Antlerless Elk Hunting 2009

My last lucky tag drawn for the hunting year 2009 was for an antlerless elk on Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch, CWMU. Dax has worked on various elk projects there for several years in the past so I enticed {begged} him to come help his old dad and guide me on a fine hunt. We met in Bountiful, Utah on the evening of December 18, 2009 and had a good visit with my other son Rusty and his family. We had some fine food then when to sleep for a few short hours. Dax had arranged for us to be at the ranch at 7:00 a.m. I was driving up to the ranch via Evanston, Wyoming so we ended up leaving Bountiful at 5:30 a.m. and unfortunately with me driving -- arrived at the ranch at around 7:30 a.m. All the guides and hunters had already gone out hunting so we signed in at the guide shack and went for a look around the 250,000 acre ranch for just one antlerless elk. Dax drove us just about 3 minutes to the southwest along a main road and we saw a small antlerless elk running away from us down a road to the east. I think it was just a calf. We watched it for a few minutes and were pleased that there were still elk on the ranch. Dax said we could fill the tag and get some veal-elk. I said not now it is so early in the hunt. I thought I could see milk around its mouth from sucking on its mother. Maybe it was frost around the mouth as it was about 0º outside the truck. I didn't want to get out of the warm truck, stalk, shoot, track, clean, and get all that cold yet. It was only 8 a.m. and we had all day.

Dax drove us around many roads and locations where there were usually elk. I saw lots of snow and really cold things. We never got stuck in the snow but I am sure it was because of Dax's driving skills in the 18 inch deep snow here and there. We saw and photographed 5 bull moose. We saw many pronghorn antelope, and mule deer. We could not seem to find out where the elk were. We crossed the main elk traveled "highway" path at least 3 times yet we could not find the elk. Finally, around noon I said do you want a sandwich? Dax looked at me like I was never going to ask. He was starving. We drove to the top of a moderately tall mountain and I made some sandwiches with extra good bread, cheese, and best meat Dax had brought. He even brought me some Diet Coke. What a kid! He got out his spotting scope and proceeded to look around the ranch all the way to Wyoming for elk. I looked also between bites of sandwich and swigs of Diet Coke. I spotted 10 -12 head of elk at a distance of maybe 1 mile to the east of where we were. Dax moved the spotting scope over and said "good spot Dad, but they are all bulls." Sure enough at the distance I could tell they were elk with my binoculars but could not see the antlers. I looked through his spotting scope at around 50X and they were all trophy elk. I would be proud to harvest any of the big brutes but not today. Today I was a "Ladies Man" and going for an antlerless animal. We started to drive to the north off the peak of the mountain and down into some sagebrush rolling country. There were lots of small little coolies where elk could hide. Around 1 p.m. we finally found some of them.

Down in the rolling sage flats Dax said, "There they are!" Off to the west of us were a couple of rag-horn bulls, a spike, two calves, and 3 - 4 antlerless large animals. We stopped the truck and tried to get a better look with binoculars and I tried to get a range on them with my laser range finder. I could not get the range finder to read. Dax tried the range finder also without luck. I think we had earlier been looking over 1 mile away at animals so some elk "just" 400 - 500 yards way looked close. My range finder only reads animals to about 500 yards. I slipped out of the truck and turned my scope up to 20X to check out the elk. I could see a fine cow in the northern most lead position. I put the crosshairs on the upper part of its front leg and moved the safety off. I held my breath both to steady the shot and because of the cold. I pulled the trigger, boom, and it felt like a good shot. It hit low under the cow so I worked the bolt to reload and shot again with the same hold. I hit low again. My .300 Win. Mag. is sighted in to hit only 20" low at 500 yards so I easily could have been shooting under the cow elk. The elk could not see us very well and the wind was in our face so they didn't smell us. They started to run right toward us. I thought why not let them come right to the truck if they want to. At about 200 yards they saw us and stopped moving. Dax had put up his spotting scope and was watching and I tried another shot at the lead cow. I heard the "ploop" of the bullet striking the elk. Dax said "You shot it in the butt". I couldn't believe I did. I was a reasonable shot and had practiced just three days before with the rifle and the loads. I thought I was sighted in perfect. I was sick. I wanted the elk to drop from a heart shot. Not so. The cow laid down and had its head up. One of the rag horn bulls went over and stomped around it to make it move. Finally out of desperation he actually stomped on the laying cow. She didn't move so he ran off. Dax started to move over toward the downed cow from the south to make her run toward me if she got up. She didn't move so I started to sneak up on her straight on in the sage brush. I got to within 60 yards or so and shot her again, in the head. It was over. My original shot was a perfect double lung shot not the butt. Dax was just pulling my chain to get me worked up. He also told me to not shoot it in the backstrap when I was shooting for the head. {When I was prepping the hide to dry it I found the perfectly mushroomed bullet stuck in the hide on the far side of the elk.}

Dax and I took some photos and we went back to the truck to see if we could drive to nearer the downed elk. Dax found a gate and we drove to within 10 feet of the elk. He more or less cleaned the animal for me. He is such a help. We dragged her up the removed tailgate of the truck for a ramp. Dax drove us out to the ranch shack and we weighed her in at the scales. Then off to Bountiful. It was only around 3 p.m. Of course we had to stop at our favorite Mexican cafe in Evanston on the way home. We went in to the cafe with rifle cartridges on my belt loops and blood on our clothes but no problem in Evanston. We had great food and good service then home to Bountiful.

Dax had to head home to Roosevelt that evening. I imagine he was way tired. I went down to Rusty's house to show him the elk and see how they were all doing. I slept in the next morning and then took the elk to be processed. It was all-in-all a great hunt. I got to visit with both my boys and harvest an elk. We all look forward to the elk steaks and elk burgers to come this winter. I hope we can have some meals all together from this adventure.

More BISON photos

BISON HUNT 2009

BISON HUNT 2009

Drove to Roosevelt on Wednesday 11-11-2009 in the later part of the day. The journey was kind of an adventure in itself. Went to bed at 11:00 p.m. with a major league cold and cough. Hard and exciting night so sleep was a rare commodity. I was up at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday 11-12-2009 and on the road to Ft. Duchesne in time for a meeting with the Ute Indian Tribe guides at 7:00 a.m. The guides are all fellows in their early 20's and seem like real nice guys. They are Manny, Brandon, Jay and Coby. They drive two large heavy duty Ford pickup trucks. Manny and Brandon’s truck needs fuel and they go off for fuel. I drive my own truck following Jay and Coby in their truck for 2 ½ hours east on a fairly good dirt road out on the north slope Book Cliffs area of the reservation. We are hunting free ranging bison on the Ute Indian reservation. We end up on top of a mountain more or less at 9,000+ feet elevation. It is rather windy and cold. Real cold for a desert boy like me. I am sure the temperature was above zero but with the wind chill it seemed REAL COLD. We park the trucks and glass around. We spot some bison in a small valley to the west of the mountain peak we are on. Jay, Coby, my son and I start to stalk down through the quaking aspen and snow on the east side of the valley to get closer to the bison. The bison are laying in the sagebrush on the west side of the valley to rest and let the sagebrush break the wind storm some. As we get closer the bison see and/or wind us and start to stand up. They aren’t excessively disturbed for a few moments, just getting up and ready to move away.

NOTE: During this decent into the small valley I didn’t know if we were going to shoot or just look or scope the bison out or what. I didn’t bring my pack with extra clothes, food, water, knifes, rope, ammo., matches, camera and GPS. My son brought his camera and a hat for me and I am so glad.

When we get about 210 yards from the bison they start a meandering exit the valley to the north. The guide Jay, sets up some shooting sticks into a tripod configuration and tells me to shoot the most north of the bison. I verify with him which one and load up my .338 Win. Mag. I have one round in the chamber and three in the magazine. I turn the scope up to 9X and put the cross-hairs just behind the front shoulder of the bison now trotting to the north near the bottom of the little valley we are in. I constantly apply pressure to the trigger while keeping the cross-hairs on the vital spot. The rifle goes off and the distinct sound of a 225 grain Barnes triple shock bullet hitting hide, bone, and lungs is heard by all in the party. The bison just keeps jogging. I am told to shoot again. I do and we hear the slap of a hit again. I keep shooting and keep hitting the bison. My last shot is at the bison kind of hiding behind a larger sagebrush and I aim for the neck vertebrae just behind the head. The bison finally goes down.

I can’t believe how tough these big old beasts are. I am shooting a rather powerful rifle and have hit the bison in a definite mortal fashion but the animal didn’t go down. I have knocked elk over with one shot and large kudu and hartebeest also with one shot incorporating the exact same load in this very rifle. BISON ARE TOUGH. I reload my magazine with three rounds just in case.

There are handshakes from the guides and congratulations from my son. We are all happy about the size and prospect of the big beast finally harvested. We watch the bison for a few moments and pay our respects from a distance to a wonderful animal that has given us a hunting opportunity and now lots of excellent meat. As we ponder the magnitude of the animal at 210 yards the beast raises up on its front feet and starts to make way to the north again. Not able to use its hind feet it is slow and awkward but still moving. I take careful aim and fire again and again and again. Three more hits from a .338 Win. Mag. Am I shooting at a zombie bison? One more head shot and the cow with six lives goes down for good. I can’t believe it. I am usually a reasonable marksman. This rifle and these particular handloads have preformed well for me in the past on many animals. We walk down to the animal and I notice it has been shot 6 out of 7 times. One shot was a heart shot that hit too low having pierced the lower chest cavity but didn’t hit the heart. Other connecting shots were all reasonable for a serious injury or a kill but the bison didn’t think so. All projectiles completely passed through the bison.

We try to turn the animal for photos. NO WAY. It is so big and even with 5 men working on it we cannot move it. The guide guesses the animal weights around 1,000 to 1,100 pounds. It is sooooo large I can’t believe how massive it is. We take lots of photos as it lays. I am extra happy about how fine a bison it is. The best thing in my heart is that my son is here with me. We are both real grinny. He made it all possible. Thanks to him and his family for all they are to me and all they do for me.

Coby and Jay start the huge cleaning/gutting task. They each have about 4 knives and by the end of the ordeal all 8 or so of the knives are dull. Bison hide is tough and there is lots of it on this giant old beast. The gut pile is about the size of a Volkswagon beetle. As Jay removes the liver he tells me there is a Ute tradition that the successful hunter eats a piece of liver fresh from the animal. He cuts a small piece the size of a postage stamp and holds it out to me on his knife. YES, it is dripping blood and YES it is raw. I ask if he is tricking me and he just pokes the knife closer toward me. I take the liver and eat it. I doubt I would order this type of meat at a restaurant. My son asks me how it tasted and I said “kind of livery”.

It takes four men and about 2 hours to gut clean and quarter the bison. The guides are not wasting any time and they bring out a cordless saw-z-all to cut up the rib bones and quarter the animal up. We can’t carry the heavy quarters to the trucks so Jay drives one of the big old Fords down through the sagebrush over some real rough terrain to where we are. NO road – NO problem. It takes two men to lift a hind quarter into the truck. The hide and the head also take two men to lift into the truck. It is real cold now and the weather looks like some snow is going to blow in. We 4X4 hill climb out of the sagebrush and back to my truck. We load the meat, hide, and head and motate to a major fork in the road. Brandon and Manny are already there with the other big old Ford truck and we have some sodas, sandwiches, and chips on the tailgate for lunch at 2:30 p.m. Then my son and I start the 2 ½ hour drive back down the mountain off the reservation to the asphalt road and home. I can’t stop grinning. The pickup handles as if there is a moderate load in it, you know it’s just 500+ pounds of meat, a large hide and the head of a great beast in the bed of my truck.

Beauty, flat tire, and more Beauty !

I AM A LADIES MAN 2, !!!

I went muzzle loader deer hunting in Washington county several days. I went to the north near Central and Pine Valley and saw no deer. I hunted in areas where we have harvested deer before and really expected to see something. NO WAY.

I later went several more days with my rifle and found the deer more or less. I found 28 head one afternoon. 26 were does and 2 were little spike bucks. The spikes had antlers long enough to be legal for harvest but they still had milk around their mouth from sucking their mothers. I just couldn’t shoot the little buggers. I think they need 3 more years to mature. Next time out I went to a "for sure" spot I discovered years ago. I got there and found deer "for sure" but they were 10 does the first day and 12 does the second day. I saw one little spike buck with the does the first day and his antlers were small enough that he wasn’t legal for harvest. He too had milk around his milk from sucking his mother.

I hiked some and took photos. I really enjoyed my time in nature. It is so calming and the air is just that much more clean. I got a bit sunburned and that’s great for deer hunt time. I have pals up north that put up with rain, mud, and snow. I put up with no sunscreen. {Actually, I didn’t want the scent to alert the deer so I didn’t use any sunscreen.}

Yes, I am a Ladies Man. I can really attract the female deer and elk. Guess what? I have a cow elk tag for December. I hope I still have the animal attraction factor when I go to fill that tag. I’ll let you know. {I must have had lots of fun as I had 3 flat tires while deer hunting. Two stones through the tread and one sidewall slice. You know what I mean? Even the Super Trooper got a flat tire!}

LADIES MAN !!!

I AM A LADIES MAN !!!

The first week in October I went elk hunting in the Unitah mountains and really looked forward to seeing at least one little spike. I really believe the spikes cook up the best on the "barbie" but alas I all I could get within eyeball range of was 7 fine looking cow elk. They came into a high mountain meadow just around sundown and I was hidden in the trees completely upwind from them. They didn’t even know I was in the county. I watched them for 45 minutes or so as they grazed on the grasses within 150 yards of me. I just knew at any minute a little cousin bull or even a brute macho bull elk would come out to join the girls as they bulked up munching grass for the upcoming winter. No way amigo. The girls came and mowed the grass with four legged combine efficiency then wandered back into the forest timbers and never even bothered to wave or casually snort at me. It was amazing to be that close to 7 fine animals. I just wish I could have seen a bull with them.

I was camping with my son for the first night and we had a great time together. He helped me find likely spots to look for elk. He had to go back to work so I stayed on alone. Guess what, it was the Unitah mountains at 9,700 + and it snowed. Not a light pretty snow, not a mere dusting of white powder, it was a real snow storm. I am a desert guy and the white stuff scared me to think I might be up there for the entire winter. I was worried I would not be able to get my camper out of the mountains so I packed up and came home. Yes, I was in 4-wheel drive most of the way out of the mountains.

I returned to Washington County and home. I went camping again looking for elk on the Utah - Nevada boarder in northwest Washington county. I saw tracks, sign, and lots of coyotes but no elk. I think they are in the area but hang around later in the year.

All in all, I had a great time hunting elk. I camped with my son, saw my daughter-in-law and the grandkids in Roosevelt. I camped in the mountains and the desert and hiked around some looking for the bull elk. No I didn’t harvest but I had a great time.

Deer Hunt 2009

Deer hunt 2009 has started. Wednesday 9-23-09 was the opening day of muzzle loader season. I went out and saw a lone doe, and a doe with two fawns, and as I walked back the "Forever trooper II*" at sundown I saw another doe with two fawns. I think the deer looked healthy and seemed to have lots to eat around the mountain. Just no bucks to be seen. I think the bucks are still up high even though I was at 7,900 feet above sea level according to my GPS.

I feel so limited with a muzzle loader. My .54 cal. Hawkin style muzzle loader can only shoot 100 yards +/- and with my bifocal glasses I can only see clearly between 20 and 80 yards. Closer than 20 yards and more than 80 yards I have to rely on "the FORCE" to help me with targeting. I promise to not wound as many deer as the archery hunters. If I can't make a clean shot I won't take one. Besides it takes about 3 - 4 minutes to reload for me.

*check out the photo of the "Forever Trooper II" This red rocket raider is just perfect for a hunting car. I really only drive it about 300 miles a year and all the miles are going hunting or going to the dump with a trailer full of trash. NO, IT'S NOT FOR SALE so don't get any ideas. Pres. Obama wanted to sucker me in with a $4,500 cash for clunkers deal but he didn't get me.

Medical Leave

SORRY, for not much news on the blog. I have been a little sick and now feel I am getting better everyday. I was in the Timpanogos Hospital last week for treatment on my heart. I was talking to my nurse, Trevor, before my procedure and mentioned I had only drawn an antelope tag in Wyoming last year {2008} and yet had time and reasonable health to hunt lots that fall. This year I am kind of sick and drew 1. a Utah southern region mule deer buck tag for late October, 2. a Utah any bull elk tag for early October, 3. a Utah cow elk tag on Deseret Land and Livestock for December, and 4. my son had procured me a Ute indian tribe cow bison tag for November. I needed to be better for the fall hunts! I think we will have lots of meat for the freezer this fall. I hope to get some real brontosaurus size ribs for the barbie from the elk and the bison. I am feeling better everyday. I hope to start target shooting in September to get practiced up. The Goddess Diana maybe is smiling on me some this year? !!