Grateful for another successful year

[Springer]

As 2016 winds down and the endless hours of editing film ahead i look back and have to give thanks for another successful year of Good Times spent in the Great Outdoors with Family and Friends..

Of course after the winter lull and wondering if i will find any sheds off of the Deer i pursued and the ones i never saw i just can't wait for the snow to melt and go look for some shed antler. sometimes you find em sometimes you don't ..



My Grandson turned 7 and of course he wants to join Pop's and come shed Hunting..The excitement in his eyes and expression on his face when he finds another one is such a reward for me..



Cant wait for Spring to pursue the antlers of some of the Bucks i got on trail cam that got away..

[Springer]

The first Hunt of the year for us Miner Boy's was for Alberta Spring Turkey. It was a New area, new to us hunt and took 10 yrs to draw a tag. In the end i got educated and learned a lot about them. We did see some Bigger Toms but tagged out on Jakes. Didn't matter it was just as exciting .. Some guys were tight lipped about sharing info and some were generous with sharing info and again i am very grateful and hope i can return the favour one day to them .. After all isn't this what Hunting is about..

Aarons Archery Turkey



Blazes Archery Turkey



My Turkey..





Cleaned...



ready for the oven..



I have to say hunting Turkey in Alberta is the most fun you can have with your clothes still on...

[KBF]

Is it true that wild birds are all dark meat?

[Springer]

We spend a lot of time in the backyard practicing with our Bows and even my Grandkids are all shooting now with us . Going to 3D shoots is a Fun Family event and were surrounded with Great people ...
Heres my Youngest Grandson winding up to shoot his first Buck with a suction cup tipped arrow lol..



The Oilmans Shoot

[Springer]

In hopes of finding a Legal Ram like all you other Veteran Sheep Hunters and newbies i headed out with Blaze to see if we may get a chance to find a Ram for him. Even though it rained like a Bugger on the opener we managed to find lots of Ewes but no legal Rams. We came down from the top of the Mountain on a Windy wet morning and stumbled on a Dead head in a Drainage that either died from a Hunter last fall, a Cat or maybe an avalanche .
First thing was the Skull then one horn about 30 ft downstream..then the second horn another 50 ft downstream. We put the 3 piece puzzle together and Blaze packed the head out with us...This was the only trip to the Mountains for us but i still found that it was a success with whole adventure and spending time with my son out there..

[Springer]

The next outing was East Central Alberta to look for a Moose to fill Blazes tag and maybe a Whitetail and Elk..
As we sat at our favourite water hole and our decoys in place the Elk never showed but a small Legal Whitetail Buck did. We were set up perfect and my Video camera in place i prodded him to take the shot..He's an incredible archer but was doubting his ability at this 70 yd shot..I said you haven't got an archery Whitetail yet and you practice out to 80 all the time. you can do this. The decoys kept him calm and with a broadside shot he smoked him and away he went with the illuminock doing its job we gave him 20 mins then set off to find him..
It was a Happy ending and a light Deer to pack back to the truck.



Awesome a tag closed and now we can focus on Moose.
With the Rut picking up we went into an area he shot his first rifle Bull 7 years before. As we hiked into the edge of the large water body we could hear a Cow Moose bawling in the distance and the Bull was working the trees over showing off to her. Try as i might calling to the Bull he wasn't leaving her.
We moved in closer with the Cow Moose Montana decoy in hopes i coax him out..
Nope he aint buying what i am selling so we moved closer to the serenade of calls being made.. I tried my call again and here comes the Cow with the Bull hot on her heals she came right into us and at 20 yds realized the jig was up but the Bull stopped to check out the Skinny decoy. Blaze was at Full draw and me right behind him with the camera rolling. When the Bull put his leg forward The arrow was on its way ... He went 300 yds and piled up and now His First Archery Bull Moose tag was filled.





We lucked out on this pack out as we managed to get the truck within 150 yds of him ..More great memories made.

We moved onto an Elk spot on a waterhole the next morning but they were already there a 6x6 Bull and 6 cows that are only a memory now with no arrows released. I came to full draw on a Cow but held off in hopes of the Bull coming into view, No nice he was already heading the other way from these girls..

[Z7Extreme]

Sounds like a great season!!! Thanks for the post!!

[Springer]

Back home and back to work for awhile....Now it was my turn close to home to try and fill my Moose tag. I really wanted to get my Bull with my Archery Tackle and close encounters and ben a surprise when i went after a Bull Moose and saw a 8 cow Elk and a 5x5 Bull...Never seen them here before but great to see them none the less.

It wasn't until Nov1st when i broke the shiny new rifle out. I had been trying all fall to get a newbie hunter in on a Cow Moose but it was more of a learning curve for this South African Buddy of mine.
Anyway we walked in while it was still dark and snowing steadily with a game plan to split up for awhile to improve our chances.
About 8:20 i heard the echo of his Rifle and a text a few seconds later " Cow Moose down ".. Excited as heck i started packing the the camera away into my back pack and started to head to his pinpoint when here comes a Cow and Calf Moose , so i dig the camera out and extend the tripod legs just in case...
Now here comes a Bull but not the one i am holding out for , just 5 points per side . I was kinda kicking myself a couple minutes later , when i hear something behind me on the rolling hills , its another Bull. I swing the camera around and get him in the crosshairs and its another Young Bull I let walk...Probably a good idea 2 Moose would be a lot of work anyway...
As i navigated around the Beaver ponds i see a Bull about 300 yds away heading for the thick bush. I run to the top of the hill set the camera up open the scope covers up and he pops out of the willows and i grunted at him . He stopped and i said to myself he's at least a 40 incher which was my minimum i wanted to close this 8 year tag on..Boom flop he's down at 200 yds....Yippee yeeha , Now a tag closed for me. I sent a text to my friend Big Bull Down. It wasn't long and here comes my pal ..
Turns out i got a few extra inches on my minimum i set and i have a 47 incher.
We high 5 , take pics and decide the best plan of action was to each work on our Moose and get the field dressing done in this walk in area only.



He called his son to come and give a hand and i did the same to my Boys. Aaron was the only one available and i said i have to quarter him and will be quite awhile so meet me after lunch..I sent a pinpoint for him...He had never been here before so i crossed my fingers and went to work..
About 1:30 and my strong Stone Mason son comes through the rolling hills with a wheelbarrow for the rescue..







3 loads later and 2 km each way we got the quarters to edge of the field we could bring the truck to.. The plastic wheelbarrow had bent arms and bent legs but the job was done . My Buddy and his son dragged his Cow out with the calf sled and met up with us ..Exhausted and Happy beyond belief we set for home to hang our Harvests.

[Springer]

I still held a Whitetail tag in my pocket and my target Bucks were not showing up under the stands . Saw little guys but nothing i was willing to close my tag on yet.
We headed to my Brothers place South of Sundre for a Hunt in hopes of getting Nathan a Buck he had been working so hard all fall to get with is Bow.

We crossed paths with a few small bucks that morning then headed onto private land . When the opportunity presented itself Nathan the Newbie Hunter had left his clip behind in the truck ..lol , My brothers old pump rifle had an issue with his clip so i said i guess its my turn and placed a shot from my 270 WSM into him and YES another tag filled, even though i wanted so bad to get Nathan his Deer.
Thats Hunt'n though i guess..





No more shooters that day so the next trip for me was to saskatchewan to hunt with my Older Brother , Buddy Derrick and Blaze to run camera.....

[Springer]

It was the last week of November and i had 6 days to hunt. We had an 8 hr drive ahead of us and we could talk hunting all the way, that should shorten the trip.
We saw a Giant Whitetail on the way but still in Alberta and no one had a tag..Another Giant etched in our memories.

We got settled in and tags purchased. We had a Big supper a few drinks and made a game plan for the next day..

We made our way into one of my Brothers honey holes and only 9:00 AM the next morning and there was my opportunity. Heres a decent 4x4 with his girls and their about to vacate into that thick Saskabush leaving the farmland. I got the nod the camera was focused and i put the 270 into action and sent an accubond on its way...I was pumped but the F bombs behind me told me something was wrong, in all the excitement someone missed the record button....it happens but why now in the perfect conditions..
My Buck made it to the willows and thankfully died before breaking through the thin ice on the pond it was headed for.
Guess Derrick is up next.





Holding out for the Big Buck he came for , Derrick had his opportunity on a True Sask Giant. as Blaze was getting focused on the Video camera the Deer headed for the same Bush the Does were headed. He got a shot as they left that strip of bush for the next . We headed into that Bush and the Boys went after him again, one more time this Educated Cranker headed for the Next Bush..We got permission on that one and bumped him out but he went the wrong way and into property that was posted "No Hunting" that was it for Crankers and the morning we left Derrick turned down a couple 130 - 140 inch Deer...We will be back Sasakatchewan .
As we drove home i got a call from Nathan . He Got his Buck finally and the excitement in his voice music to my ears ... I said YES !! There is a Hunting God .lol

[slopeshunter]

Great season Phil. Thanks for sharing

[Springer]

I only managed to fit in 1 Pheasant hunt this fall and hoped to get in more but darn work and life gets in the way sometimes.



However i am still very Grateful for the time spent in the field this year and made it through another fall without having to sign divorce papers by the end of it haha.
The freezer full of Grass fed meat and my Bride of 27 years finally started eating it with me...Now if she would just pitch in with the Butchering...

sausage and Jerky will be made over the winter and that is always another fun event where everyone pitches in..

Time to go call some coyotes and drill some holes in the ice and catch some fish until we can start looking for Shed Antlers once again..
Cheers

[Vacation]

Wow...great season, nice animals. Congrats on your success. Can't wait for a year like that.

[Springer]

KBF. I would go with Medium meat throughout Wild turkey and i was surprised how well it tasted...

[livinthedream]

You had a heck of a year! Thanks for sharing.

[buckbrushoutdoors]

Congrats on all the great success and time out in the field with your boys!

[alpineguy]

Looks like you had a lot of fun and took down some beautiful animals. Congrats to all of you and thanks for posting.

[wildwoods]

Congrats on a beauty year. No shortage of meat in that freezer! Some great trophys there

[pottymouth]

awesome guys. congrats

[Lefty-Canuck]

Awesome season guys.

LC

[Springer]

Originally Posted by buckbrushoutdoors

Congrats on all the great success and time out in the field with your boys!

Hey Lane . Ya we had a Fun year and sorry i tagged out before Whitetail camp..tough to fit it all in and still hold a day Job..We got some great footage and some not so Great Footage. Hopefully have something together for the 2nd annual MLO party..

[Springer]

Originally Posted by alpineguy

Looks like you had a lot of fun and took down some beautiful animals. Congrats to all of you and thanks for posting.

Thanks Ken. As many tags as we filled, it sure wasn't on a Great Looking Ram like yours . So awesome you got back out on the Ponies again for another one.

Pete and Kris you knocked it out of the ballpark again yourselves..Isn't Alberta Great for the opportunities we have to Archery Hunt so many WMU's and the Variety of Animals as well..

[chain2]

congrats to you and the boys Phil. ohhh like that velvet buck pic....

[Michael_Brown]

Originally Posted by KBF

Is it true that wild birds are all dark meat?

No, wild turkeys are similar to domestic birds in the white meat/dark meat distribution, however wild birds are not as fatty as farm raised and usually the legs and back are more muscle/tendons than you find in store bought. Excellent eating birds.

[Bigwoodsman]

Excellent story! Magnificent pictures! My favourite is the one of your grandson with his bow and rubber tipped suction cup arrows shooting the deer target. That boy has excellent form!

BW

[Don K]

Looks like you guys had a fantastic year!

[58thecat]

Very,very,very well done...incredible commitment.

[Caza]

Thanks for sharing!

[bb356]

Wow !!!