wyoHOMEing Dream Season 4

[Soccerdude]

Spent the longest winter of my adult life eagerly awaiting spring to try my hand at baiting bears. (RIP deer and antelope) Got a free freezer and started gathering donuts etc. My oldest boy turned 12 in March. We got him a bear tag and I used him as an excuse to buy a new CA 6.5 PRC. Got it dialed in a few of the no windy days we got this winter. May 6th got the first bait barrel out.

 

[Soccerdude]

Had some help checking baits. Disappointed it hasn't been hit yet. Lots of recent rain but maybe we can get into the other spot soon.

 

[Soccerdude]

Before and after project I completed today after 2 years of being in my brain.
Skull Bracket out of Laramie WY with the solid brackets. They worked great.

 

[Soccerdude]

Pulled 1 boy out of school and went into a spot that finally had the snow melt enough to get in there. This is my second oldest boy and he really loves the mtns. Ends June 15th. Hopefully start hunting the bait next week.

 

[Soccerdude]

This boy... can take any hunt and turn it into a fishing trip. No activity on our bear bait.

 

[Soccerdude]

Got a bear on a bait. I think he was a roaming boar bc he was there 3 days in a row and not hasn't been back. I checked camera yesterday and he hadn't returned. Sat through a crazy thunderstorm last night and nothing showed. Got a few more days left.

 

[Soccerdude]

Blonde bear was back Weds night. We went in last night ('Thurs) and checked the camera and he was on the bait from 630-7pm the night before. We sat yesterday from 5pm-dark and saw 1 elk walk past above the bait. Thermals and wind seem to be ok. A few more days left. Learning a ton and having fun.

 

[Soccerdude]

This baiting bears crap is kicking my butt. They are pretty good at showing up when we aren't there. Learned a valuable lesson tonight... when you take a boy with ADHD make sure you have a book (he loves to read) we forgot it in the truck and he was miserable all night.

 

[Soccerdude]

Bear hunting grind. My boy read the whole book in 3 hours. We have sat on bait 5 times now the day after a bear has been on the bait in daylight and haven't seen a bear yet. Tonight is last night for spring bear.

 

[Soccerdude]

My boys first hunting season will be general deer/elk. Wife didn't draw anything. (Apply her for tough tags). I drew the same elk again! Let's go!!

 

[Soccerdude]

Pulled a bear bait tonight. Bait had been hammered but the rain recently ruined the camera. No pics. Guess I should have been hunting it the last few weeks.


WyHOMEing is teaching my boy life lessons one gate at a time. Haha.

 

[Soccerdude]

Dad, are we there yet? Dad, can I have the gummy bears? Dad, can you take my picture? Dad, what town is this? Dad, is this elk poop? Dad, when will we hike? Dad, where is the water bottle? Dad, are we lost? Dad, where is the truck? Dad, what are those critters running across the road? Dad, can you roll down the window? Dad, where are we? Dad, look at the deer. Dad, when is lunch? Dad, can we have pizza for dinner?

Dad wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Soccerdude]

Decided late yesterday evening to go camping one more time. Ended up taking all 5 of my boys for a quick trip. We piled in truck and left town at 7pm. Threw some elk calls in the back seat and they made music until we pulled in the camp sight at dark st 830. Woke up. Went for a hike and found some elk. Success! I really hope one of my boys gets the hunting bug!

30 cows and 7 total bulls this AM. No big bulls had cows. 6x4 with dropper club was cool.

 

[Soccerdude]

Day 1 archery elk AM... really slow... but had good company and his calling is getting better and better.

 

[Soccerdude]

Beautiful evening in the mtns. Bull came in silent to 40 yards. Should get good next week.

 

[Soccerdude]

Beautiful sunrise with a bull in the trees.
Small rag horn got the pass this morning. He stood at 18 yards for 5 min. Heating up!

 

[Soccerdude]

They were starting to be really vocal today. We heard 8 different bulls we think. Had a spike at 13 yards and a bigger bull at 32 but no shot. The views were good and the company great. He loves skipping school to call for me.

 

[Soccerdude]

Another fun morning. Lots of trucks running around. Had this spike at 30. Then had a 6x6 at 27 yards with no shot. Wind swirled and game over. Learning a bunch. A casual 6 mile loop today. I think I walk too fast.

My wife says "your face looks skinny" when I got home.

The past few years I have lost 10-15 lbs in September.

 

[Soccerdude]

Beautiful morning. Another close encounter with a rag horn. Elk woods are always nice!

 

[Soccerdude]

First day getting skunked. It rained last night. Woods were quiet. 1 half whiny bugle. No elk were seen. My boy and his buddy enjoyed not being in school. Beautiful country.

 

[Soccerdude]

Because my awkward fall work schedule I have to be very creative with time to hunt. I got permission from my wife to go out tonight and try to find a bull or 3 and then sleep in the back of my truck and try to shoot one in the AM. I am currently leaned on my truck with a sliver of cell service in the middle of WyHOMEing listening to 3-4 bulls going off with in a half mile. Going to be a long night waiting for 6am. Probably 50+ bugles in last 45 min.

 

[Soccerdude]

I suck.

 

[Soccerdude]

My archery season ended with a thud. Screwed up on a big bull. Here is screen shot of him. My 11 year was with him and loved it.

 

[Soccerdude]

Rifle opener was a zoo. Got to camp on the opener in the evening. Drive down the road and watched a big bull get shot from the road. Woke up and hiked 3 miles into a canyon. Saw 2 cows. By the time my boy decided to shoot one they were 350 and into the trees. We hiked 13 miles in 2 days. I learned a valuable lesson with my boys. They will make any hike fun but I need to let them have fun. One boy didn't complain for 2 days. We got home and he had a massive blister and never complained once. Tough kid didn't want to let me down. We hiked up a nasty valley on day 2. That sucked.

 

[Soccerdude]

My boy and I got out for 1 last day of general deer recently. We saw 35 deer and 8 bucks. He earned this buck..2 mile hike uphill to get into this valley. We got set up and started picking out deer. We screwed up on 1 really big buck that was in a group of 3. We tried to circle on them and bumped them out. We circled back and within seconds I picked out the buck he killed. I shot alot of bucks smaller before I killed a 4x4. He ended up dumping him at 475 yards with a 6.5 PRC eldm bullets. What is really cool is he shot it in the same valley about 100 yards away from where I shot my first Wyo buck as a non resident 6 years ago. He carried the head, back straps, and loins himself and earned it. He practiced shooting this summer and was cool under pressure. Definitely proud dad moment.

 

[Soccerdude]

Tried 1 last day to get a bull. Found this herd 300 yards into the wrong unit. 1 pretty good bull harassing a calf and 15 other rag horns. Wasn't meant to be. Now we have some cow tags to try and fill the freezer with in the coming weeks.

 

[Soccerdude]

As my kids get older my focus is obviously changing to them. My oldest boy shows little emotion and must have ice in his veins. He was calm the whole time. 375 yard shot with "his" 6.5 prc 147 eldm and put his first elk down. He is now bragging that "I got it done and dad didn't"

Next year I will have 2 youth hunters. Can't wait for Sept already.