bored, lets talk hunting

[Silvercreek1999]

Hey guys , i recently tore my achilles tendon in an acccident at work . pretty much sitting on the couch for over a month . so lets talk anything hunting! past hunting stories ,plans for this year ,archery ,anything would be interesting at this point lol.

 

[scott85]

You going to be healed for the fall? If so what are your plans?

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Well you picked a good time to be out of commission, not much going on. I'm going to try to get a rabbit hunt in with my grandson and a friend in the next two weeks. I won't know about elk draw until June. The 28th of April I'm having hip replacement surgery so I'll be down for a few weeks , I have a tuna trip planed out of San Diego third week in July. Dr. tells me I will be go to go by then. If I get my Elk hunt it will be a cow hunt in NM second week of Nov. Take it easy and get healed up so your ready to go when the time comes. I had the same injury years back, not fun.

 

[Northpark]

Oh jeez. Put a drink or two and in me and I won’t shut up about hunting. I mean the options for conversation are like limitless! What’s on the gear list this year. What new gear do you currently want to buy? Dream hunts? What do you want to hunt this year? Eating and butchering critters? I mean what’s your favorite critter to eat? And what’s your favorite cut off it?

Hold on I need to go find a bottle of scotch for this.

 

[Silvercreek1999]

Yep if everything goes well I'll be healed by fall....so far I've got an Idaho tag ,I put in for Montana and new Mexico and probably gonna try WY antelope

 

[Silvercreek1999]

Oh jeez. Put a drink or two and in me and I won’t shut up about hunting. I mean the options for conversation are like limitless! What’s on the gear list this year. What new gear do you currently want to buy? Dream hunts? What do you want to hunt this year? Eating and butchering critters? I mean what’s your favorite critter to eat? And what’s your favorite cut off it?

Hold on I need to go find a bottle of scotch for this.

lol ,unfortunely im off alcohol while its healing. ive got lots of plans for this fall ,just praying ill be 100% by then. dream hunt would probably be sheep in alaska for sure . this year ive got idaho ,montana , and wyoming in my sights . also applied in new mexico . hopefully be able to my first elk on the ground!

 

[Silvercreek1999]

Well you picked a good time to be out of commission, not much going on. I'm going to try to get a rabbit hunt in with my grandson and a friend in the next two weeks. I won't know about elk draw until June. The 28th of April I'm having hip replacement surgery so I'll be down for a few weeks , I have a tuna trip planed out of San Diego third week in July. Dr. tells me I will be go to go by then. If I get my Elk hunt it will be a cow hunt in NM second week of Nov. Take it easy and get healed up so your ready to go when the time comes. I had the same injury years back, not fun.

dang dude i feel ya , surgery is no fun. i also applied in new mexico but would be surprised if i draw.

 

[Northpark]

lol ,unfortunely im off alcohol while its healing. ive got lots of plans for this fall ,just praying ill be 100% by then. dream hunt would probably be sheep in alaska for sure . this year ive got idaho ,montana , and wyoming in my sights . also applied in new mexico . hopefully be able to my first elk on the ground!

I recently got back to alcohol after a year hiatus. Made weight loss a lot easier. I enjoy it more now and drink it far less but I do enjoy some scotch.

Anyways back to hunting thing. Im with you on sheep but I think mine would be desert sheep in Mexico. Either that or ibex in Mongolia. I mean there’s so many things to hunt all over the world it’s tough to narrow down.

First elk this year would be awesome. When I lived in CO I shot 1-2 a year and they were some of the funnest hunts and in some cases the hardest hunts and most rewarding. Elk hunting is awesome any way you go too. And awesome table fare. Pretty tough to beat elk backstrap on the grill.

 

[MeatMissile]

I had a complete rupture in June of 2019. I was sprinting by December of 2019. It can be done. PT the crap out of it. I was doing PT the day after my stitches came out.

Follow protocol for your boot wedges/angles. Before you decrease angle, take some anti-inflammatory because it will be sore for a few days afterward.

Get a TENS unit go get your muscles contracting in that injured leg or the atrophy will be bad. The real test is the single-leg calf raise on the injured leg. Work on it in a pool and it will come.

You can do this! PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Silvercreek1999]

Both those hunts would be awesome! But ya it's pretty difficult to narrow down to one hunt lol...for awhile I thought my hunting season might be over but it's looking pretty good noe

 

[Silvercreek1999]

I had a complete rupture in June of 2019. I was sprinting by December of 2019. It can be done. PT the crap out of it. I was doing PT the day after my stitches came out.

Follow protocol for your boot wedges/angles. Before you decrease angle, take some anti-inflammatory because it will be sore for a few days afterward.

Get a TENS unit go get your muscles contracting in that injured leg or the atrophy will be bad. The real test is the single-leg calf raise on the injured leg. Work on it in a pool and it will come.

You can do this! PM me if you have any questions.

How did you tear yours ? I tore mine about 4 weeks ago ...I'm getting my hard cast taken off next week. Should have plenty of time to be able to hunt in fall ? How long was your therapy?

 

[HvyBeams]

I bear sprayed my wife once. Great line to get people's attention.

I was hunting mountain goats in Wyoming, area 1. I waited until October 5 to go hunting that way the hair would be long. Looking back wasn't the smartest move. I was lucky not to get snowed out. First day hunting we walked over to glassing spot and we didn't see any mountain goats. When we got back to the four-wheeler I decided it would be a good idea to show my wife how to use the bear spray. That way, she wouldn't have to figure it out when a grizzly was charging her. She got on the back of the four-wheeler, while I grabbed the bear spray. The wind was howling, like it does in WY. I tell her you grab the safety and pull it back. I was demonstrating it for her while explaining it. When I pulled the safety the spray went off, hitting her in the face. She came off the back of the four-wheeler faster than a cat. She started gasping for air. I'm thinking to myself I just screwed up my first day of hunting mountain goats, and I will probably be making a trip to the local hospital. Thankfully, the wind was blowing left to right and took a majority of the spray and she also had sunglasses on. So, after a few gasps for air, she said was fine and we went back to hunting goats. It was the best hunt I ever had, and not because I bear sprayed my wife...lol

 

[BuzzH]

lol ,unfortunely im off alcohol while its healing. ive got lots of plans for this fall ,just praying ill be 100% by then. dream hunt would probably be sheep in alaska for sure . this year ive got idaho ,montana , and wyoming in my sights . also applied in new mexico . hopefully be able to my first elk on the ground!

Sheep hunting in AK, been there done that in 1995. After a hellish fire season in 1994, I had enough OT and hazard pay from a couple fire checks to give it a whirl in AK.

Bought a tag OTC at walmart, same area has been draw now for quite a while.

The plan was to fly my buddy out first. The plan was to take my buddies gear in then we would meat Dan at a strip next to the highway. He would take my buddie in next, then fly me in.

Dan never showed at the airstrip but the weather was rough, so we drove back to Wasilla and spent the night. Next morning was good weather, no Dan. Long story short, turns out he banged up his struts on the airplane landing on the glacier. So, a friend flew him out and back in the next day after repairing his cub.

The next he flew my buddy in, then came back for me and my guide Ed. We landed on the toe of a glacier, set up camp and glassed up 3 rams, 2 legal, 1 just slightly bigger than half curl.

Ride in:

Where Dan dropped off Ed and I:

The mountain the 3 rams were on, about from where we camped. We watched the 3 rams and were hopeful we could find them the next morning. Short night and right as it was getting light, the rams had actually moved down almost to the green.

We decided to not bring anything to spend the night, hustle up the hill and get the best ram killed.

Off we went and by the time we got to where the rams were, they had moved up to the very top and we watched them feed right over the highest part of the peak.

So, we climbed to the top and started trying to sort out where they went.

 

[Northpark]

I bear sprayed my wife once. Great line to get people's attention.

I was hunting mountain goats in Wyoming, area 1. I waited until October 5 to go hunting that way the hair would be long. Looking back wasn't the smartest move. I was lucky not to get snowed out. First day hunting we walked over to glassing spot and we didn't see any mountain goats. When we got back to the four-wheeler I decided it would be a good idea to show my wife how to use the bear spray. That way, she wouldn't have to figure it out when a grizzly was charging her. She got on the back of the four-wheeler, while I grabbed the bear spray. The wind was howling, like it does in WY. I tell her you grab the safety and pull it back. I was demonstrating it for her while explaining it. When I pulled the safety the spray went off, hitting her in the face. She came off the back of the four-wheeler faster than a cat. She started gasping for air. I'm thinking to myself I just screwed up my first day of hunting mountain goats, and I will probably be making a trip to the local hospital. Thankfully, the wind was blowing left to right and took a majority of the spray and she also had sunglasses on. So, after a few gasps for air, she said was fine and we went back to hunting goats. It was the best hunt I ever had, and not because I bear sprayed my wife...lol

I am positive that’s grounds for divorce in all 50 states! And I can only imagine the look on the judges face when he hears the story and then gives everything you own away.

That’s awesome your wife was such a good sport about it. Sounds like a keeper.

 

[Silvercreek1999]

I bear sprayed my wife once. Great line to get people's attention.

I was hunting mountain goats in Wyoming, area 1. I waited until October 5 to go hunting that way the hair would be long. Looking back wasn't the smartest move. I was lucky not to get snowed out. First day hunting we walked over to glassing spot and we didn't see any mountain goats. When we got back to the four-wheeler I decided it would be a good idea to show my wife how to use the bear spray. That way, she wouldn't have to figure it out when a grizzly was charging her. She got on the back of the four-wheeler, while I grabbed the bear spray. The wind was howling, like it does in WY. I tell her you grab the safety and pull it back. I was demonstrating it for her while explaining it. When I pulled the safety the spray went off, hitting her in the face. She came off the back of the four-wheeler faster than a cat. She started gasping for air. I'm thinking to myself I just screwed up my first day of hunting mountain goats, and I will probably be making a trip to the local hospital. Thankfully, the wind was blowing left to right and took a majority of the spray and she also had sunglasses on. So, after a few gasps for air, she said was fine and we went back to hunting goats. It was the best hunt I ever had, and not because I bear sprayed my wife...lol

Lol great story! ...this will have to be the number one story for awhile!

 

[BuzzH]

(cont).

Got to the top and the weather sort of socked in, clouds would roll in and roll out. But we finally located the 3 rams bedded at what we thought was about 600 yards. We had no range finders, mystery ranch packs or sitka gear.

With no way to get closer, all we could do is wait for them to move. Spent several hours in this spot with the rams bedded in the saddle on a little rocky knob:

Gave me plenty of time to look the best 2 rams over and one was just a bit better than the other...but hardly a thin dimes worth of difference between the two.

Finally, about 2 hours before dark, they got up to feed. We quickly hustled down the spine toward the saddle and found them at about 250 yards, feeding. I picked the ram I had looked at for several hours and shot him behind the shoulder with my 338 and a 200 grain Nosler BT. He slowly swung his body forward, I cycled the bolt, hit him again dropped him on the edge of the saddle. The other two rams stayed right there.

Ed and I grabbed up our stuff and started working our way to the ram. When we were about 40 yards away, Ed wanted to take a picture with my ram, and the other 2 rams just standing there. He took the picture right quick and started working my way to the ram. I was about 10 yards from him, when his body relaxed slowly rolled over and began to roll down toward a cirque lake. I lost sight of it as it bounced over rocks, sometimes 20-30 feet in the air. Eventually I could no longer see it, but could hear it still bouncing down the slope.

So, we started following the turned up rocks, hair, and whatnot until we found him.

Was banged up fairly good, but nothing major on the cape or horns:

With no way to get out that night, we took our time, cleaned him up the best we could and took some pictures:

Heavy 11 year old ram:

 

[Silvercreek1999]

(cont).

Got to the top and the weather sort of socked in, clouds would roll in and roll out. But we finally located the 3 rams bedded at what we thought was about 600 yards. We had no range finders, mystery ranch packs or sitka gear.

With no way to get closer, all we could do is wait for them to move. Spent several hours in this spot with the rams bedded in the saddle on a little rocky knob:

Gave me plenty of time to look the best 2 rams over and one was just a bit better than the other...but hardly a thin dimes worth of difference between the two.

Finally, about 2 hours before dark, they got up to feed. We quickly hustled down the spine toward the saddle and found them at about 250 yards, feeding. I picked the ram I had looked at for several hours and shot him behind the shoulder with my 338 and a 200 grain Nosler BT. He slowly swung his body forward, I cycled the bolt, hit him again dropped him on the edge of the saddle. The other two rams stayed right there.

Ed and I grabbed up our stuff and started working our way to the ram. When we were about 40 yards away, Ed wanted to take a picture with my ram, and the other 2 rams just standing there. He took the picture right quick and started working my way to the ram. I was about 10 yards from him, when his body relaxed slowly rolled over and began to roll down toward a cirque lake. I lost sight of it as it bounced over rocks, sometimes 20-30 feet in the air. Eventually I could no longer see it, but could hear it still bouncing down the slope.

So, we started following the turned up rocks, hair, and whatnot until we found him.

Was banged up fairly good, but nothing major on the cape or horns:

With no way to get out that night, we took our time, cleaned him up the best we could and took some pictures:

Heavy 11 year old ram:

Awesome story and what a beautiful ram ? Tags were OTC back then ? That gives me fresh motivation to do a hunt like that

 

[BuzzH]

I started caping my ram while Ed took care of the meat. We got it about half done and decided to leave it and walk down and spend the night near the cirque lake in the photo.

Was a miserable night, we both piled on all the clothes we had and of course it started to half rain half snow. We put together our "tent" which was a hefty sack stretched between our rifles. We would get up and run around the snow/ice field and warm up, sleep maybe a half hour, get up run around again.

Finally got light enough to hike back up and finish taking care of my ram. Got it all loaded up and started back to the top.

Pay off was pretty good when we got to the top with a view I'll never forget:

Hiked down the spine in the background back to camp.

A couple glaciers over my buddy and Dan found this ram that my buddy killed the same day I shot mine:

Turns out, I killed the best ram Dan had guided for at the time. He gross scored it when we got back to Wasilla at 167 and change gross. It ended up net scoring 164 and change.

I have a desire to go back, but there is no way I would likely kill a better ram, but the experience would be good.

Here's 5 rams back at Dan's place, the two on the left are pick up heads with the largest scoring 174, second one 170, mine in the middle at 167, a Doctor's ram that was 163, and my buddy's ram that was 161. All of them 9+ years old and all 40+inches on the long horn.

 

[Pony Soldier]

As a resident hunter, I have a differant perspective. The last two years have been horrible. My favorite hunting area of the last 35 years burned to the dirt. 24,000 acres of charred dirt including my long term camp.

My long term plan goes like this. I have 6 weeks of elk hunting to find one. I will expand my hunting area which is 7 drainages over 35 square miles by another 8 drainages and 40 square miles.

My burned area will be expanded by 5 sq miles on the east end as I watch to see how the burn recovers or not. By riding through those 8 drainages I should be able to figure out where the survivors ended up.

If things return to some pattern I hopefully will fill my tag and can go have some fun. I will go south and scout for some deer meat. If it's later I will head west and scout some of my old ground for a deer, cat or a wolf or two.

If I run out of tags then I will focus on geese and ducks. I got a new pup so maybe I will focus in sept on ruffed grouse.

I got three horses so there really isn't any reason not to work a couple 300 lbs off of each of them. If I keep them grained up they should last for that time. Last year I lost 25 lbs and a gall bladder so I should last too. Get serious about this hunting season.

 

[Silvercreek1999]

As a resident hunter, I have a differant perspective. The last two years have been horrible. My favorite hunting area of the last 35 years burned to the dirt. 24,000 acres of charred dirt including my long term camp.

My long term plan goes like this. I have 6 weeks of elk hunting to find one. I will expand my hunting area which is 7 drainages over 35 square miles by another 8 drainages and 40 square miles.

My burned area will be expanded by 5 sq miles on the east end as I watch to see how the burn recovers or not. By riding through those 8 drainages I should be able to figure out where the survivors ended up.

If things return to some pattern I hopefully will fill my tag and can go have some fun. I will go south and scout for some deer meat. If it's later I will head west and scout some of my old ground for a deer, cat or a wolf or two.

If I run out of tags then I will focus on geese and ducks. I got a new pup so maybe I will focus in sept on ruffed grouse.

I got three horses so there really isn't any reason not to work a couple 300 lbs off of each of them. If I keep them grained up they should last for that time. Last year I lost 25 lbs and a gall bladder so I should last too. Get serious about this hunting season.

what state do you live in? i live in ohio currently but hoping to move west before long. ive got friends in colorado so that would likely be my first stop but id like to end up in idaho . and dang dude sorry to hear about your luck . them fires can do some damage .