Learning as I go

mustache or moustache

Mo-vember has officially come to an end for me.  The mustache grew fine the first week and then stopped.   It wasn't very visible but hideous nonetheless.  I'm glad Mo-vember is gone....all of us are.

A conversation from Mo-vember:

Jackson - "Papi, you're funny with your mustache."
Parker - "Yeah Papi, I don't like when it gets mad."
Me - "What do you mean, Parker?"
Parker - "It is angry"
Me - "How is that?"
Parker - "It's always frowning at me."

Costa Rica

Just added a new photo album.  Few photos from our Costa Rica trip.

Elk Hunt 2007 - me

My dad has been putting in for an elk tag in the special draw BookCliffs unit for 14 years. This particular unit is roadless meaning he would have to take horses. In 2007 he finally drew so he would finally have the opportunity to take the bull of a lifetime. He has always dreamt of getting a bull that scores 350 or higher….the biggest bull he has killed up till now is 330.

 He persuaded me, Tyler Rasmussen and Bruce Bowen to come with him.

Tyler’s role was to be an elk expert. Tyler can look at a bull a mile away and in seconds can give you a fairly accurate score. This skill ended up being critical based on the number of excellent bulls we saw. Tyler is also an all-around phenomenal bugler. He can do both bull and cow calls with ease and always carried around a reed in his mouth.

 Bruce was the cowboy. We took in six horses and Bruce was in charge of them. For me the most frustrating part of the trip was the horses because they seem unpredictable and dangerous….but very necessary in the roadless area. Bruce was of a completely different opinion having been raised around horses, he said once during the trip; “the worst day horse riding is better than the best day walking”. He saved us a whole day of work with his horse skills. Bruce was also an excellent hunter and elk expert.

 Kent, my dad, was a little of everything above along with being a fabulous hunter with possibly more hunting experience than all the rest of us combined. He has been to Alaska, Africa, Canada, and multiple places in the US big game hunting and having been born and raised in Driggs, Idaho was basically brought up hunting.

 My job was unclear so I declared myself the photographer and must say I did a great job!

 Sunday after church we picked everyone up and were on our way. It was about a four hour drive through the oil fields to get to the BookCliffs we saw a lot of antelope on the way. After getting all the horses ready to go we set off. It was a two hour ride which was not too difficult because my dad and others had already made multiple trips to the area setting up camp and taking in food.

 On one of the trips in to set up camp it was discovered that a small bear had been curiously investigating our camp. His muddy paw prints were all over the collapsed tent…luckily he hadn’t found the food items. When we arrived at camp we saw the fresh paw prints of a bear that we must have scared away on our way in because the tracks were still wet after having recently crossed a stream next to camp.

 We arrived just before dark and could already hear the elk bugling so we decided to go and see what was around instead of unpacking. That first evening we saw two big bulls (330-350s). On any normal hunt you wouldn’t even think twice about going after them.

 That night we got quite the rain and thunder storm but the sun was out the next morning. After getting our gear together and taking a couple of bottled waters each we hiked the mountain right behind our camp. It was steep and took about 45 or so minutes to reach the ridge. Tyler and I reached the summit first and tried a couple of cow calls because we had heard elk on the other side of a bowl we were in. About 5 minutes later a 6 point elk came sprinting towards us and got within 200 yards before stopping. We watched him for a while before he left. When Bruce and my dad arrived we went over that bowl into the next one and heard about 3 bulls in that area. Within 30 minutes or so we had called one in to about 20 yards away. He was a nice 6 point but, again, not what we were after. We recorded some great video of him and it was amazing to see such a magnificent animal up close….I was really excited. We saw a couple of other bulls in that same bowl.

 At about 10:00 am in the same bowl we noticed about 15 cows came running over the ridge straight across from us; they were about 600 yards away. We guessed that many cows together probably meant two things; there would be a bull close behind and he would most likely be a big herd bull. Both assumptions turned out to be correct. Not far behind the cows was a giant bull which both Tyler and Bruce said right away was what we were after. Quickly my dad set up a dead rest, Tyler set up the spotting scope and I started recording.

Tyler guessed that he was in the 370s so we did some cow calling to see if we could get him to stop for long enough to get a good shot. He did stop and at that point he was about 500 yards away. The problem was that he stopped right where his vitals were covered by a bunch of tree branches…my dad passed up the shot. Fifteen seconds later he had chased the cows over the ridge toward a deep ravine.

 We were all excited because now we knew there were some monster bulls in this area and we had seen one. The problem after seeing such a big elk was that every other elk would look small. We sat in the same spot analyzing what we had just seen for about 15 minutes when across the valley we spotted about 10 cows pop out of the ravine where the big bull was headed. We watched them for a minute as they went into some thick timber and probably bedded down for the day. Not far behind them were three other cows being chased by this same bull we had just seen. With the spotting scope we observed and analyzed this bull for 30 minutes as it chased the three cows over the top of the next ridge and out of sight. While we were watching him we discussed that he looked quite tired with his mouth wide open and sweating a bit. We guessed that he most likely bedded for the day right on the other side of the ridge. We knew that it was a long shot but we decided to hike about 4-5 miles around to that ridge and possibly catch him when he came out later that evening in hopes that he would go back to retrieve the 10 cows he left behind.

 On the way there we passed up a couple of good bulls including a nice 7 point that we figured would score 340-350. The elk kept bugling the entire day. When we were about half way to our destination Bruce decided to find a trail down the ravine back to camp. He figured it would take him two hours to get back to camp and upon arrival he would ride a horse back up and meet us. We each had radios and we periodically talked to Bruce every hour on the hour.

 The amazing and unique thing about this area was the strong, musky elk smell that we encountered often, especially when traveling through the thick timber.

Tyler mentioned once that it was like walking through an elk’s living room. Everywhere we went there were also elk droppings every 5 to 10 yards. The quantity of elk in this area was incredible.

 With tired feet we arrived to where we guessed the bull was at about 2:00 in the afternoon and decided to sit there until the bulls got active again. It was really hard to know because the shear quantity of elk in the area made it difficult to decipher where our bull was. Throughout the day about every 15 to 20 minutes we heard a bull bugle from the trees about 400 yards from us. We debated for the next 3 hours whether or not to try to go in the timber and get him….we decided to be patient and wait for him (or who we thought was him). While waiting my dad spotted a nice 350 bull a couple of miles away which we also debated whether or not to pursue.

 The sun was out and it was quite hot, in fact, I got a bit sunburned. But, the bull continued bugling. As it got later in the day other bulls started becoming more active and the multiple bugles got closer to us which made it increasingly difficult to differentiate our bull’s bugle from the rest. Finally, at around 4:50 we stopped hearing the bugle from the same area from which we had heard it all day. Although it was difficult to discern we decided that our bull was on the move and probably headed back to the ridge where he had crossed earlier that morning.

Tyler made the decision to move right away so we took off to the spot and immediately spotted a cow elk coming out of the trees and not far behind was a big bull, but we weren’t sure it was ours. We ran into position about 200 yards from the bull who continued feeding. My dad got a dead rest and I started recording as Tyler kept saying, “I’m not sure it’s him….wait, wait, wait.” Finally he said, “it’s him!”. My dad shot and hit him right behind the shoulders and he ran another 80 yards when he shot again and dropped the bull on the spot.

 We radioed Bruce who had just left camp and he returned to get a couple of horses to pack out the meat. At about 8:00 we had all the horses ready with all the meat and we started the 3 hour trek back to camp in the dark on a pretty rough trail.

 When it was all said and done I couldn’t believe this had just happened! It seemed quite lucky and exciting to me that we had spotted the elk early that morning, he got away, bedded down in an unknown area, we guessed the spot, waited, and the elk happened to come out where we supposed they would. This ended up being a 380 bull! What an amazing hunt! We were able to spend a couple of days in amazing territory and were able to experience the trip of a lifetime.

Elk Hunt 2007 - dad

It’s mid September and I’m off to my “hunt of a life time”, elk hunt.  Similar to many of the hunters I know, I’ve applied in the local draws for years, and finally my time has come!

“Once in a life time hunts”, are worthy of what they say, a hunt that is worth a life time of wanting, waiting, planning and hoping.

My wife, Lynne, thinks I have a “hunt of a life time” 1 to 2 times each year.  Not so.  They have to be different.  The Kodiak bear hunt on the island is an example.  There we lived in a pup tent, walked in wet, hip high boots on ground that tried to suck us in, and worked and sweat.  What a hunt!  The 9 ½ foot beast takes up the entire wall, right here in front of me, as I write this article.

How about the 38 ½ inch mule deer I got on the plains of Alberta.  Freezing cold winds, walking past a 190 inch buck and harvesting the 230 class, freaky horned mule deer, in the middle of his 75 doe harem.  Man, was that a “once in a life time hunt”.

Vancouver Island, with my son Nathan, and his friend, Tyler, was another example.  We each shot huge black bear which measured between 7’2” and 7’6” and skulls over 21 inches.  ‘Bet we couldn’t do that again.

Ten years ago, my daughter, Micah, went with Lynne and me to visit my in-laws in South Africa, where Micah shot her first animal, a large impala.  It turned into quite the social event with our parents taking Micah and Lynne all over South Africa and Zimbabwe and me getting a leopard, greater kudu, eland and 9 to10 other African species.  A true “hunt of a life time” that was.

Not all hunts are “once in a life time hunts”.  I’ve struck out, been hurt, gotten sick and been weathered out of many a potentially great hunt.  Like you, I dream, and plan and manipulate my hunting points, vacations and abilities, to improve my odds of having better hunts.  I’ll even skip years and not hunt to improve my odds.

The Carters and others seem to agree with what I thought was my philosophy, so I take advantage of their expertise as well.

It’s easy, for example, to find a good elk hunt.  We have a lot of elk in the West, yet how do we provide ourselves with that “once in a life time” bull elk hunt?  Six years ago in an incredible area in Utah, with elk screaming in every direction, Micah harvested a 330 bull.  She drew this tag with only 2 points and luck.

Last year, with maximum Utah elk points, it was my year for a tag.  With a British Columbia sheep hunt planned, I chose not to hunt elk, instead, continued to pile up points.  I was not surprise this year, when hearing I had drawn a roadless Bookcliffs bull elk tag.  I had played the system for 14 years.

This hunt is not for the casual hunter.  I recruited my son, Jed, as photographer and muscle man, Bruce Boren, as cowboy and elk expert, and Tyler Rasmussen, as more muscle, elk judger and elk caller deluxe.

We hauled horses and a camp into a good area and scouted some.  It seemed promising, and on the 3^rd day of the 10 day hunt we began hunting.

The bulls were screaming hot and we passed up 330 to350 type bulls all day.  That’s hard to do.  In the late morning, we saw a very good bull with his cows at 500-600 yards, moving very fast.  The country is rough and steep, and an hour later, this herd bull disappeared over a distant ridge with his cows.

Our self appointed panel of experts agreed he was a shooter, but also agreed our odds of finding him again were low.  However, we spent the next 4 to 5 hours getting in a position for a chance to see this bull again.

At 4:30 PM we spotted a nice 350-360 bull with his cows, working a side hill several miles away.  A successful stock on this elk seemed a viable option. We had been hearing a bull below us 300-400 yards, and hoped it was the bigger bull.  As 5:00 PM came, multiple bulls were bugling around us, decreasing our confidence that we knew the location of the bigger bull.

Across the quakie, pine, bedding draw directly in front of us we then heard a bull moving and bugling.  We started after him.  At approximately 400 yards we spotted a big guy, and then closed the distance to 200 yards.  On an open ridge with my recruited, photographers, cowboys and judgers we saw the big bull we had put to bed 6 hours earlier.

We didn’t spend much time scoring him on the hoof.  He just looked great.  An excited shot with my 280 Remington hurt him critically and one more shot put him away.

The photos will never do him justice.  He’s a 7X7 with junk, mass and a lot of character.  I needed a truck load of physical help, 14 Utah points, and as usual, big chunks of slop luck to get him down and home.

He grosses over 380 Boone and Crockett points and is an honest to goodness “hunt of a life time”.

4th of July Fishing

Steven Erekson, Geoff Huntington, Parker and I planned a fishing trip early on the 4th to Strawberry.  Since I haven't fished for about 10 years I went and bought a license at Park Sports.  An old friend I used to work with, Tim Jenkins, worked there so he gave me tons of advice on where to go and what to use for success on Strawberry.

I think it was probably good advice.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to put it to use.  He had told me to take the 1st or 2nd dirt road to the right after the Soldier Creek turn off.  My first mistake was not asking him if it was, in fact, the 1st or 2nd turn off....minor details.  Then, I should have asked what type of vehicle was needed, how far after the turn, etc.  Oh well.

We had the mini-van so off-roading on a random dirt road didn't work too well so we turned around and took a safer route to an unknown area of the lake.  It was quite fun.  Parker had a blast and didn't stop talking the entire time.  Old man Geo caught a nice cutthroat right off the bat.  We caught tons of crayfish, which Parker and I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was fun chatting with Steve while Geo went walking around the like trying to "make it happen".

Parker and Geo were a pretty good team.

Parker liked the attention that Steve and Geo gave him.

We left Orem at 4:30 am....long day.

 

First crayfish of the day.

 

Geo's fish...success!

Easter Weekend in Neola

I always enjoy coming out to Neola, but this Easter weekend has been particularly fruitful.  We had two easter egg hunts, got to spend time with my brother Adam and his family, and went hotdog roasting.  I love doing all of these things, but even more significant was Nyla's first hunting experience.

I've been bugging Nyla since we got married to take a Hunter's Safety Course so that we could spend time together hunting.  I should've looked closer into her interest in hunting before we got married.

Anyway, we went prairie dog hunting today and spotted a nice fat one 205 yards from us.  Because Nyla had only shot a gun once previously she spent about 20 minutes getting comfortable with the gun and trying to find a convenient rest to get a steady shot.  She surprised us all when she finally shot and we all went walking out to see the kill.  She had hit the prairie dog right in the head....great shot!  Adam's son Wyatt (4 years old) was with us and was fascinated....he returned a couple of times and would say, "yep, it's dead."   When we got back to the house my Mom asked Wyatt if anyone got hurt and he said, "yep, the dog."

The location of the harvest was in Monarch, Utah...just south of Neola and one mile from Utah's first oil well (I heard).  Nyla used a Browning 22-250.  Sorry, no pics.

Luke Johnson

This is quite funny.  I used to work with Luke Johnson at ah-ha.com when he would make cold calls all day....tough job, but he made it fun.  My favorite memory of him at work was when he did the booty bounce on the pizza guy.  Good stuff.