Baby Huey
FNG
Even though I didn't harvest anything this year, I thought I would post my account of my adventures this year and contribute as a FNG to Rokslide. I was only able to go on two archery hunts this year - one where I was the Sherpa for 8 days on my buddies goat hunt and 4.5 days on my elk/deer/bear hunting trip. I had taken most of my vacation time with my wife, so I had limited time from work remaining, but I told my buddy I would help him for one week on his goat hunt. Then I would have 2 days for archery and I have two days left for a rifle cow tag in October.
The goat hunt started with two scouting trips to figure out how to get into goat country where the masses of people wouldn't typically go. On our second scouting trip we found our spot and were stoked for the season. It would be an adventure for two rookie goat hunters. My primary cardio training was climbing 8 flights of stairs at work - going every other stair without using the hand rails and then taking the elevator down for a 2min 30 sec rest and then repeating 4 more times. I would do this 2-3 times a week and that was a great base. Also went on a 10 mile scouting trip and then a 20 mile scouting trip before the hunt and typically in the gym lifting and doing other cardio 5 days a week.
As far as gear, I have to use what I have, as not everything is lightweight. I did buy a Shangri La 5 GoLite tent that worked out great to keep all of our gear in with us and have a comfortable sleeping area as well. My pack was my Gregory Denali Pro, which weighs 8 lbs, but is built for carrying large heavy loads - which is what we were hoping for if my buddy harvested his goat. For the 8 days my pack weighed in at 73lbs and coming out it was 61lbs. My new Lowa Ticam boots were worth every penny, as I wanted a GoreTex boot that would handle the heavy loads, steepness and rocks. Here is a sample day from my food list: (sorry - can't get the formatting correct)
Day 5 Wed Calories Weight
Wise 230 2.25
Planters nuts 260 1.48
Dove Choc Bar 220 1.44
Rasp Cookies 240 2
PBBA Bagel 790 8.64
Pork Jerky 180 2
Cliff Bar 240 .4
Sharkies chews 180 1.5
PBBA Bagel 790 8.64
Crystal Light 10 0.11
Reeses (2 PB Cups)200 1.5
Mountain House 480 4.8
Totals 3820 36.76
Pounds 2.3
Typically I had 3000-3800 calories a day at around or just over 2lbs (after all my nickname is Baby Huey, so I have to try and keep my good name). I did end up losing 7 lbs, which is fine with me.
We hiked into our area in the rain. We reached about 4 miles in and my buddy was spent as his pack was around 70 pounds as well, so we pitched a temp camp for the night and then continued in to our spot the next day. We then had 2 days to scout and learn the area a little better.
It was a tough hunt, as the terrain is rocky, mostly treeless, steep as a mother and we were at 12,000' to just under 14,000'. My buddy had 6 stalks in 5 days, but nothing worked out. We even dropped down 2500' in 1 mile to the bottom of drainage as we were seeing goats on the other side from where we were camped. The problem is that my buddy decided to "wing it" and I wanted to "wing him" off the mountain, as you will learn...
He wanted to go down to the bottom of the canyon and up the other side around 11am. It took us 3 hours to get down to the bottom. We found a young billy and my buddy stalked it and got a shot off. We searched the area for 3 hours and couldn't find any blood whatsoever, nor did we ever find the arrow or goat after criss-crossing and sweeping the area we saw it run. We were both disappointed and I told my buddy we better head back up to camp as it is going to take us at least 3 hours. He then proceeds to tell me that he can't make it back to camp. I was beside myself. I said, "WTF do you mean you can't make it back up - why the F would you come down here if you didn't think you could make it back up?", and he said that he wanted to get a goat down here. I told him I had a couple of snacks, no dinner and no food for the next day - not to mention no tent, bag or sleeping pad. He says, "Well, you have your down coat and Gore-Tex raingear don't you? Sometimes you just have to wing it, and I don't have my headlamp anyway." I had to walk off for a few minutes to try and cool off as I knew we were staying, but I was not happy all night. We found some pine trees and I put on my sleeping bag (down coat), raingear and blanket (nylon poncho) and emptied my pack to use it as my pad to insulate me from the ground. That was one of the most uncomfortable nights I've had in the woods. In this area it is illegal to build a fire, so we had a nice cool night. Now, I am (mostly) over the incident and he is my best bud (I'm going to be his best man next year), but I could have given him a blanket party that night - he's lucky it didn't rain that night, as hell might have been unleashed. Here was his bed:
So, after a great night's sleep we found some goats that he put a stalk on, but no connection.
After that we headed back up the mountain to our camp - making it the 1 mile (horizontal) in just under 3 hours - just beating the rain. Even thought we didn't connect, I answered a call from Dr. Daniels - Dr. Jack Daniels:
It really was a great hunt, as we learned a lot about goats and how much we would like some lighter gear. He is going up again this weekend for 10 days, so if he gets one, I will post it up. Here are some photos:
Last weekend I went on my elk/deer/bear archery hunt. I mostly am after elk and if a deer or bear would present a shot, then that would be a bonus (I've never taken a bear, but have seen a few). CO was hit with some horrendous rain, and we were not immune to it in our area. My other buddy and I had to set up the Cabela's ISQ outfitter tent in the rain and my two brothers came up the next day. One of my brother's likes the comfort of a large tent camp, so no packing in this trip. I usually hike 3.5 miles back to an area I hunt and as usual the elk are down on private land screaming their heads off, but never getting close, as it seems they are omniscient with the invisible location of property boundaries. I hunted back there for 3 days and saw a couple of cows and spikes, but couldn't find any legal bulls on public land.
One day I went to a different area and had to take cover from the rain under a pine tree, which was a common occurrence on this hunt. As I was sitting under the protection of the pine, I heard something walking up behind me. I attached my release and slowly looked over my shoulder to see two black shapes 15 yards away approaching my position. I of course could feel the adrenaline release, as I knew they were bears. I spun 180 on my knees and onto the balls of my feet in a squatting position. As soon as I whirled I could see the cub in front and mom right behind him. They didn't know I was there and were as startled as I was. The cub immediately climbed an aspen and mom ran off 25 yards then stood up on her hind legs, appearing to be over 6' tall. I stood up and started to slowly back away into the meadow behind me. As I backed off mom ran back some more, but then circled and was coming about. I kept walking backwards and the lay of the land dropped off behind me and I moved rather briskly with eyes looking back the whole time once out of their sight. I'm glad mom didn't want a piece of my ass and that she went the other way.
My brother ended up getting one doe with his muzzleloader, but 3 archers came up with no shots. There was lots of rain, low lying clouds and great times in camp with the hunting crew!
Always great to be up in the hills whether packing in or in a comfy base camp - thanks for reading, Baby Huey AKA Roman
The goat hunt started with two scouting trips to figure out how to get into goat country where the masses of people wouldn't typically go. On our second scouting trip we found our spot and were stoked for the season. It would be an adventure for two rookie goat hunters. My primary cardio training was climbing 8 flights of stairs at work - going every other stair without using the hand rails and then taking the elevator down for a 2min 30 sec rest and then repeating 4 more times. I would do this 2-3 times a week and that was a great base. Also went on a 10 mile scouting trip and then a 20 mile scouting trip before the hunt and typically in the gym lifting and doing other cardio 5 days a week.
As far as gear, I have to use what I have, as not everything is lightweight. I did buy a Shangri La 5 GoLite tent that worked out great to keep all of our gear in with us and have a comfortable sleeping area as well. My pack was my Gregory Denali Pro, which weighs 8 lbs, but is built for carrying large heavy loads - which is what we were hoping for if my buddy harvested his goat. For the 8 days my pack weighed in at 73lbs and coming out it was 61lbs. My new Lowa Ticam boots were worth every penny, as I wanted a GoreTex boot that would handle the heavy loads, steepness and rocks. Here is a sample day from my food list: (sorry - can't get the formatting correct)
Day 5 Wed Calories Weight
Wise 230 2.25
Planters nuts 260 1.48
Dove Choc Bar 220 1.44
Rasp Cookies 240 2
PBBA Bagel 790 8.64
Pork Jerky 180 2
Cliff Bar 240 .4
Sharkies chews 180 1.5
PBBA Bagel 790 8.64
Crystal Light 10 0.11
Reeses (2 PB Cups)200 1.5
Mountain House 480 4.8
Totals 3820 36.76
Pounds 2.3
Typically I had 3000-3800 calories a day at around or just over 2lbs (after all my nickname is Baby Huey, so I have to try and keep my good name). I did end up losing 7 lbs, which is fine with me.
We hiked into our area in the rain. We reached about 4 miles in and my buddy was spent as his pack was around 70 pounds as well, so we pitched a temp camp for the night and then continued in to our spot the next day. We then had 2 days to scout and learn the area a little better.
It was a tough hunt, as the terrain is rocky, mostly treeless, steep as a mother and we were at 12,000' to just under 14,000'. My buddy had 6 stalks in 5 days, but nothing worked out. We even dropped down 2500' in 1 mile to the bottom of drainage as we were seeing goats on the other side from where we were camped. The problem is that my buddy decided to "wing it" and I wanted to "wing him" off the mountain, as you will learn...
He wanted to go down to the bottom of the canyon and up the other side around 11am. It took us 3 hours to get down to the bottom. We found a young billy and my buddy stalked it and got a shot off. We searched the area for 3 hours and couldn't find any blood whatsoever, nor did we ever find the arrow or goat after criss-crossing and sweeping the area we saw it run. We were both disappointed and I told my buddy we better head back up to camp as it is going to take us at least 3 hours. He then proceeds to tell me that he can't make it back to camp. I was beside myself. I said, "WTF do you mean you can't make it back up - why the F would you come down here if you didn't think you could make it back up?", and he said that he wanted to get a goat down here. I told him I had a couple of snacks, no dinner and no food for the next day - not to mention no tent, bag or sleeping pad. He says, "Well, you have your down coat and Gore-Tex raingear don't you? Sometimes you just have to wing it, and I don't have my headlamp anyway." I had to walk off for a few minutes to try and cool off as I knew we were staying, but I was not happy all night. We found some pine trees and I put on my sleeping bag (down coat), raingear and blanket (nylon poncho) and emptied my pack to use it as my pad to insulate me from the ground. That was one of the most uncomfortable nights I've had in the woods. In this area it is illegal to build a fire, so we had a nice cool night. Now, I am (mostly) over the incident and he is my best bud (I'm going to be his best man next year), but I could have given him a blanket party that night - he's lucky it didn't rain that night, as hell might have been unleashed. Here was his bed:
So, after a great night's sleep we found some goats that he put a stalk on, but no connection.
After that we headed back up the mountain to our camp - making it the 1 mile (horizontal) in just under 3 hours - just beating the rain. Even thought we didn't connect, I answered a call from Dr. Daniels - Dr. Jack Daniels:
It really was a great hunt, as we learned a lot about goats and how much we would like some lighter gear. He is going up again this weekend for 10 days, so if he gets one, I will post it up. Here are some photos:
Last weekend I went on my elk/deer/bear archery hunt. I mostly am after elk and if a deer or bear would present a shot, then that would be a bonus (I've never taken a bear, but have seen a few). CO was hit with some horrendous rain, and we were not immune to it in our area. My other buddy and I had to set up the Cabela's ISQ outfitter tent in the rain and my two brothers came up the next day. One of my brother's likes the comfort of a large tent camp, so no packing in this trip. I usually hike 3.5 miles back to an area I hunt and as usual the elk are down on private land screaming their heads off, but never getting close, as it seems they are omniscient with the invisible location of property boundaries. I hunted back there for 3 days and saw a couple of cows and spikes, but couldn't find any legal bulls on public land.
One day I went to a different area and had to take cover from the rain under a pine tree, which was a common occurrence on this hunt. As I was sitting under the protection of the pine, I heard something walking up behind me. I attached my release and slowly looked over my shoulder to see two black shapes 15 yards away approaching my position. I of course could feel the adrenaline release, as I knew they were bears. I spun 180 on my knees and onto the balls of my feet in a squatting position. As soon as I whirled I could see the cub in front and mom right behind him. They didn't know I was there and were as startled as I was. The cub immediately climbed an aspen and mom ran off 25 yards then stood up on her hind legs, appearing to be over 6' tall. I stood up and started to slowly back away into the meadow behind me. As I backed off mom ran back some more, but then circled and was coming about. I kept walking backwards and the lay of the land dropped off behind me and I moved rather briskly with eyes looking back the whole time once out of their sight. I'm glad mom didn't want a piece of my ass and that she went the other way.
My brother ended up getting one doe with his muzzleloader, but 3 archers came up with no shots. There was lots of rain, low lying clouds and great times in camp with the hunting crew!
Always great to be up in the hills whether packing in or in a comfy base camp - thanks for reading, Baby Huey AKA Roman
