When I got back to the lodge in Colorado I immediately called home to share the great news about my elk hunt. Little did I know there was some great news happening there as well.
Before I left I told my son Cole to ask Sharon if she would go with him to go deer hunting. Wyoming deer season opened while I as away and he wanted to be in the field. Not only is she a great wife, but she’s a dedicated mom. She obliged, but the first evening they didn’t see any bucks.
The next evening they pushed further into a large parcel of public ground and Cole spotted a trio of deer bedded in the bottom of a draw including a young buck. Cole slipped up a bit further and the deer stood to feed. He decided right there he wanted the buck and ranged him at 300 yards.
Unfortunately his Harris bipod wasn’t tall enough to shoot over the sage. Using his knee and a nearby sage bush he steadied for the shot. One shot later and his TC Icon .30 TC did the job.
With darkness falling fast they rushed home to get our saddle horse Branden for the chore of retrieval. Branden is my bulletproof, go-to horse whenever I need to pack something out and he performed flawlessly for Sharon and Cole.
As always I’m a bit bummed about not being able to be there and share all the great memories, but I think this hunt turned out for the best. Sharon and Cole were able to share a great experience and create some memories of their own.
I don't know why your dad keeps saying this is so tough?
I’m back from Colorado and having a couple days off between hunts is something to be cherished. As you might have surmised I rubbed the rabbit’s foot in Colorado and slipped into a pile of luck opening morning.
Outfitter Clay Allison who operates Santa Fe Outfitters teamed me up with Jesse Bauer, a young elk hunting fanatic from the area. Jesse had been hounding several good bulls at treeline and thought it was our best bet for an opening day hunt. Since I had spent most of September in the high country I wasn’t shirking from the 11,000-foot-plus homeland of the bulls.
Right at the trailhead we heard bulls bugling. It wasn’t just one bull, but nearly a half dozen bulls screamed at each other as we slipped through the dark timber to close the gap. After a mile of traversing thick timber and avalanche chutes we eased within shooting distance of a deep bugle.
Suddenly the bull left the timber and walked into a small meadow to grab a bite. Jesse backed up to call and I moved ahead, but no calling was needed. The bull stopped long enough for the cameraman to get on him and I dropped the hammer on my TC Pro Hunter. I was shooting new Hornady Superformance ammunition and the 150-grain GMX bullet dropped the bull right in the meadow. Luckily I had my Nikon Monarch dialed to a low power since the shot was 110 yards.
After a couple of tough hunts I was ready for some opening day luck. Jesse and I celebrated a bit before the tough job of quartering and packing the bull out. Luckily Clay and another guide helped us out so it wasn’t near the back-breaking event it could have been.
The Kayser freezer is now officially topped off with elk and another deer should round out our needs for the year. Thanks also go out to Clay’s great staff at Santa Fe. The accommodations are comforting, the meals are more elegant than any fancy restaurant and the people are all down to earth which make for great memories.
So now what do I do for the rest of the hunt. Golf?
I’m deep in the high country of southern Colorado chasing elk at the moment. This is my last chance to put some elk meat in the Kayser freezer before I have to lower my standards to (I can’t believe I’m at this point): whitetail! Of course I’m just kidding. I like all of God’s creatures on my plate, but I’ll be honest. My family has a fondness for elk and pronghorn over any deer.
I’m hunting with my good friend Clay Allison who in addition to running Santa Fe Outfitters also has a successful knife sharpening product by the title of The Wicked Edge .
The elk will be gathering for their migratory run, but this means they are bunched up so there might be some bugling to create a great TV show. I’m hoping they won’t be too bunched up.
Trying to shoot a good bull out of a herd of 150 cows and calves is challenging at best.
I’ll give you an update next week before I try and get a deer in my backyard of Wyoming.
I'm safe from Kayser as long as I surround myself with the ladies.
It’s that time of year. You and I are likely getting less sleep due to the long hours of hunting and drives between locations. I know I’m sleep deprived. I’ve done several stupid stunts in the past couple of weeks and all lead back to a lack of sleep.
This past week I tried one of those energy burst drinks for the first time. Up until now I’ve relied on Diet Mountain Dew (sponsorship hint!), but the folks at Code Blue have a dietary supplement they call “No Limit.” It’s similar to the 5-Hour Energy rage, but this little shot gives you up to six hours of energy and it comes in a refreshing berry flavor.
I like it for the energy, but also for the fact they are marketing to the hunting crowd. I can’t tell you how many times I could have used a burst of energy to complete a hunt or a drive to a hunting locale.
I know I could have used the night I was driving back from Cody, Wyoming, and hit a whitetail buck at 70 mph as it stood in the middle of the highway.
How did I miss seeing that one?
I also could have used it while on deer stands several times over the years.
Have you ever woke up from a quick nap only to discover the backside of a buck heading in the opposite direction?
I’ll never give up my Mountain Dew fixation, but for extreme fatigue it’s good to know there’s a backup.
I'm going to need an energy drink to keep this pace up.
It’s day five of our tribal hunt for whitetails and archery muleys. So far the bow has sat idle as I tried to put a muzzleloader deer show in the can.
It’s been frustrating! The hunt started out fine with some deer sightings, but abundant browse had scattered the deer from one end of the reservation to the other, plus it was obvious from watching deer that most of the older deer classes were missing. I’m sure some were lost to winterkill as the previous winter was brutal at best, plus the hunting pressure on the reservation is above average.
Needless to say we were strapped to find a good buck for the camera that would allow us to film it and then shoot it. Filming a deer hunt is not deer hunting. You need to make sure the deer is on camera and enough footage is shot to ensure the audience can actually see the buck before it hits the Coleman cooler. It’s relatively easy to shoot a deer. It can be a bit more difficult to film it and then shoot it.
In addition temperatures were not kind. The first four days were downright hot with temperatures in the 80s and even 90s. The deer were only moving in a limited fashion. As I write this blog it is pouring rain. Buckets and buckets of rain are continuing to fall and the deer are doing the same as the hunters; hunkering down.
If I don’t fill this tag now I’ll be back in December. I’m not giving up despite the weather and the frustration. Here’s hoping you aren’t experiencing the same frustration.
I'm not giving up. I hope Noah has the ark ready.
Everyone has a hunting camp horror story to relate. For some reason I’m blessed with more than a few. You may have heard about my past Alaska moose hunt where the problem of seeing six to nine brown bears per day wasn’t enough so fate decided to toss in a hunting guide living in LaLa land somewhere between the Cuckoo’s Nest and the Bate’s Motel.
One of the funniest (not when it occurred) moments I had was in Kansas while on a deer hunt. Sleep is a precious commodity in the fall and a snoring roommate had me wanting for more. After deciding I was never going to fall asleep with the thunder over yonder I slipped out of the bedroom and made my way upstairs in the outfitter’s house to plop down on the couch. When I laid down the couch suddenly came alive followed by a piercing shriek.
It seems that the outfitter’s wife was also tired of snoring courtesy of the outfitter and ditched their bedroom for the same couch I tracked down in the dark. After a quick explanation she forgave me and I found a different couch in a different part of the house.
On another adventure North American Hunter editor Gordy Krahn and I asked a guide to please let us out of the vehicle to stalk pronghorn. It seems as if the guide wanted to just drive around and do a “drive-by” hunt. I mentioned to the guide that I bowhunted and had stalked pronghorn for years. That set the guide off. He slammed on the brakes, got out and said he’d find me a bleeping bow and I could stalk all I wanted. For a moment Gordy and I thought we were on the set of the latest Rocky movie as the guide was fuming for a fight. After brief discussion we were able to settle the guide down and Gordy and I were left on the prairie to stalk.
Yes, funny and sometimes terrifying things happen at hunting camp. I’ve already spent most of September in camp and the next two months look like more of the same. I’ll let you know if I get in a brawl, plop down on someone unexpectedly or simply just have a “normal” stay.
I'm staying right in this bunk. I remember the last time I went shopping for a new bed in the dark.
I admit that October whitetails are some of the hardest to hunt. You may catch a bachelor group pattern early and some rutting late, but in midmonth mature bucks go undercover more than the chipmunk that was sharing my sleeping bag at elk camp (true story!).
I’ll be hunting whitetails the first full week of the month so I’m concentrating on two things: bachelor patterns and food. There won’t be much going on for rutting behavior yet except the occasional kick or head butt for pecking order status. Instead, I’ll be watching from afar with my
Nikonspotting scope hoping to discover a pattern worth my time. This will likely be on a hayfield or even a grain field and then the hunt will be on.
For those of you in acorn country, keep tabs on the crop. This is also a
good ambush location along with apple orchards. Don’t worry about setting up on the best tree, but instead set up along the most used trail leading to
the mast.
Finally, be flexible. If you need to move a stand, be proactive and get the
job done. It could be the difference between a trophy buck or an un-notched
tag. If you’d like to read more get a copy of the October 2010 issue of
North American Hunter. My whitetail column goes into details on October
whitetail strategies.
I’m writing this blog from seat 13C on a flight from Minneapolis back to Wyoming after a whirlwind visit to the land of 10,000 lakes, specifically Minneapolis. What could possibly make me leave the hinterlands for a trip to the big city smack dab in the middle of hunting season? You guessed it: work. The producers at North American Hunter TV are creating a new opening for the show and to hit deadlines they asked everyone who co-hosts episodes to wash the camo off of their faces, clean up more than a camp, baby-wipe shower and meet in Minneapolis for some speedy filming.
I dropped off the mountain Monday midday and by midday Tuesday was wandering around airports on my way to the city. It actually was a welcome break. Sleep has been limited and couple days off from hiking did my body some good. If you’re contemplating being a member of the show “Biggest Loser” to lose some weight, forget it. Join me out West in September and you’re bound to lose that extra 10 pounds or more.
I also was able to catch up with my friends at North American Hunter TV including Bill Miller, Gordy Krahn, Luke Hartle and Mr. Whitetail Larry Weishuhn. We’ve all been in the field already this fall so the stories were fresh although some embellishments were obvious on the size of the bucks encountered and the shots made on fowl.
2011 will be an exciting season for NAH TV. We all have a busy filming season ahead and although a few shows have been shot already, the best is yet to come as we all tackle the wiley whitetails.
My first gun hunt is just around the corner for whitetails. I’ll be muzzleloader hunting next week and I’m hoping my new TC Omega has the chance to blow some smoke at a “big un!” Here’s hoping you get to see the action next year on NAH TV.
Really, do I still smell like cow elk urine? I took a shower!
Here’s a quick update from the field. I only had a day off between trips and I promised Cole I’d take him hunting as much as humanly possible so we slipped in a speedy pronghorn hunt.
Friday evening after school we got out and actually spotted this buck, but he headed the opposite direction and with the sun setting there was no time for a stalk. I spotted some water nearby and figured he might return at sunrise.
Sure enough we planted ourselves above the water and at sunrise he returned with a couple of does. Cole and I made a big loop and ended up right above them. For those of you who think I crawl too much, guess what, I crawled again and it was a good thing.
The pronghorns were also going to the top of the ridge and spotted us slithering through the grass. Fortunately they didn’t recognize the danger and Cole slipped up beside me to put this TC Icon to work. The Hornady Superformance ammo (www.hornady.com) tipped the buck over in his tracks. Gotta love the .30 TC!
It was Cole’s second pronghorn for 2010 and the next morning I didn’t feel half as bad about hitting the road again. We’ll have one more chance to hunt deer together before the madness of the whitetail rut begins and I won’t see my bed for more than 30 days.
Now isn't this better than a Playstation?
I just pulled up stakes on archery elk camp after hunting three windows throughout September. I lost. The elk won. I finally said “uncle” midday yesterday as temperatures soared and the tired bulls disappeared into dark timber.
It was a great hunt. I explored tons of new country. My son and I were able to spend several quality days chasing elk and I also tried my hardest to get a kill for TV. In fact, I logged enough foot miles to walk from my house nearly to the Idaho border.
Even so it wasn’t enough. I came close a couple times and probably shouldn’t have walked away from some of the younger bulls I encountered early in the hunt, but that’s hunting. My best opportunity came last Thursday evening as I was sneaking along a meadow and peered through a small neck of timber into the next small meadow. A big 6×6 was feeding in the next meadow along with several bedded cows. The wind was right. It had just rained so the stalking conditions were perfect and I had plenty of cover to get in close for an archery shot. I was off.
When I reached the likely spot to sneak out for a shot, I got down on my hands and knees to crawl out of the cover. When I peeked out I was astounded. The elk were nowhere to be found. I looked and looked, but couldn’t understand why they would have left. Suddenly I saw the reason. Another hunter was strolling up the small meadow from the other direction oblivious to the fact there were elk in the vicinity.
I was bummed, but knew all too well that I shared the public land with other hunters. In fact, I shared the same area with several friends and have to congratulate my good friend Gale Smith on his bowkill. Smith and I scouted all summer together and a week ago he tagged a great 6×6 that grosses 340 points.
I’m off for deer, but have one more opportunity for elk in Colorado in mid-October. I’ll keep you posted and good hunting!
Quit whining Kayser. This is so easy.
After my hunt great hunt at Gardner Ranch Outfitters I had a few hours before departing and decided to join my good fiend Doug Gardner and Minnesota client Mark Watkins for a short elk hunt.
While scouting we saw a small bull as Doug worked his way to a remote canyon where we parked the suburban to hike near a series of springs to call and hopefully tease a bull into range. We had no longer slammed the truck doors when Doug’s bugle spurred a bull into answering. Seconds later the bull answered again without a call from Doug’s bugle. This bull was serious and closing fast.
We quickly hatched a plan. Doug would go above us and call. Watkins and I would find some cover between Doug and the bull and wait. My role was to range for Watkins in case the bull wandered before closing the distance.
Within minutes Watkins whispered he spotted the bull and soon I saw him from my hidden location. I eased up to Watkins as he prepared to draw on the incoming bull. When the bull crossed a small wash Watkins drew an arrow and as the bull stepped into a small opening I ranged and whispered “20 yards.”
The bull stopped as if on cue and Watkins made a perfect shot. It was so perfect that the bull raced up the hill to a still bugling Doug and tipped over less than 8 yards from him. Doug let out a victory whoop and we all raced over to admire the big bull.
You couldn’t have scripted a better hunt. In fact, the entire event took approximately 15 minutes from the time we started our hike to the point where we were back slapping over the expired bull.
Sometimes the planets and stars do align. I hope they do for me while bowhunting elk in Wyoming.
Congratulations Mark Watkins!
I planned it to work that way!
I always enjoy turning my truck to the northeast and winding down the Powder River to Gardner Ranch Outfitters (www.groutfitters.com) near Broadus, Montana. My plan was to bowhunt whitetails at dawn and dusk, and mule deer during the midday. As always, the hunting was great and I began passing on bucks at the first whitetail stand. Halfway through the hunt my good friend Doug Gardner directed me to a remote treestand for a long shot on a big whitetail or possibly a big mule deer.
His gamble paid off and I was presented a great shot on a beautiful Montana mule deer as a dozen bucks walked within bow range of my treestand. Although the buck was an adrenaline rush, I was just as excited to spend time hunting, scouting and catching up on old times with Doug.
I’ve hunted with Doug since 1995. During the course of that time I’ve shot whitetails, mule deer, pronghorns and elk. I’ve guided for him, spent time at his ranch and watched his kids grow up. Going to Doug’s camp is like going to visit family.
Although we reveled in my success we also joked, ribbed and reminisced about past hunts including the time where I crawled up on a buck and then crawled back to Doug to ask him one more time, “Do you think he’s big enough?”
I hope your memories from hunting camp are as memorable as mine. Remember, it’s not all about the hunt. Enjoy the friendships.
Mark, I forgot to tell you. I need you to guide next week.
I’ve been bowhunting elk almost solid for the first two weeks of September, but it’s time to take a break. Ya, right! I’m actually switching gears to deer for a few days and I’m heading toward Montana.
Starting on September 12 I’ll be hunting with my good friend Doug Gardner at Gardner Ranch Outfitters (www.groutfitters.com) in southeast Montana. Although I wasn’t successful in drawing an archery elk tag I’ll be able to spot and stalk mule deer in the mornings and then sit whitetail stands in the afternoon.
Here’s my best tip for stalking: be stealthy! No really, get a pair of slip-on fleece booties to soften your steps. You can order them through Crooked Horn Outfitters (www.crookedhorn.com).
As for whitetails I just hope I can stay scent free in the heat. I’m going to be testing Hunter’s Specialties Tek-4 silver-lined clothing and incorporating their Scent-A-Way products everywhere (www.hunterspec.com).
I may even try decoying and some light calling, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. I hope your archery deer hunts are going well and good luck!
Walk softly and carry a sharp stick, or something like that.
I’m down from elk camp for a few days and still no loins in the cooler. The elk were quiet at best and the best hunting I had was still-hunting after mountain showers. On the first night we did sneak up on a 320 bull and for a brief window I had him at 54 yards, but he never stopped, nor gave me a good broadside angle.
In the end I passed stalks on several raghorns and we chased 4 to 5 more good bugling bulls that just wouldn’t commit. I’m taking a break from elk for a few days (I need some sleep) and am going for deer. I’ll let you know what I see as I’m hunting both whitetails and mule deer in Montana.
On a positive note met up with new North American Hunter TV producer Jeff Carter while in Wyoming. Carter, a Minnesota native, was enthusiastic about the elk adventure and was full of questions and spirit as we ascended mountain after mountain. He’d been elk hunting once before and I could tell he had the bug again.
It’s fun to see someone with such great interest. Cole also joined me for another day of elk hunting and I see the same spark in him. Remember to take someone along on your next hunt whether it’s for dove or elk. That one trip might be the hook for a lifetime of hunting enjoyment.
Wake up. It's time for more adventure.
I’m home for a few hours (literally) before heading back up to chase elk. Cole and I had an exciting four days, but no shots. He did discover that dad does a lot of walking in the fall and shivering while waiting for game. He also discovered that elk hunting is not for the faint of heart or those with weak legs.
We had fun. Our camp was comfortable and well stocked. We saw lots of elk, except for one day and we even had a great bear adventure. One afternoon Cole, Gale and I climbed to a high rocky outcropping barely wider than an ATV and with steep drop-offs on all sides. It was the perfect location to look for elk.
While up there we spotted a sow and cub black bear about 500 yards away. A few minutes later it showed up in a small opening 100 yards away. A few minutes later it had us cornered on the rocky outcropping at 18 steps and we had no where to go except jump. None of us had parachutes either.
I tried to grab a quick photo, but the curious sow and cub retreated with speed leaving us breathing a bit easier.
Here’s the elk update from Wyoming. We still saw herds numbering from 40 to 70, but I think they started to break down yesterday. The calling was more spread out and the temperatures were at freezing with snow in the air. I’m hoping the pre-rut is about to explode this week since I’ll be hunting solo. An over-achieving young bull would be perfect for me.
Cole's first day at archery elk school.
