Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

What is your single top hunting season goal this year? I expect updates damn it.

1st day out , 9 bulls all on private, saw 200 deer all on private , A few were small bucks , and one cow moose at 250 ish yds on public
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Deer beds , nobody home
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Kudos for the wife she toughed it out today , 15° ha ha ha
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Why are you only looking at animals on private? You’re supposed to find the ones on public! 😉
 
Why are you only looking at animals on private? You’re supposed to find the ones on public! 😉

Ha ha ha , I was hoping to catch the elk coming down out of the hills and crossing over onto the ranch, after 2 days of snow, but looks like the elk got down on the ranch well before the snow fall , it was fun to see some BIG bulls today even if I couldn’t go at them.
 
Here is my update:

I have only made it in the woods once. I have to get on the ball. In fairness it has been crazy hot, Like record high hot for a lot of October. Not enjoyable for me to hunt here in mid to upper 90 heat indexes.

Cold front arrives tomorrow. Have a hunt planned in Arkansas Nov 10th through the 15th.

Looking at the calendar I have almost half of November and December off. Can’t wait.
 
My wife did a great job on goal 2 for me/us. She upgraded her best mule deer by a bunch. She passed on a decent amount of smallish bucks and ended up with one I’d guess is around 160. We saw a couple great bucks but they were either where we didn’t have access or disappeared before we could make a play. Super proud of her effort and commitment
 
To find and kill a coues buck with a muzzleloader in the Gila during the 5 day season (will be there early to scout). No pressure right!
Well mission not accomplished 😒. Scouted for 3 days hunted for 5 and found a healthy pocket of coues between 5,500 and 8,000 feet. Hunted hard and saw tons of does and one spike but no legal bucks showed themselves during my 5 day hunt. Tons of dink mule deer running around all over the unit so I switched gears late on the last morning. Found one to put a stalk on and made a good 125 yard heart shot with my muzzleloader and the 300 gr Thors did a amazing job. It was a awesome hunt besides deer I saw elk, turkey, bear, javelina, and more almost every day. Hopefully it doesn't take another 5 years to draw this tag again because I'm already dreaming of a rematch with the coues deer.20231101_092428.jpg
 
Goal #2 accomplished. A gal who works for my wife has a son who's a senior in high school, his dad passed away 12 years ago and he wanted to learn how to hunt. I got him a tag and permission to hunt on a friend's ranch, did some range time with the rifle, and then we got after it this weekend. We had a run-in with a monster buck (easily 180"+) but couldn't connect, fortunately the young deer played ball, he shot straight, and went home with his first buck today!

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Goal #2 accomplished. A gal who works for my wife has a son who's a senior in high school, his dad passed away 12 years ago and he wanted to learn how to hunt. I got him a tag and permission to hunt on a friend's ranch, did some range time with the rifle, and then we got after it this weekend. We had a run-in with a monster buck (easily 180"+) but couldn't connect, fortunately the young deer played ball, he shot straight, and went home with his first buck today!

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Good man
 
Lab Ellie came up lame goose hunting this year and initial diagnosis was torn cranial crucial ligament (ACL in humans). I arranged for her to see an orthopedic vet in Great Falls 1st of November. By then she seemed almost normal. He said no surgery at this time. Give her more time off and see how she does. So, with Ellie the rooster killer out of action, sole hunting duty has fallen to twelve year-old cancer survivor Fr Brittany "Puppy." She is AMAZING. Hunting as hard as a dog half her age. She set me up twice today with show-stopping points and I made them count. First day hunting last week we got one rooster but I worked her way too hard. She was unwell for almost two days and gave me quite a scare. I was afraid cancer was back. She's kicking arse again now. I am limiting her to half day hunts only. We are both getting old.
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@Hammsolo you asked for updates, so here it is.

I finally got a blacktail. First deer, and couldn’t be happier about it!

I don’t know how you all take those neat pictures. I tried getting one, but the phone kept falling over. Had to wait until I was home to get a decent pic.
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Glad it came together for you. Like I said before, sometimes it's just time spent in the woods. And you've been putting the time in.
 
Ok here is my update thus far but can't give too many details because SFC Born has yet to update. So my my Colorado Elk hunt was wonderful despite being sicker than a dog I truly enjoyed every second of it! Beautiful scenery, all sorts of wildlife to enjoy, and wonderful friends. Memories made and much needed unplug from the business of a modern world!
 

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