'16/'17 Fall Days Afield

[AnonSequitur]

Great dall, what a beaut.

[Flake]

41 1/2" x 381/2. 11 years old. Probably low 160's. I am not that into scores. Dream ram for me.

[Flake]

I'm sure some of the AK mags can back me up on how dall sheep are prime eating.

[highangle]

Yep. Mountain sheep have fat in the meat, which puts them in a different class entirely than any of the deery ungulates, or mountain goats.

Mountain sheep tenderloins, cooked over an open fire after an 8k vertical foot day to harvest them, are sublime.

[hatchgreenchile]

That's quite the ram!

Our group hunted hard through 2nd rifle last week, but our only bull was the 6x6 previously posted. It measured at 303".

We were working a 5x5 on Thursday, and he was starting to work his way to the meadow we were watching for a drink. The elk in our area were still socially calling, but the old man took that as an invite to honk on bugle & cow calls like a marching band. Bull got nervous and sneaked out between 4 of us! We had another bull talking Friday nearby, but never could get him to come down. Another season where I've learned a lot, such incredible animals.

[snapt]

There's a nice article featuring TheReverendFloater and his pooch in the latest Big Life mag.

[yeahman]

Little forkhorn buck sneaking by my stand this evening. Also saw a decent 4x4. The rut is definitely on.

[Phall]

Rut is getting going in SLC too, had a nice 2 pt put his vitals right behind a tree at 60 yards just as I got to full draw, then another 3pt have one of his does bust me at 80. Getting closer......

[yeahman]

Proves to me that the rut has everything to do with length of days and nothing to do with cold weather. It's been mild as shit here lately, and clear skies and warm temps are all that's in the two week forecast. On the skiing front, Thanksgiving is looking like a very optimistic (and limited) opening for Big Sky.

Question now is will the elk come down out of the high country later this month regardless of the warm weather? I mean they know winter is coming eventually...be interesting to see what happens.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

The deer have moved out of the hills here, central WA, and the elk are heading that way too. It's been a cool, wet fall. Nothing too cold yet but they seem to know what's coming.

[Phall]

Bowhunting, or, a lesson in patience.

I blew it last night. Had a buck following a doe right into me. I was stopped on the far side of a clearing, 60 yards from this doe. As she cleared the brush, I saw his antlers and decided to wait for the buck. I ranged the end of the game trail at 63 yards, and stayed still. I should have waited for him to get fully broadside, but I had drawn back and the impatient/cocky side took over thinking I could thread one into him just behind the front shoulder. Shot was high and back, right into the backstrap. I went to back out for the night, and as I was walking out, I saw a guy on the ridge who had watched the whole thing on the phone with another hunter who ended up spooking this deer. I caught a glimpse of him running, with blood on his side, being chased by this hunter. We end up getting togehter, and we see the buck at last night, feeding and walking up hill after the same does. After talking to his son who was glassing the whole time, the buck never faltered or bedded, hit was back and high, and had stopped bleeding. I went back today and went to the spot we last saw the buck, saw no blood, and went back and found my arrow which had a very small amount of penetration and had come out about 5 feet from where I hit him, some chunky muscle on the broadhead, and a whole lot of shame and frustration on my end.

I have relived the situation probably 20 times in my head so far, about waiting for him to follow the doe, get broadside. I would have had a dead buck if I was just a bit more patient.

Bowhunting is amazing.

[hatchgreenchile]

That makes two of us on this thread

60 yards is a tough shot, and hindsight is 20/20. You made the best call you could at that time. Learn from it, keep shooting, work on tracking when given the opportunity, and enjoy the process!

[yeahman]

Hunting doesn't always go as planned, that's for sure. Trying to fill my doe tag the other day I shot what I thought was a nice looking doe. When I came up on it I saw it had one 4.5-inch spike on one side that I hadn't seen. So...had to use my buck tag. Still and all, it will be great eating, so I'm happy and grateful for the animal. And I still have my doe tag to fill in my home district.

Biggest impact on me was that I couldn't hunt deer at our annual camp at my buddy's cabin in north-central Montana. But I went anyway and kicked it with my friends. It's an awesome place. Here's a few pics.











This big rig is from last year.

[2FUNKY]

Passed on several lesser bucks while hunting my ass off the last three days. Found a giant but couldn't get a shot. Saw this guy this morning but passed on him looking for mister big. Found him again later in the day, it must have been fate so I took him.

[2FUNKY]

Looks like an awesome spot yeahman, nice muley as well!

[yeahman]

Looks like an awesome spot yeahman, nice muley as well!

Looks like a nice buck man. Congrats!

Those are my buds, they are killers. I pale in comparison to them, honestly. The shirtless guy isn't actually a redneck slob, he just boned out that buck and packed it out 2 miles from the bottom of a coulee on a 75 degree day.

[farmer]

3 days, 3 tags filled.

[2FUNKY]

Looks like a nice buck man. Congrats!

Those are my buds, they are killers. I pale in comparison to them, honestly. The shirtless guy isn't actually a redneck slob, he just boned out that buck and packed it out 2 miles from the bottom of a coulee on a 75 degree day.

I'm cool with rednecks! I miss hunting MT so bad. Hunted all over that state. Guided a bit out of Lewistown.

Damn farmer, freezer fillin!

[2FUNKY]

Great day in the marsh.

[yeahman]

Nice haul of birds. Looks like a beautiful spot.

Had a "good" day elk hunting with my wife. Got to what we call Noisy Knob (3 miles from the car) because it's impossible to sneak. Sure enough we jumped 2 bulls and 4 cows off the south slope, they ran downhill, we ran down trying to get a shot at the open saddle but by the time I could shoot they were 500-600 yards away. They ran over the mountain to where the ATV guys sit all day...then boom boom boom.

I've flushed more elk off the mountains for those fucking road hunters than I even want to think about. Next time I hunt that knob we're gonna surround it and do a full-on ambush. But anyway, cool to see some big racks running around. And if somebody scored an elk today, good for them.

[2FUNKY]

Thanks man. I ended with one more drake teal, which is weird for this time of year. They should be long gone. I should have limited early but I had the worst shooting day in my life. Just couldn't figure it out. I usually can't miss, not so much yesterday. My dog kept giving me the look of shame!

Cool you got into them. Maybe split up and put someone down low on an exit point and then slowly push into the area and just gently bump them towards the gunner? Just an idea, I've done it before on similar sounding areas with great success.

[yeahman]

Yeah that's exactly what we plan to do. My wife doesn't carry a gun so she'll be the bumper. Need to get a buddy to be a second gunner. We will get one eventually I think. I know how they run now. They love this spot that's for sure. We shot one below the knob a couple years ago, just by chance. The sign is so thick up there it's incredible.

[2FUNKY]

Awesome. Hope you get one!

[yeahman]

Hope this guy makes it through the last day of the general season...maybe see him next year.

[2FUNKY]

Hard to tell, 3x3? Full rut though.