Muleyhunter78
Active member
Looks like a great hunt! Congrats to all. And a great story to go along with it.
Deer hunting with Randy....
- Thread starter JohnCushman
- Start date
TimeOnTarget
Well-known member
Nailed it!!
publichunter1
Well-known member
Awesome trip guys! Enjoyed the stories and the photos. Hope to do something like that one day up that way.
FLXHunter
Member
Looks like a blast. Good to see the boys have success!! Congrats on a great hunt.
A-5_Guy
Member
Awesome thread guys! I listened to the podcast while on a road trip and was anticipating a lively thread with Cushman involved. I absolutely cannot wait until my boys are hunting aged!
Gerald Martin
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- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,380
I forgot to follow up with Monday's hunt. Randy and Michael had to be in Bozeman by evening so they left super early. They hunted a spot on the way out of town and Michael was successful in killing a mule deer.
John, the boys and I slept in a bit, ate a great breakfast of hash and eggs and hit the road at the crack of 9 a.m. Our plan was to try and kill two birds with one stone (only partially a figure of speech.) John had a whitetail doe tag left and Timothy and I were excited to try and kill some pheasants. Our game plan was to try and find an area with both. We hoped to push out some creek bottoms with John blocking the exits while we shot roosters.
It was a great plan and should have been foolproof. Only problem is the does we saw were mule deer and all the pheasants except for one were on private land. We still had a great time with a little more driving excitement than necessary on hills and gumbo roads that were almost not fit to drive.
As the afternoon came to a close we made a last ditch effort to get back to where we had killed the bucks to push out one side ravine that ran up past the truck. With 15 minutes of legal light, I left John and Timothy on top of the hill to watch for escaping does and headed around the ridge. I was distracted by a group of mule deer does feeding on the public side of the fence with two bucks coming in hot off of private land. Both bucks made it across on to public and were well within range, but in the dimming light I never could satisfy myself that they were more than average sized bucks. I elected to pass and our last day of hunting was over.
We headed back to camp and dulled our sorrows with heart tacos and good coffee.
Tuesday morning was another relaxed wake-up and pack up camp to head home. We parted ways mid-morning.
I have to say that this hunt was the capstone to an amazing year of hunting for myself and my family. I have never had such an eventful and successful year of filling tags and sharing camps with great guys as this fall. I suspect it might be a long time before I have another season like this one!
John, the boys and I slept in a bit, ate a great breakfast of hash and eggs and hit the road at the crack of 9 a.m. Our plan was to try and kill two birds with one stone (only partially a figure of speech.) John had a whitetail doe tag left and Timothy and I were excited to try and kill some pheasants. Our game plan was to try and find an area with both. We hoped to push out some creek bottoms with John blocking the exits while we shot roosters.
It was a great plan and should have been foolproof. Only problem is the does we saw were mule deer and all the pheasants except for one were on private land. We still had a great time with a little more driving excitement than necessary on hills and gumbo roads that were almost not fit to drive.
As the afternoon came to a close we made a last ditch effort to get back to where we had killed the bucks to push out one side ravine that ran up past the truck. With 15 minutes of legal light, I left John and Timothy on top of the hill to watch for escaping does and headed around the ridge. I was distracted by a group of mule deer does feeding on the public side of the fence with two bucks coming in hot off of private land. Both bucks made it across on to public and were well within range, but in the dimming light I never could satisfy myself that they were more than average sized bucks. I elected to pass and our last day of hunting was over.
We headed back to camp and dulled our sorrows with heart tacos and good coffee.
Tuesday morning was another relaxed wake-up and pack up camp to head home. We parted ways mid-morning.
I have to say that this hunt was the capstone to an amazing year of hunting for myself and my family. I have never had such an eventful and successful year of filling tags and sharing camps with great guys as this fall. I suspect it might be a long time before I have another season like this one!
7mm08mo
Well-known member
Great thread, sounds like a great time was had by all involved. Congrats to all.
duckhunt
Well-known member
Great hunt guys.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
That last day of hunting was frustrating. I had the whitetail doe tag in my pocket, but we were finding mule deer everywhere we went. We did find a couple of does on a little piece of public, but we'd have to corner cross private off of another piece of public to get to them. As much as it sucked, we let them be and headed out for a couple of pushes and some pheasant hunting. On the way back through those does were right in the same exact spot. We needed them to move about 20 yards, but the grass right there must have been especially tasty. So, we drive around looking for pheasants and see mule deer does everywhere. EVERYWHERE!! Then Gerald and Timothy chased down the elusive disappearing pheasant that just up and vanished where there was nowhere for it to escape. It was a great day!
Gerald Martin
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- 8,380
I forgot about the corner cross does. Public ground on the road. Checkerboard piece of private with whitetails filtering down on public to the private field. They were only 400 yards from the vehicle but I decided that in an unfamiliar area, a doe wasn't where I wanted to push the issue.
I was hoping there was another road on the backside of the checkerboarded piece that I could walk in and retrieve a deer from, but it was not to be. We drove on.
I know everyone hears Randy plug the OnX map systems constantly and I have to reiterate that it is one of the best $100 of hunting gear that I own. Both of my boy's deer were taken close to the public/private intersection and without the ownership chip in my GPS we for sure would not have gone after Gareth's buck. From a mile away, I assumed it was on private until I looked closely at my GPS.
Both times we stopped at the local sporting goods store for other items, there were customers asking for chips for their GPS units after experiencing the frustrations of trying to navigate land ownership with maps and unchipped GPS. Unfortunately for them, the store was sold out of inventory and they were out of luck.
I learned firsthand that not all fences are built on property lines. One of our pheasant/doe pushes took place right next to a heavily posted private ranch with a good fence. As I walked toward the fenceline to begin my push, my GPS clearly showed that the fence was over 50 yards onto the private parcel. Probably unlikely that anything would have come out of it had I walked down to the fence to begin, but it was good for my peace of mind to know exactly where the boundary was and stay 50 yards away to avoid any possibility of contention.
On another occasion, Randy and I were easily able to find the corner survey marker. Both of our GPS units were within about 5' of the actual marker.
When hunting areas that are not contiguous blocks of public lands, I have to say that the OnX chip is just as much an essential part of a successful hunters kit as tags, rifles,boots, and bino's are.
The only thing worse than having to overlook potential hunting areas because you aren't sure if you can legally access it would be over confidently assuming a parcel was public and then receive a trespassing ticket.
I was hoping there was another road on the backside of the checkerboarded piece that I could walk in and retrieve a deer from, but it was not to be. We drove on.
I know everyone hears Randy plug the OnX map systems constantly and I have to reiterate that it is one of the best $100 of hunting gear that I own. Both of my boy's deer were taken close to the public/private intersection and without the ownership chip in my GPS we for sure would not have gone after Gareth's buck. From a mile away, I assumed it was on private until I looked closely at my GPS.
Both times we stopped at the local sporting goods store for other items, there were customers asking for chips for their GPS units after experiencing the frustrations of trying to navigate land ownership with maps and unchipped GPS. Unfortunately for them, the store was sold out of inventory and they were out of luck.
I learned firsthand that not all fences are built on property lines. One of our pheasant/doe pushes took place right next to a heavily posted private ranch with a good fence. As I walked toward the fenceline to begin my push, my GPS clearly showed that the fence was over 50 yards onto the private parcel. Probably unlikely that anything would have come out of it had I walked down to the fence to begin, but it was good for my peace of mind to know exactly where the boundary was and stay 50 yards away to avoid any possibility of contention.
On another occasion, Randy and I were easily able to find the corner survey marker. Both of our GPS units were within about 5' of the actual marker.
When hunting areas that are not contiguous blocks of public lands, I have to say that the OnX chip is just as much an essential part of a successful hunters kit as tags, rifles,boots, and bino's are.
The only thing worse than having to overlook potential hunting areas because you aren't sure if you can legally access it would be over confidently assuming a parcel was public and then receive a trespassing ticket.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
I thought it was funny when you stopped to ask that landowner to let Timothy shoot a pheasant in the field, but he said no because he had cows out there...They must have been invisible cows or had better camo than we had, since none of us could see a single cow within 1/4 mile of those pheasants 
Gerald Martin
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- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,380
I thought it was funny when you stopped to ask that landowner to let Timothy shoot a pheasant in the field, but he said no because he had cows out there...They must have been invisible cows or had better camo than we had, since none of us could see a single cow within 1/4 mile of those pheasants
Pellets are round, aerodynamic and capable of penetrating the thickest of cowhide at 2 miles... fact.
Private land is private and anyone wishing to access it must abide by the landowners wishes. For real fact. At least he didn't come out of the barn shooting.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
I'm bringing this back up to remind Randy to add his thoughts and pics. I have some final thoughts of the experience, but I'm trying to gather them and think them out so they don't sound like I'm writing them with crayons after drinking too much
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
but I'm trying to gather them and think them out so they don't sound like I'm writing them with crayons after drinking too much
Isn't that everyday you write with crayons and drink..... LOL..... :W:
Matt
D
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birdman27
Active member
Great thread and great hunting by all. Sound like the best kind of camp and company. Cheers!
MinnesotaHunter
Well-known member
Seems like I am always late to these parties......
We hunted through the Thursday after the rest of the crew left, and the place just kept getting busier. Both Ken (my father in law) and I were after our biggest buck of either species, or bust, and we ended up eating our tags. I did see one buck a mile back further into some road-less country one night, that would have tickled pretty much anyone's fancy. However, with only a little light left, decided the smart move was to try and relocate him the next day, rather than a bonzai charge which would have probably just ended up with me blowing him out.
We pretty much hunted on our own, but linked back up with the crew each evening to hang out for a few hours. In hind sight it would have been fun to spend a day hanging out with everyone and glassing deer for Gerald's boys, but there is always next time. As usual, I have never been disappointed with the company, and as luck would have it, even got to meet some new guys thanks to Shootsmanybullets setting up camp right next to Gerald, or maybe it was the other way around. It was like a good old fashioned deer camp, coming back to camp each evening to see who had some luck, having dinner and drinking a few beers.
Ken and I both came back to some whitetail hunting in WI and MN respectively. Ken had a rough gun season in WI, but I managed to knock down a decent buck with my muzzleloader in north-central MN. I like to still hunt during our muzzle loading season and this guy was out on the prowl for second cycle does, and unfortunately for him our paths crossed. He never knew what hit him. If anyone is wondering Knight Bloodline bullets do a number.....
We hunted through the Thursday after the rest of the crew left, and the place just kept getting busier. Both Ken (my father in law) and I were after our biggest buck of either species, or bust, and we ended up eating our tags. I did see one buck a mile back further into some road-less country one night, that would have tickled pretty much anyone's fancy. However, with only a little light left, decided the smart move was to try and relocate him the next day, rather than a bonzai charge which would have probably just ended up with me blowing him out.
We pretty much hunted on our own, but linked back up with the crew each evening to hang out for a few hours. In hind sight it would have been fun to spend a day hanging out with everyone and glassing deer for Gerald's boys, but there is always next time. As usual, I have never been disappointed with the company, and as luck would have it, even got to meet some new guys thanks to Shootsmanybullets setting up camp right next to Gerald, or maybe it was the other way around. It was like a good old fashioned deer camp, coming back to camp each evening to see who had some luck, having dinner and drinking a few beers.
Ken and I both came back to some whitetail hunting in WI and MN respectively. Ken had a rough gun season in WI, but I managed to knock down a decent buck with my muzzleloader in north-central MN. I like to still hunt during our muzzle loading season and this guy was out on the prowl for second cycle does, and unfortunately for him our paths crossed. He never knew what hit him. If anyone is wondering Knight Bloodline bullets do a number.....
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