September 7 Elk Scouting

With the season opening in just two more days, I was excited to see my truck read only 39 degrees this morning as I arrived at my spot. There were a few bulls talking and I did my best to get a look at them without them knowing I was there. The first bull I saw was really lighting it up. He was about a 320" 6x6 with a unique split beam. I decided to forgo trying to film him in hopes of finding his competitor who was also talking a bit. I hadn'd seen the other bull yet, but it was worth the gamble. We are looking for bulls over the magic 350" mark. Unfortunately the other bull was even smaller. I did however get some great footage of him raking and bugling. Later in the morning I was also able to slip in on a couple small 6 points who seemed to be sharpening up their sparring skills. Didn't find any "shooters" this morning, but still had a good time.

The "Bee" Bull

Took my wife and kids out for a hike with me to check one of my trail cameras tonight. When we got close we could here a bull bugling, so we crept closer and got in some cover waiting for the bull to come out in a meadow. After just a few minutes, he followed a couple cows out and put on a show for us that lasted about 5 minutes. On the hike back out I stepped on a bee hive. My youngest son was right on my heels and we instantly felt the pain of the many angry bees. We will always remember this bull as the bee bull.

Sept. 4 Bugling Bulls!

Got into a couple screamers this morning! Both of these bulls were with cows and loved to let everything in the woods know about it. The second bull actually came over the ridge hot on a cow panting and glunking like it was the peak of the rut! I can't believe it is only Sept. 4! If this is any indication, it ought to be an exciting month in the woods!

The "Droopy" Buck

While stalking a group of six bucks this morning, we bumped into "Droopy".  We had to enter the tree line out of sight from the bucks we had glassed at first light in order to get in front of them. For some reason they were not taking much time to feed. Just shortly after entering the trees, we saw him. Unfortunately, he saw us first! We had a stare down for about two minutes as he chewed the remaining grass that was in his mouth. When he was finished, he quickly walked away to our right and we were unable to get on him again.

While looking for "Droopy" this evening, we were able to slip in to 30 yards of this young 3 point.

Lori's Spot and Stalk Muley

After glassing all morning without finding a monster to chase, Jeremiah called his wife. We had glassed a three point at first light and kept tabs on him as the morning glassing session wore on. She decided she would come out and put the stalk on it after she dropped their oldest daughter off at school. Lori arrived with cold drinks :) and we began our stalk at about 9:30. At 11:30 she let an arrow fly!

The arrow is on its way in the upper right part of the pic!

Jeremiah's Close Call

I went out looking for a deer this morning with Shane Koury and Jeremiah Johnson. Jeremiah and I have spent a TON of time in the woods and were ready for some new scenery. Shane took us in to one of his trusty spots and it did not disappoint. Right off the bat we glassed up a couple small bucks and some does. After picking the hillside apart and not finding any more deer, we hiked over the ridge to glass the other direction. Immediately we picked up some bucks. One of them was a borderline buck. After some convincing, Jeremiah grabbed his bow and off we went with Shane on point. The stalk went perfect. The bucks fed over the ridge as we were moving into position. As we worked towards the edge, anticipating a shot opportunity, a doe and small buck fed up out of a cut we couldn't see and busted us! As they bound down the back side they took our "shooter" with them. So close to closing the deal! Thanks for the help Shane!

August 19 Elk

Found this bull on opening morning of the archery deer hunt. He has a great left side but short G4 and no fifth on the right.

One Day Before Archery Deer Season!

Only one day left before archery deer season and I still haven't found "the" buck I want to shoot. I have spent many days looking along with my friend Jeremiah, but a couple shooter bucks we found early on have eluded us for several weeks. This evening we decided to go to another spot that has been good in previous years and came across this group of three bucks. Jeremiah's dad, Mark was with us and is anxious to chase a couple of these four points around opening morning.

August 15 Muleys!

With Archery deer season just around the corner, I thought I would share some footage of a little 4 point muley I found while scouting for elk this morning.

Diaper Sniper, "Elk"

I had the opportunity to hunt elk with Skyler Koury, AKA "The Diaper Sniper" and his dad Shane Koury, owner of Koury Guide Service, this last weekend on a limited opportunity elk hunt. After locating a couple of shooters during several scouting trips, the elk had lady luck on their side for the first few days. On Monday, we continued to look for the needle in a haystack. With so few elk, especially "shooters", the hunt seemed to be turning into mission impossible! Late in the morning we cut some fresh tracks and began the three and a half hour tracking job. While the soft sand provided a good trail, the dense cover offered very few shot opportunities. Finally, after a few close calls, Skyler was able to touch off a round and put down his bull with just one well placed shot. The bull didn't know what hit him and never got out of his bed! Congrats on a great bull Skyler!