2012 Hunting Season

Antelope Hunting

September 15th and 16th, 2012

 

A long shot.

 

      Both of my Antelope areas opened the same day, so I loaded up Seamus and we headed up to Dad's first (East Fork near Dubios).  I did my entire hunt for this doe on my bike.  I started pedaling around 6:30am or so.  I got on a good herd on the table behind dad's place, in between the Wiggin's and East Fork Rivers.  I chased them in circles- never getting within range.  I finally ended up racing them down a road, trying to cut them off.  Took this shot from over 400 hundred yards away, while they were running full steam.  I led and held high- a bunch.  Low and behold, this ol' doe tumbled out of the back, with a perfect heart/ lung shot.  Ha!  The Hail Mary worked.  Double Ha!

Speed goat down, huntin' rig in the background.

 

All cut up- ready load in the B.O.B. for the pedal home.

 

 Later that day, Seamus and I piled in with Dad and went looking for his Antelope.  He found one.

Seamus helps clean Grandpa's goat, telling him, "Hey grandpa, you know what you should do with those horns?"  "What?", grandpa says.  Seamus exclaims, "You should put them on your helmet!"

 

The next day we headed back to Lander and went out again that evening.  Didn't take long before this little buck surrendured not far from our truck.  Seamus took credit saying, "See I told you if we drove down this road we'd see a big giant one!  I told you dad!"

 

Seamus and Shad and a dead Antelope.

 

Back at home, Seamus and Tally pose with the Antelope before going to bed.

 

 

Elk Hunting

October 1st and 2nd, 2012

Lander Area, near Fairfield Hill

 

Friday night the weather was looking perfect for the first weekend of hunting elk.

 

     I awoke to a fresh 2 to 4 inches of snow (first of the season) on the ground Saturday morning.  I hiked from the lodge- and got into a half dozen or so elk a couple of hours in.  This year the area went back to antlered only, and all I could see in the herd were cows and calves.  They were in the trees, so I didn't get a good look and all of them.  I eventually jumped them, and then followed them a good hour or so catching them again in the trees.  Another cow gave me a perfect broad side... grrrr.  None-the-less, it was an exciting day of hunting... good to get on elk.  Sometimes you hunt and hunt and never see them.

Saturday night feast.

 

All I saw Sunday was this nice deer.  Too bad deer wasn't open though.  Grrr.

 

 



By Sunday the snow was gone.  I hunted all day Sunday, but never got into them again.  I learned alot of new country though.  Saw where quite a few had been Saturday.

 

 



Sunday night sunset, just before I headed home.

 

 

Deer and Elk Hunting

October 13th and 14th, 2012

East Fork Country, near Bear Basin

 

 

Seamus and I decided to head up to the cabin (near Dad's and Basin) this weekend- hunt for deer and elk, since they were both open.

Nice and warm.

Seamus saws logs, after a long, hard day of hunting.

 

 

Seamus and I sat on ridge and bugled for a while.  Nothing.

 

 

Seamus and his "knoclars" kept a sharp eye out. 

 

     Actually, after this hunt, as I was loading Seamus up into the truck, nto fifteen yards away he spotted some elk.  As a I was explaining to him how sometimes, especially for elk, you hunt and hunt and never see anything.  He interrupted me and said, "Dad... there they are... right behind you dad!"  I turned around, and sure as heck, a cow was stepping out from behind a tree not 15 yards away.  I grabbed my rifle and sat down.  I put the cross hairs on 6 or 7 elk as they stepped out, one by one... no horns... all cows and calfs.  Bugger!  Seamus couldn't understand that.  I explained again that we could only shoot them if they had antlers.  Not long after that, as we were driving back to the cabin, a bunch of deer ran out in front of us.  Seamus yelled as he spotted one with antlers.  He said, "Dad, that one had horns... shoot him!  You can shoot him dad!"  How could I resis that?  Couldn't let him down.  I shot.  He fell over.

 

 



Seamus and Shad with a deer.

Seamus, tickled to have a deer down.

 

The next day we brought him home and hung him up.

 

We skinned him out and let him cool a day or so, before cutting him up one evening after school.

 

 

 

Elk Hunting

October 27th, 2012

East Fork Country

Elk down... two of them actually!  Finally!

 

    I actually hunted all weekend the weekend before this one up above Lander, the last weekend it was open.  Didn't have much luck that weekend.  I had alot of fun hunting with Barney.  We saw plenty of deer.  I eventually did get onto some elk again too Sunday- but never saw a bull, just cows again.

 

Shad and Grandpa Les with a couple of Spikes.

 

    This weekend we headed up to Dubois (my dad's place) with the whole family.  Saturday there was some good snow on the ground.  I hunted a ridge between Bear Creek and the Wiggins fork... and nearly got a wolf up there, but never saw an elk.  After that hunt, and lunch, we headed up to the East Fork TH, where eventually the road became too snow packed.  We met some hunters up there that had got into a big bunch of elk near our cabin that morning.  They said many of the elk were probably headed down some to of the drainages from up there.  Dad and I loaded up in his truck and send the kiddos home with Mandy and Chris.  Time to get serious! 

    We putted up some roads where dad had luck last year-- had to turn around though- too much snow for a truck.  Eventually we ended up on knoll near Elk Trails ranch.  We sat there for a while, and started driving out at dusk.  As we were headed out a cow ran out in front of us on the road.  I looked up the ridge and saw several more.  Attack!  Ha!  I bailed out and headed up the ridge.  Just as I cleared the ridge I looked behind me and saw a sting of elk headed down towards dad.  I put the cross hairs on them... cow, cow, cow... spike!  Kabooom, Thwack!   He kept going- I shot again.  Then I heard dad shoot.  I ran towards where I thought my elk went. 

      As I peered over the ridge down towards dad, I saw a spike standing there with some cows.  I thought that was the one I had shot at, so I shot some more.  I only remember seeing one spike in the bunch.  That one fell over.  I ran down to it.  Dad met me at it, said he had shot it first.  Sure enough, we looked at blood trails, and he had. 

    I looked back up the hill where I first shot.  There appeared to be a big rock up there, an elk color rock.  I put it in my scope.  I was a dead elk.  We managed to bag two spikes!  Both just a few hundred yards from the road.  What a deal!  What a hunt.  You just never know how or when it'll happen.  Thank you elk gods!! 

 

Back at dad's, Seamus checks out the elk, just before bed time.

 

Another dead critter hanging in the trees in our back yard.  We cut half of this one up on Halloween, the other half a few days later.  Then Mandy's folks came up with their grinder to help us make elk burger out of the trimmings.

 

Seamus helps stuff the grinder.

 

Great fun!  Good stuff!

 

Pheasant Hunting

November 10th, 2012

Walk-in area near Ocean Lake

Seamus and our two ring necks.

 

I don't go Pheasant hunting often, but on a whim, decided I had nothing better to do this weekend.  It was supposed to snow pretty good all over the county.  I figured if that was the case, we might do good chasing pheasants- might be able to see their tracks.  Turns out that was the case.

 

 

We had a couple of pheasants bagged before 11am and we were back home by noon.

 

Spent the rest of the day smoking Pheasant and making deer head soup.

 

Mmmm.  Yummy!

 

Late Season Cow

November 17th and 18th, 2012

Up Horse Creek (near Spring Mt. and Livingston Place)

 

A dead cow I found, just a few hours into hunting (I followed a blood trail).

 

  Barney, his son Josh and a friend of theirs headed up tot my Dad's place for some late season cow elk hunting.  Sam Hartpence joined us on Saturday night too.  We decided to go up Horse Creek and hunt the back side of Spring Mt early Saturday morning. 

 

   Not an hour into my hunt I picked up some pretty fresh sign and started following it.  Soon thereafter I cut a blood trail... a pretty big one at that.  I figured that elk probably was hit pretty good.  I followed it for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, then found her.  Someone had shot her, probably the night before... and didn't have the nuts to go get her.  To be frank, a fricken dumb-arse could've waddled up to where she was shot and found the blood trail.  Lazy buggers!!  Whoever shot her, hit her low- missing vitals, but opening the gut.  When I found her, I believe she'd just died.  She was still warm and flexible.  I decided (even thought I might be risking my tag over it)... that I couldn't let her go to waist.  I gutted her on the spot, then drug her to a road a few hundred yards below.  It was really clear she was still fresh when I gutted her--- but the got shot stank though.

 

   After dragging her out, I went back to the truck and decided to wait for the other guys- and try to find a Game and Fish employee.  I hunted around a little more while waiting.  A cow ran by and some guys jumped out of their truck and shot at it (500 yards away)... apparently missing it- they just got back in their truck and kept driving.  At one point I ran into a hunter whom got into a herd of 40 to 50 cows.  He didn't want to shoot one though, cause he figured it'd be too hard to get one out.  I filed his info away for future use.

 

   I finally saw a G&F truck driving around, so I approached it and told the driver, Meagan, about the cow I found.  She called the game warden and he told her to go load it up.  I rode with Meagan and she helped me drag it up the hill and into her truck.  Meagan said there were some hunters the night before that shot some elk in the same area, she checked one of them.  The said they shot a few times.  We drove back to Barney's truck where the Game Warden, Brian Baker, soon arrived.  He looked things over and listened to my story- asked alot of questions-- did his job.  He cut the elk open a few places.  The meat smelled good, but it was kind of hard to tell for sure given the way it was shot.  Bless his heart, the warden decided I was on the straight.  He said, although he thought it was still good, because there was some question as to whether the meat was still good- he'd just give it to us.  So, Barney's friend Charley took it home with him... and we kept hunting.

 



 

One found.

 

    After squaring away the deal with found elk and loading it up, we drove to another side of the mountain we'd been hunting.  Barney, Josh and Charley hadn't had much luck during their hunt.  Acting on the info a guy gave me earleir that day, I figured the 40 or 50 head of cows was still up there.  So... with a couple of hours left in the day- I head up up a good size hill (mountain) with Charley.  Charley went the wrong way.  Oh well.

 

   Near the top of the mountain, I started seeing deer.  Stopped, glassed around a bit, and then started seeing elk, a bit past the deer.  They were in a perfect position to be ambushed.  A few out in the open and south facing slope, with north facing trees on the other side of the slope.  I popped over the north facing slope and buzzed along the ridge in the trees until I thought I was getting close.  I krept out and onto a rocky overlook.  They were still there.  I picked out a good size cow, put the range finder on her... 222 yards... well within the ol' 300 H&H's range.  I put the cross hairs on her and squeezes.  Kaawooombb- thwack!!  The whole country lit up with elk... about 40-50, like the guy said.  I felt good about my shot, so I didn't shoot anymore.  I got up and approached where the cow was when I shot.  About half way there I spotted her.  She ran just a few yards.  My shot was dead on-- right through her heart.  Done deal.  Spent the rest of the evening gutting her out.



 

Me and my cow.

 

   I ran out of day light as I was cleaning the cow I shot.  Got er done- tidied up things a bit and then headed back down the mountain in the dark.  Having drug one elk out already, I decided to wait for some help the next day with this one.  Plus- the elk I shot at didn't really go that far, so I figured some of the other guys might stand a good chance of getting another one the next morning.  So, we headed back to dad's and made plans to return the next morning.

 



The next morning, Josh (8 years old) helps me drag my elk out.  His father Barney and Sam (a friend of mine) left this duty to us, as they hunted for more.

 

Most of it was, although not as steep as this, was down hill... so we handled it.

 

We drug it near a mile (1000ft?) down the Mt.  The most excited part was getting it down through this steep draw right in front of the truck.  Got er' done though!

 

Not long after we'd loaded my elk up, Barney and Sam showed up- Barney had gotten another one and they'd drug it out near the road on the other side already.

 

Barney and Josh with their elk.

 

   Barney and Josh headed for home, but Sam continued the hunt.  I watched him chase a small herd back and forth across the mountain.  He was on them all day, but couldn't get a shot.  Eventually the herd blasted off the mountain and left the country.  Sam was pretty tired.  We called it a day, and headed for home.  I don't think he's done though.  The season is open through Dec. 15th... stay tuned.

 



 

This sure is great way to end a hunting season.