Fall Days Afield 19/20

[Talisman]

I'm not holding out for a bull anymore. Time to get this over with and eat steaks and start skiing.

Well said, get a legal elk on the game pole!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Got sorta greedy today. Crested a ridge with a buddy and the whole way up I had a feeling they were gonna be up there. Herd of about 20-25 feeding. Mostly cows and spikes with one nice mature bull. 360-400yds. I tried to move to get a better shot. Place I moved to was worse. Had a tight window and couldn't find the bull again. Was getting setup and about to take a cow when 40yds down the ridge my buddy took the cow that was right in my scope. Close one. He followed the blood about 100yds to find his cow and I chased after the herd. Jogging almost 2 miles uphill through breakable crust is fucking hard. I knew where they were headed and I took a more direct route, but obviously they still beat me to the property line. Fuck.

5 minutes later I hear 4 quick shots only 75 yds away and my other buddy shot a nice buck. Helped him with breaking it down and packing because he was in over his head.

Tomorrow. If it's brown its down.

[Talisman]

5 minutes later I hear 4 quick shots only 75 yds away and my other buddy shot a nice buck.

Nice mule deer cape. So were the four shots the elk cow and the mule deer buck, or just the buck?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Nice mule deer cape. So were the four shots the elk cow and the mule deer buck, or just the buck?

All 4 were the deer! Friend is new to hunting. Only his second season. It was like a 60 yard shot. I'm sure the first one killed it, but he didn't quite expect it to keep running and just opened fire. He shot so fast I assumed it was someone running a semi auto lol.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Phall. Hoping to be out for this season's game stew. Looking like it'll be tasty!

[Patarero]

Fall days afield thread feels more active this season. Digging the stoke.

Afternoon walk with the pack. Yes the pit/rotty/mexican street dog is actually a good flusher.

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[Talisman]

All 4 were the deer!

Any venison left after that many shots? The average Elk load will tear up a deer.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Fall days afield thread feels more active this season. Digging the stoke.

Afternoon walk with the pack. Yes the pit/rotty/mexican street dog is actually a good flusher.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Nice cocks!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Any venison left after that many shots? The average Elk load will tear up a deer.

Plenty of meat left. He's shooting a 125g out of a .25-06.

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[Talisman]

Plenty of meat left. He's shooting a 125g out of a .25-06.

Good to hear!

[MiddleOfNight]

Unfortunately he did not show himself until about five minutes after legal shooting time.

+1 on the kudos for your ethics man.
It never woulda sat right with you if you took that shot.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Had to drive through about 200 head of elk to get to the FS this morning. That's always fun. Still a gorgeous start to the day - 4" of fresh, no wind, complete silence.

But no tracks anywhere.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Is it wednesday yet? Gonna try a new area where we got some intel from my hunting partners neighbors. 8 guys in camp and they took down 7 bulls. Hopefully they left one or two up there. If not a couple cows would be real nice.

[2FUNKY]

Damn, 7/8, that’s a smack down. Good luck!

[pepperdawg]

Another East Coast rooster falls to the 16ga

[Adski]

That’s a beautiful arrangement all around Pepperdawg. Good reads and thanks to all contributors!

[yeahman]

Had a good time at deer camp at my buddy's cabin this weekend. Saw lots of animals, put a long stalk on a big muley buck down in the cottonwood river bottom. He got down in a little swale and I was waiting for him to emerge and present a shot. Then a hunter skylined himself on a ridge about 1,000 yards away and the buck jumped in the river and swam away. Not the first time I've seen deer pull that maneuver up here, it's their escape hatch. Anyway, didn't see anything else I wanted to pull the trigger on with 3 weeks still remaining in the season. A couple guys shot 3 x 4's. Good times as always.

[Talisman]

Saw lots of animals, put a long stalk on a big muley buck down in the cottonwood river bottom. He got down in a little swale and I was waiting for him to emerge and present a shot. Then a hunter skylined himself on a ridge about 1,000 yards away and the buck jumped

I was hoping this type of shenanigans only happened to me. At least it wasn't someone on a moto. Fingers crossed you connect with the bull you have been seeking. My hunting days are dwindling for me to fill my deer tag this season...

[yeahman]

I was hoping this type of shenanigans only happened to me. At least it wasn't someone on a moto. Fingers crossed you connect with the bull you have been seeking. My hunting days are dwindling for me to fill my deer tag this season...

Whiteroom Guardian is after the bull, I wouldn't mind a cow but have not been putting much effort into the task. He's at the mega hotspot today, hope it works out and he drops one!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Whiteroom Guardian is after the bull, I wouldn't mind a cow but have not been putting much effort into the task. He's at the mega hotspot today, hope it works out and he drops one!

Lol. Mega hotspot was exactly that today. Mega....crowded. Saw 6 or 7 other hunters in 10 miles of hiking. Beautiful area, but definitely no secret. Followed fresh tracks of a pair of bulls, but it was WAY far from the truck, late afternoon, and headed right for the super tinker toys/blow down area. They love that shit. We bailed. There is a reason lots of people hunt the area with horses. Super warm weather so we figured they were up high, but that meant possibly shooting an animal 8-10 miles from the truck. Would have been a hell of an ordeal packing anything out of there.

If I can rally tomorrow I am gonna go to my favorite spot where I missed the chance at that bull at 400yds last week. I have a B tag, so any shootable cow is going down and if I still haven't had enough I can go out again after a big bull. 21 days of hunting so far for me this season. It's time to get this shit done already.

[Talisman]

It's time to get this shit done already.

I keep looking at this thread every day expecting to see a picture of your bull or cow. How about you photoshop a 7 x 7 rack on the picture of the cow I shot and post it up as placeholder?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I keep looking at this thread every day expecting to see a picture of your bull or cow. How about you photoshop a 7 x 7 rack on the picture of the cow I shot and post it up as placeholder?

Tough sleddin out there. Not seeing shit in the last few days out is starting to get frustrating. Beautiful day today, but deader than dead.

[yeahman]

^^Yeah it's been mild. Need some weather.

Nonetheless multiple deer near my stand this week. Some nice bucks. Lots of heart racing and adrenaline when they appear but that magic <40 yard broadside shot has not happened yet. Tonight a buck came out of nowhere and started destroying a tree about 30 yds away in the thick stuff. For sure thought he was going to step out for a shot. Then the noise stopped. Where is he?

A few seconds later I heard a snap down left and there he was about 15 feet away below my stand. Nice 4 pt. Fuuuck! I'm pointed about 45 degrees the other way. He knew something was up now. Not a breath of wind to cover the sound when I turned and he jumped and ran about 50 yards, then did the head low buck sneak outta there. Shoulda just stayed still until he moved away. He still probably would have busted me at that range. I'm ready to shoot just about anything at this point. Time to put some meat in the freezer. Fat doe would be great.

[MiddleOfNight]

I keep looking at this thread every day expecting to see a picture of your bull or cow. How about you photoshop a 7 x 7 rack on the picture of the cow I shot and post it up as placeholder?

+1

Whiteroom and yeahman -
this suspense is making me crazy.

[Talisman]

A few seconds later I heard a snap down left and there he was about 15 feet away below my stand.

You need a mare's leg for that close in stuff, or maybe a croquet mallet.

You two will connect, but this suspense feels like the two week countdown to Christmas when I was nine.