Hunting, Adventures, Experiences, and Memories

schoolhousegrizz · Jun 19, 2016

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So I am excited to give this a try. I am hoping to continue on my success from last year where I harvested a nice buck in Utah and a solid 6 ppoint bull in Wyoming thanks to Grosventrehunter! I don't have any great tags this year, just a general archery deer tag in Utah (my first archery deer tag ever), an OTC bear tag in Idaho, and possibly a OTC elk archery tag in Utah. My wife has her first big game ta ever, a general season archery deer tag. My dad drew a 3rd season Colorado deer tag, and my brother drew a Willard Peak mountain goat tag!

Here is a pic of my buck and bull from last year.[IMG]http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2016/60475img0236.jpg

So I spotted a big bear from about 4 miles away. Long story short I got within 200 yards of him and was ready to shoot. My buddy said it was a grizzly. I knew it was a black bear (he was blonde) but thought I better make double sure. I took a while trying to make sure it was a black but those precious few seconds cost me a shot opportunity. It was still a pretty cool experience. Sorry no pics of the bear but I got a cool pic of muddy bear tracks going through the snow.

I went scouting with my daughter last night. We only saw 2 bucks, but I believe one of them has a chance to get close to the 160-170 range. I would be ecstatic to get him with my bow, although I don't think I will be that picky. The pics are poor quality, it was getting dark and the wind was blowing pretty hard.

3 point

4 point

schoolhousegrizz · Jul 4, 2016

So I went on a family vacation/ bear hunt. The first evening I was there my dad and I went for a drive up the mountain. Just as we start up the road we look over and there is a bear standing there. My dad keeps driving because he can't believe what he just saw and he went into that all out panic mode (like when you see a big buck). Anyway I'm yelling to back up and he is yelling at me to keep quiet. Finally I jump out with my rifle and run back to where the bear was. He was gone so I walked after him into the trees. I never could find him. I jumped back in the Can-am with my dad and we drove in silence for about 3 minutes. After a while he realized we could only go 5 miles per hour because he didn't have his seat belt on (safety feature). We hadn't even noticed because we were in deep thought about the bear. A while later I was teasing him and we were laughing about it. I sure would have liked to kill that bear, but I still have a memory that I will always shake my head and laugh about. We went farther up the mountain, but no bears. I did get a picture of a a tree that was on fire from a lightning strike.

The next day I hiked in to an area where I have a trail cam and where I almost shot the bear I mentioned in a previous post. I came across this sign.

Anyway I continued on. I went to retrieve my trail cam and pieces of it were laying around but the camera was gone. I have never had a human come across this trail cam in 3 years. I thought it might have been a bear. I have got numerous pics of bears and even grizzlies in this area. However, since the camera and the bear safe box were gone I figured a person probably stole it. I know I would have had some sweet pics of bears to show you guys, but I had another camera to check (my dad's) so I figured I would have some cool pics on that one. Turns out somebody took the batteries out of this one, so no pics. That is just the way it goes when hunting public land. You have the odds stacked against you going up against the animals and other hunters as well. It is a great accomplishment when you harvest an animal. I think we should all be proud beating the odds on public land. It is a challenge, but I would not have it any other way. Well, the spring bear hunt ended, but I still have a shot in the fall.
I had some cool adventures, made some great memories, and gained some valuable experience. The kill is definitely a big part of it, but not everything.

Sun setting on the last evening of the 2016 spring bear hunt in Idaho.

Now time to scout for the general archery deer here in Utah and enjoy the rest of the summer with my family.

schoolhousegrizz · Jul 8, 2016

So I went scouting last night and stayed over and scouted this morning.

Warming up a Beto's burrito by the fire. By the way, much, much better than a Mountain House!

This is the biggest buck of the night. I spotted him earlier in the year. I thought he might have a chance to hit 160-170. Now I am thinking he will hit mid 150's tops. Still good enough for me to take for my first archery buck on the first day of the hunt, but I am hoping to find something around 170 before the hunt starts.

schoolhousegrizz · Aug 7, 2016

I have not been on here recently, I got pretty sick and spent some time in the hospital. I might have some surgery in the near future, but luckily I am feeling alright. I should feel even better if the surgery goes well. I had a lot of time to think about life and hunting while I was sick. I find myself thankful for everyday and it was a good reminder just how precious life is. It was also a good reminder of how important family is. I find myself not caring so much about inches or score, but more so on sharing moments with good friends and family. It truly is about the experience and memories. I have done solo overnight trips, hunted and harvested animals alone. While these can feel like an accomplishment, I am discovering that they are not what is most important to me. I would much rather be with my brother, dad, wife, kids, other family, or a good friend. I find myself trying to be more kind and see things from other's perspective. Maybe this happens to people as they get a little older, perhaps some of you have gone through something similar. With this in mind I am looking forward to this hunting season, perhaps from a slightly different view than in years past. I will try and post some pics up as the year progresses. Good luck to you all, and I hope you have a season full of wonderful memories.

schoolhousegrizz · Sep 14, 2016

So the archery hunt has been a blast. I shot at a big buck and the arrow went right underneath him. Also, we were able to get my wife a shot at a 3 point but she could not connect either. The mountain goat hunt was a blast. My brother shot a goat that scores 51 inches. Sorry but I'm not going to be able to post up pics. It makes the all-time Boone and Crockett record buck. It may end up in a magazine so we don't want to send out pics of it. I will let you guys know if it makes the magazine and you can check it out there if you want.

schoolhousegrizz · Sep 18, 2016

So my brother gave me permission to post up the pics. Here you go. I may try and post some video later, but that may be beyond my skills.

Some scouting pics

Brother's Goat

51" All time Boone and Crockett (Green Score)

schoolhousegrizz · Nov 6, 2016

A lot has happened since I was on here last. I went bear hunting 2 more times. No luck, but it was still fun. As it always seems came across more grizzly tracks.

Also, we found some fall bear food. These cones were packed full of whitebark pine seeds. They were pretty good eating. I bet there were between 100 to 200 seeds per cone, the cones were all over the place. So much for the environmentalists claiming there is a major shortage of whitebark pine seeds for the grizzlies!

Next, I had to head to Florida for surgery. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful. I will have to go back sometime in the near future to get it taken care of. This whole experience has taught me a lot. I have become more patient (which helps with hunting) and I am learning to live in the moment and not to worry about things that I cannot control. In a way I am thankful for this whole ordeal.

About 9 days after surgery I was feeling like I could get out and hunt some more. I had the extended archery tag here in Utah. I really wanted to get some archery experience and an archery kill under my belt. With that in mind my sights were set pretty low. I spotted a 3x2 and went after him. I got with in 30 yards of him. He very slightly quartering to me. I thought I could easily make the shot. He turned his head as the arrow was on its way and the arrow deflected off of his antler. It sliced his ear, but that was it. He ran into the trees then came back out with some does. I nocked an arrow and ranged him at 67 yards. I let an arrow fly, I wasn't sure if I hit him, but I put up the binocs and thought I could see blood. He ran into a thicket of trees, and never came out. I walked over to get my arrow. There was a little blood on it. Also, there was quite a bit of hair on the ground.

Then I made a rookie mistake. I could see him lying in the trees. I should have just left him there to die, but I thought it would be best to put another arrow in him. Needless to say I spooked him and he ran off. He left a pretty good blood trail and was hit better than I thought.

The blood trail led down into a thicket of trees but never came out. It was getting dark. I decided it would best to leave him until morning. I took the family with me and sure enough he was in the bottom of the thicket piled up.

Even thought this is my smallest buck to date, I was happy to get my first big game animal with a bow. It sure felt good to notch that tag.

Now it is off to Colorado in a couple days to help my dad with his 3rd season deer tag!

schoolhousegrizz · Nov 20, 2016

So Colorado was fun. My dad and his buddy both got bucks. We did not find what we were looking for. The weather was unseasonably warm. We needed some weather to push the big boys off of the private. It was a good time and we made some memories.

Here are the bucks.

Now as far as hunting goes. It is time to watch bucks on the winter range, shoot the bow, apply for hunts, and plan for next year.

schoolhousegrizz · Nov 23, 2016

This is my first attempt at posting a video here goes

Some pictures

schoolhousegrizz · Nov 23, 2016

schoolhousegrizz · Dec 5, 2016

Check out this video. The footage is a couple years old, but I just got around to making a video of it. I am new at this stuff but it is pretty fun, hope you enjoy!