Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Idaho has been too good to me! My wife drew a 41 deer tag. I cannot wait to get out there and watch some rutting bucks in the desert. When I got here last November it was the first place I started wandering around trying to kill coyotes and hoping one of us would draw a tag for the unit.

I also got an unlimited archery antelope tag, and I'm very excited for that hunt as well. I'm going to try to setup my ground blind in a spot that I can take my daughter with. I have about a half dozen spots in mind. It would be a huge success if I can kill a pronghorn with the kid along.

Now that all of my draws are out, I need to finalize my plans. I need to figure out how to fit an elk, deer, antelope, moose, and controlled hunt deer tag into my fall. My wife also wants to try a late season cow hunt too... These are definitely first world problems, and I'm happy to have them. :)
 

RyanG505

FNG
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
Messages
53
Location
New Mexico
man I didn't know you guys were on here! just read the whole thread and enjoyed it all! its been good getting to know you all on IG and look forward to following here.
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
man I didn't know you guys were on here! just read the whole thread and enjoyed it all! its been good getting to know you all on IG and look forward to following here.

I'm glad we all found each other on IG.... you and your buddy can appreciate a thread like this because you guys are doing the exact same thing....and doing it VERY well I might add. Hopefully we can all get together at some point, maybe put a big hurting on some barb!

We don't really talk about IG much on here or the thread much on IG because we don't wanna come off like "those guys."
We are not trying to sell brand apparel, flat brimmed hats, and flare stickers.
We just wanna hunt hard, kill stuff, and share stories!

I'm ready to get this year rolling!!!!!
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
I spent my four day weekend up in lovely NE KY this weekend!
Got some great scouting, hiking, shooting, stand prep, lane trimming, and camera hanging in.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited KY gets me....
It's a very target rich environment and I'm so excited to get out there and hunt some awesome areas.

Start of the trip


I will be hunting a mixture of both public and private while I'm out there.
The private are I'm hunting is approximately 700 acres in a really cool area.
It's got thick bedding areas, a beautiful little creek, some corn fields, and more.

I'll be trying something completely new this year and I'll be hunting over a creek pinch point.
On one side of the creek it's super thick where the turkeys and deer bed down.
Then on the other side of the creek it's great food sources.....

So I'll be setting up in some of these spots.












I've got a real good feeling about these crossing areas. Another cool thing about the creek is there was a lot of track that showed deer were using it to move not only too and from food, but that was their highway to other properties.
So around the rut time frame, I am thinking that bucks will be cruising it looking for spots hot does crossed.




This property is super cool and is almost two levels. Down below is the crops, creek, and bedding.
Then the upper level, up the hollows is some great giant white oaks.
I found some EXTREMELY mature white oaks that will be loaded with acorns. They should be a great early season spot!



I found one little bench that had three mature white oaks that all had acorns starting.... I was so excited because tons of trails were transitioning over this spot..... it was so exciting until I found this......








I was so fricken mad!!!!! Land owner has been notified and I REALLY hope he sorts this out.
Drives me nuts when people trespass and then do something like this.


No biggy.... I'm not letting that get me down. It will be dealt with and I am going to fill my tags in KY this year!
I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!

Now I just need to get to July 6th to see if I drew any Oklahoma tags.
Then it's LESS THAN 2 MONTHS UNTIL ARCHERY ELK!!!!!!!!



WOOOOHOOOOOOOO





End trip milage...... (I should have done a beginning journal mileage)

 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
If you are following this thread you may have noticed that photobucket has done some crazy change and almost all of my photos are now not shown....
I'm going to need to figure out how to get this fixed!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I had a fun weekend with the family up in my moose area. Aside from the extra long drive, the kiddos seemed to love every minute of it. I don't think I've seen my son so happy. He laughed, giggled, or was in awe of everything he saw. Despite the stress of getting there and back, it was well worth the effort. We didn't see any people while at our camp, and we had deer and elk around camp almost constantly.

f72c7186a743ffc85b5450bb5e7ea99e.jpg


6aa0d685abfee6f887cf66b19a286bea.jpg


c1e6aac2399af054e17544e2766e32f8.jpg


26297288334e33717fdf716605941bb6.jpg



It didn't take long for my son to figure out we were looking for strawberries.
f3403a81114169373381becc2234d562.jpg


My daughter was not convinced trillium would taste good, but she changed her mind pretty quick.
2d6e5b943f2f0cf2b6de87c724616283.jpg


89c9671ecb57c75b2cf494e79566d0e0.jpg


There's nothing like fresh wildberries and Haagen-Dazs.
72c2f8c874190bf014649bf185b9da04.jpg



Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
We ended up camping not far away from a spring, so we had no shortage of critters passing through camp. These mule deer would come down to the spring to get water several times each day and didn't seemed bothered by us being there.

79c54c0fd83c261c405025623785faa5.jpg


140e41acd728682788b7fb385e1ef5b2.jpg


45df654ad3491bfbe5eca618df7fbade.jpg


109f9a8f0ab560b21aefdbbd08daf8a0.jpg


24bb6747ac3c5948fae3e93cad281fb7.jpg


cfbe581bf8e3edc422bf1a7c04600631.jpg


My dog was not sure what to think about all the animals milling around camp, but he did behave himself very well. With how many wolves are supposedly in the area, I was very surprised when the deer didn't mind my dog running around chasing butterflies like a fairy.
60ce8aa9b635e38792c6096c74322a38.jpg


13f8f6da14c90a66cfb33f4b2dff61f6.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
My mind is absolutely blown right now..... today Oklahoma released their controlled hunts and......
I DREW AN ANTELOPE TAG! The best part is it bumps right up to my elk hunt!!!!
It's almost like I plan these things to minimize leave time used


It's a doe only rifle tag and it's good for two doe antelope!!! SO EXCITED FOR SOME ANTELOPE MEAT!!!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1831.jpg
    IMG_1831.jpg
    5.2 KB · Views: 27
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Today I completed the first major stepping-stone in something that isn't normally my forte. 6 months ago an individual approached me with an idea to start a gun club which would use the bases off site range... The only thing required was someone to get it started. So I said sure, why not? How hard could it be?

Well, it certainly wasn't easy, and I needed the help of a lot of people who are smarter than me. I know it won't be simple from here on, but today we officially fired the first rounds down range as a club. It was quite the learning experience, and if you ask Dan he'll tell you just how frustrating it was at times. But I'm glad to say we're over the first big hurdles, and will soon be able to host a safe shooting location for the local area. I'm not sure where this thing will go from here, but I have high hopes for the club's future.

0a205285471e135f45bea9cabc3b7ab5.jpg


**disclaimer** the club is a private organization. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components and it has no governmental status. Also, I swear, I'm not shooting the 2 liters 5yds away from me. :)
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Tomorrow I'm heading to a promising spot. Not sure if there has ever been elk there or not.....

ee3b17bbdd2711c74f1f8e2c73cd9961.jpg



This spot is only 2.2 miles and 2100 feet away from where I hope to park. Fingers crossed the snow is finally cleared off the roads. Guess I'll find out tomorrow morning.
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I do not have enough lifetimes to explore each nook and cranny Idaho has. I think this spot had some serious potential. I'm amazed I saw moose, whitetail, mule deer, antelope, and elk all in the same valley. Such a diverse place.

3a64d4fadd11d86dc0b267c28ad55014.jpg


42cc15b6ac372f2def1fc4c0624ee066.jpg


c7b2c2ae478b5c3a939663bbb66ebb38.jpg


3f6a276a6d028d8958ca723f89fdbccc.jpg


66db44e8afbe500c515c0b1c168d72c9.jpg


This trail aught to be a good place to remember. I'm not much of a trail camera guy, but I had to put one on this to see what's going on.
8900855d87c1f24a1f51da5b44a7735f.jpg


526f07ea9591143c16e4fd2669b92c91.jpg
 
Last edited:
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
bf8ceb7b79280e9f17f9b0c7ca6c13f1.jpg


1b92bd12a0d38340692309a08973543a.jpg


4e1969b2b92fb1db409c80b716a781f0.jpg


The area does not lack steep terrain. More lunges, stair steppers, and squats are in my future.
92fd31c88fffd97e2d6a901958dc12fe.jpg


aa6fd99bdae1d4bc0efa63cfd182aad1.jpg
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Dan's doing a 3d shoot today. I don't want to add any unnecessary pressure, but he guaranteed he wouldn't miss a single target.

Good luck out there Dan! Don't suck.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
Today I shot my first 3D shoot ever. I went into it with the goal of making sure I didn't miss any targets. Well, it was a success!!!! I had such a good time, I didn't miss any targets, and I shot well. I was 1 point away from third.

It was great to know that my bow and I are shooting well.... which is good because my hunt is 41 days away IMG_1904.JPGIMG_1902.JPG


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
I'm currently at a work conference in Texas, but my good friend in Kentucky went and checked a camera for me.
It was at that river crossing that I had mentioned a few weeks ago and it's looking GREAT!

I had a feeling there was a few resident does on this property and sure enough, there are tons!
In less than 3 weeks I had 267 pictures of deer. 85% were does and fawns and the other 15% were bucks.
Two separate resident does have fawns so I'm getting some awesome pictures of the fawns playing and growing.


There are three bucks that have shown up a few times and one large buck that got me very excited!
I'll post some of the doe and smaller bucks first and then I'll show off the bigger buck.


I'm keeping to my game plan for this spot so far. I'll stay out of it until November comes around and hit it smart and hard.
I'll be sitting in there waiting for bucks to be cruising around in there looking for all of these does!


I am SO amped up :D
 

Attachments

  • 076.jpg
    076.jpg
    98.4 KB · Views: 35
  • 103.jpg
    103.jpg
    100.1 KB · Views: 34
  • 123.jpg
    123.jpg
    97.9 KB · Views: 35
  • 135.jpg
    135.jpg
    101.6 KB · Views: 33
  • 152.jpg
    152.jpg
    101.8 KB · Views: 32
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
The bigger buck!
 

Attachments

  • 169.jpg
    169.jpg
    98.7 KB · Views: 39
  • 172.jpg
    172.jpg
    98.8 KB · Views: 37
  • 183.jpg
    183.jpg
    98.9 KB · Views: 35
  • 194.jpg
    194.jpg
    100.2 KB · Views: 32
  • 205.jpg
    205.jpg
    99.5 KB · Views: 30
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
I found this picture very interesting as well.
It's part of the reason I love trail cameras, you pick up so many interesting things!

If you zoom in I think you'll see this deer looks like it was hit by a car!
 

Attachments

  • 221.jpg
    221.jpg
    103.1 KB · Views: 33
  • 222.jpg
    222.jpg
    103 KB · Views: 33
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I'll post more of the stories and better pictures after I get home, but I wanted to share my daughter's first fish.

8ac7acfa54ccbc635120f47fe648976a.jpg


I don't remember exactly where I was when I caught my first fish, but I'm pretty sure it was only a few yards away from where my daughter caught hers. She was not as excited as my son was, but that's ok. She enjoyed it.

01d9cf5dccd45e9397683caba799c2e0.jpg
 
OP
Lostinthewoods
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
While on the topic of kids I will be honest, this year has been a whole new experience for me. It use to just be my wife and I, but with my daughter being born in January, things have become very busy!

It's been such a ball, but I can tell you that leaving for work trips has been become more difficult! Even if I'm gone for a few days it seems like I miss so much!

So now it makes me wonder how much harder this cross country trips for hunting will be!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna go but she is growing like a little weed!

df7d3e7dbefba82e25f7fcd91ff7c9fd.jpg




IMG_1827.JPG



9a07293cfd9fc672f523177fcdbb3e65.jpg



I left Monday and get back to her in a few hours. Since I left she started saying "baababaabababaa" trying to say dadadada! We are close!
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I got the call I was waiting for... Paul Gallegos from Imperial Taxidermy in NM gave me the news I had dreamt about since last November. My muley mount is done, and I couldn't be more excited. My elk was done a few weeks ago, and even though I'm excited for my bull, the deer is what I'm most excited about.

Paul posted these pics on his FB and it is killing me to have to wait a few days to go pick him up.

17edb3c2cc429d3051761044acdc1015.jpg


2de07cf30b397fdaa587d466098fe4e6.jpg


He's an amazing buck and the hunt was just as awesome. I posted it earlier here...

http://www.rokslide.com/forums/mule-deer/54900-2016-nm-mule-deer.html

I'm sure I'll spend thousands of hours just staring at the buck. I can't wait to see him again!
 
Last edited:
Top