My 2013 Outdoor Escapades!!

elks96

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Lets get this started... My first ever Hunting Adventures Thread.

So this winter was not the typical predator hunting I have done for years past. Simply put things did not go as planned and in the end I spent a total of 5 days since January calling for predators. In that time I called 2 coyotes. 1 shot by my greedy friend, the other missed by a high school student. The season was eventful however...

The first pic is from a 2 day (3 night) hunting adventure in Baggs, WY. I arrived in town to stay at the Drifter INN with a good buddy. Since I arrived before dark, we decided to take a quick ride near town and see some country. The wind was blowing and snow was falling. That added with flat light and ample drifting resulting in missing a slight turn and getting the blazer in deep... Funny we never take pics or at least remember to take pics until after the majority of digging has been completed...




The next day we managed to call in yote in 14 stands. the fresh snow and overnight drifting made the travel hard. Around 4:00 with the wind blowing we dropped a front u-joint. Luckily it did it right before we hit a plowed road. We used the last of day light to secure the Driveline and head into town. At dinner we were in the Cafe and luckily one of the oil field guys gave us access to their truck for the u-joint replacement. At 7:30 that night I dug my tools out put on my insulated bibs and crawled under the blazer... It was by far the coldest and longest 3 hours of my life. The u bolt that holds the u joint in got all wedged up and needless to say at -19 degrees you cant have your fingers exposed long and hold a nut in your mouth (never a good idea) is a really bad idea at that temp. Long story short we had the blazer fixed up and back on the road around 10:30 that night.

Fast forward to mid April. With a failed predator season behind me, I looked forward to OTC turkey here in western CO. I have only hunted turkeys for the last 3 years. this year I was hoping to hold out for a mature bird. The first year we hunted, my dad took a good bird on opening day, and after that I never got a shot. Last year we both took jokes on the first day, so this year was the year that we were really going to hunt!

Opening morning found us in our area at first light. We have a large area void of other hunters and as a result we can really run and gun looking for aggressive birds.

Our plan was simple, call from high points near the road, listen and make a move. At first light I called into a large canyon and immediately got a response. We grabbed the decoy and dove off the rim. the turkey sounded like it was 800 to 1000 yards down the canyon. We covered around 150 yards saw a great looking bench below us. Before making the final run to the bench I made one little hen cluck and the tom exploded into a gobble right under us. My dad and I both dropped. I put juicy (my slutty hens name) to my left about 4 feet away and made one more little cluck. In second The tom came over the little rise in front of me on a dead run. Before I could get him to stop, he made it to 4 yards in front of me and went full strut. I squeezed off the shot and hammered him. He was a good bird with a 8 3/4" beard. Best of all I love the country and love the hunt with my dad.






After a few quick pictures and getting the guts pulled out and packing the bird with ice. We hit the road again for dads bird. We went about 1/2 a mile before we found a second tom. He was henned up and not going to come to a call so we went spot and stalk (no we did not need HECS to spot and stalk our turkey). We took our time and an hour into the stalk the tom peeked his head over a sage brush at 9 yards before getting taken out. My dad bird was just slightly smaller but still have a 7" beard and also tasted great!


Usually turkey season is my shed hunting, but this year 1 day of hunting did not produce any sheds. I have since went hunting 2 times. First trip out I found a solid set of 6x6 bull antlers and the second trip out I took my dog out and picked up 8 mule deer sheds. Nothing Big. Here are some pics of the shed hunting. Unfortunately my old bird dog is not a very good shed dog. I was sitting down glass for sheds when she went around a tree and laid down. This is where she laid and shows her lack of concern for sheds!!!! To her credit she did put up 2 separate groups of grouse!




We also found this guy at a break point so I decided to play around with the micro settings on my camera... I had hoped it turned out a little better..






Then this grouse was out at last light puffed up, but I did not catch a full puff!!!



Stay tuned for more!!!
 
So summer is going fast. I took the kids to Moab for some rock crawling fun. We had a blast but since I was driver and dad, it left little time for photos. I will post some soon. I did snag a pic of this collared lizard. As a kid I would catch a couple in the summer and feed them other lizards for a couple weeks and then let them go. They are mean and aggressive and when cornered they will turn head on and use teeth. This one let me snap a few shots...



I did not get out this last weekend as I had intended. I am hunting a new unit for deer this fall and scouting is going to be key. I did get out tonight and took my jeep up a road I always wanted to explore ever since I was a kid. I was scared then and more scared now... It is the last time I will drive up it with a full sized vehicle. Even the ATVs had not been to the top any time recently, and I would bet I was was the first full sized up it in 5 years judging by the overgrowth.

The start of the rough stuff and the easy part. I ended up with my drivers side tire 4 feet of the ground at least 6 times making this climb. This is where all the recent atv tracks turned around and I had to lock in the hubs...



On top the view was amazing. Even better than I thought...








And a great pic of my jeep. Bought it in 94 as a Junior in high school. Still in good shape despite being driven by a punk kid...


Over all a good trip I got to know some nasty country that is going to hold my biggest buck yet... At least I hope!
 
So things have been busy. Still scouting but not finding anything. Beginning to doubt my tag choice!!! However it is better to have a poor tag than no tag at all I suppose. The last 2 weeks found my wife enjoying a date night. We went for a jeep ride, unfortunately I left my camera at home, but that meant we had things worthy of taking a picture. From on top a ridge I found a magical bench. I spotted a single antler on the bench. As the sun set we went to inspect. In all we found 1 set and 3 other single. I had plans to go back but then lightning struck and started a fire.

Sorry pics are from my wifes phone. I had to rely on her photo interest...




This pretty flower is my arch enemy come archery season. It dries out and makes walking hard with out sounding like an elephant.




Then 2 days later this happened to the area. Not exactly the same spot but still an area I was going to scout.




Luckily no home lost and mother nature helped out today. We had a great spot to watch from about 2 miles away. The planes were actually flying over us to the airport. Usually only a 100 yards off the ground. Just like an air show.

Best pics were of my beautiful family...
 
WOW Summer is running out fast. Still scouting but have yet to find my smoker buck. I have spent time looking for a fall bear and a little time checking out archery elk. I managed to get over and watch the full draw film tour and spent a day hiking above treeline.

In the meantime we have had a few days shooting archery as a family and some miles spent in the hills. Here are a few recent shots...

I did get my WY buck back the mount turned out great...




Maybe this is the next Colorado state record bull moose?




Some time spent above treeline:



Our last trip out my daughter chewed me out since we left her .22 at home and this young yote was dumb.



Also found a few critters.. .Some good bucks were feeding hard and moving none gave a great opportunity for a photo...











Always a good chance at an awesome sunset when I am out and about!!!

 
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