Fall Days Afield 18/19

[Norseman]

My dog injured her Achilles’ tendon and her hamstring so she is out for 4 weeks. Looks like I’ll be chasing deer for the rest of the month.

Dang, heal up doggo!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

The Little Chief smoker looks fucking cool.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

The wind today. Holy fuck.

[yeahman]

Nice morning in the stand. Passed on a pretty decent 4 x 4. Saw him last evening too. Not quite there yet but wondering if I should have closed the deal. I think there are bigger ones around. Still have a couple doe tags up north for freezer filling purposes. So it continues...rut is definitely on now.

[Norseman]

Rem 760 Gamemaster?

[2FUNKY]

My buddy and I put the absolute smack down on the waterfowl today. I was going to deer hunt but found this spot on the lake that was holding tons birds the last two days and figured we better take advantage of it.

[yeahman]

^^Wow, nice haul!

Rem 760 Gamemaster?

It is my dad's old 870. I put a rifled barrel on it and a scope so it is now a dedicated slug gun for the weapons restriction zone around Helena. My self-imposed max range is 40 yards so it makes it interesting.

[Norseman]

^^Wow, nice haul!
It is my dad's old 870. I put a rifled barrel on it and a scope so it is now a dedicated slug gun for the weapons restriction zone around Helena. My self-imposed max range is 40 yards so it makes it interesting.

Ah, didn't know you were shotgunning the WRZ... bet that's fun.

[The Reverend Floater]

Put a bunch of folks on their first mule deer which is a fun part of my job. The downside is I didn't really get to hunt myself, save a few evenings.

Birds have been great... 8 month old pup is killing and Judy is in her prime. Lots of quail, grouse, huns and green brains thus far. Hopefully a few roosters here shortly.

[ncskier]

MN late bow season. Cold AF. But big boys are cruising looking for doe along the bluff country areas in southeast part of state. Houston county.


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[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Cold morning yesterday. Saw 20ish doe. 3 big coyotes and their tracks EVERYWHERE. No bucks. Heard like 15 gunshots in every direction before 9am. Nothing closer than 2ish miles though. Either everyone only shoots doe, or I am doing something way wrong. Could have taken a doe, but the old "I didn't drive 5 hours to shoot a doe" mentality was too strong. That's gonna have to change soon if I keep eating deer meat with almost every meal.

[yeahman]

Heh. I'll shoot two does this weekend at deer camp if I get the chance. Does and cows are the best meat man! Are you hunting for meat or ego?

[The Reverend Floater]

Heh. I'll shoot two does this weekend at deer camp if I get the chance. Does and cows are the best meat man! Are you hunting for meat or ego?

This.

[yeahman]

And speaking of no antlers...I spent 8 hours in the hills today chasing elk (you can shoot cow or spike only, and no rifles) with the slug gun and three times I had them within 60 yards and could not get a clear shot. You wanna talk frustrated? I saw 11 elk today, some of them no more than a 20 minute hike from my house. At one point I saw 3 elk bedded 230 yards away. With a rifle and perfect rest it would have been game over. But I had to sneak them with the slug gun and got very close at 50 yards but just couldn't get a good look broadside through the trees as they sensed me and walked away...coulda popped off a couple semi-reckless shots I guess. If you zoom way in on the 'V' in the rocks very center of photo you can see those elk bedded. It was a day. OnX says ten miles of chasing. It was fun. I told my wife the whole story and it took an hour and two beers. I just wish I would have got one.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Heh. I'll shoot two does this weekend at deer camp if I get the chance. Does and cows are the best meat man! Are you hunting for meat or ego?

True. My thinking is buck = more meat, but does do taste better. I already filled my trophy quote in september. Odds of topping that buck again this year area slim to none.

Now my buddy wants me to go after elk with him. Seems a little late in the season to go down that rabbit hole.

[yeahman]

Seems a little late in the season to go down that rabbit hole.

Nah. Now is prime time, and you're not burned out from a bunch of early season rifle hiking. Do one day bell to bell elk hunting, preferably with a fresh skiff of snow. You might get lucky.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Nah. Now is prime time, and you're not burned out from a bunch of early season rifle hiking. Do one day bell to bell elk hunting, preferably with a fresh skiff of snow. You might get lucky.

So shit. Just went online and bought an elk tag. Was gonna go to a place I hunted mulies tomorrow AM and people been killing elk up there.

Didn't realize I had to wait until the damn kill tag was mailed to you. Thought if you bought online it would be a printable version of the kill tag with the triangles to cut out. Damn.

Can I go to a regular OTC place and get mine printed? Super sketch to hunt even though I dont have the actual kill tag in my possession but did actually purchase one online?

You know I am gonna stroke of luck stumble into a herd now with no tag.

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[2FUNKY]

Don’t see why you couldn’t go to a vendor or a fwp office.

[BCMtnHound]

I almost made the same online ordering mistake with my tags this year, then caught the fine print. Then went to a local retailer. Something about the luck of hunting makes waiting for a tag online impossible. And I thought waiting a day after getting a tag to be legal for hunting in the old days was annoying...

[yeahman]

Fucking tags. I hope it worked out WRG. I actually hunted deer two days this year without even having bought the tag I needed to be hunting bucks in that hunting district. Totally forgot. I had an elk A tag, an elk B tag, a deer B tag, but I hadn't actually bought the deer A tag yet. Not good! Coulda been busted.

Chased those elk around again today for a couple hours with my wife. Got close but no cigar. They were bedded in the same place as yesterday. Now I have actually walked through their bedding area twice, but have never really spooked them to the point of running away. Will they bed there again tomorrow? Seems like a longshot but I guess I got one more hike up and over the hill in me, just to see.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Fucking tags. I hope it worked out WRG. I actually hunted deer two days this year without even having bought the tag I needed to be hunting bucks in that hunting district. Totally forgot. I had an elk A tag, an elk B tag, a deer B tag, but I hadn't actually bought the deer A tag yet. Not good! Coulda been busted.

Chased those elk around again today for a couple hours with my wife. Got close but no cigar. They were bedded in the same place as yesterday. Now I have actually walked through their bedding area twice, but have never really spooked them to the point of running away. Will they bed there again tomorrow? Seems like a longshot but I guess I got one more hike up and over the hill in me, just to see.

Damn man. Sounds like they are really giving you the run around. Shotgunning it is nuts.

Got my tag sorted. Had to pay $5 for a "replacement" to be printed at an OTC location. Stupid.

Taking out a first time hunter tomorrow. This will be interesting.

[yeahman]

Damn man. Sounds like they are really giving you the run around. Shotgunning it is nuts.

Got my tag sorted. Had to pay $5 for a "replacement" to be printed at an OTC location. Stupid.

Taking out a first time hunter tomorrow. This will be interesting.

Yeah, it's fun though, more fun than I've had elk hunting in a while.

Taking a new hunter is a good thing, they have all the luck. Just watch the gun safety stuff and be real careful. I'm still freaked about the local guy who got shot, or shot himself--nobody is really sure and the authorities aren't saying. Scary shit.

[2FUNKY]

Fucking tags. I hope it worked out WRG. I actually hunted deer two days this year without even having bought the tag I needed to be hunting bucks in that hunting district. Totally forgot. I had an elk A tag, an elk B tag, a deer B tag, but I hadn't actually bought the deer A tag yet. Not good! Coulda been busted.

Chased those elk around again today for a couple hours with my wife. Got close but no cigar. They were bedded in the same place as yesterday. Now I have actually walked through their bedding area twice, but have never really spooked them to the point of running away. Will they bed there again tomorrow? Seems like a longshot but I guess I got one more hike up and over the hill in me, just to see.

So now that you know they’re using this bedding area heavily. Why not sit on an exit trail and have some one just ever so gently bump them your way? I’ve used that method very successfully. Not really scare them but just show yourself enough at a distance to where they get just a little nervous and head toward the hunter.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Yeah, it's fun though, more fun than I've had elk hunting in a while.

Taking a new hunter is a good thing, they have all the luck. Just watch the gun safety stuff and be real careful. I'm still freaked about the local guy who got shot, or shot himself--nobody is really sure and the authorities aren't saying. Scary shit.

Yeah, I have target shot with the guy before. He can handle a weapon, so I am not worried about that which is good. Wouldn't even take him hunting if I hadn't seen him shoot before.

[yeahman]

So now that you know they’re using this bedding area heavily. Why not sit on an exit trail and have some one just ever so gently bump them your way? I’ve used that method very successfully. Not really scare them but just show yourself enough at a distance to where they get just a little nervous and head toward the hunter.

That's a good idea. In fact I did that this morning, had a great hidey hole in the rocks for an ambush in a saddle with lots of tracks, but they started heading the other direction before we could fully execute the plan, so at that point we had to go after them and try to intersect their route. Unfortunately I don't have anybody to go with me tomorrow and do the bumping, so I either sneak them in their beds or just wait until my wife can go again. No telling how long all these elk will be hanging around this exact spot, there is actually a lot of country in the hills for them to roam to. But we are learning their ways, and at some point I think we will do exactly what you say. It's unusual to have this amount of elk in the hills, from what I've seen, usually it's just a few random animals. Maybe the wolves are pushing them into this island of woodsy hills more and more?