Quickest hunt

akcabin

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 10, 2023
Messages
196
A moose hunt. We lost our home to a forest fire and I was busy busy building a new home. A long time hunting buddy stops by to convince me to go out. And my beautiful wife strongly suggested it.
It was near 4 in the afternoon and a beautiful day. 65 n sunny. I grabbed my rifle n loaded up on the wheeler. Within 20 minutes we were at my favorite spot. Parked the wheelers n headed in to the bush. We get threw the transition muskeg to wet alder hedge and break into the old growth birch. We don't get 50' and I say hey to my partner. There is a bull still in his bed. It's his turn to shoot. And I just had sold him a Ruger 77 in 30-06. Only fitting to watch him harvest a nice bull with it.
He never got up. I go get my wheeler n trailer and can drive right up to the moose, and realize that I only have my 3" pocket knife and he doesn't have anything.
Must have been just right because we had it hanging n having a cold beers at 8 pm. 4 hours out n back. Moose meat for 2 families to help get through winter
You have any quick stories that you care to share
 

hunterjmj

WKR
Joined
Feb 3, 2019
Messages
1,205
Location
Montana
A few years back the fish and game calls me on a Thursday and asks if I'd like to hunt for a cow elk on Saturday. This was for a damage hunt and I didn't have time to think about it so I said yes. I call the number the fish and game lady gave me and the rancher said meet me at 7 am and gave me a mile marker. So, I meet him at 7 and he points to all the elk on the other side of this alfalfa field. I followed him down a two track that led to a draw a couple hundred yards to these elk. I walked through the sage brush to the crest of this draw trying to stay behind cover and eventually see 200 head or so. I put my pack down, layed my rifle across and picked the cow that was closest and squeezed the trigger. She was on the opposite side of this draw but lower than I was and slid through the snow towards the bottom. I could hear the rancher driving up so I headed to the cow, gutted her out and the rancher backed his pickup down to the bottom where the cow was. We loaded her up the transferred her to my pickup and I was home by 9 am. First time I brought home a whole elk. Very cool experience and I doubt that'll happen again.
 

f16jack

WKR
Joined
Jun 27, 2020
Messages
319
Location
Utah
Two quickest (if that is possible).
Had 1 day to deer hunt. Up early, in my jeep, out to a favorite point just before sunrise. Got out, stretched, and looked downslope. There was a nice buck bedded just below me 100 yards. 1 shot and it was done. In the jeep and back home by 0830.

deer.jpg

Out elk hunting opening day early on a meadow. I heard some noises in the darkness, and began to bugle. Just before shooting light 3 bulls entered the meadow. I waited until legal light and dropped the biggest one.
1003151008a.jpg
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2021
Messages
1,660
Location
Montana
I had finished breakfast, the pickup was warming up and I went into the corral to get my horse . As I turned to go out the gate, I saw there was a cow elk feeding at the front of the house.

I left the horse, picked up my rifle out of the truck and shot the elk off the front porch. Afterward I turned off the truck on the way to get the tractor. I took the cow up to the south field to clean her and brought her back to the barn for processing.

I went into the house, had another cup of coffee, unloaded all my gear and then had to figure out what to do with the rest of the season.
 

FLATHEAD

WKR
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
2,297
Turkey season ; Slept later than I wanted, got to the woods around 07:45 and made the
15-20 minute walk to a spot I had scouted earlier with lots of good sign.
Sat down and made a few calls - Gobbler hammered back at me.
Another call and I seen him running to me. He ran to within 7 yards.
Back at the truck with my bird @ 08;30.
 

mtnwrunner

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2012
Messages
3,908
Location
Lowman, Idaho
Has to be an antelope hunt. Drove across the unit boundary which was basically a cattle guard. Drove about 300 yards or so and my brother pointed to our left and says, "there's a good buck!" I hop out of the truck, walk about 30 yards for a prone rest and it was over. Whole thing took about 3 minutes. Bad thing was the hunt was over and we were planning on spending a few days hunting, but turned into a nice camping trip.

Randy021.jpg
 

ProStaffSteve

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 26, 2022
Messages
285
Lurking on this thread. Mixed feelings on quick hunts, but in my experience that’s how it goes. MN deer season, I tend to look at my odds are 1:2 opening weekend after that it plummets to 1:10 for seeing nice bucks. Me and two buddies tagged out Saturday opener one year, they got two in the morning and I pulled mine in the evening.
 
Joined
Feb 12, 2022
Messages
1,718
Has to be an antelope hunt. Drove across the unit boundary which was basically a cattle guard. Drove about 300 yards or so and my brother pointed to our left and says, "there's a good buck!" I hop out of the truck, walk about 30 yards for a prone rest and it was over. Whole thing took about 3 minutes. Bad thing was the hunt was over and we were planning on spending a few days hunting, but turned into a nice camping trip.

RandyView attachment 529136
Basically exactly how I killed my first deer.

Whitetail does in NW Oklahoma. Was gone spot and stalk, wound up just spotting. Lol
 

Bluefish

WKR
Joined
Jan 5, 2023
Messages
474
First deer hunt ever was quick. Walked in and got set up in a ground blind. First light was 6:55, about 7:30 a small buck came our way, got set up and dropped him with a single shot. Less than 30 min in had my first deer. Brought the truck over, gutted him and had it dropped off at the locker before lunch. Didn’t go that way on my hunt this year.
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
8,317
Location
Corripe cervisiam
I used to run dogs for hogs back in the day. We were doing depredation on one of the local state parks about a 15 minute drive.

One morning we went out hog hunting at first light and killed three hogs with the dogs …….and were at work by 8 AM.
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2016
Messages
2,639
Oct 27, 2007

I wrote this the next day:

"
At 3:43pm, I had just fastened my safety strap and the
treestand seat to the big white oak, pulled my gun up
and opened the hinged lense cap on my scope. I
unhooked the utility rope from my rifle sling, and
draped it over the back of my foot platform behind my
feet, so it wouldnt hang down below the stand and
catch the attention of a deer.

I was surrounded by mature white and red oaks, raining
down acorns, and was about 50 yards from the
transition to the planted pines. I was facing the
planted pines which were due West and the sun was in
my face. I was sweating from the walk and from
climbing the 25 feet up. Behind me, the creek I had
crossed to get here was down the hill about 100 yards
in the hardwood bottom. I looked up at the leaves on
the trees and thought about how still everything was
was and felt good about getting into the stand early
today, but figured it would be a couple of hours
before anything popped out of the pines to feed on the
acorns.

I was about to get my gloves out of my pant leg cargo
pocket when I heard something back to my right, where
I had just come from. I twisted around in my stand and
looked down the hill to see a doe coming right at me.
As I had passed up some does this morning, I had
thought during the day about how I might shoot one
this afternoon if I got the chance. She looked like a
mature doe, and if she didn't have any young ones with
her, I would take her. I reached down and slid the
safety off. She is quartering towards me now and I
realize I am going to have to turn around the other
way to get a shot. Just before I am about to move, I
see antlers coming up the hill behind her. Then his
whole form appears and he is in hot pursuit of this
doe. I can see that his rack is high and outside of
the ears. He is at least an 8. He literally follows in
her footsteps and angles accordingly.

As I make my move to spin around and look around the
other side of the tree, my eyes are ahead of my body
and as soon as I could see the doe I realize she has
sensed something and is standing on alert. She is not
looking directly at me but she is looking up and
listening. For what seemed like an eternity, and was
probably two seconds, I think that I have just screwed
up and that they will run off at any second, snorting
with their tails up. The buck is still behind the tree
so I can't see him. The doe, I guess more annoyed by
his presence than whatever had caught her attention
from above, continues on her way with a sense of
urgency. The buck follows her lead and steps into
view, and now he is only a step or two from her rear
end. They are now moving away from me. I finish
bringing my body and rifle around and shoulder my gun,
finding him in the scope. I try to keep the recticle
behind his shoulder but he is moving too fast. I
whistle. They stop. My heart is pounding. I squeeze
the trigger and send the 150 grain Nosler Partition on
its way.

She runs back down the hill towards the creek. He runs
straight ahead with his tail down. After a frantic 30
yard spurt he crashes into the leaves. He thrashes
around and kicks leaves and dirt into the air.

He is mine. The time is 3:45pm"

It was an extra special afternoon because my 90 yr old (at the time) grandfather who bought the property in 1954 happened to come out for dinner that evening, and we got a great picture of the two of us with the buck. Probably the only time he ever held a buck by the antlers. He was not a big game hunter but he knew how excited I was, and was happy for me.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 3, 2017
Messages
1,471
Location
AK
Before about 2007, it was standard to shoot a limit of pheasants on the first walk of the day. A lot of the time got a limit of ditch parrots just driving to hunt.

Took a friend moose hunting in 2019. He had first refusal trying to get him something over 60” and I was planning to basically shoot any bull for meat. Called in a 53” bull first morning. Hunting partner passed him up and he came to about 30 yards so I shot it so we could concentrate the remaining 9.5 days on finding a big guy. Had it cut up and packed to the lake by about noon. We were taking it easy just calling from camp that evening and a 64” bull walked to 20 yards from the tent. Ended up shooting him too. By midnight on the first day we had two bulls ready for pickup at the lake.
4545D600-A77B-4939-9E9E-DB26C2581C49.jpeg
3A17FE6B-660F-4E0D-9520-ADB561396A83.jpeg

the biggest premium at this time in my life is time off to actually hunt. So I love a long drug out hunt, buts it’s also great to tag out early and save a week of vacation for another hunt, which is exactly what I did in 2019.
 

yoopshoot

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
148
Location
UP of Michigan
Ontario whitetail hunt 2011. We would hunt by boat to access untouched land along a large river/lake system.

First morning we drove 4-5 miles up stream. I had map scouted an area that was a fine pinch point between two larger bodies of land. I was hunting with a buddy, he dropped me off on the beach and I hiked uphill approximately 50 yards to a bench. As soon as I crested the bench, I herd something walking towards me through the thick tagalders/ spruce. A very respectable 8 pt popped out at 15 yards and I dropped it. Literally 3-4 minutes into a 10 day hunt.

My buddy thought something was wrong and I had slipped and fell/ discharging my rifle. He radioed me and I told him I was tagged out. He couldn’t believe it .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

robtattoo

WKR
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
3,342
Location
Tullahoma, TN
First deer hunt ever was quick. Walked in and got set up in a ground blind. First light was 6:55, about 7:30 a small buck came our way, got set up and dropped him with a single shot. Less than 30 min in had my first deer. Brought the truck over, gutted him and had it dropped off at the locker before lunch. Didn’t go that way on my hunt this year.

Pretty much my first ever deer hunt, after moving out of the UK in 2009. I pulled up to the patch of timber I was wanting to hunt at maybe 8am. Saw a young spike come running out of the woods into the grass field I was parked in, about 90yds away. I got out the truck, rested over the mirror, shot him & drove over to pick him up. I was home less than 45 minutes after I left. All i could think was "man, this is easy. I don't see what all the fuss was about!"....... it was 5 more years before i saw another buck. 😆
 

Ludo

FNG
Joined
Mar 12, 2023
Messages
49
Jealous of all these stories… I’ve yet to experience a “quick” hunt.
 

Northpark

WKR
Joined
Mar 8, 2015
Messages
1,134
Big cow elk. Saw them the night before opening day out in the sage flats. Cut them off at first light. Half the herd of 500 got past me before my watch said legal shooting hours. Picked a big cow and put her down. Private land access so we backed the truck up and loaded her up whole. Was drinking whiskey on the porch by 0800.2BEA2AD7-1425-4FD1-BD09-6DD345A85B7C.jpeg
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
1,457
Whitetail buck parked the truck got the rifle out opened the action on the Ruger #1 set it against a tree besides the truck. was reaching in the back to get my other gear seen a movement from my side, nice 6 pt buck 15 yards looking at me, figured I would go for it, reached for the rifle and in my pocket with the opposite hand for a cartridge, he just stood there. loaded the gun and bang D.R.T. Perhaps 10 mins total to dead deer. The area I hunt I drive in to the first bench on the mountain and then walk to the top where I hunt. There is no one else that hunts there, and the deer are rather relaxed. This happened the 4th day of the opening week around 2 in the afternoon.
 

Taudisio

WKR
Joined
Jan 20, 2023
Messages
452
Location
Oregon
My first deer hunt. Deer camp consisted of my dad, 2 uncles and two of dads co-workers. Walked out of camp at daylight with my dad. He told me to walk up a ridge to a boulder about 400 yards away. I had been drawn for a junior doe tag and I had the over the counter buck tag as well. I sat on that rock with a cold bum, and I felt like I was guarding it with my dad’s favorite rifle. A Browing BAR in 270, with blued steel, walnut stock/forearm, with a custom muzzlebrake. It wasn’t 10 minutes before a doe walked across the saddle about 150 yards away. Followed by 2 more does and 2 fawns. A buck bullying one of the fawns pushing up the rear. Shaking like a leaf, I brought the scope to his antlers and saw nothing but points. I held the crosshairs on his fur as best I could and squeezed it off. The buck dropped and I got on the radio with a shakey excited shouting/whisper and told my dad I just shot a monster 4x4 (blacktails in the Sierra Nevada mountains)!! He respond with a confused and excited, “YOU did?!?” And acknowledged he was on his way back up. I was frozen to that rock and lost all control of my legs and almost my stomach. Dad came running up the mountain after what felt like 2 hours (probably 10 minutes at most) and we walked up to the buck together. The buck required a follow up shot (spinal shot). A small basket 3x3. Dad was a little perturbed that his opening morning was over but ecstatic at the same time. He stood over me with watchful eyes and described where to run the knife. I have an old photo from a disposable camera somewhere. I filled my doe tag the next day. Hard to believe that next fall, it will have been 20 years ago.
 
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