Doomed Before I Start

[Hondoarcher]

I must be a puppet. A guy waits a lifetime to draw a dream tag then everyone starts trying to control me. I will be lucky to get a rag horn out of this LE Utah ML tag.

I had planed on taking two full weeks for my Manti ML elk hunt. I had to cut short my early archery hunt with my 13 year old boy so I could take my brother on a 5 day hunt the week before my Utah hunt. Like it was my fault he wouldn't be able to go hunting this year. Well it went South in a hurry and we came home early eating tag soup. Now the boss thinks I am taking too much time off and will not allow my second week of hunting for my Utah hunt. So I will get a total of 5 days in the field with my ML. GREAT!

Now the wife is calling her mother complaining that I am spending too much time hunting and wants me to be home after the first week. You can't predict when you are going to draw one of these tags. You just have to find a way to fit it into your life.

So much for my dream hunt. It has turned into a real nightmare. I am so pissed I want to shoot a spike and have it mounted and tell everyone that comes in the house that this is what everyone wanted me to have because they put all of these controls on me that made it impossible to achieve my life long dream of getting a 350 class bull.

Good luck to everyone else because I'm sure not getting any.

I will post picutes of my trophy spike if I am lucky enough to get one.

HondoArcher

 

[hornsoup]

I feel for you Hondoarcher.I thought I was the only one that has that crap happen!Make the best of it.Hunt your arse off and make it happen!Good luck and get a big one.

 

[mmwb]

You've got five days in the field. Go out there expecting the bull you want, hunt hard for it, and you'll come out far further ahead than if you go out there having already given up and deciding you'll settle for less.

 

[justr_86]

Turn the tag in and hope it works out better later. Or give it hell for 5 days!

 

[fatherofthree]

What do you look like Hondo? If you happen to be 6'0" tall and a strapping 180 lbs with a face that looks like it was etched from granite by the Gods, I could probably pass of as you to hunt that last week for you. All of us would hate to see a tag go to waste like that.

Let me know buddy!

P.S. If you do turn it in, do it sooner rather than later so the next person has more notice.

 

[sticknastring3]

That sounds rough man. I feel for ya but you should have 5 days of prime time hunting during the rut. My brother drew a Manti big bull archery tag and he got a chance to hunt more than 2 full weeks. We gave it hell and hunted harder than we ever had and we had some close calls but ended up coming home eating tag soup. I feel bad for him because his one true love in life is hunting and he wanted to shoot a bull so bad. I know it probably seems hard but stay positive. I am sure everyone on here that doesn't have a LE tag this year would trade spots with ya in a heartbeat.

 

[BLooDTRaCKeR]

Giver' hell and if you tag out on the first day with your dream bull, stay the full five days up there and soak it all in. Let the less understanding people in your life deal with the chaos that every day life brings. This is your time to experience possibly a once in a life time opportunity to roam Gods contry a free man with only one thing on you mind....killing a great bull. Leave all your worries behind for those five days and focus on having the time of your life!! Let us know how you do. Every hunt is a success whether you tag out or not, the experience and nowledge gained is priceless! Write it in a journal and relive it every year. I keep a hunting journal of every hunt I have ever been on and boy does it get me excited when I read some of the forgotton detatails of past hunts! Good Luck. Tip over a MONSTER!

 

[Dr_Hunter]

That sucks, but look on the bright side-5days is better than nothing. I think for the rifle hunt the average days hunted in the field is 3-4. Just go for it. 5 days for rifle should be enough. Anything longer, you would be passing up too many and left with something you didn't want- like a spike. Just my opinion. Good luck, I am feeling for ya.

"Half of being smart, is knowing what you're dumb about."

 

[wymoose]

That does suck. I think you can get it done in 5 days. The elk should be making a lot of noise, drop into a few of those canyons and look over as many bulls as you can. If you pm me your contact info I will let you know if I see anything. I will be down on the Manti all next week hunting Deer. Good Luck!!

 

[Daxter]

If you drew with max points turn the tag back in. You loose the tag fee, but you get your points back and a point for this year. Draw it again next year when you can dedicate the time to it a LE elk tag deserves. If you got lucky and drew without many points, go hunt 5 days and do the best you can. I will be a very very long time before you get another LE elk tag.

Dax

 

[Hondoarcher]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I was just very pissed last night and needed to vent. I will make the best of it. I have two guys coming to help me that first week. I will just have to get it done. I will be scouting from Saturday night until the opener on Wednesday. I am excited to be able to do some scouting days before I take my muzzy into the field.

I'm 5?10? and weigh 195 lbs but have a bad knee so I can't do the 10 milers anymore. I'm good for about 4 miles a day. I will be 53 this year and it took me 7 points to draw the tag. Turning it in isn't and option for me because of the cost. After the 5 year waiting period and the time it takes to draw again I'm looking at a good 12 years before I can draw again. That puts me at 65. Seems too old to be hunting elk but we will see. I may have to start a real exercise program now just to have the capability to be in the field at that age.

I plan to hunt above Ephraim if there is any room up there. I have my camping spot picked out but it will depend on the crowds.

Things should be pretty wild with the bulls full into the rut. I will try and post my progress from my BlackBerry if I don't run myself ragged up there. It is a real test of your planning and capabilities as an outdoorsman to be in the woods living in a tent and hunting every day from dawn to dusk.

My first report will be tomorrow after I setup camp and get my first evening of scouting done.

HondoArcher

 

[Zeke]

Sometimes you just need to talk it out to feel better. That's what we're here for.

Most of us on the site understand where your head was. Life's tough so just get tougher. (easy to say LOL)

I'm a handful of years older than you and I started a lifestyle change several years ago so I could keep hunting hard. Seems to work for me.

Give it hell for 5 days and let the chips fall where they may! Good luck!

Zeke

 

[REDDOG]

53 and your wife's still complaining to her mother about you? geezus, sorry?

 

[Deerlove]

My thoughts EXACTLY DOG. LOL

 

[Cahunter805]

Good luck buddy!! Im sure you will have a great hunt either way!! With some scouting I bet you will end it before day 2 and enjoy a few days to relax!!

 

[stanley]

>53 and your wife's still complaining
>to her mother about you?
>geezus, sorry?


LOL LOL

Good luck on your hunt!!

S.

 

[264X300]

Have to respond to this one. In 2002 I finally drew an AZ bull elk tag after several years of waiting. There were only 75 tags issued for the entire area so it was going to be great. Then, my boss booked a seminar for me to attend that cut my seven day hunt down to four days.

Of all the times he could have sent me on a trip, he chose that one week for a seminar. His response to me when I mentioned that to him was "Hunt Fast". Of course the town was Vegas so all was not bad, but I could go to Vegas most anytime unlike drawing an AZ bull elk tag. Long story short, I had to settle for a spike on my last hunt of the trip. At least I did not end up with tag soup.

I like your idea of mounting a spike and I'd like to see it when it's done. Besides being your last great act of defiance, it would be quite a conversation piece for years to come. Maybe it would remind your wife (every day) that she should have let you hunt until you found the prettier bull to display on the wall. You could call him "piss cutter" .

Good luck even though you don't think you have any right now. Your 350+ will probably show first light of the first day.

264

 

[Roy]

I sympathize with you man! Hunt hard for all 5 of those days. Do the best you can. Good luck.


UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[Muzzle72]

Hondo give me a shout i live in Ephraim.... see if i can help ya out...

 

[YELUM]

People have told me frequently that I motivate them to try harder. So I will give you a motivational speech.
After 13 years of my wife and I wanting to draw her an elk tag, she finally drew Pahvant. Me, her, my friends, were pumped. The next week I got some bad health news and after a few months of stress and crap, she flip flops on whether she want to do the hunt. After many many discussions, we are returning the tag, and she may never hunt again. Ever.

So I say to you, take the hunt by the balls and kill the best bull you can find in 5 days. Then spend 300 nights a week sitting on the couch with your wife, looking at that bull with a smile on your face.

Yelum

 

[D13er]

....your brother is an A$$hole



JB

 

[Hondoarcher]

>Hondo give me a shout i
>live in Ephraim.... see if
>i can help ya out...
>

Thanks Muzzy72. I sent you a PM

 

[woodtick]

Sounds like I would tell the boss to pound sand!!! The wife deal I don't know how to approach that

TICK
TALL, WIDE, AND HANDSOME

 

[nickman]

Pretty much have to say that WAY too many people are affecting your life........when you are 90, you are gonna wonder why you let them.

And skip all that, "it's what responsible, mature adults do" crap.

 

[bearman]

Well first off, if you have the time off from work coming "take it". Second if your wife is complaining about a few days in the hill's, it time to find a new one. Life is to short make it the best you can.