Mossy Oak Forum / Hunting / Big Game

MICHIGAN ELK

416LJT — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:09:16 GMT

Application Period:
May 1 - June 1, 2008 FOR CHANCE AND APPLICATIONS

BUFFALO & ELK FIGHTING!!

BowBo — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:42:49 GMT

.
Definately a rare sight.............. very cool someone actually caught it on video!

http://my.break.com/Content/view.aspx?ContentID=458526

Application deadlines are here

pabowhunter — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:00:06 GMT

Well folks, for those who look forward to hunting the rockies the time is near for the application deadlines. Some deadlines have already passed.

I'm giving Montana another try and the usual Colorado perference points. MT is due March 15th and CO is April 1.

Apply while you can unless you prefer over the counter tags.

What is the.........?

BowBo — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:56:44 GMT

What is the ONE animal that you would just die to hunt and kill?

For me, my biggest craving is to kill a big ole Bull Elk!

I have many others I would love to hunt.......... but Elk is my most desirable right now!

What is yours??

5 day African Hunt giveaway

RajunCajun — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:30:42 GMT

A friend is having a contest on his website to give away a 5 day hunt in Africa!

You have to work to get a shot at this one!

Here is the link............

http://www.gohuntingandfishing.com/community/modules/smf/index.php?topic=773.0

Thought you guys might be interested in taking a shot at winning this.

Not many signed up yet!

Pig Hunting

jlee477 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:55:38 GMT

Here's the news story http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333850,00.html Operation Bacon is underway.

bows for bears

travo — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:53:31 GMT

got a nice bowhunt planned up in northern minnesota for this fall, hunting black bears and deer. here is a bear harvested off of one of our stands last fall. cant wait. my buds and i are chippin in for a black bear target, and i just bought a 2 man ladder stand and an electric feeder. cant wait.

WA, Montesano Pig hunting?

waterboy4786 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:17:13 GMT

So me and a buddy were trying to plan a weekend hunt for some Montesano Pigs and we call up every sporting goods store and gun shop and they all say it was a rumor that there are even pigs down there. My question is has anyone here gone and hunted pigs anywhere around there, from the Olympics to Montesano to Aberdeen? I really want to go bag a pig and now im depressed. So someone please tell me differently!!! If not, is there anywhere on the west coast of WA that has pigs or any really good Coyote spots? Let me know please. THANKS

Wolves delisted

pabowhunter — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:24:19 GMT

The government delisted Gray Wolves from the endangered list. I'm interested to see what the season and the tag situation will be.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/02/21/wolves.delisting.ap/index.html?eref=rss_tech

Some Hog hunting Pics from this weekend.

HeadHunter — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:45:43 GMT

This is the groundblind I hunted.

The View I was looking at.If you look real hard(124 Yards) you can see the feeder.

The bloodtrail.

Some more blood and part of the heart.

30 yard tracking job.

My cousin's Yote

Elk Hunting in Colorado

waterboy4786 — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:33:50 GMT

well i am moving to Fort Collins in May of this year and i am new to elk hunting. I can't wait to do it but i really am not sure on what i'll need, what the specific tags and points i will need are and if i'll even have a chance to hunt next year since i'll have to wait for citizenship. I still need to do reasearch on the gmu's and all the colorado regs, but if you guys have any info that will help me out in doing so that would be much appreciated. I also wanted to know what is an all around good gun for elk and big game in general. I was thinking of picking up a 7mm mag from a guy i know but i was going to wait to get some outsider info and see if there was a better choice. ALSO, i have too many questions, haha, what is the most common camo pattern used up at 9000 feet? I currently live in Washington state, in the seattle area so elk hunting over here is limited. I do a Mule Deer hunt everyyear with my dad and all of his brothers on public land and we do pretty good. I've harvested a few good bucks and a doe when i was 15. But now im moving out with my girl to colorado and want to really do some hunting. Thanks again guys and i hope to hear from someone!

WOW ~ and in ILLINOIS??

BowBo — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:26:56 GMT

I saw this on another forum.............

HUGE KITTY CAT!!!

Killed in Calhoun County Illinois

Rumor is: killed by a soccer mom in an SUV

Can any of our Illinois members confirm this story?? Or anyone else for that matter?

Going Pig Huntin

HeadHunter — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:25:11 GMT

with a bunch of fellas from my forum.

http://www.wildcountryarchery.com/viewtopic.php?t=3867&highlight=

I will have a few pics hopefully next week to share.

Broadhead for elk

Jclayton1 — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:53:25 GMT

I'm heading to Colorado in september to bowhunt elk and I'm looking for some advice on broadheads. I've been shooting 100 gr. satellite's for a couple of years on deer, but I have pretty much decided to switch to a Magnus Buzzcut 4 blade. I shoot a PSE Rogue at 64 lbs. What do you all think, 100 gr. or 125 gr.?

--> WHOA NELLY!!

BowBo — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:01:02 GMT

Now that's a truck load!!!

Elk Hunting in Selway Zone, Idaho

dupedc — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:34:12 GMT

First time in the Selway. Big country...mostly wilderness. I'll be hunting with camp on my back. I'm researching the best access points to begin with. Any ideas on trailheads or drainages to check out? The Selway consists of units 16A, 17, 19, and 20. Anybody with experience in this area? I have an A Tag, which means October 1-31. Thanks for your input!

GETTING READY TO DO A LITTLE HOG HUNTING IN A COUPLE WEEKS.

HeadHunter — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:32:35 GMT

We put out 6 trashcans full of bakery bait Saturday.My cousin has some trail cam pics to post.We are going to start hitting his place here in a couple of weeks.The hogs are in there good.A lot of midday pics.

Africa meeting

TOM — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:44:25 GMT

I hit it off so well with my professional hunters in Africa that they are coming over to visit me here in a few weeks. I'm putting on a little meet and greet for them. I have a place (bar and grille) set but now i'm just getting people excited about it. Right now i have about 15 guys confirmed. I'm going to try and post a pic of my flyer here.

Ever wanted to go on an African Safari?

But thought you couldn’t afford it? An African Safari is more affordable than you think!

You are invited to meet Professional Hunters Ryno Smit and Alex Krugel of Wild Game Safaris Africa! They will be holding an informational meeting about booking an affordable hunting or photographic safari to South Africa!

When – Saturday, February 9, 2008 - social at 6:00 pm with presentation starting around 6:30

Where - Frankie and Johnny's Pub and Grille - 17209 S. 71 Hwy Belton, MO 64012
(located on the East side of 71 Hwy & barely South of the 58 Hwy overpass)

I truly hope to see you there. Call me if you have ANY questions. Thanks.
Host: Tom Addleman
(816) 213-6646
(660) 227-9990
tomaddleman@yahoo.com

Hog hunting

pbg40g — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:21:07 GMT

Any of you other Georgia folks know a good place to hunt hogs that isn't too expensive?

Mods, if this would belong better somewhere else, please let me know.

~How many bulles do you take with you hunting?

Southerngirl — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:13:26 GMT

Cracker made me think of this. I normally only take 4 for my 30/30, what about everyone else?

Elk Hunting

mainstreet — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:04:45 GMT

I am trying to do a DIY elk hunt in colorado. Looking for any advice on where to go. This will be my first attempt at a western hunt, so any advice would be appreciated. Continue Reading...

Planning for next year

pabowhunter — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:15:58 GMT

It may seem early but in a lot of the states you need to get your plans togather and apply for tags in the next couple months. I think Wyoming elk applications are due the end of this month.

I've been tossing ideas around already, I have one buddy interested in heading back to MT. I still need to build some preference points in CO, although I do miss hunting the high country there. Pickings are slim for me so far, a lot of my buddies aren't planning any hunts for next year.

So anyone planning any big game hunts for next season?

bow hunting elk in wa

hippimon — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:50:55 GMT

hi my name is james and im going to bow hunt roosevelts in wa on thanksgiving and was wondering which calls are most effective when there not in rut? any help is appreciated thanks.

Wifey's Mulie.....

bubbaokie — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:24:56 GMT

I haven't been on here in some time. I used to be a regular. Just reupped last night. Here is a pic of my wife's mulie she took last week here on our ranch in western Oklahoma. Taken at 260 yards with my son's new 22-243 (8 twist) smithed by Mike Bryant of Wheeler, TX. The 80 grain Sierra was put right in the 10-Ring and the deer never took another step.

MY Oregon Archery Roosevelt 6x6 Pic Heavy.........

HawkeyeBilt — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:54:09 GMT

Hello Good People,

I know this is a little late and some may have already seen it on another forum. My passion is archery hunting roosevelt elk and blacktail deer. My dad has been bowhunting for 30 years and got me into it when i was 13. Have not missed a season since "Just turned 31". I got a few years under my belt for my age. Pops builds game carts in his spare time hence the name "hawkeyebilt" .
We had an amazing archery season this year. we ended up with 2 p&y bulls one 3 point a cow and one full velvet 4x4 coastal blacktail deer. I got a video coming out on our 2007 hunt on October 30. I got a little video trailer on my website. We show off our carts and our hunts in the video......anyways........

Day 2 of Archery elk season. We located a bull by his bugle. It was a faint bugle but we were sure it was a elk and not a hunter. We answered him and waited. The next bugle was even more faint. The bull was moving down the mountain. We sneaked about 1/4 mile further in the timber and set up. He answered us again. but we could tell he was pushing his cows down the hill. The next time he sounded off he was a ways from where we had heard him last so we packed up and this time hiked till we got right in his grill. I could see he had about 25 cows spread out through the timber. i knew i was not going to be making a sneak on this heard bull. So this time being this close to him we felt we had a great chance to turn this bull. My buddy hiked up the hill about 75 yards to call. My camera guy was right next to me. As soon as we Bugled at the bull he turned and he was coming to kick some @ss! I shot him at 25 yards broadside. He ran about 60 yards and the mighty royal rosie droped. I looked over at todd my camera man he was white as a ghost. He said " that was the most amazing thing i'd ever seen." It was his first year bowhunting and he didn't know what to expect. I was hoping he would do what he did and stand his ground. I had a little odd feeling that he was going stand up and run. He did a good job and to say he is hooked for life would be a under statement. Here's some pics of this hunt.......

Baaaaa!!!

Coopersdesign — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:01:20 GMT

Couple of shots of a Utah local...

Close-up Deer Portraits

Coopersdesign — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:58:38 GMT

Hey everybody, here are a few more cool shots from the rut this year.
You can see more on our website under the "new photos".

Big 'Ol Ruttin Bulls

Coopersdesign — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:48:24 GMT

From the annual trip to Yellowstone NP.

The Buffalo Harvest.

FL_Cracker — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:13:54 GMT

This is a long read, but flows very well and is a great story. I borrowed it from another site but thought y'all might enjoy it as I did.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/five/buffalo.htm

Moose Down!

NoDak_Hunter — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:03:15 GMT

I don't how else to say it but flat out. I've shot a moose.

I woke up at 5:20 this morning, and we left at about 6:10. We got there a little bit early, and that was just fine. We unhooked the flat-bed so we didnt have to haul it around. Sunrise was 7:47, but legal shooting time was half hour before, so legal shooting was at 7:17, but with the overcast you couldnt have seen much through a scope anyway. We drove around a bit, went back to the trailer to meet up with a friend of my dads who wanted to ride along. We continue to drive areas that look 'moosey', and at 8:30 we spot a moose, but we couldnt get a good look. He went down in a slough, we drove along it, and he got out from behind us! We hauled to the road to chase him down, but when we got close enough, I saw he wasnt anything special. The equivalent to a spike-buck. My dad was sort of wanting me to shoot, but I held my fire. I could've taken him, but I knew it was the first day of the season an hour after legal shooting time, so I decided against it. I'm glad I did.

We keep driving around for a few hours, nothing. We made our way to a local small town with a cafe to eat. The guy my dad had been talking to about moose in that area happened to be in there. He said there was a good bull a few miles from a town about 13 miles away, so we went and checked that out. We made a semi-circle around the particular sunflower field he had mentioned, nothing. We came back, come down the road, BAM. My dads friend and I at the same time yell 'Moose!". He's about 175 yards away, and making his way towards the flowers, he stopped to look at us, probably evaluating what he was going to do. Beings there was little hiding cover where he came from, he went for the sunflowers. That, was his demise. We crept along the road towards where he was going to cross, finally we stopped. I got out, waited for him to get to the road, BAM. I must have been shaky because I rear-ended him, didnt ruin much for meat though. He got up and tried to start trotting again, but I put another one him this time more steady in his shoulder area, and i'll tell ya, that bullet sent him straight down! But he still wasnt dead, he drug himself into the field about 5 yards and fell to his side, throwing his head up but not really being able to get up. We wait a little bit, thinking he'll die, but he didnt. Thats where the 20ga slugs I braught along came in. I went down on the road, waited for him to try and throw his head again, he did, I shot, paralized him(back of the neck). But guess what? Still breathing! I go from the other side, and I let my dad shoot where he thought was right in the neck. He shot, and I actually saw hot air escaping, so I thought he hit the windpipe. Nope! Still breathing. We couldnt wait for 'maybe he'll die' we wanted to get him dead so we could start the cleaning process. One more slug into the neck, and that finally did it.

After that, we went through the process of cleaning him out. Imagine a heart the size of a soccer ball. It took a come-along and a jack to get his rear end onto the end of the flat-bed, but after that was up he went on without a problem. Braught him home, took some pictures, my bro came over and helped clean the rest of the junk out.
His rack measured 40in, with 26in long palms. 15 pictures taken. Gunna finish the roll off with pronghorn on Sunday.
I seriously tryed getting pictures. I took pictures with the camera phone, but when I try to send to acxessmypics.com or try to send it to someone, it says 'failure to send'.

Oh, and one more thing. Where my dad saw that young bull and cow that he wanted to go after? Yeah, the guy called and said a good bull was walking across his field. Even if I hadnt gotton this one, we still would have had that one!

Moose, and pronghorn, pictures coming soon.

'08 Elk Trip

NerdHick — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:33:52 GMT

Well we spent the whole day today driving around and checking out the country...we saw over 100 mule deer, several good bucks and one GREAT one. Also saw a big ole yote but he was in a pasture with cows and we didn't want to try that. Saw one 300 class or so bull elk, didn't see any cows where we were but we can't hunt there anyway. As you can see below there are cows around somewhere but the ones in the pic were taken with a paid outfitter...not what we are trying to do (might have to though...)

Not ours but they were getting hung up when we got back today...

Pretty cool pic of the moon...

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?

Super Walmart in NW Colorado!! This is a store out in the middle of NO where, I mean there isn't anything for 50 miles in each directions and the place is a mile or so off the road!

Stan and my Dad at the look out.

Here is a crippled wild horse, hard to see this, we also saw 3 dead ones...

We're gonna start hunting in the AM, just got a call from my buddy and we need to be out of here at 4:30 in the AM to see if we can cut some off!! Wish us luck!!

Days are counting down!

NerdHick — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:25:34 GMT

Til I head west...plans have changed a bit and will get to NE on Thur night and leave for CO first thing Friday AM...

WHAT TO BRING!?!?!?

I have my gun & ammo already there.

Packed so far:
overalls
down vest
heavy coat
not so heavy coat
blaze orange
winter hat
ball cap
boots
knife
binos
range finder
crappy gloves (will be stopping at Cabelas on the way to CO )

Need to pack yet:
socks
license
Non Hunting Stuff

What else will I need??? Never did a hunting trip like this!!

Snow bear

pabowhunter — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:34:53 GMT

This morning was the PA bear season opener. We had a good snow fall yesterday into this morning. There's 10-12 inches up on the mountain this morning. I was happy to just be able to get the quad up there for a day out hunting. Here are a few pictures of the sceenery just after daybreak. It was an awesome cold crisp morning!

The activity was slow, a spike buck came by around 8:30. Then at 10 I heard a rustle and saw a bear heading away from below. I didn't have much time to think about it so as soon as I saw an opening I took a shot. I could see and hear the 7 mag hit it's mark. The bear was bounding back towards where it came from. It paused for a second so I let another one fly. I was relieved to see it wasn't going anywhere! Those saplings are not easy to get a shot through.

Now I can get back to scouting for a good buck up there! Heading to the weigh station so I'll catch you all later

Montana 2007

pabowhunter — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:44:34 GMT

I'm back from Montana and it was a great trip. It's just something about the rockies this time of year that keeps me coming back. I can't get enough of elk hunting in the rut! To me the 35 hour drive is worth it.

I mentioned in another tread how our hunt has been changing as a result of the fires out there. Well it was no different once we got out there. Although the final change was to the good, instead of getting packed in on Wednesday we were getting packed in on Monday (the ban was lifted early). Here are a few pictures on the way in.

At the trailhead

Some great sceenery on the ride!

We even saw a black bear on the way in. I had a tag for one but we weren't hunting just yet, our orange was packed in the gear and the outfitter told us we can't shoot without it. Oh well, there'll be other days.

We got to our camp site, set up the tent, put on orange and threw our gear inside to get a little walk in on our first evening. My buddy never hunted out west so this was all new to him. We headed to an area the outfiller said alway does them good. We worked our way high on a ridge to sit and listen, I started eating a sandwich from lunch. Then we hear some rubbing and footsteps followed by a bugle. I only had half my sandwich down so I tucked that away and we set up to call. We agreed my buddy would get the first shot at an elk so I got down and started calling. The bull came in fast and hot. All I could see was the tops of his antlers and asked can't you shoot? My buddy told me he was behind a falldown. The bull turned and was walking away so I called again. This time he came in again but walked a little farther to give him a clear 40 yard shot. He let him have it, the bull only over a small rise to where we found him.

Yea, he's never elk hunted before and gets one after two hours of hunting. I told him it doesn't always work out that way. But you know how beginners luck can be. He shot a nice 6x6.

More to come....

Last minute changes

pabowhunter — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:08:11 GMT

Up until last week we were going on a DIY bowhunt in MT. I've been watching a few outfitters that provide drop camps in the winderness areas. My buddy gave the one a call last week and worked out a deal. Looks like we're packing in to the back country for a 9 day drop camp.

It was nice to get out there last year for late season but I kind of missed the excitement of the rut. I'm really looking forward to the trip. I've never tought I would be able to hunt this early in the season with a rifle.

We've asked about taking our bows but the outfitter mentioned it may be difficult being rifle season starts 10 days before we there. We're packing in on the 25th. I have 3 tags in my pocket, elk, deer and bear. I've always wanted to hunt this area and this is my chance!

--> CREATOR OF HUNTER DAN

BowBo — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:31:22 GMT

From Crawfordsville, In.

Gorgeous Elk!

http://www.hoosierhunting.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=33;t=000534;p=1#000005

2007 Colorado Elk trip

NYBUCK — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:38:20 GMT

Ok I will try and cover as much as possible and hope I don't bore you ......

We left on Friday September 14th and drove straight through to Walden Colorado. A long drive but with 3 of us it wasn't too bad. We did stop at Cabelas in Sydney Nebraska and I spent way too much money. Oh well.

We got our liscense and decided that it was only 3 pm so we might as well go to our hunting spot and set up camp.

Here is my home for the next 7 days .....

Here is Waynes home .....

And of course Johns Home .....

This is the three of us at Cabelas .....

Wayne, myself, and John ....

Well the first day, Sunday, we were pretty excited. John went off on his own (he hunts with a long bow and a good guy. Wayne and I hunted together for the first 4 days. We called all morning, heard a few distant bugles but nothing came in. At noon we went to check out a couple wallows that we saw last year and where I saw a big bull last year.

We even set up a decoy that Wayne bought .....

As soon as we got set up and started eating lunch, the skies turned form blue to a dark grey and we got soaked. Then the sun came out and dried us out a little. We decided to head to the dark timber. We stopped a few places and called. The last place we stopped at it was extremely thick. Wayne and I both called a little and the next thing I knew I heard a big crash and running throught the brush. I could see a nice bull coming along the ridge. I stopped him 3 times with my "hoochie mama" call but each time he was behind a tree. The last time, all he had to do was go 10 more yards and I would have had a 15 foot wide shooting lane and I would have had a 40 yard shot on a broadside Colorado bull. The wind was in my face and everything was perfect, except he decided to turn and go crashing over the mountain. Gone. We waited 15 or so minutes and then I went up to Wayne and said that was absolutely awesome. The first day and we called in a bull. It was going to be a good week, so I thought.

Shortly after that, the skies let loose again, this time hail. And I mean big hail. We tried to find cover but it didn't help much as we got pelted with theese large BB's. Wayne even took out the decoy and we used it as an umbrella. If anyone could have saw us they would have laughed there butt off.

Some of the hail ...

We were soaked again so we headed up the mountain and stopped to call a few more times then called it a day. Back at camp we died out and as soon as we got done with dinner it hailed again. We were in our tents by 7:30 and never came back out. It rained most of the night.

The second day we headed up the hill with lots of hight hopes. We heard a few distant bugles again and moved around and called all day. Nothing. No more bugles. At about 11 am we set up and called and I looked over my shoulder and there stood another hunter. I went and talked to this guy who was from Michigan and he was already depressed at the lack of sign. He said he was with another guy and there were two more hunters camping in the same spot as them. Nothing else the rest of the day. We got back ate dinner, and just like the night before he skies let loose once again. It rained, and I mean it rained hard all night and into the morning. We didn't even get out of our tents until 11 am (eastern time). We hiked, called, hiked and called some more to no avail. Here is some of the areas we were hunting.

Some spots were pretty open ....

Most of the spots we hunted were very thick like this ....

The third day turned out pretty nice except the wind was gusting about 20 35 mph all day and everyday after that. Each day it got warmer and warmer until it hit 75 degrees. Way to warm for elk to be moving good. We had a low the first mornig of about 32 (most mornings were in the mid 40's) and highs in the 70's and very windy. You could not even here each other call. This day we also heard a bugle, well we thought. It turned out to be other hunters and we actually "bugled" them in. There was three of them. We talked for a while and they were saying how they haven't heard any bugles. There were there two weeks ago and the elk were going nuts. GREAT

The week before was muzzleloading season and the one guy, a local said there was a lot of pressure. He also said there were more bow hunters in this area than he has ever seen. We knew of 10. Lord only knows how many more were in there. It is a big area but when the elk get spooked they shut right up, so I am told. We attribute some of this to an article written in North American Hunter that stated this area was one of the to 10 hot spots in the country for elk. By now we were pretty discouraged. We hunted hard for the next 4 days but never heard another bugle or even saw a cow. I did manage to see a bull moose the second to last day that got my heart pumping. Like I said each day got warmer and warmer and made for real tough hunting when your hiking at 10,000 to 11,000 feet.

We went this week becuse we thought they would be more vocal. I think the pressure dove the elk out and the warm, windy weather kept the ones that were there locked down. Now don't think that I am complaining, becuase I know that is hunting. I just know I will not be going back to this area anytime soon. We still had a great time and just camping and hanging out with these guys made it all worth while. Wayne and I had some good laughes and we worked our tails off. The country alone is absolutely beautiful. We saw mule deer, antelope (on the way out), a pine martin, sage grouse and numerous squirrels and various birds. There is nothing like the Colorado Rockies.

Here are a few pics from the area ......

ND Sheep

NoDak_Hunter — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:41:21 GMT

Just got done reading this on Nodak Outdoors, thought it was a good story.

well the 14th of september me and my friend set off on our what we call our "antelope and muley expedition" but this year i was fortunate enough to draw a sheep tag so we had limited time to hunt antelope and muleys. we stayed just north of grassy butte ND.
so first off we started muley hunting that morning and seen a few but nothing to do anything with and thats about how the whole weekend and week went... i did get lucky at a waterhole and got a nice 13-14" goat. then once we got him all cut up and in the freezer we met my grandpa and dad in dickinson and stayed there for the night. the plan was to go antelope hunting in the morning and be back for the meeting which we were to attend for the sheep hunt at 2. so to my buddies luck.... he got a 9" goat off the road in the ditch around 10:45ish i think it was. lol... which yes is legal to shoot them in the ditches or road if the land on the side is not posted.
so we got him all cut up and in the cooler and headed to dickinson for the meeting.
so the meeting lasted for about an hour and a half which it was pretty interesting, learned a lot of things i didnt know about sheep. and seen the sheep that was killed in december by a female mountain lion and her kitten. which would have been a state record if someone has shot it. and the sheep biologist guy tought us what we had to do when we got our sheep. like we had to swab its throat for a certain disease they get and weigh them and all that stuff... so after the meeting we went and scouted at the place we had planned to hunt in the morning. when we got there we were surprised to see 3 sheep on the other side of the butte which we planned to hunt (which 1 of them is what i went on and shot eventually) but we got out of there as fast as we could so we didnt spook them.
so friday morning we wake up to it pouring... of course nobody wanted to go out but i did... so we went out almost went off the road a few times becuase the clay stuff we had to drive on was horrible from the rain... so we wakled up to the hill which seemed like forever. because we had to walk about 3 miles to it because we couldnt drive any further because of the rain. when we finaly got there we were already soaked but we all sat there trying to find some sheep. about an hour into it my buddy fell asleep so i got bored and started walkin around the butte to see if i could see anything on the other side. when i came around the corner i seen a white butt about 300 yards away. my first intinct... o its just a mule deer. but then 2 more butts showed up. so i quick grabbed my binoc's up and looked. sheep! i quick turn to sneak to cover then out of nowhere to my left. the big guy we had seen in the summer. about 400 yards away stood high on a cliff looking around. i just dropped and laid there. watching in amazement he started walking kind of downhill and into some evergreens and vanished :confused:
of course they dont get that big by being dumb... so i snuck back to tell them there were sheep in the other side of the butte. so we watched the 3 for a while and they bedded down. after a while we were all freezing so i said well you guys watch the sheep and ill go get some food and drinks. so i went to go get drinks and i came back... which took about an hour and half from the long walk. when i get back my buddy and my granpda are both sleeping. i wake them up and say. where are the sheep? they both look at eachother and go i dont know... so there kinda went that day... so after a few more hours we left and headed back to camp. we woke up saturday morning to still crappy roads but got a little further this time but still had a long long walk... as we were wakling up to our spot i spotted 3 sheep on the cliff. i told everyone to get down and after a while the sheep walked over the other side. so to make this day short... we sat for like 12 hours and seen nothing after that. now sunday. woke up to a nice blue sky morning and could drive as far as we wanted. but still parked about a mile away to not spook any sheep. so we get up there and we heard a shot... which sounded like a big gun. i just thought... crap the only other guy in the unit probably just shot at the sheep and there gone now... (because only 6 tags were issued this year in north dakota, and my unit was the only one with 2 hunters). so i laid down and tried to sleep and my buddy was already sleeping again lol. so i wake up to my dad saying KYLE KYLE!!! in a hard whisper. "grab your gun and range finder real slow and come over here". so i start reaching for my gun and i hear. NO STOP! just dont move there to far. so i get stuck laying there for a good 15 minutes as the sheep slowly but surely come down the butte. so i slowly grabbed my gun and range finder and brought it to the edge of the evergreens we were hiding in to get ready to shoot. my buddy was laying in the open and had to lay there for about 30 mins before then went down a little hill and we had him roll over to us lol. so when they were down the hill i grabbed a backpack to rest my gun on and we waited... and waited. and waited... finally we see on looking over the hill right at us... this was about say 10 o clock... my dad had spotted them at about 9. anyways they would take turns looking over the hill to make sure of no danger... and would go back down. they did this for about 3 hours or so. finally all 3 were on top... this was about 230 yards away... i got ready to shoot but i could tell which one was bigger there was 2 nice ones and a little guy. so i got stuck deciding and by the time i did they went back down the hill again but kept on going... everyone just thought... well there they go we aint gonna see them again... so about 30 minutes later my grandpa says. LOOK DOWN BELOW US! all 3 were out there in the open about 180 yards away. i quick switch positions and get the gun on 1. they both were standing by eachother now so i could see which one was bigger. when i did decide they were both in line with eachother so i couldnt take a shot or i would have hit both of them... finally the one stepped out. BOOM! my grandpa, dad, and my friend all said at the same time. which one are you shooting at!!! BOOM! BOOM! i said. that 1. which was now laying on the ground. that was the coolest moment i think ive ever had hunting in my life... everyone jumping around screaming and hugging eachother. well about 5 minutes later we started our way down. of course me running. down like straight cliffs and straight up. they were all yelling at me to slow down and not get hurt. i didnt care i was bolting to the sheep. but the time i got to it i looked back and the rest of them werent even half ways there yet. i was the proudest kid in the world when i had his huge horns in my hands
while i was inspecting it there was no need for a 2nd and 3rd shot... the first shot had went thru both lungs... and it was just wobbling so i shot him again and it just stood there. and my 3rd shot i shot as he was falling lol. like my grandpa always said though... you can only kill an animal once... so i kept shootin til he was down... well we had the biologist come and plug his horn and then he was officially mine! well sorry again for the long story i was just excited and had to type it all and finally here are the pictures!!!

The pronghorn:

#3 ND elk

NoDak_Hunter — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:52:19 GMT

Check this out, just saw this today. Apparently it's the new #3 elk in ND. Gotta love that shedding velvet.

Bear test

pabowhunter — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:31:50 GMT

Thanks to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Here is a neat little training lesson and test for identifying the differences between grizzlies and black bears. I took the test and am now certified. Give it a try, even if you don't ever hunt them it's educational!

http://fwp.mt.gov/bearid/default.html