deerkiller
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LAST EDITED ON Jun-11-19 AT 06:32PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jun-11-19 AT 06:18?PM (MST)
I'll contribute this year to this section. I started my 2019 season with a successful spring General season OTC turkey hunt. It was a tough year to find birds and even harder accessing places due to snow and road closures that normally are open this time of year. On the evening of the 4th night, I finally roosted a decent Tom in an area I've had a lot of success in the past. I knew from previous experiences, what this bird was most likely to do the next morning. I had to make a long circle up the mountain to get around this birds roost without spooking him, so 2 hours before light I began my hike, In neoprene chest waders! The creek was much higher than normal, and had to cross it several times in my hike that I decided to wear waders instead. 30 minutes before light I was set up in a clearing up hill from the roost, about 100 yards away. A few soft calls is all it took to get him fired up. He ended up flying right to me and I took him at 20 yards in full strut. It was a hard year, but always fun to get out after sitting around all winter long. A week later my dad ended up taking a bird in the same general area, which quickly ended our spring season with 2/2 tags filled.
So far neither I or anyone in my family have done too awesome in the draws. All I've pulled so far is a dedicated tag for my unit of choice. My wife has drawn the same tag as well. We should pull a few antlerless tags and will get some OTC elk tags and probably a few fall turkey tags. Im currently the top point holder in the state for sandhill cranes, so depending on how the other remaining draws turn out, I may do a group app with my family and go hunt those. Plus I'm sure I'll hunt waterfowl in any free time I might have. As far as big game goes, I'll invest most of my effort in my deer tag this year. I've put in a few days scouting so far hanging cams and checking out new country. Found a couple nice sheds (one from a buck I killed in 2015) and a decent lion kill buck from last year. He appears to be a 7x7, but it's hard to tell for sure with his tips chewed off.
I still have 1 more camera to put out for deer and then I'll put out 3-4 for elk. I've attempted to go put them out twice, but deep snow drifts are making it impossible to get in there for now. I'm anxious to get up in there, a big fire went through in September, blocking any access to that area since then. I'm curious to see what all burned, and how many cameras and treestands, if any at all, survived the fire. It would be interesting to see how the animals reacted to the fire and how soon they returned to the area. I'm sure a couple cams are smoked, but there's a good chance a couple others survived. I never really enjoyed archery elk hunting prior to 5 years ago, always been a deer guy, but every year I get more excited for that hunt and find myself putting in more effort scouting and baiting places than I have in previous years. For some unexplainable reason cows and spikes get me fired up!
Hopefully the antlerless and Wyoming treat me better than the bucks, bulls and OIL Utah draws did. Either way it?ll be another fun year full of lots of hunting and memories made with family.
I'll contribute this year to this section. I started my 2019 season with a successful spring General season OTC turkey hunt. It was a tough year to find birds and even harder accessing places due to snow and road closures that normally are open this time of year. On the evening of the 4th night, I finally roosted a decent Tom in an area I've had a lot of success in the past. I knew from previous experiences, what this bird was most likely to do the next morning. I had to make a long circle up the mountain to get around this birds roost without spooking him, so 2 hours before light I began my hike, In neoprene chest waders! The creek was much higher than normal, and had to cross it several times in my hike that I decided to wear waders instead. 30 minutes before light I was set up in a clearing up hill from the roost, about 100 yards away. A few soft calls is all it took to get him fired up. He ended up flying right to me and I took him at 20 yards in full strut. It was a hard year, but always fun to get out after sitting around all winter long. A week later my dad ended up taking a bird in the same general area, which quickly ended our spring season with 2/2 tags filled.
So far neither I or anyone in my family have done too awesome in the draws. All I've pulled so far is a dedicated tag for my unit of choice. My wife has drawn the same tag as well. We should pull a few antlerless tags and will get some OTC elk tags and probably a few fall turkey tags. Im currently the top point holder in the state for sandhill cranes, so depending on how the other remaining draws turn out, I may do a group app with my family and go hunt those. Plus I'm sure I'll hunt waterfowl in any free time I might have. As far as big game goes, I'll invest most of my effort in my deer tag this year. I've put in a few days scouting so far hanging cams and checking out new country. Found a couple nice sheds (one from a buck I killed in 2015) and a decent lion kill buck from last year. He appears to be a 7x7, but it's hard to tell for sure with his tips chewed off.
I still have 1 more camera to put out for deer and then I'll put out 3-4 for elk. I've attempted to go put them out twice, but deep snow drifts are making it impossible to get in there for now. I'm anxious to get up in there, a big fire went through in September, blocking any access to that area since then. I'm curious to see what all burned, and how many cameras and treestands, if any at all, survived the fire. It would be interesting to see how the animals reacted to the fire and how soon they returned to the area. I'm sure a couple cams are smoked, but there's a good chance a couple others survived. I never really enjoyed archery elk hunting prior to 5 years ago, always been a deer guy, but every year I get more excited for that hunt and find myself putting in more effort scouting and baiting places than I have in previous years. For some unexplainable reason cows and spikes get me fired up!
Hopefully the antlerless and Wyoming treat me better than the bucks, bulls and OIL Utah draws did. Either way it?ll be another fun year full of lots of hunting and memories made with family.