from four different locations.   One of these was closer than the others.   We set the decoys out in a field on top of a hill and tucked into the brush along the edge.   It only took a couple soft calls for the closest Tom responded to us.  After hunting so many skid-dish public birds we decide to be quiet and let the bird just work to us.  It worked like a charm.  Not five minutes later the Tom spoke again this time rattling the woods behind us and causing me to about jump out of my skin.   I knew he was really close so I shouldered my gun and let off the safety.  I was just getting steady when he came out of the woods at full strut and moving fast for the hen decoys!   He was moving up the edge of the field so I wasn't going to have a clear shot till he was about five feet from me.  If I've learned one thing about turkey's its that they have incredible eye sight.  So I decided not to move and just let him walk till he was in line with my gun.   That plan was thwarted by Mr Tom when he spotted us at about 10 yards.  His feathers laid down and he turned to run but he was a moment to late.  Even with a little brush in the way one blast of the nitro mag turkey load was all it took.  At 6:09am the hunt was over!  Now that's the way turkey hunting is supposed to go!  Thanks to Marv for inviting me and Eric for letting me have first shot!   I will not soon forget that Tom's gobble at about 20 yards on the crisp morning air.  It was enough to give you goose bumbs! 25lbs 9" bear 1" spurs.

Half Marathon

Even Heavy rain storms could not keep us from running! After an hour delay for rain we finally started the race.  Eric and I started out strong the first 3k which came back to bite me at the end.   Despite having a side ache and a shoulder cramp I was able to run a very strong first 10k for my standards.  We ran a 7 minute mile downhill mid race at one point which was reassuring :) Bulldog hill (mile 11-12) was grueling, although I held pace up it I was completely exhausted at the top.  The last mile and a half I had to dig pretty deep mentally but was able to hold on.  When training we were shooting for a sub 2 hour race but for line ups I was optimistic and put down 1:55.  My finish time, after my start up deduction (time from gun till when I actually crossed the start line), was 1:54:55. I finished with 5 seconds to spare! All in all it was a fun experience and good for me to push myself. 

Recent events!

 I applied this winter for Elk and Mule deer hunting in Colorado with Eric and so began the quest to get in shape for mountain hunting.  We are both inspired by Cameron Hanes http://www.cameronhanes.com/ so we have been working towards a half marathon which is tomorrow should be fun!

 I also got both my bucks back so I now have a mount corner in the house! 

 

 I haven't done much fishing or hunting this winter.  I did get my limit of trout a couple times.  I also went bow fishing, which I've wanted to do since I was a little kid and I even had some luck!

I've gone turkey hunting a couple times but I'm not super motivated to get one this year.  Sitting in the blind, I've discovered, is more fun when you have  your girl friend with :)