Average Joe's 2018

[sn.outdoors]

Looks like Dan and I are both enjoying some suck right now. I'm happy dealing with mine though.

Last load is on the back and ready to start the 1100' climb to the truck. It ain't all that bad.

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

 

[sn.outdoors]

I'm convinced this is the first meal I'll be served in heaven.

Everything's packed up, and I'm heading home. I'll do the write up tomorrow and get it posted tomorrow night for all of you. This hunt was fantastic.

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

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Made it back to Kansas with the 4Runner. They offered me $100 for scrap and I’d rather give it away to a friend verse have that happen. So now I can leave it with my buddy as another farm or hunting rig, I can keep hunting, and shop for cars mid day until they really start moving.


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[sn.outdoors]

Halloween has always been a great day to be in the woods, and this one started out as gloomy and ghostly as any.

My plan was to cover as much ground as possible, do some scouting, and figure out what was happening in the new area I picked out. I awoke to find the ground covered a thin layer of snow and a thick cloud of fog concealing the new terrain I was hoping to look over. At least the snow would help me figure out if anything had been there recently.

I covered about 3 miles before the snow changed to a misty rain and melted most of the snow away.

After noon, my hopes of the fog clearing began to diminish. It wasn't looking good. I was thinking the only benefit is get from that day would be to learn how steep and terrible the terrain was in this spot. According to the map I was walking through great elk habitat, but I just couldn't see any of it. So I kept drudging my way through the rain and fog. I thought the day was going to be essentially a waste. The chances of an elk appearing out of the fog at less than 100 yards were very slim, and it didn't look like the fog was going anywhere anytime soon.

As I got to the top of a steep ridgeline, I stopped and said, "damn, this would probably be a good spot to sit and glass some elk up if it wasn't so damn foggy. I wonder how many elk I walked passed so far today?" I looked at my watched and consulted my map. I could either turn around and walk back to the truck the way I came, or press on up and over the mountain. Either way would get me back to camp after sunset. I decided to continue up and over the mountain, and just embrace the suck of gaining all of that elevation.

It was at that exact moment the wind picked up and moved the fog off the mountain just enough. And boom, they're they were!

There was a large herd of elk about 1400 yards away, and I could clearly see a big bull through my binos. I didn't count how many elk there were, since I really didn't care, but there was a big bull, a couple decent bulls, a few raghorns and a boat load of cows and calves. This was perfect!

The only problem.... they were on the wrong side of a STEEP scree and talus covered slope. I figured it would take me at least 45 minutes to safely get to where the elk were, and who knows if they'd still be there by that time. It was also just after 3 o'clock. I was already short on time to make it back to camp, and this little detour would only make that worse. I knew that if I killed one, I'd end up spending the night on the mountain...

I looked at the forecast, 70% chance of rain and a low of 38... I decided, "the heck with it. I'm killing an elk right now. I'll sort it out later."

When I finally got there...

The fog rolled in and I could barely see 200 yards. But the elk were still there, and there were a lot more of them than I originally thought. They were everywhere, but most had moved back into the trees.

This spike almost ate a bullet. I was so close to shooting him that I actually had a round in the chamber, the crosshair on his shoulder, and the safety off.

But having seen the really big bull and 2-3 other bulls I'd gladly shoot, I reluctantly placed the rifle on safe and continued watching.

YouTube

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

 

[sn.outdoors]

After sitting and watching the fog for a few minutes it cleared up just enough to see maybe 350 yards. Since the cows we're making noise, and I could hear some bulls raking trees, I decided to do some cow calls too. Not long after making a few calls, a bull appeared out of the trees just below me.

All I needed was for him to take a few more steps and get his vitals out from behind all that brush. He walked through that brush patch without giving me a shot, but he popped out again in the open about 100yds to the left and stopped broadside. I took the shot.

The bull took a step and looked as if he wasn't hit. So I shot him again. His legs got wobbly and his neck stiffened back as he tried to stay on his feet, but he couldn't. He took a few steps downhill, fell, then rolled almost 75 yards before stopping.

The woods erupted with elk running in every direction. My best guess is that there were around 50 animals in the herd, and I ruined the party they were having.

I texted my wife, Dan, my mom, and a few friends to let them know I had a bull down. I sat for a few minutes to regain my composure before I went down to the animal, and to take in as much of the experience as I could.

The hunt had all of the ingredients I was looking for. The weather was bad, the hunting pressure was frustrating, the mountains were steep and challenging, I had a close call with my fall, and I was still able to get it done.

I spent a good amount of time admiring the bull and taking a few photos while I soaked in the moment. I don't know how many animals I've killed, but I'm still struck by how awesome and majestic they are.

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

 

[sn.outdoors]

As most of us know, the work starts when the hunt ends... And I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Since darkness wasn't going to wait around for me to be finished with everything, I decided I needed to take care of my shelter arrangements for the night. I didn't carry a sleeping bag or a bivy bag like I normally do, so I needed to build a nest for myself. I've slept in them before for work and training, so it wasn't going to be a big deal.

I dug out a flat spot under a large fir tree that was already relatively dry compared to the rest of the woods.

Put a few inches of boughs on the ground to insulate me from the cold ground.

Thatched a few sticks together that I could lift up and put myself under. (If you have long fir branches you can weave them together instead, but I didn't have an axe, so I only had short both ends)

Then I put my tyvec over the thatched sticks and covered it with a few feet of boughs.

I quartered the elk, hung the quarters in a tree, ate the rest of my food, put on my dry socks, all of my clothes (merino wool shirt, waffle top, lightweight puffy jacket, kifaru lost park parka, and rain gear), and crawled into my nest for the night. I was warmer than I thought I would be and slept ok, bet kept getting woken up by elk rolling rocks down the hill all night. The elk came within a few yards of me on several occasions, and since I was sleeping on an elk bed, the last thing I wanted was one of them trying to lay down in my nice cozy nest.

I woke up at 5-ish and my feet were cold, so I started a fire, warmed up, cooked and ate about a pound of backstrap and went back to sleep.

I didn't wake up again until 930.

I put my pack together with the first load of meat and headed started the long walked back to the truck. Even though I "slept" it didn't feel like I got any sleep. I was tired.



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

 

[sn.outdoors]

As it turned out, I did in fact walk past a ton of good looking country the day before.

I knew I was far from the truck and the trail was marked for a certain mileage, but the trail on the map and the trail on the ground were not the same... According to my GPS track, I walked 6.2 miles from my elk, to the trail, to my truck. What I thought was going to be a relatively manageable 4 mile trail walk ended up being far from manageable.

I had to find a better way to get the elk out, so when I got back to the truck I pulled up a few other maps and found a spot that got me within 2 miles but it was going to be a steep uphill climb the whole way. I figured 2k feet of climb would be better than 12 mile round trip with more overall gain, so I took a nap, packed to camp, went to town to eat a heart heathy burger, drove to the new "better" spot, and setup camp for the last time.

One of my buddies said he was taking the day off and going to help me pack a load out, and I am extremely thankful he did. We were able to get him out that day.

There isn't a greater sense of accomplishment, at least for my scrawny body, than getting the last load of meat back to the truck.

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

 

[Lostinthewoods]

I had a big fat doe come in a little ago at 19 yards.... It took everything inside my not to shoot because I saw deer moving behind her... it ended up being a smaller doe and this scrub pestering them....

 

[rooster440]

Nothing better than a big fat doe!


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[Lostinthewoods]

Nothing better than a big fat doe!


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I agree! I should have taken her!
I was just not sure if one of the big guys was trailing her....

I’m not making that mistake again this trip.

 

[Lostinthewoods]

I’ve been running around like a mad man... hunting, looking at vehicles, eating cinnamon rolls... on my!

So this evening I had 7 does feeding my way.
A buck came out and started messing with them.
After he ran them off the field I rattled and he came sprinting over.
Then for some reason instead of blowing NE like it has been all day it went SE into his face. He buggered off. So I smashed on them again and he came back. I drew and he needed to go another 10 yards and I would have shot.
This time he ran off for good... SO CLOSE!

The winds are perfect tomorrow for a stand I’ve been dying to sit. Here is why

I didn’t post them all, but bucks have been in there every single day since oct 31 during daylight hours. I’ve got winds for this stand the next two days in a row and the temps will be cool. GAME ON!


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[MadDawg]

Good luck!! Schwack a biggun!!

 

[Lostinthewoods]

I just shot this guy at 17 yards quartering away. Going to give him 30 and go check. Waiting on possible does now.


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[rooster440]

Can't wait to see the hero pics


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[sn.outdoors]

Can't wait to see the hero pics


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It's going to be a little bit... Dan's still working on mustering up a smile for the camera.

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

 

[Lostinthewoods]

Well, this morning went just like I had planned and I’m absolutely thrilled (don’t mind my face in my pictures... I’m terrible about smiling because my body is always on an emotional dump )


Around 7:45 this morning this guy came out at 17 yards quartering away.

I’m in the circle at full draw.

I noticed how goofy he was and it just all felt right with how goofy this trip has been! My heart started going wild so I knew he was the one!
I drew, settled, and shot.
Shot looked good so I decided I’d still wait a little to see if maybe a doe would walk out.

About 15 minutes later this little guy walked out.

I got down and based off the initial blood trails it seemed as if the shot was good.

And now I’m out here about to butcher him and it’s starting to snow!!!!
What an absolutely wonderful day!!!!!!


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[MadDawg]

You did it! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[Lostinthewoods]

You did it! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thank you so much! I am stoked!!!

 

[Lostinthewoods]

I’ve got my rental car full and I’m Florida bound!

Deer hunting will resume shortly after I get in and take care of some much needed family time! There is still a lot of season left!


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[sn.outdoors]

I was able to get out and stretch the legs this morning. Thanks to a tip from a buddy of mine, I was able to find a good buck not long after sunrise. I actually saw a few dozen deer right away, and had a couple does and a yearling forkie walk past me at about 30yds. But the nice buck was a long way off, so I focused on hiking instead of taking pics of everything.

When I last saw the buck, he was feeding about 30-50 yards below the top of a ridge with some decent sized boulders on it. The wind was good to go around the back of the ridge, and hopefully when I got to the boulders the buck would still be pretty close.

Well he was. I got to the rocks and the first deer I saw was him. I could just see the tops of his antlers whenever he'd pick his head up, but he was still feeding in my direction. I got ready and ranged his antlers the next time I could. 57yds... This is too easy. First day. I can't believe this is happening....

The wind was blowing steady and hard from left to right, the same direction the buck was walking. It was perfect.... Until it wasn't....

The wind did a 90 degree turn and blow straight into his face. He turned uphill a little bit and we just barely made eye contact before he locked up. He stood for what felt like an eternity (probably only 30 seconds or less) before bolting down the canyon.

Luckily, the deer took off in the same direction I needed to go to get back to the truck. So I watched them as long as I could, and I was pretty sure I knew where they were going to settle down again. I decided to give them another go.

It took a little over an hour to get back on the herd, but I couldn't find the buck. All of the deer were bedded down and tucked into the very bottom of the drainage where they were out of the wind. I assumed the buck was somewhere in the middle of the group. I slowly worked my way amongst the ground of deer and boulders, and finally relocated the buck.

If he was all by himself it would have been an easy stalk with a 10yd shot opportunity, but he was surrounded by does. I ran out of real estate and cover 90yds from the bedded buck. So I sat and waited for him to hopefully stand up and give me a closer shot before the does noticed the stranger in their midst. I had 2 bedded does on the other side of a boulder maybe 15yds away, and 10 does and fawns on the opposite side of the drainage within clear site.

I sat for about 30 minutes before a tiny fawn decided it was hungry and walked straight up to me. She stopped at around 10 yards and realized something was not ok, she knew I did not belong. She hopped to the other side of the drainage with the rest of the does and herd stood up and moved away from me.

The buck stayed bedded until most of the does were almost out of site. He bounced away to 120 yes and in true mule deer fashion, stood there and looked at me for a half hour before walking up and over the ridge and out of my life.

At least I didn't leave empty handed.

Not a bad way to spend a morning. I have way too much work to do on my house to spend all weekend hunting, so I'm going cut myself off at just opening day. Once I get everything taken care of I'll be back out there.

We got official word that I'll be moving at the end of January with a possibility to extend that into February. So we have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time.

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