THWAK1
New member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2011
- Messages
- 787
I spent opening day hunting with my girlfriend and some great friends.
The morning started off glassing and hunting elk. No shots but saw some great bulls.
As it got hot, we moved to a different part of the ranch and glassed for antelope and mule deer. I spotted an elk shed through my spotter from about a mile away so we drove to a prairie dog town to hike up a hill and pick it up. There were 3 coyotes in the town and my gf shot her first with my .233 at 370 yards! As we were walking through the town, I was shooting prairie dogs with my bow and judo points. On my second shot, I smoked a p-dog at 75 yards; my new long on a varmint with my bow! We stalked mule deer bucks in the rocks for a while, saw nothing worth shooting but were within 20 yards of 5 different bucks and got some fun video. Saw some great antelope too but couldn't close the deal either. I picked up the elk shed, a 7 point, and headed for the ranch HQ, it was only 10am.
Back at the HQ we shot our bows and I scored the shed; with a 40" inside spred, double the measurements, and he would've scored 365" (give or take an inch)! Then we headed to one of my favorite watering holes, had a burger and a couple of red-beers, and headed back to the ranch for the afternoon hunt; it was now 2pm.
For the afternoon hunt, we did more glassing, shot prairie dogs, and slowly worked our way back to where we were going to hunt elk in the evening. On the way in to our set-up, we came across some fresh bear tracks in the mud next to a creek...got a tag for them too! We set-up where we had seen some great bulls. Had some whitetails, mule deer and a coyote stop by to provide some entertainment, but no elk.
It was HOT and there had been a full moon the night prior...not the best of hunting conditions. It was a slow day for where we were, but still a great day overall! Maybe I'll go back out and do it all over again...when it cools down just a little bit more. Gotta love opening day!
Great company + lots of animals + cold beer + old hunting stories = SUCCESS!
The morning started off glassing and hunting elk. No shots but saw some great bulls.
As it got hot, we moved to a different part of the ranch and glassed for antelope and mule deer. I spotted an elk shed through my spotter from about a mile away so we drove to a prairie dog town to hike up a hill and pick it up. There were 3 coyotes in the town and my gf shot her first with my .233 at 370 yards! As we were walking through the town, I was shooting prairie dogs with my bow and judo points. On my second shot, I smoked a p-dog at 75 yards; my new long on a varmint with my bow! We stalked mule deer bucks in the rocks for a while, saw nothing worth shooting but were within 20 yards of 5 different bucks and got some fun video. Saw some great antelope too but couldn't close the deal either. I picked up the elk shed, a 7 point, and headed for the ranch HQ, it was only 10am.
Back at the HQ we shot our bows and I scored the shed; with a 40" inside spred, double the measurements, and he would've scored 365" (give or take an inch)! Then we headed to one of my favorite watering holes, had a burger and a couple of red-beers, and headed back to the ranch for the afternoon hunt; it was now 2pm.
For the afternoon hunt, we did more glassing, shot prairie dogs, and slowly worked our way back to where we were going to hunt elk in the evening. On the way in to our set-up, we came across some fresh bear tracks in the mud next to a creek...got a tag for them too! We set-up where we had seen some great bulls. Had some whitetails, mule deer and a coyote stop by to provide some entertainment, but no elk.
It was HOT and there had been a full moon the night prior...not the best of hunting conditions. It was a slow day for where we were, but still a great day overall! Maybe I'll go back out and do it all over again...when it cools down just a little bit more. Gotta love opening day!
Great company + lots of animals + cold beer + old hunting stories = SUCCESS!
