Very long 2008 season...

[supersider34]

First and foremost need to let my very understanding wife know that I love her bunches for letting me have free rein on hunting this year.....

Here is the story of my 2008 season.
It all started back in April with the bears. Got to love the bears. I put a bait site out and started a new one this year due to fires year before. I dropped some bait and had a harder time because snow levels where high and the spring did not melt it off very fast. I moved up by my fall spot because I know there are bears in there. Did not take it right to fall spot as I wanted to set this site up for strictly bow hunting. Got a good spot where the bears had access threw the trees to come into the bait. Figured this would be awesome and the bears would be on it fast. Well went up 4 times before anything touched it. Got the bait out around the 17th of April . Couple days after I got the bait out I headed up to Northern Idaho to a good friend of mine to turkey hunt with him and to help work on his cabin for several days. Got to his house in the afternoon and hung out at his house for a hour and went out turkey hunting. Ended up killing a jake but was pretty excited about it as they come in just like elk gobbling and answering. Shot this one at 15 yds. He was running with another jake. Really enjoyed getting this bird as the next morning when went up to work on cabin. He will have a awesome place once done.
Here is a pic of my Turkey.


Next is my bear hunt continued. I went up on the 4th time the bears where finally in there. At least one was. I figured a smaller bear. I kept them fed and tried sitting it over a couple weekends. To no avail. Then finally on June 20th I was going to stay the weekend and got up there set up camp and hauled butt to the treestand. As I was sitting there I noticed across from me what looked like a trail coming down the open hill threw the sagebrush. Was sitting there and was watching threw the timber for them to come threw and happened to catch movement coming from my right off the open hill. Oh yeah found while sitting in this tree stand in one night threw 5 ticks off me. So I don’t think I sat very still when I was there.
Anyways This bear comes in very cautiously. He is walking up the trail I walked in on from downwind of me. He is clicking his teeth all the way in. He was staring at me and came right up to the tree and looked right up at me. He then comes up on 1 leg on tree to get a closer look . He is probably 7’ below me. He drops and runs back off. I could not shoot over to my right. Only to my left where the bait is . Bait is to my left. This bear comes in around tree to my left only to click at me from this side of tree. He did go out towards bait I drew back and he was quartering away and had pin right there and just as I pulled trigger the bear turned and missed him. Saw him go up side hill and just as he came to the only 6-7 trees he stood up and a huge bear came walking out and he took off fast across hillside. Got down got arrow nothing on it . Well headed back to camp. Sat there the next 2 nights and saw nothing. Planned on going back up on the 25th and staying till end of season . Again got camp set up and went to bait site. Got there climbed into stand and was sitting again picking ticks off me. Heard squirrels going nuts back behind me . Well a bear ended up showing up way down the trail. It came all the way up and sat down right below me. Staring at me. It moved up towards the bait. Sat down and started chewing on a bone. I drew back and smacked this bear. It was a sow and actually my first bear with a bow. Killed tons with a rifle. But I set this bait site up so you could not hunt it with a rifle.
Here is a pic of my bear.


Then comes antelope season . Got my blinds out and dusted off. Set up and redid some things on them. Each year redo something to make them better. Got them out 10 days before season as the regs state . Only put one out as another hunter got the water hole behind me. My friend John from Northern Idaho came down to hunt with me as he has for the last 3 yrs. He shows up and opening morning we head out in the dark. Come sunrise we get to sit and watch as 30 -40 sage grouse feed threw the valley we where in. Saw a buck come over and bed down about 500yds on a hillside. Never came in. He got up went to the back watering hole we figured. It was very cool out on opener and windy as heck. Next morning saw goats walked within 100 yds heading to the back hole again. Figured those other guys should be tagged out by now. Well had a run in with guys from back and my friend ended up going home empty handed after 4 days of watching goats come within 100yds of our blind and them never even looked our way. John ended up going home I sat a extra day and went and bought a groundblind as my other ones are plywood boxes I set up. The ground blinds I set up on a hole I found that had a lot of activity on it. The next day was cooler and nothing was moving. The 22nd was great. First thing a herd of goats came in but would not commit except the buck came into the hole and scrapped and pissed everywhere. Came into 30yds facing me . Was nervous about shooting threw the netting. They came close 2 times in the day and I got to watch them all day out in front of me. That buck kept them grouped up pretty tight. He had 12 doe’s. He finally ended up chasing a doe out of his group or he went to try to get her back but about 15 minutes after I last saw him running at about a mile and a half away he came running in. There he stood for the next 45 minutes staring at my blind walking from one side to the other. He finally came in and I will not be uncomfortable shooting threw that mesh again. The pictures on the goat are off my camera phone. I did not know it had a timer on it. Guess after sitting 7 days in a blind you learn to occupy yourself with playing with it. From 5 am till 9pm (dark).
Also when I was on my way out hauling the trailer and going out to pick up a ground blind I came down into a dried up creekbed there was a coyote. I stopped dead in the middle of this dirt road which maybe 1 vehicle every couple hours maybe comes down. I grab my bow and hook up release and snuck into the stupid yote to 20yds. Whacked him and took a picture with the camera phone. This was on 8-18.
Coyote picture and antelope picture…..



Next was my brothers first elk hunt. He drew a early cow hunt. He is a meat hunter. He was having problems finding a cow elk. His friend also had a tag for one also. I called to find out about his success and he stated he hadn’t seen any. I asked about him running up for an evening hunt. He said cool. Well we got up there and started glassing. Spotted a 6x6 bull going up a ridge way off . He had no cows with him. Found wolf tracks in the road. Brother said he had them howling the weekend before. Followed the tracks up the road and stopped and found a 5x5 racking a tree down in the bottom. Me and my brother took off down towards them. There was I believe 9 cows some calves and a spike running with this bull. He whacked one and he went to the cow and I went for packframes . Got home after midnight . Long pack from the bottom . Crazy night . Another picture with the camera phone . This was Sept 6th.
Here is that picture…


Next was my elk hunt. I went with my friend John in northern Idaho. He is a avid elk hunter and the best caller I have ever heard. Got to his house in the afternoon and got to see trail camera pics of the different elk in the area we would be hunting. He had 1800+ pics of elk. I will post a couple pics also. John called it “The Hole”. Which is a under statement . It was a guaranteed 3 mile hike in and a 3 mile hike OUT. That’s right out. I have a more respect for die hards. Man what a very long day. We hiked 12 miles that one day and I took a 4x4 with my bow at 8 yds and the caller was at 6 yds. But John was on the move all day except lunch we got a nap. John kept us on the move trying to find the elk. We had 1 answer us at 5am right off the bat up on top. We got a bull to answer us in the last place we looked and had 3 bulls answer us 1 above 1 in front of us and 1 down below. We ended up getting the bull I killed come in breaking limbs. Like I said he called him into me at 8yds and he was 6yds. John has came up with an adapter for the Hoochie mama and also adapts to the Carlton call and that thing had that bull totally fooled at the end. John mouth called, up till the bull was about 30 yds away then switched and had that bull thinking the cows moved up higher and he came running. He leaned over and shot right over his shoulder. He turned and crashed and burned at 50 yds away. I think that was the only place you could see that far. Northern Idaho is the thickest stuff I have ever seen. So thick that the elk crap never landed on the ground in some area’s . I shot this bull on 9-19 and we left truck at 5am and did not get back to truck till 9:30. A very long day.
Here is that picture..


Next was my wifes elk hunt which she drew a rifle hunt and we had some things come up and did not get the time we had planned. But we tried and saw them but snow and weather was weird. But we hunted about 12 days for elk and deer and she got to see some of both so we at least got to spend them days alone in the woods. Plus my other brother Jeff got his elk while we where up there in another unit hunting. He shot this one coming back to the truck about 300 yds off the road. Up by a trailhead.
Here is my brothers picture….


Went out and checked around for mule deer and ended up jumping a fox 3 different times in a canal and I believe he was eating on some ducks as there where ducks in the almost frozen water ponds. I spotted him the third time out and he was way down the canal and I dropped over the edge and came up over the edge of the canal 35 yds away from him and he never knew I was there. Stuck him and he ran about 50 yds.

Here is the fox picture in my front yard….


I started hunting mule deer and was out every morning and this buck I snuck on him or driving down a road or tried to get close he would get the feeling something was not right and he was up and gone. Flat moving out . I kept at it every morning and the persistents finally paid off. Spotted a group of doe’s and as I was driving to get around them they came down across the road in front of me and low and behold here is my buddy. 100yds in front of my truck not even paying attention to me. He followed the doe’s down for 300 yds and they went down a draw and bedded down. The buck stayed right up next to the top right above that doe. I took off after them and snuck right in there. When I got to 50 yds he was facing to the south and he let me get right in there to about 20yds. Stuck him in his bed. Just thought a stick broke up against him. He jumped and ran about 70 yds. Piled up only for me to go get the truck .
Here are my mule deer pictures…

As he lays picture…

Week later I was off to hunt my Whitetail up at my friends place in Northern Idaho. My friend John has put me up and helped me out for the third time this year. What a good friend. It was pretty cool getting to hunt them. The weather was not the best it seems. John killed a very nice buck before I got there. I ended up shooting him at 15yds out of a tree stand. I have no knowledge of these animals and was kinda weird not seeing very many. John said that would have been better if I had more time. Wanted to hold out but never shot a WT with my bow so figured have to start somewhere. Figured he would do. Had a blast with this hunt.
Here is my buck….

[killerbee]

thanks for taking the time too share your awsome year! thats a ton killin in a short amount of time, i'm jealous!!

[MULEY7MM]

Wow what a sweet year i wish i could do just half of that

[AGCHAWK]

WOW! Looks like a great year, my friend! CONGRATS

[MontanaMonster]

Congradulations, sounds like an awesome year not much more you could have killed, haha. Good Luck with your up coming hunts

[MuleyMadness]

Man your not kidding are you, 'long season' for sure. What a year!

[Heads or Tails]

Congrats!! on a "busy" and successful year!!!

[BOHNTR]

Man SS34......hope you have a huge chest freezer......that's a lot of vittles! Congrats on a fine year.

[m gardner]

You'll have some fond memories of this one. Congrats!
Mark

[kinzysdad]

Congrats man, I could only dream of being able to hunt like that.