Enjoying retirement 2023

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Going to try and keep this going. Just finished my son’s Wyoming antelope hunt. At the end of October I will help my friend on his early Arizona Kiabab rifle hunt, then to my Nevada 221-223 early elk hunt, then help my daughter on her 4th season Colorado mule deer hunt. Hopefully when I get home after 6 straight weeks away hunting my house keys still work. The turkey hunts I posted earlier and transferred here.

 

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California Turkey

No I am not talking about our government!!??
Finally got out to turkey hunt. Plan was to turkey hunt in the morning and then call coyotes. Packed up my turkey gear, my FoxPro, decoy, etc. Only a couple days of shotgun season left. And got to break in one of my RELH knives. Most the grass was 3 to 4 feet tall and was soaking wet due to the fog. Ended up being completely soaked from my toes to above my waist in less than 20 minutes. Just as bad as wading across a river. My Muck boots are waterproof, but as water pours down your legs the get filled up. This was ongoing ordeal.

Worked a bird first thing. After getting him I was to wet and cold to stay and call coyotes. And walked out.

 

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Archery turkey- field to table​

Not at the table yet, but figured I would make a post as the Traeger is running. Only made it out 3 times this year. Once for shotgun and twice for archery. Shotgun was a success as usual. Pretty easy with that wide pattern. ?? yesterday’s archery hunt was a bust with the birds winning and no shot opportunity. Today things fell in place. Usually I like to find where the birds are roasting in the dark. Get within 150 to 200 yards and set up in the dark with at least 30 minutes to an hour before shooting time. Took longer to find the the birds than I expected and a lot more walking. Luckily the heavy fog covered me as I set up.
Took about 40 minutes after the birds flew down to break this mature tom away from the 3 hens and larger tom. Then about 30 minutes to coax him into 18 yards. Strutting all the way. Got to break in another one of RELH’s knives in also. Seasoned half with pepper and paprika. Other half got seasoned with lemon pepper then marinated in olive oil and lemon juice.

Might as well finish the “to the table” part. Did not take a picture last night. But breakfast this morning was the same as last night’s dinner ??
Toasted sourdough, provolone cheese, tomato, sliced turkey, and some homemade seasoned balsamic & honey dressing.

And elk, that was the shortest grass I found to setup in. Most the area is 3 plus feet tall.

 

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Son’s Wyoming Antelope Hunt

Had a great time on my son’s Wyoming antelope hunt. Hard to find a good place to camp. Ended up camping right across the road from his hunt unit.

Some rain off and on made some great sunsets. Luckily not enough rain to make the roads muddy and impassable.

Saw a lot of antelope. But the bucks were average.

 

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Son’s Wyoming Antelope (continued)

After looking over 80 to 100 average bucks we spotted a buck about a mile plus away. It looked big enough to get closer for a better look. We were able to drive a little 2 track road around the top of the bluff. This got us close enough and just under a mile away from the buck. We skirted the top of the bluff keeping out of sight until we reached a small saddle we picked out earlier. With the sun to our backs we peeked over the saddle. The buck was there , but further than I had hoped. He was the best buck we had seen so far and he wanted to shoot it. Problem now was he was 560 yards away and spotted us up on the saddle. Luckily the sun to our backs did not give him a good enough view. Range was too far for his rifle, so I set up and dialed in my rifle. As soon as he settled in and controlled his breath he touched the trigger. Buck dropped in its tracks.

The rest is history.

Hard to see on the buck’s back, but I had a pair of custom knives made for this hunt for him and I. Here’s a better look.

Rest of the day and the next morning we cut up and packaged meat. I brought a small 5 cubic foot freezer and generator this trip to keep food frozen and meat cold/frozen. After meat was all processed and gear cleaned up we still had half a day of light. We drove about an hour away to the Green River to scout fishing areas for the next day.

Saw a cow moose.

Way back to camp we stopped by the small market in Farson Wyoming and had an ice cream. Huckleberry ice cream yummmm!!
This size is 3 large scoops. Picture does not do it justice.

As we sat and enjoyed ice cream, my son decided he would rather head home the next day and save the vacation time. The dirt road into camp had a badger hole we hit the first time coming in. And maybe a few other times ??. He wanted to do his good deed for the day and filled it in so the next guy would not hit it.

Next morning was our last day in Wyoming. We enjoyed the last Wyoming sunrise and a cup of coffee reflecting on the great trip we had. Then broke camp and started our 16 hour drive home.

Would like to thank MM member @DoubleDropMuley for keeping me informed on weather, road conditions, and animals. Sorry we did not get a chance to meet up. Maybe next time.

 

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Smoked a side of antelope ribs for lunch and a rear leg muscle for dinner.

Toasted sourdough, cream cheese, and antelope smoked over an hour until rare. Wrapped, chilled, and sliced thin. Very tasty.

 

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Kiabab early mule deer
Friend had early rifle Kiabab mule deer tag. This was the second time I have been on the Kiabab and once again was disappointed. Mainly because I think in the early hunt you need to hunt the burn (which was a zoo), still hunt the ridges/timber/brush (which we are not good at), or just drive around the roads and get lucky (can I say boring).
The few places we found to hike out and glass from only produce does and a few small bucks. Still hunted ridges and found one good buck. A shooter for my friend. Still hunting half a day awarded us 3 quick glances with no shot opportunity. Not sure how big he was but from the glances it was over ears wide, heavy dark horned, and at least 3 to 4 points a side.
In the end my friend shot a 3x3 meat buck.
Saw tons of does and small bucks, one good/large buck, no monsters, and very few medium size bucks (like the one my friend shot).
In the end I got to enjoy another great hunt helping a friend who has helped me on many hunts. We ate good, even had fresh tuna steaks my friend caught the week before we left. Once we cut up and packed the meat we were off to Nevada to scout for elk before my hunt started.

Something new we set up and tried this year was to take freezers. Since I was to be away for 6 weeks I needed to keep a lot of food frozen, and a way to store frozen meat. I purchased a 9 cubic foot freezer and used a combination of a solar generator and gas generator to keep it running.

Scenery north of the ditch is spectacular!!

Nice areas to camp.

How’s this for home away from home?

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Try to finish this up in a few posts.

From my friend’s deer hunt in AZ we drove to Nevada for my bull elk hunt. We arrived with 3 days to scout before season. Got lucky and found elk right off up in the wilderness. Spotting from 2 plus miles away you could tell one was big. I would say 360 ish. Maybe a little more. Watch this and other bulls on the mountain for 3 days. Most other bulls were 5x5’s or smaller with a few 6x6 with very weak 5ths and weak 3rds.
Evening of day 2 I realize I would have company chasing these elk.
Midday we checked out other areas and some of the old mining sites. Rough life these old timers had. Neat to see all these old mining areas.

This one was just down from where we camped.

Caved in tunnel.

Once again the scenery and sunsets were spectacular.

 

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Nevada Elk part 2

Monday was opening morning and I started my hike at 3am to try and get in position at first light. Halfway up to where I wanted to be a young hunter passed me in the dark hurrying to get up there before me. Basically he pushed up the mountain to far and pushed the elk higher up the mountain and into thick PJ’s first thing. He skirted the lower part of the hill and worked his way down.
Like a stubborn old fart I went up after the elk.
By midday I had a bunch of cows laying down across the canyon from me. They were mixed in the PJ’s. Since the bulls had been bugling the last few days I picked a spot to watch the herd. I could heard a few bugles now and then and spotted a 5x5 and a few smaller bulls mingling around in the PJ’s.
Finally a 6x6 came walking through the junipers bugling. Not the big one, but the second best I had seen. And he had really good thirds. I contemplated my situation. For some dumb reason I hiked way up this mountain. I looked at my gps, I was 2200 feet above where the vehicle was (at end of road where wilderness started) and 3.5 to 4 miles away. The elk were pushed this morning and I may never see the big bull again. Also, my friend had to leave by Friday. It would take us 3 days to get this bull off the mountain if I shot him. Once my friend was gone there was no way I could get a bull out from up here by myself. If I shot this bull I would have to drop about 600 foot elevation down into the canyon and back up another 600 plus.
I was sitting on a rockslide of basketball to small ice chest sized rocks. Next thing I found myself laying down very uncomfortably on the rocks. Looking through my rifle scope with crosshairs on the bulls heart. What a pretty bull I thought as he stretched his head forward to bugle. I could see the bulls mouth open and his belly move up and down. What the hell I thought, to nice of a bull to pass up. I touched the trigger. Never got to hear his last bugle carry across the canyon.
The combination of recoil, shifting rocks, and laying awkwardly on a rockslide I was unable to see where my shot hit. Marked my shot location and where the bull was when I shot. Along with taking a bunch of pictures of where the bull was in the junipers and rock shelves.
Took an hour and a half to work down the rock slide and up the opposite rocky side.

Bull basically dropped in his tracks. Now the work began.

Starting to rethink my elk packing routine. Going to start lining up packers in the future. I called a few places months before this hunt but no one ever returned a call.

Morning after our last pack out my friend headed home. (Had to go back to work). That day my daughter and I started to cut up and wrap my bull. Spent a good portion of 2 days working on it. Trimmed, wrapped in Saran Wrap and then into gallon ziplock bags. Nights were in the mid teens so I did the initial freeze in the truck beds at night. Next day into the freezer.
Part of first nights meat.

 

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As I get older I have changed a few aspects of my hunting. Better tents, sleeping pads, optics, clothes etc. throughout the years. Food is something I have upped the ante on the last few years. Use to get by with peanut butter & jelly and cans of soup. Now I like to eat better. Taking a small freezer allowed me to pre-make and freeze good meals. Even enjoyed fresh elk fried up and added to meals or made tacos.

Found a butcher outside of Elk to keep my meat frozen until we would pass through in a couple weeks.

Last morning in Nevada as my daughter and I headed out for her Colorado mule deer hunt.

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Before getting started on the last hunt I would like to thank all the great MM’ers who reached out to me with information on any of the hunts we did this year. I have kept in contact directly with all I think. If I missed someone I am sorry. Thanks.

With my elk cut up and in a freezer in Ruth Nevada we broke camp and headed to Colorado for my daughter’s hunt. This would give us almost a week to scout before her hunt. Was planning on camping in a spot I found maybe 7 years ago. It was a nice sized knoll with junipers to hide camp. From camp we could walk to the edge of the knoll and glass. We got there just as the sun went down. NOTHING looked familiar. There were no junipers on the knoll and I was sure this was the correct spot. Got out and walked around with a flashlight. Found multiple burned piles. Guess they clear cut and burned the junipers. We set up camp in the dark, made dinner and got a good night’s. Next day started scouting. Found lots of little bucks and a few decent ones.

Mid week the weather channel was calling for rain and snow. Someone local said they heard we should get over 6”. Where we were camping the roads would be a mess with that kind of weather. Not wanting to chance it we pulled camp and located at a spot I felt we could cover ground better.

Evening before opener we turned up a couple pretty good buck. One my daughter would be happy with.

Opener found us walking out in the dark to a glassing spot. Found the small herd with the buck and started our stalk. Once under 200 yards she set up for a shot and waited. She was ready to shot when I stopped her because a doe was moving fast towards the buck. Once the buck was clear I told her to shoot. She squeezed the trigger and nothing happened. She put the safety back on when I told her to wait. Now she was flustered. At the shot the buck walked off Unscathed. By the time she racked another round in the buck was gone, she was upset and starting to calm down. The next second I told her another 4x4 just walked out of the draw and is standing 2 feet from where the other buck was. I told her it was not as big, but still a nice 4x4. A few inches narrower, not dark horned, and not as much mass. “Look at it and tell me what you think” I told her. “I like it she said”, boom, she shot. I watched the buck collapse in the spotting scope before I heard the distinct sound of a hit.
One happy daughter with her biggest buck to date.

These Adventures post are ok, but I doubt I will do another. It’s a lot more fun interacting with others as you post.
Thank again to those that helped.
And thanks for following along.
Bill


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