Last weekend till winter…

SS!

Long Time Member
Messages
9,127
Woke Nugget and Thunder up at 4am to go search for antlers one last time for the spring. Since it was a day trip we were able to pack light. I bastardized two different packs to make a day pack:

3B34D070-771B-4B90-97AA-42D25B7369AB.jpeg


Coffee and then we hit the road. Nugget is enjoying the near 24 hours of daylight:

B3F44F29-50F9-454D-A046-96D7A3F787EE.jpeg


We meet up with our buddy and hit the trail. Up a valley we go and over a pass



ECDABDA7-9CF3-4BCC-8DE2-4200F4DBF605.jpeg


Getting there:

E0D05B09-4EA6-43A9-8423-0A90C5281FCF.jpeg


The bugs and heat were on us by 7am. Nugget spent his time at any snow patch he could find:
76D6D66E-805C-44A7-80E3-C7B9435C581D.jpeg


We get over the pass and take a break. The dogs are happy to be out and the slight breeze feels good.
9FF23084-BBEE-4F0A-B740-C1C58DB72405.jpeg
BA6E4C48-0AE3-472C-B99F-E39F5B6D8A69.jpeg


This is a small area to hit and we work our way down. It doesn’t take long to find a set that we’ve found before. Still a good training lesson for the pups:

19330AD3-7FD2-4B23-B940-EAC104BF850D.jpeg


Buddy yells down that he found a fresh one. We work our way up there and he finds the match right when we get there. The bull is way bigger than anything we expected out of here. It’s a nice surprise. We don’t post the big stuff but here’s a sneak peak:

7C44BE5E-03F1-42CD-B283-48467BF82A7E.jpeg


ATL:

C4E4FC8B-78FB-445A-A335-51331AA9BA0F.jpeg
 
It’s been a difficult spring. The snow is lingering and it’s greening up before it melts out:

0F9942B8-DDCA-498D-A0B9-01CF1FF667BA.jpeg


A few more whites were found:
463F9D0D-C142-4D3C-B2C2-080E45E4B240.jpeg

Like expected it was quick to hit the valley. We sit and talk about moose, antlers, upcoming hunts etc. Always great to meet up with friends in person. The trip was about antlers but then again it wasn’t. My type of social media.

Couple random pack out picsNugget and thunder investigating a dead ptarmigan:
5709CA85-DB9B-4A20-A929-2B0DF0C09370.jpeg


Antler and mountains. Doesn’t get any better than that:

B8EC1A7D-E509-4023-B6B5-CB10965790B9.jpeg


Fat kid a spicy chicken sandwich when I got back to town. I was done for the year or so I thought. A client of mine really wanted to find a moose antler. There was a spot I knew that wouldn’t be an all day deal. Game on.

5am and Nugget is not happy. He was pretty tired from the day before

559517E3-84F8-4F3C-A1AC-85B0A0BA7E63.jpeg


We hiked most the prime stuff but no antlers. We decided to hit some fringe stuff and we got Zach his first antler ever, and a weird one at that:

FE8DD9DA-E0DC-460D-B5EA-BE05A7669986.jpeg

4464DB99-4F67-4020-A0E3-1E9F1C6026B1.jpeg


About 20 mins later I was on the board. Not bad bull for the area, dang bear got to it first:

CCBF33DE-D00D-4C91-9A57-96E813F96544.jpeg


There was bear sign all over but only one brown bear spotted. We looked around for a couple more hours but no luck. It was stupid green and super hot. Time to go home. Nugget was tired:

49EC6AC8-415D-4B44-903C-2514B56D3AD1.jpeg

2021 is a wrap till this winter. Time to go fill the freezer with salmon and start sheep scouting.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom