With the draws all in and everyone knowing where/what they're hunting this fall, does anyone have any good hunting stories?
I've got a few.
One of my favorites was one of the first years I bowhunted the Missouri River Breaks/CMR with my wife. She wasnt hunting at that time but still came along, mostly to do the calling and to be my ears since I'm substantially hearing impaired.
If you're still reading, this might be a good time for a potty break and a large glass of something enjoyable to drink...
We found some elk. Figured out where they were spending their nights eating and where they'd go to during the day to get away from the hunters.
We knew we couldnt sneak in in the morning to cut them off, so were kinda stuck.
When we got back to the pickup and drove down to the river to fish, we got on top of a good size hill that overlooked a pretty good chunk of that area.
We stopped the truck to sit and kind of formulate a plan.
My wife asked what we had in the truck as far as overnight supplies? Only a couple of random blankets and our daypacks. The good stuff was back in the camper.
That'll work, she says.
After we got skunked with the fishing poles, we parked the pickup at the base of that hill and started making our way to a spot where we'd spread out the blankets and spend the night.
In front of us was a vast expanse of tall green grass filling in the open timber.
We set off on our hike, full of excitement and anticipation.
It wasn't long and we discovered that the tall green grass was actually tall green.....thistles.
And the reason the timber was open?
Many of the Poplar trees had blown over, making a sometimes impassable jumble of logs.
This was all but invisible from our roadside vantage point because of the nice, green, tall thistles.
We struggled through it for what seemed like days. As dark started making it's final approach, it was obvious that we weren't going to get out of the thistle patch any time soon, so we just found a spot next to a downed tree and made our beds on, yep, the thistles.
The overnight was incredible! A full moon with not a hint of a breeze, warm enough that we really didnt need blankets.
Which was good since we needed them under us to save us from the thistles.
Every time I woke up overnight, the elk were bugling close by!
My wife really likes to talk to owls, so when one was hooting close by, she had to reply.
"What do you suppose an owl on the ground sounds like to a big cat?" I asked.
She grabbed her .45 and didnt sleep another wink.
I slept really well. Overslept, in fact.
Despite her best efforts, it was getting light out when I finally got up.
Mistake number 2 was ignoring her suggestions on where to put the cow elk decoy. I was probably 40-50 yards from bed/blind when I heard an elk bugle. It was in the direction of the blind, but well behind it- like hundreds of yards.
I staked the decoy down and started for the blind.
He bugled again but this time MUCH closer. Like, find a hiding spot right now kind of close!
I duck into some brush in time to see a very large bull standing on the other side of the log my wife is next to. He's screaming his lungs out and destroying any brush he can get to. He's pacing back and forth behind that log, looking like he KNOWS there's a hot cow just on the other side of this downed tree.
I couldn't see my wife, but I found out later that she had blown her cow call to get him to come in.
It worked!
I never was able to get a shot because A. My wife was somewhere between me and that elk, B. I was a good 40- 50 yards from him and C. He had a large dead log covering his vitals.
Concerned that he'd jump that tree, I tried using my cow call to lure him away.
No way.
He wouldn't even look up.
He was THAT determined that the girl of his dreams lay just over this dead log.
Concerned about having him in her lap, she had quit using the call and he eventually just wandered off.
I ran over to see where my wife was. She had pretty much crawled UNDER that tree so that if he did jump it, she could get to the other side and keep the tree between them.
I know I don't do it justice, but that hunt was incredible to live it.
I've always been more about the hunt than the kill, and this one really drove home how awesome a hunt can be- even without a kill.
So, let's hear your stories! "Successful" or empty handed, funny or scary!
I've got a few.
One of my favorites was one of the first years I bowhunted the Missouri River Breaks/CMR with my wife. She wasnt hunting at that time but still came along, mostly to do the calling and to be my ears since I'm substantially hearing impaired.
If you're still reading, this might be a good time for a potty break and a large glass of something enjoyable to drink...
We found some elk. Figured out where they were spending their nights eating and where they'd go to during the day to get away from the hunters.
We knew we couldnt sneak in in the morning to cut them off, so were kinda stuck.
When we got back to the pickup and drove down to the river to fish, we got on top of a good size hill that overlooked a pretty good chunk of that area.
We stopped the truck to sit and kind of formulate a plan.
My wife asked what we had in the truck as far as overnight supplies? Only a couple of random blankets and our daypacks. The good stuff was back in the camper.
That'll work, she says.
After we got skunked with the fishing poles, we parked the pickup at the base of that hill and started making our way to a spot where we'd spread out the blankets and spend the night.
In front of us was a vast expanse of tall green grass filling in the open timber.
We set off on our hike, full of excitement and anticipation.
It wasn't long and we discovered that the tall green grass was actually tall green.....thistles.
And the reason the timber was open?
Many of the Poplar trees had blown over, making a sometimes impassable jumble of logs.
This was all but invisible from our roadside vantage point because of the nice, green, tall thistles.
We struggled through it for what seemed like days. As dark started making it's final approach, it was obvious that we weren't going to get out of the thistle patch any time soon, so we just found a spot next to a downed tree and made our beds on, yep, the thistles.
The overnight was incredible! A full moon with not a hint of a breeze, warm enough that we really didnt need blankets.
Which was good since we needed them under us to save us from the thistles.
Every time I woke up overnight, the elk were bugling close by!
My wife really likes to talk to owls, so when one was hooting close by, she had to reply.
"What do you suppose an owl on the ground sounds like to a big cat?" I asked.
She grabbed her .45 and didnt sleep another wink.
I slept really well. Overslept, in fact.
Despite her best efforts, it was getting light out when I finally got up.
Mistake number 2 was ignoring her suggestions on where to put the cow elk decoy. I was probably 40-50 yards from bed/blind when I heard an elk bugle. It was in the direction of the blind, but well behind it- like hundreds of yards.
I staked the decoy down and started for the blind.
He bugled again but this time MUCH closer. Like, find a hiding spot right now kind of close!
I duck into some brush in time to see a very large bull standing on the other side of the log my wife is next to. He's screaming his lungs out and destroying any brush he can get to. He's pacing back and forth behind that log, looking like he KNOWS there's a hot cow just on the other side of this downed tree.
I couldn't see my wife, but I found out later that she had blown her cow call to get him to come in.
It worked!
I never was able to get a shot because A. My wife was somewhere between me and that elk, B. I was a good 40- 50 yards from him and C. He had a large dead log covering his vitals.
Concerned that he'd jump that tree, I tried using my cow call to lure him away.
No way.
He wouldn't even look up.
He was THAT determined that the girl of his dreams lay just over this dead log.
Concerned about having him in her lap, she had quit using the call and he eventually just wandered off.
I ran over to see where my wife was. She had pretty much crawled UNDER that tree so that if he did jump it, she could get to the other side and keep the tree between them.
I know I don't do it justice, but that hunt was incredible to live it.
I've always been more about the hunt than the kill, and this one really drove home how awesome a hunt can be- even without a kill.
So, let's hear your stories! "Successful" or empty handed, funny or scary!
Hunting is hunting, right?
