Bears are great
About Me
- Accuracy Sports
- With no chance for success, you would not hunt. Without the prospect of failure hunting would have no merit. I don't hunt to kill, I kill because I hunt. Remember a moderate hit is lots more effective than a high powered miss. Best of luck.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
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.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
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.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
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? !!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
STILL MORE CHIZZLERS
CHIZZLER SEASON IS ON !!! Bounty Hunter 6 has been so convincing I have neglected home, work, family, and other hobbies and gone chizzler hunting several times over the last few weeks. We have had super success most days. Bounty Hunter 6 has fired about 2,200 rounds out of his new Ruger KM77/17 rifle in the last few weeks. He had one day last week when I was absolutely forced to work where he fired 598 rounds in one day all by himself. He usually connects with about 80% of his targets so that is roughly ?? -- a whole lot of dead varmints in one day {480}. The crows and ravens came to do their job as Nature's Undertakers and probably couldn't fly away being so stuffed with chizzler meat. It would be interesting to see crows and ravens waddling around an alfalfa field with pot bellies and unable to fly. Maybe they would look like black ducks or something? The farmers are really grateful for our efforts. I have attached some photos from our trip to Beryl today. We shot for just about 2.5 hours and harvested about 300 chizzlers. Check out the lactating mammal photo.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
It doesn't get much better than this !!!
Bounty Hunter 6 and I went to one of our favorite chizzler harvesting spots this morning in Iron County, Utah. It was a bit cold and somewhat windy but the chizzlers were out in force. The alfalfa on the farm was still in a semi-hibernation state so it was just 3/4" tall which means -- no cover for the chizzlers. Bounty Hunter 6 had a new Ruger KM77/17 .17HMR caliber rifle he was trying out for the first time. Crap-o-matic the little .17HMR really did a number on 100+ little varmints. He was shooting as fast as he could load clips. He had two nine round clips and the only pause in the shooting was to reload. I had my usual .22-250 heavy barrel and a .22 L.R. for the sappers. I think I ended the grazing future of maybe 60 critters or so. All-in-all we had an excellent hunt for about 3 hours. The farmer who owned the field was so pleased he drove out to where we were shooting to personally thank us. This was one of those days that will be remembered for a long time. Check out the photos.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
CHIZZLERS ARE OUT ! ! !
I know March 3rd is a bit early to go to Beryl and hunt for Chizzlers. It has been over 75ยบ in the neighborhood so I figured it was warm enough for the little critters to be out up there. Bounty Hunter 6 went up on a scouting mission yesterday with good sightings -- so today we went on safari. We arrived in a mild to less-than-mild hurricane wind but still set up the squirrel-o-matics and went to work saving agriculture. Oh it is so fun to blow up little varmints with .22-250 rifle rounds at distance. I, of course, also had my .22 L.R. also ready for action incase of "sappers" and there were a few "sappers" that needed a 40 gr. h.p. round in the worst way. {I wonder if they get 40 virgin chizzlers in the bossom of alfalfa?} I look forward to a long and fulfilling spring season helping American agriculture. I'll keep the photos coming as I can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)