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MudRunner
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For me and probably most everyone else here, there really isn't a solid break from one hunting season to the next. As soon as you finish that last outing of the year it seems like your already thinking about and gearing up for what the next year will bring. This season started for me when I was given a 3 year old Bowtech for my birthday. A new bow for me has been a long time coming. I've been hunting with my sweet PSE Nova for 10 years now, and although it's been as trusty as an old dog I've noticed it's really showing signs of slowing down and was in need of a new owner to rekindle it's fire. Thankfully my cousin who is just getting into archery and like me isn't financially fit to go out and purchase a new bow, jumped up and snatched it away from me. So, my PSE found a great new home and will probably find success again this year. And, I can't but help toss a big thanks out to my bother again who saw fit to upgrade his bow and gift me his old one for my birthday. Thank you!
So as you can imagine I'm just as happy as ever. And with it being only February and me with a new bow in hand I've had a great jump start into practicing for the new season. Also with my birthday being in the perfect time of the year I scrounged up enough money to buy myself a new trail cam, the Bushnell trail cam. I'm totally stoked about this camera. Not only is it a great camera, but it's small and compact. Perfect for those long halls into the back country. Stay tuned and I'll prove just how awesome these camera's really are.
With the cold days slowly dwindling away and the Utah draw results slowly drawing nearer, I found myself getting more and more anxious to get up the canyon and do some spotting. But with the snow packed roads still being gated off I was forced to wait it out. Not that I didn't fill the remainder of my time with good-for-me shooting practice, but there's only so many bulls-eys you can pin down in an evening before you're not as excited to hit that little black dot again.
Finally April rolled in and I watched my credit card balance like a hawk, hoping I'd be so fortunate to have some large sum taken out without warning. But... it wasn't to be. I was yet again unsuccessful on my LE elk, bear and moose tags. No matter there's always next year right? But it's not all that bad. I've still got my dedicated hunter tag and I wont be passing up the archery elk tag either. A few hours after my draw results came in, I got news that my sister-in-law Amanda and my uncle Marvin both drew they're LE tags this year. short from drawing the tag myself I couldn't be happier. We in this family hunt as a family, and sometime our greatest hunting moments aren't sitting behind the weapon but rather nearby watching the action unfold in third person and taking every bit of the magic in. This year has the makings of a great year, even before setting foot on that hallowed ground we call our hunting territory.
Join me and my family in our adventures to spot, stalk and draw down on some great animals this year. And keep your fingers crossed for me that I can finally rid myself of that dreaded deer curse that's got a tight grip on me.
The gates are open, the and the animals finally have something more too look at they just a couple stubs on the top of they're heads. We're headed up the canyon to check em out.
Spotting week #1 June 4:
The first trip up the canyon. Are eyes are wide with excitement and our lungs are finally filling with that sweet mountain air. Does it get any better than this? We have our sights on a few historically great canyons to scout and more then anything we're all just glad to be getting rid of this itch that's been pestering us all winter long. The outcome: Plenty of elk, a few small deer and a couple bulls that were growing some potentially perfect brow tines. The highlight of the trip however was on the ride home. We came upon a couple fawn in the road that were so had a really hard time walking themselves off the road. It was dark and our gear was stashed away so all I could get was a couple pics with my phone using a low lights from the 4-wheelers. It's such an amazing thing to see these animals in any situation but nothing has ever woken to the reality of the great outdoors more than this moment of seeing these tiny deer in such a vulnerable state. We sat back and waited for them to move off the road as not to startle them any more, but even then they couldn't make it up the small hill that was off the side of the road. They could have easily been born just a few hours earlier.
[IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r114/foxykaya/Hunting/01/1.jpg
Spotting week #2 June 11:
The plan this evening was to roll in on some great hunting ground and check it out. However, on the way up we literally ran into somebody who had a better idea. Or did he? The poor kid who is the proud owner of that broken car below was having issues with his car, and was distracted going around a blind corner and ended up slamming right into us. Thankfully nobody was hurt and we managed to get things back in order and be on our way. I still feel bad for this boy though, but I guess it probably happens to most of us during that early learning period of our driving years. So, we saw plenty of sign, and a few deer that showed decent potential, but the real goal again today was to find and check up on some bulls. And that we did, they didn't show they're faces till just before dark, but the good news was they did show they're faces. We got a good look at a decent bull that looked to be gaining mass a lot faster than the others. We attempted to take a little video and than laid him down to bed.
Spotting week #3 June 18:
We finally decided on a spot to place the first camera. It was an area we'd came upon the previous year, and knew that in the early season it had some great potential to be that bachelor pad for bulls that we were searching for. Sure enough the water was flowing great, and the few wallows we're already being used. We sat down on the edge of the clearing and proceeded to glass the draw below us. It didn't take long before we started seeing bulls. None that were showing great potential, but we saw enough of them to know that there was bound to be a good one around somewhere. We placed the camera and headed out.
Spotting week #4 June 25:
Checking up on camera #1: At first glance it seemed to be doing pretty well, but we quickly realized we stuck it too close to the trail and weren't getting any good shots of the bulls. We did however see plenty of bulls around in the area and had a few nice ones walk in on us as we were glassing some of the nearby canyons. With a new and improved location for the trail camera and plenty more great sign in the area we excitedly looked forward to what the next few weeks of trail cam pictures would bring.
Spotting week #5 July 2:
It's July and we needed to spend some time away from the big bulls and work on locating those beloved cows and hopefully some more deer. We headed higher into the canyon to drop camera #2 and pray it brings in some of the luck we've seen in the past few years. Sure enough we saw plenty of elk and there was no doubt where we wanted to drop the camera. We quickly stuck it to a tree and ran off to the top of the ridge to do some spotting. We say truck loads of elk, all mommies and they're little babies. There were even a hand full of small bulls that thought they were still mommas boys.
Spotting week #6 July 9:
Finally the day I'd been looking forward to for way too long. We're back to check on camera #1 after a two week wait. Bulls!!! Wow, I was totally surprised, now way did I think there would be that much action in just a couple weeks. We had close to 2000 pictures to sift through. My uncle who drew the LE tag was speechless, and totally ecstatic. We're not by any means huge bull hunters, just want to shoot something to call our own, but hey if they're going to present themselves we're going to try our best. The biggest bull in the pictures was a little light on the front end. We were hoping to see a little more mass there, but nothing to pass on during the archery hunt. With these new incredible pictures we anxiously trounced up to camera #2 to see what it had in store. It was just about what we expected. Elk everywhere. And plenty of them. I picked out my baby spike and drew myself a target on him and dated it for Aug 21st. About the only disappointing topic from this incredible spotting trip was were just not seeing any shooter bucks. Probably that dang curse that's got me by the ankles.
Spotting week #7 July 16:
Hmm, after a week like last week and seeing so many great animals we couldn't keep ourselves from checking back up on all the cameras again before venturing deeper withing the canyon to set up camera #3. The outcome was a lot of elk, and a few new bulls to drule over. Camera #3 was finally set and located on my all time favorite hunting spot. Not by any means the most accessible place to hunt, but it has a reputation of providing plenty of access to animals. Still no deer. I'm getting the sick feeling that I'm just not going to be able to hunt big bucks where we love to hunt elk.
Spotting week #8 July 23:
We finally got a picture of that little moose we've been seeing around. We'll give him a few more years to mature before somebody lays the stalk down on him. And yet again a bunch of elk and even some newer ones than we've previously seen. This week brought in two unique bulls that both lay on my uncle's shooter list. One which after counting his little cheater above his right brow tine, is a decent 6x7 and the other which has some fun uniqueness to his right side making him a 6x8. With still a few more weeks of good antler growth these two bulls might turn into something really special, and with any luck will be hanging one the wall before next season.
Week #9 July 30:
No hunting action this week. Believe it or not we had to miss a week. Family reunion takes precedence over the spotting part of our hunting adventures. But I'm here to tell ya, a little family time goes a long way when it come to asking for time off from the wife. None the less we did spend it in the mountains. Didn't see much wildlife around the lake but we had a fun time playing in the water and trying to catch fish. These two are my trophy kids. My son who's turning 4 in Nov. keeps telling me how excited he is for daddy to shoot a moose. I think I am too. Soon baby soon.
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For me and probably most everyone else here, there really isn't a solid break from one hunting season to the next. As soon as you finish that last outing of the year it seems like your already thinking about and gearing up for what the next year will bring. This season started for me when I was given a 3 year old Bowtech for my birthday. A new bow for me has been a long time coming. I've been hunting with my sweet PSE Nova for 10 years now, and although it's been as trusty as an old dog I've noticed it's really showing signs of slowing down and was in need of a new owner to rekindle it's fire. Thankfully my cousin who is just getting into archery and like me isn't financially fit to go out and purchase a new bow, jumped up and snatched it away from me. So, my PSE found a great new home and will probably find success again this year. And, I can't but help toss a big thanks out to my bother again who saw fit to upgrade his bow and gift me his old one for my birthday. Thank you!
So as you can imagine I'm just as happy as ever. And with it being only February and me with a new bow in hand I've had a great jump start into practicing for the new season. Also with my birthday being in the perfect time of the year I scrounged up enough money to buy myself a new trail cam, the Bushnell trail cam. I'm totally stoked about this camera. Not only is it a great camera, but it's small and compact. Perfect for those long halls into the back country. Stay tuned and I'll prove just how awesome these camera's really are.
With the cold days slowly dwindling away and the Utah draw results slowly drawing nearer, I found myself getting more and more anxious to get up the canyon and do some spotting. But with the snow packed roads still being gated off I was forced to wait it out. Not that I didn't fill the remainder of my time with good-for-me shooting practice, but there's only so many bulls-eys you can pin down in an evening before you're not as excited to hit that little black dot again.
Finally April rolled in and I watched my credit card balance like a hawk, hoping I'd be so fortunate to have some large sum taken out without warning. But... it wasn't to be. I was yet again unsuccessful on my LE elk, bear and moose tags. No matter there's always next year right? But it's not all that bad. I've still got my dedicated hunter tag and I wont be passing up the archery elk tag either. A few hours after my draw results came in, I got news that my sister-in-law Amanda and my uncle Marvin both drew they're LE tags this year. short from drawing the tag myself I couldn't be happier. We in this family hunt as a family, and sometime our greatest hunting moments aren't sitting behind the weapon but rather nearby watching the action unfold in third person and taking every bit of the magic in. This year has the makings of a great year, even before setting foot on that hallowed ground we call our hunting territory.
Join me and my family in our adventures to spot, stalk and draw down on some great animals this year. And keep your fingers crossed for me that I can finally rid myself of that dreaded deer curse that's got a tight grip on me.
The gates are open, the and the animals finally have something more too look at they just a couple stubs on the top of they're heads. We're headed up the canyon to check em out.
Spotting week #1 June 4:
The first trip up the canyon. Are eyes are wide with excitement and our lungs are finally filling with that sweet mountain air. Does it get any better than this? We have our sights on a few historically great canyons to scout and more then anything we're all just glad to be getting rid of this itch that's been pestering us all winter long. The outcome: Plenty of elk, a few small deer and a couple bulls that were growing some potentially perfect brow tines. The highlight of the trip however was on the ride home. We came upon a couple fawn in the road that were so had a really hard time walking themselves off the road. It was dark and our gear was stashed away so all I could get was a couple pics with my phone using a low lights from the 4-wheelers. It's such an amazing thing to see these animals in any situation but nothing has ever woken to the reality of the great outdoors more than this moment of seeing these tiny deer in such a vulnerable state. We sat back and waited for them to move off the road as not to startle them any more, but even then they couldn't make it up the small hill that was off the side of the road. They could have easily been born just a few hours earlier.
[IMG]http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r114/foxykaya/Hunting/01/1.jpg
Spotting week #2 June 11:
The plan this evening was to roll in on some great hunting ground and check it out. However, on the way up we literally ran into somebody who had a better idea. Or did he? The poor kid who is the proud owner of that broken car below was having issues with his car, and was distracted going around a blind corner and ended up slamming right into us. Thankfully nobody was hurt and we managed to get things back in order and be on our way. I still feel bad for this boy though, but I guess it probably happens to most of us during that early learning period of our driving years. So, we saw plenty of sign, and a few deer that showed decent potential, but the real goal again today was to find and check up on some bulls. And that we did, they didn't show they're faces till just before dark, but the good news was they did show they're faces. We got a good look at a decent bull that looked to be gaining mass a lot faster than the others. We attempted to take a little video and than laid him down to bed.
Spotting week #3 June 18:
We finally decided on a spot to place the first camera. It was an area we'd came upon the previous year, and knew that in the early season it had some great potential to be that bachelor pad for bulls that we were searching for. Sure enough the water was flowing great, and the few wallows we're already being used. We sat down on the edge of the clearing and proceeded to glass the draw below us. It didn't take long before we started seeing bulls. None that were showing great potential, but we saw enough of them to know that there was bound to be a good one around somewhere. We placed the camera and headed out.
Spotting week #4 June 25:
Checking up on camera #1: At first glance it seemed to be doing pretty well, but we quickly realized we stuck it too close to the trail and weren't getting any good shots of the bulls. We did however see plenty of bulls around in the area and had a few nice ones walk in on us as we were glassing some of the nearby canyons. With a new and improved location for the trail camera and plenty more great sign in the area we excitedly looked forward to what the next few weeks of trail cam pictures would bring.
Spotting week #5 July 2:
It's July and we needed to spend some time away from the big bulls and work on locating those beloved cows and hopefully some more deer. We headed higher into the canyon to drop camera #2 and pray it brings in some of the luck we've seen in the past few years. Sure enough we saw plenty of elk and there was no doubt where we wanted to drop the camera. We quickly stuck it to a tree and ran off to the top of the ridge to do some spotting. We say truck loads of elk, all mommies and they're little babies. There were even a hand full of small bulls that thought they were still mommas boys.
Spotting week #6 July 9:
Finally the day I'd been looking forward to for way too long. We're back to check on camera #1 after a two week wait. Bulls!!! Wow, I was totally surprised, now way did I think there would be that much action in just a couple weeks. We had close to 2000 pictures to sift through. My uncle who drew the LE tag was speechless, and totally ecstatic. We're not by any means huge bull hunters, just want to shoot something to call our own, but hey if they're going to present themselves we're going to try our best. The biggest bull in the pictures was a little light on the front end. We were hoping to see a little more mass there, but nothing to pass on during the archery hunt. With these new incredible pictures we anxiously trounced up to camera #2 to see what it had in store. It was just about what we expected. Elk everywhere. And plenty of them. I picked out my baby spike and drew myself a target on him and dated it for Aug 21st. About the only disappointing topic from this incredible spotting trip was were just not seeing any shooter bucks. Probably that dang curse that's got me by the ankles.
Spotting week #7 July 16:
Hmm, after a week like last week and seeing so many great animals we couldn't keep ourselves from checking back up on all the cameras again before venturing deeper withing the canyon to set up camera #3. The outcome was a lot of elk, and a few new bulls to drule over. Camera #3 was finally set and located on my all time favorite hunting spot. Not by any means the most accessible place to hunt, but it has a reputation of providing plenty of access to animals. Still no deer. I'm getting the sick feeling that I'm just not going to be able to hunt big bucks where we love to hunt elk.
Spotting week #8 July 23:
We finally got a picture of that little moose we've been seeing around. We'll give him a few more years to mature before somebody lays the stalk down on him. And yet again a bunch of elk and even some newer ones than we've previously seen. This week brought in two unique bulls that both lay on my uncle's shooter list. One which after counting his little cheater above his right brow tine, is a decent 6x7 and the other which has some fun uniqueness to his right side making him a 6x8. With still a few more weeks of good antler growth these two bulls might turn into something really special, and with any luck will be hanging one the wall before next season.
Week #9 July 30:
No hunting action this week. Believe it or not we had to miss a week. Family reunion takes precedence over the spotting part of our hunting adventures. But I'm here to tell ya, a little family time goes a long way when it come to asking for time off from the wife. None the less we did spend it in the mountains. Didn't see much wildlife around the lake but we had a fun time playing in the water and trying to catch fish. These two are my trophy kids. My son who's turning 4 in Nov. keeps telling me how excited he is for daddy to shoot a moose. I think I am too. Soon baby soon.