So, we went to Colorado. Trucks, horse trailers, horses, tents, and a small heater. We unloaded all, and packed into an unknown valley, and pitched tent.
Next morning, we set out to hunt elk. I went south, and sent the rest of em north. Sometime mid-morning, I saw a nice elk. 200 yds. I had a nice sako rifle, with scope. It took me 2 hrs until I had a good shot at him. I took him sometime early afternoon. Shortly after, I heard a shot in the distance. My buddies must have gotten a shot too. Wound up field dressing them. Bagging the meat. Left it on the mountain, as it had begun to snow. Got up early, to retrieve our meat. It had snowed 3 inches in the night. As we made our way towards our kills, the snow got deeper. It had snowed maybe 2 feet on the mountain. As we rounded a bend, I suddenly saw a beautiful elk out at around 150 yds. We all stopped. Since I'd been there before, but the other 2 this was their first time, I got a shot at it. It disappeared going west. Bummer. I'd missed. We sat down, to glass, and think. Then I saw him again. Just west of where I'd shot the first time. I squeezed off a shot. He disappeared again. I thought I must have knocked the scope somehow. Waited a few minutes, suddenly I saw him again. He was even more west. I got another shot. Missed again. I was really frustrated. As we started up the hill, there he was again. In the same place as I'd first shot. Bam! He fell straight down. Finally got him. We went up, and found a small thicket, with surrounding bank, for a wind break. And 4 dead elk. We spent the rest of the day field dressing and packing them to camp. Next morning, we went to retrieve the first 2. There was 4 to 5 feet of fresh snow. We left em up there. As far as I know, they are still up there. I'm 71 now. And, I was 29 then. It's one of my best memories of hunting in Colorado.
3 of us tagged an elk, and the extra one, one of the wives who stayed in a motel tagged.?ÿ
I like elk. In fact, it tastes just like beef.?ÿ
As told to me, by M L. A recent client.
Client has beautiful farm, but no money.
Well, I think I'll go eat a piece of deer jerky for breakfast. Telling my clients story made me hungry.
Nate
My favorite hunting story includes my older brother Holden.?ÿ He and I had joined in with four or five others to hunt for a short week in Western OK.?ÿ There was a large party the evening we made it to the camp and "tented-up".?ÿ Too much noise and drinking.?ÿ I bet there wasn't a deer left in the county after all that racket.
Since we hadn't had a chance to get out and sniff around Holden & I spent the next morning on tracking & recon so we could find a spot for the next morning's real hunting.?ÿ ?ÿWe were up early and left the rest of the hung-over idiots sucking bad coffee around a fire.?ÿ Holden went one way, I went another.?ÿ We caught back up with each other about mid-day and headed back to camp for some grub.
Holden always hunted with his .357 revolver in a western style holster and belt on his hip.?ÿ When I saw him coming back in I noticed it was missing but for some reason he hadn't noticed.?ÿ He had apparently taken it off and hung it on a limb during his morning constitutional and then walked off and forgot it.?ÿ We back tracked and eventually found it right where he had left it hanging.
We eventually made it back to camp as the sun was getting low.?ÿ I haven't let him forget that even to this day.?ÿ
This story about a former field hand:
Rocky did guided trophy elk hunts near Pagosa Springs, Colorado.?ÿ 25 years ago his fee with a guarantee of bagging one was $12,000.?ÿ We spent the summer in Montana doing FHWA work that kept him from scouting out the herds movements for his guided hunts.?ÿ He was worried he had lost their movements and had no idea where they would be for opening day.?ÿ A client signs up and Rocky tells him that the guarantee couldn't be honored because he wasn't sure if it would happen.?ÿ The guy is ok with it and says he just wants to get out.?ÿ So, on opening day, they head out before sunrise and go to a location Rocky felt would be where they usually are.?ÿ Sure enough, the herd is there with 4-5 bulls to pick from.?ÿ The guy pulls the trigger on the biggest one that Rocky had followed for 3 years.?ÿ Drops it with one shot.?ÿ They hike over to it and the guy wants his picture taken with the kill.?ÿ Rocky obliges the client, takes the picture and the client is ready to go back to the lodge.?ÿ Rocky says wait a minute, we have to field dress it and pack it out.?ÿ The client says go ahead and do what you want with it, I don't want it, you can have it.?ÿ All he wanted was the picture and not even the rack.?ÿ Rocky took the client back to the lodge, invoiced him and got paid for the hunt with a nice tip.?ÿ After that, Rocky quit doing the guided hunts because most of the hunters were just trophy hunters and he didn't have anymore room in his 4 chest freezers.?ÿ I miss Rocky.?ÿ I used to get about 50lbs a year of elk from him.?ÿ Not anymore.
This story about a former field hand:
.?ÿ I miss Rocky.?ÿ I used to get about 50lbs a year of elk from him.?ÿ Not anymore.
Give him my address. I like them!!
N
A client/friend I did a survey for paid me with an elk hunt on his property. My son and I got up early and were at their door at 6 AM. They were all still in bed. Grandma got up and fixed a big breakfast of eggs, hash browns, bacon, ham, and toast. We ate breakfast till about 9 AM. About 10 AM the owner said "Well lets go out and see if we can find an elk". We drove up a rutted road a ways and suddenly he stops and runs back to my truck. "There they are in those trees." "You and your son go down and sit on that rock out crop". I thought this is going to be a bust. About 15 minutes later about 6 head of elk come busting out of the trees running right towards us. My son and I both dropped an elk about 30 feet in front of us. The landowner arrived shortly after with his two nephews who must have just got hunting new knives. They piled out of his truck and in no time had the elk gutted. We backed my truck up to the elk and loaded them up. Headed back down to the house where Grandma had prepared "lunch" (lunch on a ranch is like city folks dinner). We ate lunch sat around for a bit afterwards and headed home. We were at home by 2:30 PM just in time to watch the Bobcats beat the Grizzlys.
That's my idea of a touch elk hunt.
Well you could do like the out-of-state people who don't need to work for a living are doing for deer.?ÿ Ahead of the season they set up a pen 32'x32' made of welded wire panels and steel T posts in a perfect spot to bow hunt (no hunting involved).?ÿ Starting a bit ahead of bow season they place some fresh corn near the center of the pen.?ÿ Then replenish the supply as needed.?ÿ The pen keeps any other livestock away from the feed supply and makes it much more difficult for small furbearers to help themselves.?ÿ Go sit in a very well hidden spot in the tree until Bambi's daddy hops the panels one last time.?ÿ A shot so simple even I could make it should be fatal.?ÿ If only disabling to a great degree, the deer may have trouble escaping the pen.
@holy-cow While I find that unsportsmanlike, it is similar to some of the Native American buffalo hunting techniques and could be considered more humane than letting a deer run off injured with an arrow poking out. I still don't care for it...
Better than a buffalo jump I suppose.
?ÿ
I went on a two week moose hunt this fall at a remote camp in the foothills of the Alaskan Range.?ÿ My host was a fifth generation Alaskan whose grandfather guided Fred Bear out of this camp six times.?ÿ The stories alone were worth the trip.
I had applied for an any bull tag last December and shot a tender young bull.?ÿ I've since been told that I am welcome to hunt there every year.?ÿ
Sometimes it's good to be a surveyor.
That dozer has made multiple winter trips across the Tanana bringing in mining equipment and supplies.?ÿ The dozer in put in 1st gear and the operator walks across behind it at a safe distance. Alaska is a place unto itself.
On the subject of hunting in exchange for services, I had a mate who's into the hospitality/tourism/movie trade and he once got a free tandem sky dive in exchange for something. He said the jump was thrilling but the instructor's breath was putrid and in light of that, he wouldn't do it again. I told him he should have asked to be strapped in like every one else, facing away from the instructor.
My brother had a remote cabin surrounded by dense forest in the Chickaloon area of Alaska.?ÿ Every autumn?ÿ he would "hunt" moose on his property (3 acres?) by getting up early, sitting on his porch and by noon, drop one?ÿ at short range that was ambling up his access road.?ÿ He'd drag it with his pickup to his gambrel at the cabin, gut it, skin it, drop into in his pickup and hang it in his unheated garage in Anchorage. At the proper time he'd butcher it in his garage and store it in his freezer(s).?ÿ
He'd also fly his bush plane to the west side of Cook Inlet with a coupla friends where they'd land on the beach at his secret spot and collect a hundred+ pounds of razor clams, put 'em in mesh bags, and have a huge neighborhood clambake that evening.?ÿ I complimented him for his munificence but he said he was well compensated by his neighbors the rest of the year with fresh salmon & halibut from the fishermen, and pies in the fall from the ladies.
He says he's not a hunter,?ÿ just a meat collector..?ÿ?ÿ
My father was an avid hunter, gunsmith and outdoorsman whose range was from Alaska and Canada to the Pacific Northwest.?ÿ One of his favorites was hunting Roosevelt Elk in the Blue Mountains of Oregon.?ÿ It's tough hunting, the Elk are extremely wary and the terrain is steep and mostly forested with grass covered ridges here and there. So the protocol was to sit hunt downwind?ÿ with a good view of a ridge and expect 150 yard+ shot opportunities if any.
So my Dad's sitting there beside a rock for a few hours and kablooie, somebody takes a shot at him which misses by three feet and shrapnels on the rock!?ÿ He looks around and finally glasses some fool (orange vests/hats required) on the next ridge 450+ yards away.?ÿ So he shoots back carefully aiming to deliberately miss by 10 feet (30-06) and jumps up hollering expletives, etc. The fool skedaddles never to be seen again. Needless to say every elk leaves the area.
I understand buck fever can muddy ones mind but in open country/good weather it's unacceptable.?ÿ Although I will admit I *almost* shot a (beef) cow after 40 minutes of crawling, listening, looking in steep heavy willows cover in a NF.?ÿ I was so hyped up I actually saw a big buck in my lever action iron sights when I had a shot opportunity but before I pulled the trigger my sight picture dissolved and a cow appeared.?ÿ Thank God.
My father would probably have shot me if I ever killed a trophy elk or deer. He always was puzzled by hunters wanting a trophy. Heck, how do you eat those old things.?ÿ
We always had a full freezer of game. Lots of mouths to feed. I supplied the fish, dad the elk and deer till I was old enough to hunt. Since he passed and I started to survey I've lost my urge to hunt.
Seems the years spent in the big country has left me with more of a sense of working when I go hunting. But I do enjoy seeing elk and deer, ran into a bunch of nice bucks this week and even a cow/calf pair of elk up in the hills. When I came across them I quickly pulled my safety vest out of the 4-wheeler and put it on, wishing I had an orange hat too. There's nothing like putting your head on a swivel knowing there may be buck fever hunters around.?ÿ
I do not hunt deer.?ÿ Not for sport and not for fun.?ÿ But, I hate the overgrown rats that Wish and Fildlife has foisted upon us that come here to trespass and otherwise be disrespectful of property owners as they attempt to gain some increase in their masculinity by killing a deer.?ÿ STAY OFF OF MY LAWNS, DAMMIT.
I wish I could push a button and every deer within 100 miles would fall over dead immediately.?ÿ Maybe our vehicle insurance rates would drop dramatically due to the absence of many thousands of car/deer accidents every year.
We did not have deer until Wish and Fildlife started seeding them around in hopes of filling up motels and selling huge amounts of alcohol and gasoline.
You may be missing out on an opportunity. Sell passes to hunt your acreage.?ÿ
We have something in common.?ÿ I don't hunt any game animal for sport or fun.?ÿ I hunt to put meat in the freezer.?ÿ Meat that is in my opinion more healthy than anything I can purchase from a producer, certified organic or not.?ÿ
That will not happen.?ÿ I respect my neighbors too much to inflect the potential problems on their properties.
Those who hunt on their own land or areas where public hunting is allowed are not a problem.?ÿ It's the ones who pay one person then hunt on a a dozen other properties assuming they won't get caught who cause 95 percent of the problem.?ÿ I will call the game warden, and I have his number in my cell phone.?ÿ I will call the sheriff, who is also in my cell phone.?ÿ Hunting is fine.?ÿ Hunting where you are not supposed to be is not.
Had a good friend call today who had been hunting on her father-in-laws home ground early this morning.?ÿ She got a good stick on one but it was able to run.?ÿ They tracked it over a half mile before losing the blood trail.?ÿ That was rather close to an area of about one acre on one of my farms that would be a great place to hide if you were an injured deer.?ÿ She called me immediately to ask permission to go onto my land.?ÿ I gave her permission and thanked her for the call.?ÿ She can access that area via ATV in the grassy gap between two soybean fields that have not yet been harvested.?ÿ The *&$%^$#^&^(*&*% from out of the area will not worry about making any contact and will drive with vehicles or ATV's anywhere they want to go.?ÿ At nearly $12.00 per bushel today, they can knock out many hundreds of dollars of my income in a short time.?ÿ If I went to their regal estate in Pascagoula and did a similar amount of damage to their manicured lawn, they would have me arrested on the spot.
We could run it as guided hunts only, that way we can control where the paying hunter goes, and what they shoot at.
Wife??s car. Last night.?ÿ
