Well my fleeting few days of hunting with friends and family is over. It’s my turn and unfortunately I’ll be single and not really loving it. As I noted in previous blogs archery elk hunting is often best when partnered up.
Since the elk will be revving up and satellite bulls will be wandering I should have some luck to gamble on. My strategy is to locate elk and hopefully join an elk party without even uttering a word. If I can’t find a party somewhere I plan to make my own, but once I get an interested partygoer I’ll slow down the calling and let the bull hunt me.
From past hunts I know that calling too much just gives a bull an excuse to sit back and wait like a gobbler does in the spring. In the afternoons when the calling is slow my plan is to lunch and nap near a wallow in case a plump satellite sneaks in for a mud bath.
That’s my plan, but with more than two decades of elk experience in my scrapbook I’m not betting on anything working perfectly. I am betting on having lots of fun though and hopefully you’ll be able to watch it on TV next summer.
Geez there must be a big whitetail around here. Oops, I forgot I'm elk hunting.
Since I’m bowhunting elk at the moment I decided to share with you the tactic I’m starting the season with: partner calling. For the first few days of the season I’ll be hunting with my friend Gale Smith and my son Cole.
The strategy is to have me set up behind those two, placing them between me and an approaching bull. I’ll be calling and in many cases operating a cow elk decoy courtesy of Montana Decoys.
This strategy should work if the all the planets, stars and the moon align.
It takes the center attention away from the shooters and back in my lap so the elk hopefully will walk past the hidden shooters toward the decoy and the sound. It gets a bit risky, but the caller should be at least 50 to 60 yards away at minimum. The risk is giving the elk too much room to swing and get out of shooting range. If you’re too close though the elk will simply hold up and wait for the caller to come to them.
Sometimes the setup works like a charm while otherwise; well you hunt so you know how animals can be some days.
My call of choice will be the Hunter’s Specialties Estrus Squeeze Me cow elk call and for backup I’ll have the Mac Daddy at the ready.
I’m looking forward to the first few days of the season. I don’t have to worry about shooting, just calling. Unfortunately, if anyone is successful I’ll still have to pitch in on packing, but I have a backup plan. I’m calling my wife Sharon at home and she can bring our horses up in less than an hour to help with the chore.
Mark, he's coming. Mark? Now where did he go?
Many of you will be sitting in treestands this coming week with the opener of bowhunting seasons for deer occurring across the country. A few of you will be stalking mule deer and a lucky few of you may even have drawn archery elk tags. I was one of the lucky ones. I have tags for whitetails and mule deer as well, but my first priority this fall will be archery elk and this past weekend we picked out a location for elk camp.
Cole will be joining me the few days and he will get first chance at a broadside bull. We’re also sharing camp with several other good friends including the father of a friend who holds a coveted Shiras moose tag.
Before we staked out the wall tent on Saturday we scouted and immediately landed in a herd of more than 100 cows, calves and bulls. It was crazy at dawn with mewing and bulging, but this is one herd that needs to break down to a huntable size before we can creep in for the ambush. That breakdown should occur this week.
After our scouting we put up the wall tent, picked places to park another camper and my horse trailer, and cut firewood. Camp looks cozy, the forecast appears to have a good start and there are plenty of elk around, plus a few moose.
It should be an exciting season and with that I plan to keep you updated on the progression of the rut, new tactics and techniques I’ve found to be helpful. I’ll check in as much as possible, but don’t crucify me if I miss a blog or two due to lack of technological connections.
Good hunting!
I thought this tent was supposed to be taller?
I thought this tent was supposed to be taller?
With Cole’s pronghorn down and two birds killed with one stone (his first big game archery kill and a TV show) I had no stress to shoot another pronghorn. We’d give it another day, maybe two and then wrap the trip as successful. My first day with my Mathews bow in hand turned out to be a waste. The winds came up and whether the pronghorns weren’t thirsty or simply flighty from the roaring winds didn’t matter. No bucks showed.
The next day we arrived in the dark and actually bumped some pronghorn while sneaking to the blind. The forecast was for light winds and moderate heat in the high 80s. Everything looked great, especially the six bucks lined up a mile in the distance nonchalantly making their way to the water.
At 8:30 a.m. the entire group closed in. Most were yearlings, but two stood out and one even more the closer they crept. At 100 yards it was obvious only one shooter hid in the group and I handed Cole the rangefinder to keep tabs on him while I prepared to shoot.
After a few tense minutes the group began to water and Cole whispered “22 yards” as I lined up the pins on my IQ bow sight. The shot angle wasn’t perfect, quartering to me, but I’ve shot plenty of pronghorn at the same angle with devastating results. My arrow hit home and the Rage broadhead went to work. Soon after the big buck tumbled in the sage.
When Cole and I recovered the buck I could hardly believe my luck. He was huge! I knew he was big, but not that big. Tall horns, extra mass and huge prongs were worth the wait and quite the consolation prize. I was more than pleased with Cole’s first-ever bowkill, but my buck was icing on the cake.
P.S. For those of you commenting on why we didn’t dine on venison that evening I have to admit…I was tired! It was the end of day four, which consisted of sitting in a ground blind for 13 hours straight in nearly 100 degree temperatures daily. We opted for meals out of a bag instead of dirtying dishes and having extended camp cleanup. It gave us an extra hour of sleep. Rest assured the Kayser clan eats plenty of game including venison steaks, venison burgers, venison roasts, venison stroganoff, venison chili, venison, tacos, venison enchiladas, venison meatloaf…I’m starting to sound like Forrest Gump’s friend Bubba Blue.
Yea, he's a nice one, but remember dad, my first pronghorn was 14 inches and yours was only 9.
I just landed back at home after a week of searing heat and sore buns while bowhunting pronghorn in central Wyoming. It was Cole’s first big game archery hunt and he had prepared well in advance for the big trip. Although we were filming for an episode of Extreme Pursuits I had to let Cole be first at bat. It was his first bowhunt. Can you blame me?
We bowhunted Bureau of Land Management ground and when we arrived we both were depressed after seeing another blind staked out at the waterhole of our choice. We immediately went to plan B. The backup waterhole was hidden in a narrow canyon and it took all day for a buck to show. It was worth the wait. He was a brute and close to Boone and Crockett proportions.
Cole waited patiently for the buck to water, but the new blind in the tight quarters of the canyon kept the buck on guard for 45 minutes. Despite being within bow range he never took his eyes off the blind and was on edge the entire time. We opted to pass on the jumpy buck and eventually he walked away.
The next day was slower than a Walmart checkout lane. Nothing showed so we decided to slip back and check out our prime spot the next morning. To our surprise, the other blind was gone and we rushed in to stake out claim. By 10:30 a.m. two bucks sneaked in and one finally gave Cole a broadside shot as it watered 33 yards away. Cole’s arrow hit home and the buck raced away behind a berm. I jumped from the blind to keep an eye on the buck, but less than a minute later it tipped over in the sagebrush.
Cole was shaking with excitement and I couldn’t have been prouder as we recovered the plump pronghorn. Back at camp we deboned the buck, packed it on ice and celebrated with banquet of Mountain House entrees. As we gorged ourselves I taped the buck at 14 inches. My first buck was barely 9 inches and I shared that adventure with Cole as we recalled the day’s events while tucked in our sleeping bags.
It was my turn next, but you’ll have to tune in for more later this week.
Really, you're first archery pronghorn was only 9 inches tall?
Yes, the mad dash has kicked off. I doubt if it’s the same for many of you, but this time of year I’m in a mad dash to finish my home chores, prepare hunting gear for months of hunting and wrap up my office work. Starting this week I’ll be gone nearly four months with only a day or so here and there at home.
One of my biggest challenges each year is to make sure everything is ready at home for my departure. We’re still waiting on about 100 bales of hay to stack in the barn, but I think I have everything else chalked, maintained and ready for the fall and winter weather that will arrive whether I’m home or not.
As for my office, I’ve been wrapping up my writing assignments, invoices, photo orders and every other little detail I can recall before vacating the premises. Except for my blogs, I rarely write much while on the road. I’m just too beat after being up well before dawn and not getting to the bunk until well after sunset.
Finally, I’m getting all my hunting gear ready. I’ve been mounting riflescopes, sighting muzzleloaders, prepping bows, washing clothes and organizing small sets of gear for each particular species. Sighting new guns each season gives me fits annually. If you drove by my barn recently you may have heard a few choice words emanating from its depths as I cursed crazy bullet patterns from the shooting range out my barn door.
Working in the outdoor industry is wild and wacky, and it can make you wacky if you’re not organized for the annual pilgrimage. Let the hunting begin!
Geez, I think I forgot to feed the cats!
Archery pronghorn seasons are kicking off this week across the West. There are a number of ways to bowhunt pronghorn including stalking, decoying and waiting in ambush. I’m an ambush kind of guy. It’s not that I’m not in good enough shape to stalk or decoy, I’ve had my share of those experiences, it’s just that I know from experience what works for me.
I like confidence when I bowhunt and hunting from a ground blind gives me that edge. Pronghorn come in for a drink or to nibble at a food source, and busy themselves at the chore at hand while you comfortably aim. In most cases you have time to range, settle your aim and make a good shot. I like that and although it might not be as exciting as stalking, it fits my comfort level.
If you’re having trouble getting comfortable blind hunting, here are a few tips. First, get a roomy blind such as the Boiler Room from Hunter’s Specialties (www.hunterspec.com). Next, put a piece of carpet on the floor to quiet any crunchy grass and to give your knees a rest if you shoot kneeling. Furnish your blind with a comfy, yet quiet folding chair and add a cushion if needed. Bring along a small cooler with lunch and drinks. You can move in your blind so have a nice meal while you wait.
To pass the time I bring along a book, some magazines and even radio with ear buds to listen to my favorite music or talk show host. You swap that out for an iPod if that fits your style. You can also bring along a cell phone if you have service, but don’t get too wrapped up in any of these gadgets and miss the action.
Keep these tips in mind for pronghorn, deer or elk and get ready, hunting season is off and running.
I hope the Domino's delivery guy gets here soon before the pronghorn show up.
Have you checked your food plots lately? Are they not producing like they should or have the deer eaten them down to a nub? Maybe you didn’t have time to put in a spring plot. Now’s the time to think about fall plots, specifically hunting plots.
This weekend we fired up the old Farmall 350 and hooked an antique duck foot chisel plow to it. We then attempted to work some ground for a small hunting plot near our well for immediate irrigation. After the ground was broken the Yamaha Grizzly was put into the rotation to drag the dirt and cover the seed. I’ll be on the road most of the fall, but my son will be able to hunt the plot with guidance from mom or Uncle Mike.
We planted Hunter’s Specialties Vita-Rack Winter Forage (www.hunterspec.com), which includes a variety of nutrition including rape, clover and turnips. Our plot site sits adjacent to a creek bed so the soil is dark and moist. This, combined with some gentle irrigation and a sprinkling of fertilizer should manifest into a super hunting plot. To create more attention we added a water source so thirsty deer could fill up while at the drive through. It’s up to Cole now to water the plot and keep the water hole full.
Although we could hang a treestand nearby, a nearby dilapidated barn will provide the perfect location for a ground blind, especially for archery shots. Believe it or not it’s starting to brown up in Wyoming so I’m confident that if Cole keeps up his end of the deal the deer will show up.
The project reminds me of Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams.” “If you build it they will come.” I’m betting they’ll show up when deer season arrives.
I’ll run the Yamaha, but you’re no Kevin Costner.
I’m getting a little confused here. Maybe you can help me. First we get to hunt wolves because they’ve made an unbelievable recovery. Next they close the season, focusing on Wyoming because Wyoming still has them listed as a predatory species in certain parts of the state with an open season. Soon after Idaho and Montana are allowed to hunt them because they have “favorable” plans that fit into overall wolf management. Now, a U.S. district court judge, Donald Molloy, says we can’t hunt them again. The entire Rocky Mountain ecosystem has to be listed as endangered, not just certain zones. Presto, no hunting again!
Forgive me if I’m wrong, but the Rockies extend into Canada and if I’m not mistaken, that’s where we got the wolves to begin with to re-establish the lower 48 Rockies. Geez! This story bounces around more than a handball in YMCA handball court.
It’s simple for me. The wolves have re-established. The facts prove it and now they are beginning to affect other wild game populations, not to mention impact the economic viability of Western communities.
This is just another example of the federal government meddling in state’s rights. It’s time for the states to say enough is enough. This entire fiasco is a mind game being played by animal rights organizations with no care in the world for the people that live in the West, nor the rest of God’s creatures that have to share the landscape with the burgeoning wolf population.
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. I like to see predatory species, but they no longer can run wild like when Lewis and Clark first trudged up the Missouri. They require management like all large game species. It’s time to quit playing fantasy-land wildlife management and manage wildlife in real-world fashion.
I just heard there's no wolf season again. I'm out of here!
The effects of the recent BP oil spill will be felt for years and you can bet fishermen and hunters will feel pain in the process.
They are feeling a similar pain in Germany and from a disaster that took place a quarter century ago. Do you remember Chernobyl? Yes, the Russian nuclear power plant that decided to explode unexpectedly. The radiation released in that disaster has been showing up in an unlikely place and hunters are feeling the pain; hunger pains to be correct.
It seems as if the wild boar population in nearby Germany is too radioactive to eat. Because of that the German government is forced to purchase the radioactive boars taken by hunters and even though the accident was 25 years ago the number of radioactive hogs is on the increase.
The likely reason is due to the boar’s fondness for mushrooms and truffles that actually are too good at absorbing radiation. In fact, as the radiation levels decrease, even in other vegetation, it will probably rise in mushrooms and truffles according to published reports.
What does that mean to German boar hunters? They likely will not be able to dine on the Geiger-counter swine for years to come. The government will continue to subsidize the hunters and I suspect the truffle and mushroom hunters will soon be asking for subsidization as well.
What a mess! There is one bright point and I mean that literally. It should be easier to find the boars, especially if they begin to glow from the radiation. And if you suddenly find yourself lost in the forests of Germany and happen to kill a boar for survival, you may not even need a fire to roast a ham. It might be well done on the hoof from the microwave effect.
Thanks Russia!
What do you mean I'm glowing? I only had one truffle.
Do you have your rifle sighted in for this coming fall? Are your arrows shooting straight? Have you washed all your clothing in scent-free soap and stored them in scent-free storage bags?
Here’s the million dollar question. Is your truck serviced to get you from home base to your preferred hunting location? I’m about ready to service my Dodge for the fall ahead. I’ll do some of the light work including oil, air and fuel filter changes, but some of the more demanding tasks will be done by a qualified technician. Regardless, I’m making sure my truck is ready for the 12,000 or more miles that I’ll put on it in the coming three to four months.
Last year I had to make an unexpected stop while traveling through Colorado. It seems as if I had issues with my fuel pump and luckily the mechanics got me going the same day.
I do the same for my ATV and if you use a UTV or boat I advise you to service those as well. I changed all the oils on my ATV (OK, my brother helped) this summer in preparation for a busy fall. It’s easy to overlook your vehicle in the haste to get a new rifle shooting or a bow sighted in, but if you travel to hunt it’s cheap insurance to arrive at your destination in a timely manner.
Lastly, don’t forget to check your tires. I pushed mine to the limit one fall and on the way from New Mexico to the Midwest I had to make an abrupt stop in Oklahoma City. The steel belts on one of my tires started to show so I had to add new rubber in order to keep my date with a treestand.
Look at your vehicle’s service record and update it before the bucks start to rut. You don’t want to be sitting in a shop waiting room while a buck makes a scrape by your treestand.
I told you to read Kayser's blog. This is exactly the mess he hinted at avoiding.
I blogged about the angry bison in Yellowstone last week and this morning, very early this morning, an angry bear rampaged through a remote campsite near the northeast corner of Yellowstone. A Michigan man was killed and two others wounded. Unlike the bison attack, which was from people simply provoking an attack, the grizzly had a mission. How do they know this? They caught the bear returning to the site of the kill.
From recent reports it appears as if the attack wasn’t random and in fact the sow grizzly was actually targeting the campground in predatory fashion. The sow also had three cubs and after DNA evidence is confirmed the sow will be killed with the fate of the cubs uncertain.
Initial research indicates the campers followed food storage rules and nothing was apparent except the fact the bear was attacking to feed. I could get up on my pedestal and rant and rave about how we need to be hunting grizzlies and putting the fear of God and guns into them…, but I won’t.
You take a risk every time you hit the woods whether it is to hunt whitetails or brown bears. You could fall from a treestand or get caught in a wild lightning storm. Grizzlies in the West are just another hazard in the game of life. You face similar hazards and dangers every time you climb into your car, take a plane trip or even walk down a city street.
The attack was tragic and my heart goes out to the victims and their families, but it’s just one of the dangers we face on the road of life.
That said, I’d love to hunt a big grizzly bear in my home state. I can’t wait for the opportunity to do a little culling.
The horse trailer doubles as a great camper and it's bearproof...right Mark?
A buddy and I had a gleam in our eyes like kids at Christmas as we geared up at a trailhead to check our trail cameras. My mind was in fast forward. Did I catch a huge bull on film? Did a monster mountain muley pass down the trail? Could I have captured a bear on film or possibly even an elusive mountain lion? Did Bigfoot, a space alien or even a disheveled Nick Nolte walk past my hidden surveillance unit?
Yes, checking trail cameras is like rushing down the stairs to check what Santa left under the Christmas tree. It’s hard to hold back the enthusiasm and fortunately for me, miles and miles of remote country prohibit me from checking the cameras more than once a month. That’s not the issue for many hunters. In fact, checking your trail cameras too frequently can actually lead to bucks disappearing from film and sight.
It doesn’t take too many intrusions before whitetails catch on to your presence. Sometimes that’s OK. I’d rather deer grow accustomed to my presence than flee every time for fear. Being too overcautious can lead to terror when an isolated buck suddenly comes face to face with a human.
Several of my friends have pledged to only check their cameras once a month. Others have a routine that includes checking them every two weeks in a consistent pattern so deer become comfortable with the intrusion.
If you check them every few days be prepared for deer patterning you. It happens if you check cameras too frequently or hunt the same treestand repeatedly. Be careful and reign in your enthusiasm. I think the right answer lies between checking them every other week and once a month.
As for our camera checkup, the SD cards had lots of elk, deer, moose, mountain lions and bears. Here’s one of my favorites.
I'm Bigfoot in this neck of the woods.
I just watched an interesting news segment featuring tourists filming a bison in Yellowstone National Park. Yes, there was stupidity involved. Yes, someone got run over. Yes, it’s definitely tourist season.
It seems as if every year tourists travel to America’s parks and refuges only to discover the cuddly animals on “The Animal Planet” channel actually have attitudes in real life.
In this case the tourists were filming a mature bison. Let me describe a mature bison for you. It can stand 6 feet at the shoulder and top 2,000 pounds. This time of year they are cantankerous as the rut fires up and although they appear to be slow moving and stupid, they can swap ends faster than a broadband internet connection. When they reach top speed even Carl Lewis couldn’t win the race in his prime. That said, the average out-of-shape tourist doesn’t have a chance when a bison bull starts his steamroller impression. In fact, bison rank as the top tourist tragedy in Yellowstone as it relates to animal encounters.
Feeling lucky, punk?
Over the course of my career I’ve been in close proximity to many animals for filming purposes. The animal that has chased me the most is, yes, you guessed, bison. I once had one chase me nearly a mile across a grassy opening. He could have run me over at any time, but instead he just played with me until I reached my truck. On anther outing I had a bison bull chase my vehicle down a gravel road with the intent to send it straight to Maaco for putty and paint.
I’ve been lucky and as I age I definitely give animals more and more space unless the intent is to hunt them in fair chase. Bison are on the top of my “wide-swath list.”
The female video photographer was trampled and tossed by the bison, but survived to tell the tale. It was definitely a trip to remember, but a dangerous way to add another memory into a scrapbook.
I admit it. You got me. I give. Uncle!
I am not the best when it comes to working a GPS or most electronic devices. There are just too many hidden codes and cues that are only accessible by the correct use of the four or five buttons supplied. Punch the wrong series of buttons and before you know it I’ve reset the entire contraption and signaled the space shuttle to return to earth via the gravel road in front of my house.
Just the other day I was backing up my office computer to a portable hard drive and received the shock of my life. After unplugging the portable drive I looked back at the screen and the message “beginning memory dump,” or something akin to that, started streaming across a generic blue screen. Fortunately it was a cruel joke implemented by a bored Microsoft employee on an extremely slow afternoon. They simply imbedded the scary message for fun to see how it would affect a computer illiterate hick like me. Once again I was close to donning adult undergarments as permanent attire.
But I digress. Even though I still struggle from time to time with the programs on my GPS I did find one product that makes it a whole lot easier to note my location. Check out Hunting GPS Maps (www.huntinggpsmaps.com).You can order specific micro SD/SD cards or get the data from downloads. Your GPS maps will suddenly come to life with private and public differentiation, section lines and numbers, topographical lines, geographic names, roads, water data, national forest trails, wilderness areas, fishing access sites and even ownership in some instances. The data for each state varies depending on the map information available, but it’s an option that makes your GPS a more reliable tool while in the field. It’s especially helpful for the public-land and traveling hunter.
Now if I can just get the space shuttle to turn around before it touches down in front of my house everything will be fine.
Mark to space shuttle, please disregard that last message to come in for a landing!
