Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

OP
Lostinthewoods
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Dec 10, 2016
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Coast to coast
Before I start my October hunts I figured I'd also recap my month.

September was my 3000 mile road trip from FL to NM, to OK, and then back to FL.
September 1-10th was my New Mexico elk hunt. I shot my bull on the 6th and was able to see my buddy fill his tag on the 7th.
It was such an amazing experience, great time in camp with friends, and it always kills me to leave the mountains.

IMG_2260 by Daniel Porter, on Flickr

Then on the 11th both my buddy and I tagged out opening day on our Oklahoma antelope hunt. This was my buddies first western game hunt and my first antelope doe hunt. We had a ball!

IMG_2335 by Daniel Porter, on Flickr

September was 3K+ miles driven, two tags filled, and over 250lbs of meat for the freezer.




October 5th I hit the ground running and start my journey back out to New Mexico for my antelope buck tag. I cannot wait to have some fun!
 
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Before I head up to the moose mountains for two weeks I figured I'd recap my September. Oh what a month it's been!

September 2nd I killed a great bull in an OTC unit here in Idaho. That bull took a lot of stress of my shoulders as it filled the last corners of my freezer. Because at the end of the day, I hunt for meat. I don't make enough money to hunt as much as I do and not kill anything. I've been blessed with a freezer full of wild game meat every year I've been on this Earth, and I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

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With my freezer full and vacation still on the books I decided to spend that leave helping my buddy kill a bull in AZ. I could have gone moose hunting, deer hunting, or spent more time on my antelope tag, but I wanted to experience some of the elk rut. And Arizona did not disappoint. After a slow start, the switch was flipped and the woods erupted with rutting bulls and all of the chaos that comes with them.

My buddy killed an incredible elk and I was honored to be a part of it. It was great to reunite with an old friend and to make new ones. Despite how physically demanding the trip was, it certainly refreshed my soul. It was incredibly fun. I can't wait to do it again. (Side note: We're planning a January javelina hunt. All of us are going to use wood long bows my buddy's dad built. It's going to be a blast.)

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After getting back from AZ, much to my wife's chagrin, I had to try to fill my antelope tag. Running on fumes, and with a few lucky horseshoes tucked somewhere I haven't found yet, I was able to kill an antelope that might be one of the biggest I'll ever kill with my bow.


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If the season ended today I would be more than content. I can't think of a better word than 'blessed.'

Tonight I'm heading up North to spend 2 more weeks being blessed with the opportunity to hold a once in a lifetime moose tag. Whenever people ask me how I'm doing, I look them in the eye and say with a smile, "I'm living the dream." And I mean it everytime.

Good luck to everyone hitting the woods the next couple days. I hope you find what it is you're looking for.
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OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
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Coast to coast
I'm on the road and heading to New Mexico!
I've been making good time and should be in Louisiana and then Texas soon.

Trip start

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I'm starting to see a common theme though. Every time I leave for a New Mexico hunt a hurricane begins and heads toward my area....

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So I'll be keeping a close eye on the storm. There is a good chance this may be a blitz trip to New Mexico and then blitz back!

Never a dull day


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Northernpiker

WKR
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I enjoy the stories, pics and videos and the enthusiasm is great, especially the time with the kids. I don't know if I could take someone else's kids when it might jeopardize my hunt. I might strangle them😱.
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
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Location
Coast to coast
I enjoy the stories, pics and videos and the enthusiasm is great, especially the time with the kids. I don't know if I could take someone else's kids when it might jeopardize my hunt. I might strangle them😱.

It definitely tested my patience, but at the end it went well and everyone left happy!
 
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I'm back to civilization. I still have a lot of work to do before I can sit down and write out the last few days of events. But let's just say I've been blessed with a lot of luck. :)

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OP
Lostinthewoods
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Saturday morning my buddy and I arrived to the ranch when the sun was just coming up. It had been raining hardcore a few days leading up to the hunt, so a good portion of the ranch was flooded.

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Lostinthewoods
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The first half of the day was slow. We had to search the ranch and find areas that weren't flooded.
It wasn't until the afternoon where we found where some goats where hiding.

I glassed two bucks and my buddy and I put a stalk in. There was plenty of terrain out there to use to our advantage and we were able to sneak up this little hill that put us 200 yards away from them with a down hill shot.

I looked over the bucks and decided I didn't want to shoot either of them, but my buddy did!
He picked his spot, bang, and the antelope dropped!

After the buck dropped the other one with him decided to come investigate us. He got within about 45 yards and just sat there. He was a young buck, but it was neat.

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This is my buddies second year of hunting and I've had the pleasure of taking him on both hunts and teaching him everything I can. He's now got two antelope bucks to his name from New Mexico and that's a great start!


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OP
Lostinthewoods
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After we sorted my buddies goat out we started our way back with the intent to glass some areas that looked promising. The first bowl we glassed held 12-15 does and what looked like a good buck.
The terrain wasn't very helpful, but I did find a blind spot that cut me down from 800 yards out to 350.
Then I noticed a small bush that I could use as a blind spot to get me closer, but... I had to crawl
It took me a bit, but I was able to shave off another 150 yards. I was now 200 yards away from a very nice buck.

I picked my spot, boom, and the rest was history.

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I couldn't be more proud of this buck. He had so much character to him. His ears were torn from right and his cutter was smashed too. He also had a massive head and white ivory tips.... just a beautiful old buck!

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OP
Lostinthewoods
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Coast to coast
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I couldn't be any more pleased with the entire experience. New Mexico is honestly my favorite place on earth.

Now begins my 1300 mile trip home.




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**This is going to be long, so please stick with me as I'll need several posts to tell the whole story :) **

We all have aspirations, desires, and things we dream about doing some day, and the majority of those things never come to fruition. Ever since I saw my first wild bull moose in the mountains of Northeast Washington, I knew I wanted to hunt them. I was extremely blessed to have had many encounters with the massive beasts while working one of the most unique jobs in the military. I've seen bulls nearly kill each other during the rut, and even hit one in the head with a snowball once. The thing that drew me to them more than anything was how unpredictable they are. I knew they'd be a challenge to hunt, and I couldn't wait for the opportunity.

When I moved to Idaho, I had to take advantage of the opportunity. I did a ton of research trying to figure out which units I would put in for. After a lot of deliberating I put in for the unit which had the best mix of success rate and highest historical draw odds. I knew the unit was rugged, had terrible access, and a low moose population, but I didn't really care. I put it on my application... And as luck would have it, 18 other people had the same idea as me, but I still drew the tag.

When I was able to get up to the unit for a scouting trip, my expectations were... crushed. It was far worse than I thought it would be. The vegetation was almost impenetrable, the terrain was far steeper than I anticipated, and the trail access only lead to more steep and impenetrable areas. It sucked.

This doesn't at all mean that I was going to hang it up and quit; it just helped me set my mind straight and have realistic expectations. I was prepared to spend up to 4 weeks in the unit without seeing a single moose. I've grown accustomed to being able to cover ground and seek out my game, so it was going to be tough sitting in only a handful of spots waiting for the action to come to me.

I would be hunting solo for the first 3-6 days depending on when my buddy from Spokane would be coming down, so my plan was to check out the 3 spots I'd be hunting and solidify my game plan for the rest of the hunt. I was going to sit in those spots all day and call every 30 minutes to an hour.

I mention all of this because I want to try to paint the picture of what my state of mind was going into this hunt.

----

I had a bit of a rough start to my moose hunt. Thursday after work I was doing an ops check on my truck and found both of my lower ball joints were worn out. I would have normally done the work myself, but I had a lot of other things I needed to get done. I.e. packing, food prep, recheck the zero on my rifles, and most importantly spend some time with the wife and kids.

I dropped the truck off at the shop as soon as they opened on Friday with the hope they would get it done by noon so I could pick it up during lunch… Well they didn't finish until 4, so my departure was set back a few hours. I was also slowed down by an insane number of whitetail does chillin on the roads. I could have easily killed 5 deer with my truck on the way to the mountains. I didn't get to camp until 230am. After I had the bare essentials setup, I distinctly remember setting my alarm and it telling me I had 1hr 31min before the wake up.

Well about an hour into my sleep I was woken by a combination of excitement and the disappointment from hearing the pitter patter of rain on my tent… I hit snooze about 5 times, but the rain wouldn't stop. Begrudgingly, I pulled myself out of my sleeping bag and through on all of my gear. I was MOOSE hunting, no time for waiting on the weather to improve.

The hike back to what I'll refer to as “The Hill” was 2 miles along an overgrown trail. By the time I got to the opening I was soaking wet. For whatever reason I thought I could get by without rain pants for the hike. It's been a few years since I've really needed to be concerned about the rain, and it was a rookie mistake. I should have known better.

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I sat for a few hours the first morning before I got too cold and bored to take it anymore. I spent the next few hours walking around The Hill looking for any fresh sign of moose. I didn't find any evidence of moose being there recently, but I knew from talking with the local outfitter that the area I was in would only get better as time went on.

I did see lots of bear and wolf sign though. Even found them together...

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What the area lacked in moose sign, it sure made up for in amazing natural beauty.

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I warmed myself by a small hardwood fire, as the sun set over my first day of moose hunting. I knew I was in for the adventure of a lifetime, and if it was going continue to be like the first day, I was in for a tough but awesome hunt. I returned back to camp cold, wet, and tired, but optimistic.

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When my alarm went off extra early on day 2 I was infinity grateful for the propane heater I bought last minute before I left. During all my years of training and instructing I woke up to wet or frozen clothing far too often, and just the thought of it makes me cringe with discomfort. Having that heater was a HUGE psychological win for me. There was no need to build a fire and spend hours drying myself and my gear before going to sleep. More sleep is more better. ;)


Day 2’s plan was to explore a spot I scouted in the spring, but didn't really get too good of a look at. I packed up 2 days worth of food and everything I'd need to sleep on the ground that night. The drive from camp to the trailhead was about an hour and a half and I got there just as light was peaking through the rain clouds. It was going to be another soaker. (Don't worry, this time I wore rain pants)

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To my surprise, the creek was full of spawning Kokanee. It was amazing to watch the hundreds of fish do their thing. I watched the fish for around an hour before I pressed on up the creek bottom… And what a nightmare that was. When I was last there in June, the thimbleberry, stinging nettle, and devil's club hadn't grown up yet so travel was a little easier in the spring. I also made a bad call and tried to travel of trail to see if I could find anything worthwhile. All I found was bear scat, bear tracks, bear beds, and an insane amount of giant dead cedar trees. *It took me 4 hours to walk just 2 miles to the overlook I wanted to get to.

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Once their I dug in, and got ready for a long day and night. The view was absolutely beautiful, but it didn't offer much as far as spotting and shooting opportunities. The vegetation was far too thick, and there were only a few clearings I could see through to the forest floor.

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I sat under a large fir tree for almost 8hrs and only saw one raghorn bull elk just before sunset. As I was getting ready to fall asleep in my sleeping bag, the only good and encouraging thing from day 2 happened; I got a text on my inreach from my buddy telling me he was going to be coming at the end of the next day.

With the lack of moose sign and sign of anything other than bear, I decided to pack my stuff up and go back to The Hill and spend the entire day there. Hopefully the weather would make a turn for the better.

The long ride back to camp in a warm truck followed by a hot Mountain House meal, and knowing my buddy would be there there next day was very encouraging. I slept like a rock that night.

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Despite my optimism that the weather would improve, mother nature had other plans. I woke up to the sounds of strong winds, and a mix of rain, snow, and slush beating against my tent. Great… another day of wonderful weather. :) There was a significant drop in temperature and a crusty but wet layer of snow on everything, and to my dissatisfaction, my boots hadn't completely dried the night before. Nonetheless, I saddled up, and headed down the trail to The Hill.

I knew I was in for a treat when the wind died down and the sun took forever to welcome in the day. Just for fun, I ranged everything I could see…. Everything was 50yds away according to my rangefinder. At least I wouldn't have much time to get excited by spotting a bull from outside my comfortable shooting range.

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I did a little wandering to check out why there were a million crows hanging out in a few spots and I found this nice bull carcass.

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It's a shame they left so much neck meat on the animal. I know it's not required by law to take it, but there are a few meals worth of meat there and I hate to see it go to waste. What made it even harder for me to understand was the fact it was only 30yds off the trail and less than 2 miles of easy walking back to the road.


Since the weather want looking like it was going to get much better, I made a little nest of boughs under a giant fir tree. As the weather got worse, I slowly moved my nest further and further under the tree.

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I got text from my buddy, Cory, around 1400 that he was headed my way. I told him where to meet me, and I patiently waited for him to arrive. He promised to bring clear skies and warmth, but as you'll see in the video… that's the exact opposite of what happened.

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Cory got to my camp and started down the trail. He would have made it to my spot with plenty of daylight, but the snow knocked all of the slash alder down over the trail. That made for a much tougher hike than I described to him. I also told him he would easily see me, and if not, I would definitely see him. Well, that was before the snow rolled in. I could no longer see the trail.

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Just before the sunset, I spotted a dark object enter the trees along the trail heading my direction. I had no idea what it was, but I definitely knew it was something. I figured it was either Cory, a bear, or a moose. So I waited for it to come out, but it never did. Before the snow could cover up the tracks and the light was completely gone, I ran over to the trail to investigate. Sure enough, it was Cory. He walked out to the edge of the trees and couldn't see me so he turned around.

It was a long, lonely, and wet walk back to camp that night, but I was great to know a good buddy was back there waiting for me. Despite the bad weather, and being cold and wet for the first three days, I found solace in knowing I would no longer be suffering alone. My buddy was there, and we would suffer together.

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I'll keep day 4 short since it was basically the same as day 3, but with nicer weather and more opportunities to pull the camera out. It was also great to have Cory there to fend off the boredom. We didn't see any animals until we were packing up our stuff to head back to camp. A group of 5 elk came to join us on the meadow, one of them was a really nice bull, but it was too dark for photos. Finally! Some animals.

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If there's one photo that sums up what it felt like to be out there the first few days, this is it. Cold, lonely, and bored.
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At least the weather finally cleared and there would be a high pressure system overhead for the next 3-4 days. Things were looking up.

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Day five, curiosity got the better of me. I needed a change of scenery.

We hiked out to The Hill for a morning sit. Just before we got to our spot, we saw 2 does and 2 fawns feeding in the drainage below our tree, and one fawn nibbling on the branches from my nest under the fir tree. In less than 12hrs my animal sightings increased tenfold.

We sat under the tree until 10 before we'd had enough. I wanted to go down to the creek and see if we could find any fresh tracks.

No more than 1/2 a mile down the road from camp we came across the 3rd set of moose tracks I'd seen so far on the trip.

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There are a few flat, swampy areas along the main creek that looked like ideal moose habitat, so I had to check them out.

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Not surprisingly, there was moose sign just about everywhere, but nothing fresh enough to really scream at me that moose were there at the time. But it was very clear moose had been there and were coming and going at random. In addition to the moose sign, it was also very aesthetically pleasing.

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While down on the creek I also wanted to gain some intel from some of the fly fisherman. One of the gentleman I spoke with had been fishing the creek every fall for the last thirty plus years and helped point us to where he'd seen the most moose and bear sign. We thanked him for his insight and watched jealously as he fished all day without a worry in the world. Cory and I made several comments about how we couldn't wait to retire and have the opportunity to hunt and fish all the time. But then I kind of realized how fortunate I've been to actually be able to spend so much time in the field both at work and on my own time. I've been blessed.

This will be me someday...
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No more than 10 minutes after the fisherman was around the bend in the creek, I spotted what I thought was a bear along the edge of the willows. But when I pulled my binos up to my eyes, the dark spot was gone... Hmmm, must have been a stump. So I put down my binos and continued taking pictures of the beautiful place we were in.

A few minutes later, as we were debating whether or not to keep walking down the trail or head back to the truck to go sit on The Hill, Cory confirmed my hunch and spotted a bear eating elderberries down along the creek.

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So I grabbed my rifle and ran down the trail to get closer, but when I wondered you the corner the bear was gone. He was no longer standing up, and he disappeared into the thick brush. I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon waiting him out, but I never saw him again.

Even though we didn't see any animals that night, it was one of those afternoon sits you dream of. It was quiet but not still, and there was a cool, crisp feeling to the air. With the sound of the creek calmly flowing past us, the sight and smell of fall filling the air I couldn't help but think of how lucky I was to be living the life I was.

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Our plan for the morning was to get back to this spot and maybe relocate the bear.

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