Friday night of Labor Day Weekend I asked my oldest daughter who is 6 if she wanted to elk hunt or antelope hunt with me. She opted for quick 2 day antelope trip.
We left bright and early at 9:30am on Saturday after I had to load up the pickup and take the wall tent down after setting it up to dry out earlier that week. Quick stop for fuel and snacks and we were headed out for the 7 hour drive South.
She got a little nap in along the Lochsa before we stopped at the Idaho/Montana border to stretch our legs. She ended up with a couple of posters and did a couple little crafts before we hiked around a bit.
We made it down to the area we hunt a little before 5. The main objective for tonight was to get the blind set up on a water trough that my buddy was successful over a couple weeks before. After that was done we got the wall tent up and she decided ramen in the jet boil would be a perfect dinner. We then found her friend for weekend, a giant moth!!
We get into the blind a little after daylight and watch the Sage flat for 4-5 hours with only birds to watch for me and Wild Kratts for her!! We head back to camp for lunch and a nap.
On our way back to camp a giant thunderstorm rolled in and it decided to rain for the next 3 hours dumping 3/4” of rain. The roads turned nasty real quick and I was getting worried about being able to get back into the blind since they were calling for more rain starting at 8pm and not stopping till noon the next day.
We checked out a few other areas since the sun was out and I was hoping the roads would dry out enough to get back into the blind. After a couple of hours glassing other places and not seeing anything we could go after, I wanted to go try the road to the blind. We head that way and hit the turn off. The road is still muddy but in 4wd it’s not to bad. I am watching the road closely and not looking around much for animals. After about 1-1/2 miles my daughter yells “Elk”. I look over and there are antelope off the side of the road. I told her those were antelope and she said “ I know that, I just forgot what they were called and wanted you to look!”
We get out of the truck and they are surprisingly not spooked much. There is a lone buck standing broadside just watching us. I sneak up a bit while she watches. I peek up and he doesn’t look that far so I range him and he is 70 yards away! I adjust my sight and draw back. I release the arrow his way and hear a solid thump and he takes off. We watch him run over the hill and I tell her to come look for the arrow with me. We find it pretty quickly and there is good blood but also a little greenish fluid on it. I explained to her what I was seeing and how we need to sneak up the hill and try to spot him so we can see where he beds down. We walk a couple hundred feet and I see him standing with his head down looking very sick. I duck down and was able to get to 45 yards and put another arrow in him. I watched this on hit him right behind the shoulder! He takes off again and I see him stumble about 50 yards down hill!!
We walk up to where he is as standing and the blood trail was more than impressive. I am as using the 125gr MegaMeats and they did a number on him.
We walk down to him and start breaking him down to pack out. My daughter was a little creeped out by all the blood at first but then she got really interested and wanted to help out and see all the different parts.
We get him back to camp and decide to eat dinner then take camp down to head home. The weather forecast was calling for heavy rain the next 10-12 hours and she was ready to see mom. Once everything was loaded except the tent we got the phone propped up on the tailgate for one last photo.
I usually don’t share photos of my girls due to issues with the biological family after we adopted them but this is by far my favorite photo and I had to share it. We have had her and her sister for over 4 years now and to see the growth and healing she has accomplished is unbelievable. Seeing her be able to just enjoy life and have no worries made this one of my favorite trips to date.
We left bright and early at 9:30am on Saturday after I had to load up the pickup and take the wall tent down after setting it up to dry out earlier that week. Quick stop for fuel and snacks and we were headed out for the 7 hour drive South.
She got a little nap in along the Lochsa before we stopped at the Idaho/Montana border to stretch our legs. She ended up with a couple of posters and did a couple little crafts before we hiked around a bit.
We made it down to the area we hunt a little before 5. The main objective for tonight was to get the blind set up on a water trough that my buddy was successful over a couple weeks before. After that was done we got the wall tent up and she decided ramen in the jet boil would be a perfect dinner. We then found her friend for weekend, a giant moth!!
We get into the blind a little after daylight and watch the Sage flat for 4-5 hours with only birds to watch for me and Wild Kratts for her!! We head back to camp for lunch and a nap.
On our way back to camp a giant thunderstorm rolled in and it decided to rain for the next 3 hours dumping 3/4” of rain. The roads turned nasty real quick and I was getting worried about being able to get back into the blind since they were calling for more rain starting at 8pm and not stopping till noon the next day.
We checked out a few other areas since the sun was out and I was hoping the roads would dry out enough to get back into the blind. After a couple of hours glassing other places and not seeing anything we could go after, I wanted to go try the road to the blind. We head that way and hit the turn off. The road is still muddy but in 4wd it’s not to bad. I am watching the road closely and not looking around much for animals. After about 1-1/2 miles my daughter yells “Elk”. I look over and there are antelope off the side of the road. I told her those were antelope and she said “ I know that, I just forgot what they were called and wanted you to look!”
We get out of the truck and they are surprisingly not spooked much. There is a lone buck standing broadside just watching us. I sneak up a bit while she watches. I peek up and he doesn’t look that far so I range him and he is 70 yards away! I adjust my sight and draw back. I release the arrow his way and hear a solid thump and he takes off. We watch him run over the hill and I tell her to come look for the arrow with me. We find it pretty quickly and there is good blood but also a little greenish fluid on it. I explained to her what I was seeing and how we need to sneak up the hill and try to spot him so we can see where he beds down. We walk a couple hundred feet and I see him standing with his head down looking very sick. I duck down and was able to get to 45 yards and put another arrow in him. I watched this on hit him right behind the shoulder! He takes off again and I see him stumble about 50 yards down hill!!
We walk up to where he is as standing and the blood trail was more than impressive. I am as using the 125gr MegaMeats and they did a number on him.
We walk down to him and start breaking him down to pack out. My daughter was a little creeped out by all the blood at first but then she got really interested and wanted to help out and see all the different parts.
We get him back to camp and decide to eat dinner then take camp down to head home. The weather forecast was calling for heavy rain the next 10-12 hours and she was ready to see mom. Once everything was loaded except the tent we got the phone propped up on the tailgate for one last photo.
I usually don’t share photos of my girls due to issues with the biological family after we adopted them but this is by far my favorite photo and I had to share it. We have had her and her sister for over 4 years now and to see the growth and healing she has accomplished is unbelievable. Seeing her be able to just enjoy life and have no worries made this one of my favorite trips to date.
