Taking a Ride??

[sageadvice]

Road hunting, i have found, is a bad name on this site and from some of the jokers i've seen out there thru the years, i can partially understand why.

Sometimes though, a guy can bust his balls for several days, humping up and away into great looking country with little or no decent animals spotted. So, maybe a little ride around the country to see what can be seen, is in order. Not road hunting, just a little ride ...and some glassing of promising looking areas. You never know, might turn up a bruiser!

I'd like to see or hear of some success on these little rides. Though it may be unpopular with some here, there have been untold thousands of great bucks taken while spotted from the rig!

Fess up and sound off!

Joey

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

Well sage!

When Deer season rolls around the Roadhuntin BS comes to a quick end!

This last Fall you might say me & Rutnbuck done some Roadhuntin!

Mostly lookin at different areas and looking for Desert Bulls!

Ya,we put some Miles on Pisscutter,scattered Ruts camera & Bino's!

Then I called a Bull in right out the Truck Window,Rut scored the Bull at 40"+!

He's never gonna let me live that one down,He said:JFP!We are on the SJ and that's the best you can do?

Best I could do out the Truck Window Rut,sorry!

A ride doesn't hurt!

But 1,700 miles of riding you might say we covered some ground!



I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!

 

[BreederBuck]

Absolutely.
After being cold,hungry,saddle sore,or just tired, I have welcomed a ride in the truck numerous times.

 

[BreederBuck]

But no, havn't whacked any bruisers from the truck.

 

[woodruffhunter]

Road hunting is how you hunt antelope!

 

[muledeernuts]

Years ago i was having my dad drop me off at the top of the mountain so i could hunt my way down and look for a certain big mule deer that had been tearing up every tree in the area. it was about the third time my dad had done this when something exciting happened. I got out of the pickup strapped my pack on and went about 100 yards when "Boom". well i opened my pack and turned on my radio and asked my dad if it was him. He said yea it was and that he had just shot a deer he spotted off the road. Well it turns out it was a 170 inch mule deer. Not too bad for offering to drop me off and pick me up later. With that being said i agree too that a little ride here and there is always good, just too bad i havn't got one like that yet. Find the horn Goose!

 

[Clyde Hollinger]

You can't kill a big buck from the truck, if you aint in the truck!

 

[sageadvice]

Thanks guys! I was beginning to think everyone here was scared to be associated with hunting or taking a ride looking for game while in a vehicle. You don't have to be a 100% road hunter to have a great hunting experience from a vehicle.

a bunch of years ago, one of my good hunting buddies at the time told me the truth;

He had a broken leg and was in a cast but couldn't stand to stay home while his pards went hunting so he did the driving and dropped his buds off then drove around to where it was planned to pick them up to go do another similar type hunt. He told me that he was picking his nose while sitting in his rig on the saddle of this ridge when he looks down off the side only to see a big ol buck sneaking up through the heavy brush, obviously to cross over the saddle that he was parked on. The buck didn't know what hit em!

My bud is passed on now, so many are, but his name is Jerry Morgan. You will find his name in the Records of North American Big Game, in the typical category. The muley buck he killed that day is/was about half way up in the listings.

Joey

 

[greatwestern]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-26-11 AT 10:27PM (MST)[p]hell, just last season i stopped to have a look around while on my way to another mountain range, and glassed up this dude and three other class IVs about 3/4 mile from the wash road i was taking, after seven days of ripping apart a pretty big unit of that desolate, denuded country; not having found anything quite satisfactory...lotta 4 low miles, lotta long hikes, LOTTA time behind the glasses!

Hunter wasn't scheduled to arrive until next day, as he had an elk hunt that overlapped the sheep opener; but i was able get a hold of him and he got there in about three hours...it was a real lucky break, them rams were in one of the very few places our fine 74 year old Gentleman could reasonably get to

and get there he did! then made an excellent 380 yard shot on the biggest of the 4 and the only one that was chocolate instead of grey

sorry it ain't a deer! ram goes just under 170 @ 9 years old, largest for unit last year, 18 inches over unit average

man, i was sure thankful for that particular 'road hunting' scenario! a lot of the places the sheep were located were for our purposes pretty much inaccessable...these guys were in a place that most hunters would just dismiss as being way too unlikely, and just truck on by...

so ya know....whenever you're anywhere the game you're after 'could' be, ya always keep yer eyes peeled eh!

 

[sageadvice]

Excellent post Greatwestern! Thanks!!

Come on guys! I'd say that for every "ride" i've taken in my day, there were at least 10 other hunts that were on shanks mare. Few liked to get away as i did back in the day but even then, there were instances of great fun and pleasure while cruising the country, getting out the big glass, and talking over whether a buck was worth going after or not.

Joey

 

[marley]

two years ago I had an archery tag for a 0 pt. unit that I know well. My buddy and I drove to the top of this mountain top to sit and glass for what little of the evening we had left. We were both picking distant mountains apart with the spotters right next to my truck. I heard something just down the ridge from me. I stood up real slowly to see a nice 165 class buck feeding just 40 yards away. We had been sitting there for probably 30 mins. and never noticed him. I crawled over to my truck, reached into the back seat for my bow and crawled back over to my buddy who was now laying on his back trying to stay out of view of the buck now just 25 yards away. I drew my bow laying down and slowly did a sit up with it drawn and punched him in the pump house. Weirdest hunt I've ever been on. I'm not ashamed. We still laugh about that one every time we go scouting. We always check the close range now before setting up the spotters!

 

[sageadvice]

Atta boy Marley, Thank you!!

A couple years ago in Wy., things weren't working out the way we'd hoped on the first day of the LE muley hunt so we packed up our rigs and moved to a deer rich area that we'd scouted during our lope hunt. The access road twisted and turned up this draw for a couple miles until we finally came to the spot we thought a nice place to make our camp.

We no sooner started getting our rigs set up when i looked over not 25 yds away to see 3 bucks, one of them a good one, standing there watching us. I near swallowed all my chew making my way to the front seat where my rifle lay. Those bucks stayed around camp every day of our hunt. The biggest of the bunch turned out under further inspection to be not worth my LE tag but a guy not quite so picky or not willing to hunt as hard as we were...would have been easy meat in the pot.

Joey

 

[OldMan]

As they say, "Never look a gift horse in the mouth!"

 

[huntaddict]

A friend of mine shot a 192" nontypical last year in Colorado with his bow. It was a staggering 60 yards off the road! I spotted a good group of bucks a mile away from off the road in Nevada last year. After hunting for a few more days and not finding anything better I decided to move in closer for a better look. It was a good thing I did because a 188" nontypical showed up and I was able to take him 2 days later.

 

[mlycrzy]

I was up with a good friend and his 2 boys on an early season muzzloader hunt in Nevada. We were in one of our favorite hunting areas and both the boys had youth tags. It was very hot for this time of year and we were having a tough time spotting any good bucks.

The oldest boy Riley is as die hard a hunter as they come which is the total opposite for his younger brother Zach who was more into sleeping in and thinking about girls back home. Anyways, we had come back to camp for lunch and Zach decided to take a nap. During lunch a storm come rolling in and the temp started to drop. It's about a 20 minute ride up the canyon where we start our hike into some nasty country to glass, and I figured with the change in weather we had better get moving.

It was all I could do to talk Zach into getting up from his slumber so we could take advantage of the cooler temps. It was about 1pm when we left. We weren't 500 yards from camp when Zack and I both caught a glimpse of a buck trotting through the trees about 30 yards off the road. I hit the brakes and Zack said the buck was "big". I wasn't so sure and I told him it was his tag and it was up to him to shoot. The buck stopped with everything but his head exposed. Zach raised his muzzy and broke the bucks back at about 30 yards. I had no clue as to the size of the buck and thoughts of getting my butt ripped by his Dad for letting him shoot a dink raced through my mind.

Well we rounded the tree and this 170" 6x4 was laying there. Zach finished off the buck and we both hooped and hollered like school girls. I still tease him every chance I get about his luck as this buck had come in mid day to a nearby pond to get a drink.

 

[Waygoner]

I've posted this before, but you road hunters might be interested in this.

 

[huntindad4]

Looks like a pretty good mag Waygoner but everyone knows that trailer is gonna be a dusty ride where are the masks? Oh and the cooler is WAY too small.

Other than that not too shabby.

I have spotted a few from the truck and someone in the truck moved in to let em have it, I know all the purists out there would just drive on cuz their so special but thats okay me or one of the above posters will take that easy one every now and then.

Bill

 

[beavis14]

hilarious ! probably would be a better mag then a bunch of them.
i had a funny idea of a " off road adventure " road hunting show. it would fit in nicely with the other unethical shows. maybe i could get chevy and bf goodrich to sponser it? maybe dechutes brewing ?

 

[littlebighorn]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-28-11 AT 08:04AM (MST)[p]Love the sheep greatwestern and I will add a moose yarn as well!

Many years ago I was lucky enough to draw a Wyoming Moose tag. I called the local biologist to ask him where to look for a good moose. His response was "road hunt the whole unit"! He said you can spend lots of days on a horse looking in a small area, or you can get in the truck and see most of the unit. It made sense and that is what I did. After four days of riding and passing on a dozen or so bulls I finally found a great bull from the road---made a half mile stock and took a wide palmed 44" bullwinkle. I had to hike to get to him, but it was pretty much a hunt from the truck deal.

 

[hossblur]

Obviously these guys are clowns. First, you need a windshield, otherwise your hat blows off. I see no camo anywhere. When we roady we camo up, that way when said animals sees the ride and looks in the window there is nothing seen. Next, a trailer? Really? We like seats, a heater, and mudders, there are no mudders on the trailer.

In short, when we are having a roady, we generally cruise the main canyon roads, in the afternoons after hunting in the mornings. Yeah we have a cocktail, usually a cigar and a chew, we talk about sex, women, golf, AND for me it is the best time I have all year. Rarely do we take a gun, I am generally wearing my slip on work boots(smooth sole), and we will only stop to pee. But it is a damn good time and that is what hunting SHOULD be about, fun, not scores, not guides, not being the man, but having fun with family and friends. So while I hunt hard, I am also a dreaded ROAD HUNTER.

 

[desertdeer]

i was starting an afternoon hunt in 06. decided to ride the fourwheeler down the road to get to the other end of a ridge and hunt back slowly. so im cruising along and see two definate shooters about 100 yards off the road. i jumped off and shot the bigger buck. 28" 4x5 that went 178. it was a buck that we had scouted and been hunting but had never seen in that area. i definately caught him in the wide open with his pants down. in all fairness i was only on the wheeler to get to where i wanted to start hunting and if i would have hunted the ridge the other way i would have never seen them. i guess the pressure we had put on him made him leave the thick cover and go to where we were not. i feel no shame for shooting from that two track

 

[sageadvice]

All good stuff guys!! I even got a chuckle outa the pic. Reminds me...

I live in a area that was chalk full of deer up to about 10-15 years ago. I mean it was nothing to take a ride and see 1-200 deer in a evening. This was especially so during the archery season but that two weeks plus the week off before the rifle season opened, was right in the middle of the areas migration. During those three weeks, most of the deer would travel the 20-30 miles to the refuge or even further down lower toward Red Bluff, Chico, or Orville.

During Archer season though, the word was statewide and even promoted by the Fish and Game, Chester was the Archery mecca, the place to be. It really was hard to keep a straight face sometimes passing rigs full of guys sitting up in high framed elevated pickup bench seats while other guys were crammed in hanging on standing in the back like sardines. Some were face painted up, have giant survival type knives and revolvers belted to their waists, while already having arrows knocked up ready for the opportunistic and inevitable shots that would come. The above picture was funny but i think i've seen, for real, as bad or worse, right around here...

I took one of my best Blacktails in the middle of the day one time while going back to the cabin we were staying in as kids. We had hunted hard working way down off this long main ridge that didn't have any roads going down into it. About noon, it was back to the cabin for some squirrel shooting with our 22 pistols, bass fishing up the creek in the pond, or just kicking back which we rarely did in those days. Anyway, we came around this bend in the two track ranch road and here comes Mr. big rack crossing over from one side to down the other. I stepped out and royally screwed up his day as he was about to cross in front of us. As hard as we had hunted, yet here i go and take one of my all time better bucks one step away from the rig.

Joey

 

[B_BOP_A_LU_LU]

So you dropped him in the Road sage?



I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!

 

[sageadvice]

"So you dropped him in the Road sage?"

Darn near the road Bess, i don't think he quite made it that far! He had been right out in the open too. Where he was headed was thick with Oak trees and brushy but he had came up from a bare wide open South slope that i don't think we ever saw a deer on, before or after. Bucks do strange stuff in the middle of the day sometimes.

Joey

 

[muledeernuts]

Hey sageadvice i posted early i believe # 5 about my dad shooting that nice mule deer right after he dropped me off. The reason he was so happy about driving me all over and dropping me off is because early that year i had killed a mountain goat and he had taken a fall and broke his leg in 3 places and was not able to hike at all. He had surgery and a nice boot put on his leg so he just drove around wishing he could be out there with his son. I guess someone was looking after him that day and granted him a great opportunity. everyone gets lucky sooner or later. Find the horn Goose!

 

[Model_70_Guy]

>Obviously these guys are clowns.
>First, you need a windshield,
>otherwise your hat blows off.
> I see no camo
>anywhere. When we roady
>we camo up, that way
>when said animals sees the
>ride and looks in the
>window there is nothing seen.
> Next, a trailer?
>Really? We like seats,
>a heater, and mudders, there
>are no mudders on the
>trailer.
>
>In short, when we are having
>a roady, we generally cruise
>the main canyon roads, in
>the afternoons after hunting in
>the mornings. Yeah we
>have a cocktail, usually a
>cigar and a chew, we
>talk about sex, women, golf,
>AND for me it is
>the best time I have
>all year. Rarely do
>we take a gun, I
>am generally wearing my slip
>on work boots(smooth sole), and
>we will only stop to
>pee. But it is
>a damn good time and
>that is what hunting SHOULD
>be about, fun, not scores,
>not guides, not being the
>man, but having fun with
>family and friends. So
>while I hunt hard, I
>am also a dreaded ROAD
>HUNTER.


Good eye Hossblur.. I agree these guys are not the real deal.. Hell the sides of that trailer are to damn low to make a decent rifle rest and notice no gun racks which means you would have to hold your rifle and beer, plus looks very troublesome to get in and out of to pee.. It's just wrong for a road huntin' rig, you gotta have nice seats, heater, cd player, dash board to keep your bino's and rangefinder on and most importantly face paint for the photos.

 

[Model_70_Guy]

Sage, I'll pose a question... Say your driving to your hunting area in the afternoon for an evening hunt and your driving on a dirt road on public land and you look off to the side and there stands a 170 - 180 class buck about a 100 yards away. Well I'm sure the purists would simply shake their heads and say "doggone it" and keep on driving to their pre-determined hunting area and look for a bigger one right? Well I know what would happen if I were in that scenario... tag punched.

I hunt just like anyone else and I have earned some tough ones and I have happened on some not so tough ones. There has been more than a few times in CA on a ranch I used to hunt in the Hollister area when my Dad, myself and a couple of buddies have let bucks walk but it wasn't the deer we were after so much as the fun we had every year getting together, swapping lies, shooting ground squirrels, the deer season was a reason to get together which was far more important than tagging a buck.. At least for us it was. Just a different perspective.

 

[hossblur]

>>Obviously these guys are clowns.
>>First, you need a windshield,
>>otherwise your hat blows off.
>> I see no camo
>>anywhere. When we roady
>>we camo up, that way
>>when said animals sees the
>>ride and looks in the
>>window there is nothing seen.
>> Next, a trailer?
>>Really? We like seats,
>>a heater, and mudders, there
>>are no mudders on the
>>trailer.
>>
>>In short, when we are having
>>a roady, we generally cruise
>>the main canyon roads, in
>>the afternoons after hunting in
>>the mornings. Yeah we
>>have a cocktail, usually a
>>cigar and a chew, we
>>talk about sex, women, golf,
>>AND for me it is
>>the best time I have
>>all year. Rarely do
>>we take a gun, I
>>am generally wearing my slip
>>on work boots(smooth sole), and
>>we will only stop to
>>pee. But it is
>>a damn good time and
>>that is what hunting SHOULD
>>be about, fun, not scores,
>>not guides, not being the
>>man, but having fun with
>>family and friends. So
>>while I hunt hard, I
>>am also a dreaded ROAD
>>HUNTER.
>
>
>Good eye Hossblur.. I agree these
>guys are not the real
>deal.. Hell the sides of
>that trailer are to damn
>low to make a decent
>rifle rest and notice no
>gun racks which means you
>would have to hold your
>rifle and beer, plus looks
>very troublesome to get in
>and out of to pee..
>It's just wrong for a
>road huntin' rig, you gotta
>have nice seats, heater, cd
>player, dash board to keep
>your bino's and rangefinder on
>and most importantly face paint
>for the photos.


your right, as we get older that keystone runs right through and the 1/2 mile between pee isn't that far and easy access is crucial. We always roady in a 4 door. Next, no one wants to hear stories about us old married guys, so we ALWAYS bring at least one younger guy who we can get loving stories out of. Generally we convoy, so radios are important for coordinating pee breaks, and cooler raids. Whenever possible we avoid places where said young guy might see a deer and want to get in hunter mode, this is a roady, 5-6 guys per vehicle, not more than one gun allowed. Music is important, my roady crew has one in their 60's, 2 in their 30's, and then 1 or 2 in their 20's(love to brag about their romantic conquests). Started off with the oldies station, then into hair metal, then back. Reminising comes with good music, and a wap. If you haven't roadied because your busy being the alpha hunter, your missing out!

 

[manny53]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-12-11 AT 09:24AM (MST)[p]Do Jeep trails count...?

Cali Blacky

I got flak for the bull, I was heading home frustrated when I saw this dude...

while driving into our spot we saw these dudes...

 

[sageadvice]

70_Guy, i'm with you! Thanks for the comments!! I know that the older i get, the more time that i spend near my rig.

There is one place in the c-zones that i back my camper rig up to the edge of a landing, get my chair a sandwich and a soda out, and do some glassing. Each of the past 5-6 years that i drew this zone, i've had a chance to take a legal buck from that exact spot. It's public property, no gates, and a very low hunters success rate area.

Muledeernuts, Very nice for your Dad indeed. Thanks for the followup.

Joey

 

[sageadvice]

Nice Manny!! Very nice!

Joey

 

[Model_70_Guy]

>your right, as we get older
>that keystone runs right through
>and the 1/2 mile between
>pee isn't that far and
>easy access is crucial.
>We always roady in a
>4 door. Next, no
>one wants to hear stories
>about us old married guys,
>so we ALWAYS bring at
>least one younger guy who
>we can get loving stories
>out of. Generally we
>convoy, so radios are important
>for coordinating pee breaks, and
>cooler raids. Whenever possible
>we avoid places where said
>young guy might see a
>deer and want to get
>in hunter mode, this is
>a roady, 5-6 guys per
>vehicle, not more than one
>gun allowed. Music is
>important, my roady crew has
>one in their 60's, 2
>in their 30's, and then
>1 or 2 in their
>20's(love to brag about their
>romantic conquests). Started off
>with the oldies station, then
>into hair metal, then back.
> Reminising comes with good
>music, and a wap.
>If you haven't roadied because
>your busy being the alpha
>hunter, your missing out!

Well stated Hossblurr..
You touched upon a very important point about having some younger hunters along as they have the opportunity to draw some of the vast experience us older hunters have to share/offer and not to mention the patience factor of doin? a little road huntin? where they are not likely and hopefully won't spot a deer. Another very important thing the young road hunters have to learn is ?Always Shoot Uphill, Drag the Deer Downhill to Truck? and I cannot emphasis that one enough, never the other way around.
IF they spot a deer, once that happens as you mentioned they jump right in to hunter mode and that destroys a well planned and thought out road hunt. You know the drill a young hunter spots a deer and you have to stop they want to take off after the damn thing and then sure enough someone else has to pee and that interrupts the next scheduled pee stop and well?. It just ruins a good road hunt. I'm sure you have been there and understand. As you say just make sure to avoid places where deer sightings could happen.
I believe you and I went to the same school of road huntin?..

 

[ElmerFudd]

Everyone who drives enough gets a roadkill... I tried to get within range of this guy (public land MT '09) and he busted me on several stalks over two days. Then one morning headed to my glassing spot, drove over a rise and there he was standing within 100 yards of the road...

 

[marley]

This year antelope hunting in WY I drove around a bit getting to know the area and after not seeing anything more than a 72 inch goat I decided that I would get out and put on some miles on foot to see what would be in the roadless areas. I found a nice 73 inch antelope after passing on probably close to 60 bucks and I popped him. I quartered him up and packed him out in one trip probably close to 2 miles to my truck. When I got to within sight of my truck, the biggest antelope I've ever seen on the hoof was feeding not 100 yards from my parked truck. I would be willing to bet this antelope was pushin 82-84 inches. Shoulda stayed in my truck.

 

[bigmoose]

I had a California Bighorn tag in Nevada and my hunting partner and I had scouted the hell out of the unit before the season and had a group of rams in mind for opening day. When we were setting up camp my partner thought he saw a sheep skylined on a mountain 4 1/2 miles away using his binos. We finished off loading the camper and set up a couple chairs and spotting scopes and started looking.

After a few minutes we found 5 rams. This was not the group we were looking for so we decided to go after them and check 'em out first thing in the morning. After hunting all day and not finding them or any other living thing on that mountain we decided to head for camp.

Now we are picking our way down off this mountain in low range on this four-wheeler trail in my full sized Dodge talking about dinner and a cold one (or two) when George yells "RAMS!". He is shoving my gun at me as I jump out looking all over and not seeing anthing. I turn to him and he's pointing straight up the mountain... at least a half a mile almost straight up, and there they were...5 rams bedded under a ribbon clift that we had walked on top of earlier in the day. How he saw them, I have no idea, but that's why he is such a good hunting partner. There is nothing but wide open spaces between them and us. Anyway, we get back in the truck and continue down the rocky road, looking back at the rams ,who are still bedded. Pretty soon we notice a rock out cropping sticking up about 80 yards from the rams and sure enough, it is going to block their view of us. One by one they disapear behind the rocks until they are all out of sight.

I tell George we are going to "antelope 'em". I stop, jump out, grab my rifle, and he jumps over to the drivers' side and continues down the road for a mile or so. I head straight up the mountain, keeping the rock pile between the sheep and me.

George sets up a chair and his spotting scope and watches as I climb after the rams. Every time I take a rest ,I look at George, If he is still there then the rams are still there too. Finally I get to the rock pile and I catch my breath. I got on my hands and knees and snuck around the rocks until I could see the rams. They spotted my head right away and started milling around, not knowing what I was. I had plenty of time to study them and one of the rams was bigger than any we had seen while scouting. He was well broomed on both horns and had lots of character. I wanted a ram that was at least 7 years old and this one was 8, so I took him with one well placed shot at 80 yards.

I never would have thought I'd get my ram off the road. In fact, it is a little embarassing. I doubt if I'll ever sheep hunt again given my age and the point creep just to get a tag. Still a fun trip.

My ram

Every hunting season you miss is one you can not make up