Well, I'm back...and there's always next year
AGCHAWK
10/20/06 8:17pm
Well guys and gals, I just got back into town after a week of chasing Mulies. As you can tell from the title of this post, the bucks will live another day but I had a blast!
To keep this post short, my son and I hiked what seemed like 400 miles over the week, saw PLENTY of deer and elk, but couldn't put together the ideal situation to bring one home. We passed on three "legal" bucks (3X3's), blew two stalks on real shooters, and sat on a ridge and watched two big bulls duke it out for about 1/2 hour which REALLY was the highlight of our hunt. As most of you know, this was my son's first hunt and he learned A LOT about how Mulie hunting goes. All is not lost though, we both have tags for our Idaho Whitetail hunt which begins in two weeks so we'll be back out there shortly.
I did want to pose a senario to you all and see what you think: On the last day of our hunt during 30 kts winds and extremely wet conditions (It rained the previous three days) my son and I spotted three bucks about 600-800 yards ACROSS the canyon (The hike down our side and up the other would have been about two miles) feeding in a draw choked with buck brush. The canyons were EXTREMELY steep and slick and the wind was howling and my son was BEGGING me to let us both put a stalk on the biggest one (5X5 near as I could tell through the spotting scope). After weighing all the pros and cons I finally made the difficult decision to just watch them from afar and letting them go for another year. The reason I made this decision was it was just me and my son and there was no way over to the opposite side except to hike down the side we were on and up the other side...pretty serious canyon too. Plus, it was extremely wet and slick and most importantly, I had no spotter to sit on our side and direct us in case the bucks moved out, busted us, or we took a wrong turn while stalking them. Not to mention, the pack out with just me and a young man would have been pretty difficult. My son was disappointed but still REALLY enjoyed being out there without another person or car within ear or eye shot. What would you have done? I am comfortable with my decision and am also comfortable that the bucks will be in there again next year. Still, I am a little unsure as to whether or not I made the right decision. Anyway, I need to get unpacked, unwind, and get some sleep. I'll keep you all posted on my whitetail hunt in Idaho.
To keep this post short, my son and I hiked what seemed like 400 miles over the week, saw PLENTY of deer and elk, but couldn't put together the ideal situation to bring one home. We passed on three "legal" bucks (3X3's), blew two stalks on real shooters, and sat on a ridge and watched two big bulls duke it out for about 1/2 hour which REALLY was the highlight of our hunt. As most of you know, this was my son's first hunt and he learned A LOT about how Mulie hunting goes. All is not lost though, we both have tags for our Idaho Whitetail hunt which begins in two weeks so we'll be back out there shortly.
I did want to pose a senario to you all and see what you think: On the last day of our hunt during 30 kts winds and extremely wet conditions (It rained the previous three days) my son and I spotted three bucks about 600-800 yards ACROSS the canyon (The hike down our side and up the other would have been about two miles) feeding in a draw choked with buck brush. The canyons were EXTREMELY steep and slick and the wind was howling and my son was BEGGING me to let us both put a stalk on the biggest one (5X5 near as I could tell through the spotting scope). After weighing all the pros and cons I finally made the difficult decision to just watch them from afar and letting them go for another year. The reason I made this decision was it was just me and my son and there was no way over to the opposite side except to hike down the side we were on and up the other side...pretty serious canyon too. Plus, it was extremely wet and slick and most importantly, I had no spotter to sit on our side and direct us in case the bucks moved out, busted us, or we took a wrong turn while stalking them. Not to mention, the pack out with just me and a young man would have been pretty difficult. My son was disappointed but still REALLY enjoyed being out there without another person or car within ear or eye shot. What would you have done? I am comfortable with my decision and am also comfortable that the bucks will be in there again next year. Still, I am a little unsure as to whether or not I made the right decision. Anyway, I need to get unpacked, unwind, and get some sleep. I'll keep you all posted on my whitetail hunt in Idaho.
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I am going to put a few trail cams in this spring to keep track of them and spend a weekend or two a month out there checkin' them out. We'll be out there again next year and hopefully things will turn out a bit differently.
Sounds like under the circumstances you made the right call. :thumb
If you would have been solo, maybe a different story.
I know if I was alone, I probably would have attempted to get in on them anyway. Sounds like you had a great time anyway.
A bull Elk fight sounds awesome!
And thanks for the report. Buck or no buck hunting with a child is always a success !!!!!!!