Average Joe's 2018

OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Luck was not on my side today.

The morning started out promising, as I awoke to a light layer of frost on the ground and the wind was steady out of the north. Which was perfect for where I wanted to be for the morning sit. I heard a bugle in the direction I was going to hunt, which made it even better.

As I was almost to the spot, I heard a quiet bugle and some twigs and branches breaking just up the hill from me. "Perfect," I thought. I was sure they would walk down the same trail we watched them use before, but, like every other time here in this god forsaken place, the elk had other plans.

It just so happened that their other plans were to hit a wallow 150 yards away and out of sight from me.

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Once the winds started to get squirrelly, I decided to get out of there before I spooked everything. I wanted to check out a wallow near a bedding area we'd seen the last time we were here. The wind was perfect and consistent to walk into the spot (something that has never happened in my time here).

At 1130 I had about 500 yards to go to get to the wallow when a strong elk stink hit me. I decided to do some quiet, but long cow calls. A bull responded with a low and quiet bugle after my second call. He was close! I called again and he responded again, still very quiet.

After 2ish minutes of me breaking a few small twigs and scratching the ground, I heard him stand up. He let out a full bugle, and raked a tree. I moved a little closer, he bugled again, and started moving toward me.

I finally saw him when he was 100yds away. He was a big bull; 6x6, had great mass, dark horns, and long tines. He was everything an elk hunter dreams about.

I kept lightly cow calling, and he kept bugling. I thought it was a slam dunk. But..... Some other hunter decided he wanted in on the action and started blowing his bugle tube. He sounded terrible, and was not in a good position with the wind. The bull bugled back, but chuckled and started nudging his 4 cows (he might have had more, but I could only see four of them.)

As I heard the hunter crashing in on the bull, I watched as the elk made their way to the top of the ridge and out of my life.

The other hunter, who was higher on the ridge, bugled frantically and chased after them. The wind was at his back. It couldn't have gone any worse. It was a real head scratcher.

So I hiked out of there and back to spike meadow for the remainder of the afternoon. The only thing I heard was a pair of wolves howling far off in the distance.

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As soon as I zipped the door closed on my tent, the cows and calves started mewing all around me. I'm currently listening to wolves howling way far away, and elk bugling and mewing, and making all kinds of ruckus.... Where the heck were they when the sun was up?

The weather is suppose to be crappy tomorrow, so hopefully the hunting is good.

"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 

m@rkus

FNG
Joined
Aug 8, 2017
Messages
13
Thank you very much for your posts!

Have a great time!

Markus

Gesendet von meinem D5803 mit Tapatalk
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Well... I finally had an opportunity. Too bad I went full retard and ignored my rangefinder. Had a raghorn pop out of the new growth at first light. I snuck in to 45 yards, but he didn't give me a good shot angle until he was at 58. For whatever reason, my brain registered 68, not 58, so I was very disappointed when I watched the arrow sail directly over his back. What is this amateur hour? Gah.... So frustrating.

Oh well, the bull took off down the hill and I think he bedded down on the other side of the new growth. I didn't hear any elk sounds other than some barks on the ridge behind me. So I'll try to sneak in and get close to that spot for this afternoon.

I did find this piece of antler next to my arrow though. So at least it's a little easier to swallow the cost of the $15 broadhead...

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"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
I finally made it back home!

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I got in last night and went at it today.
Took the family out to breakfast, to bass pro so I could get a grinder and food saver, then cut some elk meat!

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Tomorrow is church, grinding all of the meat, then it’s back into the daily routine of gym, shooting my bow, and I’ll probably go check some game cameras.
With Florida’s opener less than a month a way I need to make sure I’m on top of that big buck and find some they targets too!
I need to keep the freezer filling going!

YouTube

Video ^^^^

I also uploaded my elk shot. If you play it on the better quality video setting it comes through real well!




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OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Well, the weather finally turned for the worse.

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I was poking through the new growth and trying to stay out of the strong winds when I bumped into a bedded spike...

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Shoulda been quicker. Lol.

Hopefully tomorrow will be awesome. The weather is really not enjoyable right now. I'm thinking they're going to finally want to talk tomorrow.

"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
This looks promising...

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Now I just need to wait 30 minutes. It was tough getting an accurate range on her in this fog.

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"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
If nothing else, the last morning sure was beautiful.

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"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Well... It's not looking great. I tracked good blood for 50 yards, then it basically stopped. I'm assuming it's a liver hit, so I'm waiting until this afternoon to go look for her. Not exactly an ideal situation.

"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
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"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Things did not pan out the way I'd hoped. Since it was very wet this morning there was no blood to be found on the ground. I tracked her through 400 yards of new growth by following her footprint and tiny spots of blood on an occasional branch.

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Most of the blood was nearly chest high on me which didn't make me feel much better. After she cleared the new growth, I tracked her across 350yds of open meadow, then lost all sign of her about 50yds into the next set of new growth. According to my tracks on the GPS I pretty well covered the area I last found evidence of her. I hate to leave the story with her unended, but all I can do is hope she's ok. If not, I know she will not be wasted by mother nature.

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The moon has risen and the elk are bugling.... I hate this place.... I might never come back.

I'll do a final wrap up of my thoughts tomorrow. Right now, I'm packing up camp and looking forward to breakfast with the wife and kiddos (even if it's at 10am after I sleep in.)

"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
The elk is done!

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This new grinder is amazing!

I even did a small batch with hatch green chili.

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This new vacuum sealer is far beyond my capabilities as well.

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Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
I also checked my cameras since I got back here in Florida and I’m excited...

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Check out what this guy has turned into

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Then this is what really got me amped up....

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This will be my third season chasing this guy. It’s occurred to me that trail camera pictures are cool, finding his sheds are even better, but it’s not meaning anything until I get this guy down.


This is the year....




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Joined
Feb 8, 2018
Messages
504
Location
Arizona Wilderness
Hatch green chiles' MMMM. now we are talkin' Az. style.I Like the last buck you've been chasing,big and tall.Good luck ...again.
That new equipment is on Santa's list this year.I have a hand grinder and first year "Food Saver".Good for Javelina and not much else.
Keep us up to date.:cool:
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
It's been a few days, but I promised I'd give my final thoughts on the whole Oregon hunt. So here they are.

Overall, I feel very disappointed. I'm not disappointed that I didn't kill a giant bull or even fill my tag. Yes, I'm upset that I wounded and elk, but I'm mostly disappointed in how I handled myself in the heat of the moment. I admit, my adrenaline was pumping in Oregon, and I think it's because I honestly didn't expect to have an opportunity to kill an elk. I didn't think it was going to happen at all. So when the elk ended up right in front of me, I got super excited and I just didn't handle it well. The biggest difference between the other elk tags I've filled and the Oregon hunt is how I handled the adrenaline and excitement when opportunity was in front of me.

I've been able capitalize on nearly every opportunity I've had in the past. The last and only other time I missed an elk was actually the first one I ever shot at with a bow. I have missed a lot of whitetails, and each miss can be chalked up to simply being complacent.

The saying is, "Measure twice, cut once" right? In the moment, I was overly confident in my ability to make those shots, and I skipped key parts of my process. I understand that I cannot control how the animal reacts, but I can control the trajectory of my arrow. I did not execute, but will I do everything I can to do it right the next time.

"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
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OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Just reorganized my freezers. Turns out I have way too much ice in there. ;)

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We still have about 50lbs of meat that's going to get turned into brats and secret family recipe hot dogs. So that'll turn into nearly 90lbs of deliciousness. I still have plenty of room in my third freezer, so we might be able to survive the harsh winter if I can just manage to kill 2 more elk and deer.

"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
Well.... My elk season is decided. Now I just need to go find one and kill it.

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"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
Sorry I’ve been MIA.
I changed jobs and I also got really sick.
I was actually supposed to be on my way to Kansas right now, but I’m choosing rest and family time until I kick this nasty whatever I have.

It’ll also help me get healthy for the core part of my season which is kicking off soon.

Anyways, bucks are still showing up in Kansas. The big ones should be showing up in the next couple weeks.

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Florida is looking good too. A lot of my areas are flooding with does.
My big bucks are missing, but that’s to be expected ... velvet is coming off right now.

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So next opportunity for me to hunt is Florida opener! OCT 20th!


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Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
363
Location
Coast to coast
I made the right decision not to go....
This morning I was driving my daughter to the store and my body gave up.
At a busy intersection, green light for me, and I’m stopping in the middle of the road throwing up all over myself and my wife’s car while my daughter is in the back saying “bless you” every time I barfed.
I’m going to be resting this whole weekend.... I’m not a fan of being sick.
 
OP
sn.outdoors
Joined
Sep 28, 2016
Messages
318
Location
NM
I made the right decision not to go....
This morning I was driving my daughter to the store and my body gave up.
At a busy intersection, green light for me, and I’m stopping in the middle of the road throwing up all over myself and my wife’s car while my daughter is in the back saying “bless you” every time I barfed.
I’m going to be resting this whole weekend.... I’m not a fan of being sick.
Oh boy.... I was on the mountain in Oregon when the sickness hit me. Sure made for a fun day.

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Nearly ran out of sleeves and socks that day... Might have had something to do with why I missed that bull the next morning.



"Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you." ~Mike Rowe
 
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