Successful backcountry archery elk hunt(buddy arrowed it), successful opening day whitetail buck (buddy shot it), successful mule deer doe down south in the badlands (shot by me), lots of duck hunting with the boys. Now we are getting ready for another whitetail hunt this weekend! Lots of meat in the freezer this season!
Successful backcountry archery elk hunt(buddy arrowed it), successful opening day whitetail buck (buddy shot it), successful mule deer doe down south in the badlands (shot by me), lots of duck hunting with the boys. Now we are getting ready for another whitetail hunt this weekend! Lots of meat in the freezer this season!
Just started my season after a blown out shoulder ruined my bow hunting plans then about a month of severe sciatic nerve pain sidelined me further. Was out today and yesterday with my 9 year old son on his first hunting ventures. Didn’t see a thing yesterday, spotted a doe at first light this morning in the cut line we set up in. Seen some more does and possibly a spiker or two later in the am at a good distance. Not interested in my calls at all! Hoping to see some more action as the rut starts to ramp up in the next week and a bit. These pictures and stories give me tons of motivation, thanks all and good luck!
My season starts tomorrow, finally, bought my tags tonight, WT, WT Sup and elk.
Heading out tomorrow by noon for 9 days.
I'm hopeful to fill 2 tags anyways, but I'll enjoy time at the cabin for sure.
I'd better have fun, I travelled near 20,000 km in the last few days to get back here.
Spring bear with rifle
First black bear spot and stalk with archery gear
132" mule arrowed last day of general season
5x5 bull elk with rifle
Now after hockey puck for 2 weeks starting Wednesday only deer I'm interested in passed up lots this year
I did not get out a single day this year. Too busy with work and my young family. There were many days where I wanted to get out really bad, but spending time with my daughters trumped it.
Oh well, if not this year, then the next. If not the next, then hopefully one day down the road they will join me.
limited time but made the best of it. Helped a buddy shoot his biggest bull elk in Oct. another buddy took his biggest bull moose, a shiras if you believe,.....and my biggest mule deer in November. Brother in law shot his biggest WT, a 190' bruiser. great yr had by all!!!
My season is over...and what a great one it was! Got my first cow elk, first tree stand buck on my first time in a tree stand and finished it off yesterday with a Immy Bull Moose. Add many more days in the field and it was a season to remember for sure.
Well I guess the season is officially over for me as the wife has set up the "Reindeer" for the kids. Hope some of you were able to have some last day success!
Thank you all for your contributions! I am glad this thread picked up a little
I was fortunate to end my season shooting this deer in the last 5 or 10 minutes of legal light on November 30th (I wrote a quick story about it in this thread):
To sum up the season, i had harvested my first elk, shot a mule doe still hunting and the whitetail deer mentioned above. I also helped on a few elk hunts, including a bull and a cow, a moose bull hunt, which was the first for both, myself and the hunter, and helped to harvest a mule deer. I did not get to hunt any birds this season and didn't even buy the licence since I knew there was no chance I could fit it in. I also did not find the buck I was looking for, but I cannot complain with the one I ended up with. So it was a great season. Here is to the next one being just as good!
^ Awesome and well done! I had missed this post previously.
I figured I will continue to bore you all with my lame photos and diary
Now with the season over, (sort of) planning for the next one began. Also, who can stay away from the woods, especially on a beautiful day like we had today (-7C and sunny). I decided to take a drive and do some walking in an area I had in mind for a couple of years now. My plan was to hike at least 5 kilometers with an actual plan (hope) of around 10. Well, it did not really work out as I planned, but it was an amazing hike nonetheless. In total, I put around 3-4 kilometers on my boots today and it took me longer than I thought 10 would. Once inside the bush, the area looked nothing like it appeared to me on Google satellite imagery. The bush is thick and terrain is rough.
Sign of moose, elk and deer is everywhere and could not be much better, really. I had been to the area before a few times, but I never actually stepped into the woods. Well, it didn't disappoint and at the same time it did. The disappointing part is that in all likelihood I will not be hunting there. To take even a deer out of there would be a lot of work. And I mean a lot. I don't know, we will see. Maybe without any snow it would be easier (well, of course it would be), but I just do not see it at the moment. Sign is good, really good. It appears that some great size bucks live there.
The chill of today's hike was a wolf bark and howl heard some distance away. There was only one and then quite all around. Needless to say, I have not seen any animals today. Somewhere midway I found a track that appeared to be left by a wolf or a cat. Cats are more of a rarity in this neck of the woods though, but it did not look like a wolf track I have seen previously. It was not the print itself that was different, rather the way the animal moved. I don't really know anything about cougars, so I can't say much. I took a couple of photos, but for whatever reason I cannot find them on my phone. I then started wondering, do cougars drag their tail in a foot-deep snow? There was no evidence of dragging. I followed the tracks for about 100 meters or so, but then headed back because it was taking me longer than I planned and I did not want to be getting out of the bush in the dark with wolves and potentially cougars around
Good times overall! Hope y'all are keeping busy as well
So instead of creating a new thread for the new season I figured we can all add to this one and keep it going. To, sort of, keep all the stories in one place. Is it a bad idea? You tell me.
Before proceeding with the new season, am I the only one who cannot see any of my photos in my previous posts here? Weird, because they are all still there at postimage (just checked). Can anyone see any photos in the very first post of this thread? Thanks. Also, I will simply attach the photos to this post instead of using a hosting site and even though they won't be as large (not that it really matters since they are just phone pics), at least they should stay here come next year. Please let me know if no photos are visible in this post either
I have been able to get out for the first time yesterday with my cousin looking for elk. I was out a couple of times this season, but not actually hunting. Also, I am not a bow hunter (yet, maybe), rather a sidekick and always tag along when I have a chance and time. Who wouldn't?
Anyway, out we went in the evening the day before yesterday. It snowed a couple of days before that, but one could still see it in the woods. The morning was worse. Isn't she early this year?
A nice thing about archery season is that there is no one out there, while the place will get fairly busy come next week.
Beautiful Peace country...
The evening was perfect, actually. The wind was a bit chilly (and I definitely should have put another layer on), but at least it was blowing from the right direction. Wish I did not forget to grab my gloves either, which reminds me I should find them for tomorrow because we are going out again.
Unfortunately, I do not think we will see lots of colours in the hills this year because she turned cold pretty early and fairly quickly.
When we came to where we were heading, it was quite. A bugle and a few cow calls some moments later did not deliver. Just a few days ago, elk was fairly active and vocal in the area, or so I was told. We waited quietly, just enjoying the view, looking through the binoculars at the hills on the other side of the river with a few occasional location calls.
If one didn't know any better, one would think that there is no wildlife around. To our benefit, we do know better. And patience paid off. About half an hour later, he finally snorted. No bugle, just a couple of snorts. Our shy bugle after that was returned and it was returned twice, one pretty close and another further away. Time to move. While my cousin grabbed the bow and moved down the hill to position himself in the most likely passage of the bull, I remained on top in charge of bringing him in. Quite literally, just a few moments later I could hear the hooves closing in... It is weird when you can hear them walking, every step they take and you know how close they are. This guy was no more than 30 feet away from me when he took off. I did not see him and he did not see me either. The only thing that separated us was the hump of the hill, so to speak. I am still wondering what spooked him off. Like I mentioned before, the wind was perfect and there was no way he could "smell me out". At the end of the day, it did not really matter because the shooter could not see him at all from where he was, lol.
Obviously the evening was not over and we regrouped. I learned the lesson and moved myself to some cover. The shooter now took a higher position with a better view of the field. I sent a few cow calls out and nothing. Ten or so minutes later I sent a few more. All quite. I was just about to call again some minutes later when I heard him coming, moving the brush. And a minute or two later, there he was.
The funny thing is that now he took the "most likely passage" where my cousin was waiting for him the first time around.
Also funny, my cover turned out to be non at all from where he eventually came in. So when I saw him coming, I threw my hood on and tried to become part of the background, which was not easy because I was wearing black (or dark grey) jeans, brown boots and a dark green hoody. He played a staring game with me for a while (my face was hidden); then ran back and forth looking for whatever was calling. I was watching him for at least 3-4 minutes and he gave plenty of opportunities had it been a rifle season. Eventually he walked away.
We did exchange a few vocals with him before we left.
This was a fair size 5x5 bull, but there is another one much bigger that we are after. Of course, the bigger guy just sits tight and hardly makes any sounds at all. We do know he is there though and I did hear him snorting again just before we left. Maybe tomorrow...
I haven't been out much because I was away for over 3 weeks due to a family emergency in Ontario. When we left, the valley still looked like it does on the photos in my post above or somewhat similar. The scenery with naked trees was completely different when came back. Surprisingly, no snow. When we left, you could hear elk bugling here and there. Upon our return, it was all quite and no elk in sight where you could usually find some with ease.
I drove up to a couple of fields I have permission on hoping to see some elk to no avail, as expected. My antlerless elk draw tag expires on October 31, so I will have to figure something out before then. I actually still haven't purchased the tag and debating whether I should buy the general "bull" instead because it will give me more time, but I feel like it is unfair and I should just go ahead and stick with the "cow", harvested or not. In the mean time, I took my 4-year old out to see some deer.
She keeps telling me how she wants to see a real bear, lol, and we just can't find one these days. She saw several in her few years, but non this year and she is pretty confident she had never seen one before. Driving up the hill yesterday, I told her that today might be the day and she said I better keep her window closed because if the bear gets too close, she doesn't want it to scratch her, lol. We haven't seen any bears yesterday. We did get to watch some combining, which she enjoys seeing as well.
Other than that, I went to check on my cameras out in the bush. It was nice to see scrapes going nice and strong this early in the season.
Just like last year (my first year with trail cameras), no decent bucks were captured yet, but there was a photo or two I thought was worth posting.
Hello:
What?:
First snow (there is a bull there somewhere):
To conclude this post, hunting is much more than just a photo or two of a dead animal, which I will probably (hopefully) include in my next post or two, lol.
I harvested 2 spring bears one cinnamon and on blacky. The rest of the season so far has been training and BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS! Trying to get my WPG some experience under his collar. So far its been going as well as could be expected.
My season started off snowy before rifle elk on the 17th then the snow melted it got nice we took one bull in the early season, came back for a couple weekends in October took my bull a couple days ago so far so good, now scouting for a big Whitetail got some great areas I think
I haven't been out much because I was away for over 3 weeks due to a family emergency in Ontario. When we left, the valley still looked like it does on the photos in my post above or somewhat similar. The scenery with naked trees was completely different when came back. Surprisingly, no snow. When we left, you could hear elk bugling here and there. Upon our return, it was all quite and no elk in sight where you could usually find some with ease.
I drove up to a couple of fields I have permission on hoping to see some elk to no avail, as expected. My antlerless elk draw tag expires on October 31, so I will have to figure something out before then. I actually still haven't purchased the tag and debating whether I should buy the general "bull" instead because it will give me more time, but I feel like it is unfair and I should just go ahead and stick with the "cow", harvested or not. In the mean time, I took my 4-year old out to see some deer.
FYI you aren't eligible to buy a general elk (bull/antlered) if you were successful in an antlerless draw regardless if you purchase the draw tag or not. It will not show up as an available option for you to purchase.
FYI you aren't eligible to buy a general elk (bull/antlered) if you were successful in an antlerless draw regardless if you purchase the draw tag or not. It will not show up as an available option for you to purchase.
Exactly! Too many people were not purchasing their draw tags, choosing to purchase a tag for the general season instead, so they changed the system to prevent this.
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My season starts tomorrow a.m.
8 day sheep hunt followed by an elk hunt later in Nov.
Good Luck everyone and congrats to all who have been out already whether or not you have been successful. To me it's more about getting out than anything else......I look forward to it the whole year.
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Managed a P&Y archery antelope, passed on at least 20 elk so far looking for THE one. Dad shot a nice archery cow elk last weekend so the pressure is off freezer wise. Now to chase some archery white tails.
We went up to a northern wmu for bull moose and we only filled one of the two tags we had. The only other bull moose I saw was a huge bull and cow but they were in the wildlife corridor so couldn’t shoot him. Did see another dead bull in the wildlife corridor with the nose cut off.
I’ve got all my permission lined up for November so hopefully I can find a decent whitetail.
Heading out tomorrow to a southern wmu with my buddy as he has a cow elk tag and i’ll Be packing my shotgun for sharptail.
My season started off strong with geese and pheasant, I haven't hunted big game yet. I hosted a friend that used to work for me, and we took limits of geese and pheasant every day. My regular waterfowl group had some excellent hunts as well, and we have learned a great deal, and I have expanded my list of landowners who allow us to hunt on their property. A week ago, I developed a nerve issue in my back, and now my season is at a dead standstill. At this point, I am still hoping to have a friends son purchase a youth partner licences to fill my antlered deer tag, but that depends on my back. If we are able to make it happen for the young man, my season will have been a success. In the meantime, I am hoping for one more goose hunt, and possibly a pheasant hunt or two, but time is not in my favor for those.
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Only accurate guns are interesting.
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