September 2008
Monthly Archive
Jacob and Bud harvest the DROPTINE!
Posted by Wes on 23 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Whitetail
Hey guys Scott from KS here: this was a highly anticipated hunt the buck we had scouted all summer long and had on trail camera was now going to be hunted by Jacob, Bud’s grandson just a few days after the youth season opened. Taylor and I hunted this buck on the opener but when his 20 inch buck walked out we couldn’t pass him up. By the way Taylor made an incredible quartering away shot at 250 yards to harvest his best buck to date.
Now it was Jacobs turn, set up in the same stand that Taylor shot his buck from they watched in awe as the droptine buck walked out into the bean field only to disappear in a matter of minutes, the buck just bedded down out in the waist high beans. After about 30 searching minutes the buck stood up and started feeding, at 225 yards. Jacob made a heck of a shot and dropped the deer in his tracks. We searched for over an hour in the dark but those beans were just impossibly tall so we decided to come back when it was light, I started out of the field and walked right on top of him, we were only 15 yards from him the whole time.
The buck we had got on camera numerous times was actually bigger than first thought; he scored 159 inches, and weighed right at 300 lbs. What a buck for Jacob to take as a young hunter, congrats and good luck ever topping that whopper!
Story told by Scott Engstrom
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Leigh with his first bull ever
Posted by Wes on 21 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Elk
With elk stacked up again in a very unusual spot Leigh and I moved through the darkness, following bugles. Light revealed 7 six point bulls and over 80 elk. Leigh wasn’t going to be picky; he just wanted an elk so again we were playing the game of convincing a bull to leave the cows. I waited for over a hour before I believed the wind would give us time to work them. We slid off the rocks and into 100 yards of the cows. Bulls starting to wind down it was time to wake them back up. I said good morning with a couple wimpy bugles, brought in a bad boy, then brought to life my invisible cow/calf pairs and one old loud cow but got little response from just over the hill. I snuck back up to Leigh and cameraman Dan Dodge from Living the Wildlife and told them the wind was holding and it was going to be a matter of time. Crawling back out I got set in another ravine lower because the thermals were shifting and I had to pull the bull below Leigh. This time I fired up the old fat estrus cow that just got in the mood, then brought in a jealous cow by taking off the barrel of my call and got LOUD!. It’s so much fun when you know they bought it, here they come SCREAMING, all slobbery and ready for love. The first bull was a 6×6 - good enough for Leigh so he let him have it. A calf didn’t get the danger memo so she came on over to me to see what all the noise was about and at 3 yards I threw a pebble at her for fun. The herd held good now all we had to do was wait.
Nothing like watching Leigh wrap his hands around his first 6 point bull. Rob’s guy got a bull yesterday I’ll get that info to ya a bit later.
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You never know with Hak
Posted by Wes on 17 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Elk
I had the privilege this week of hunting with Steve and Hak and what intense, don’t-breathe-the-elk-are-too-close moments we had. Several days of the best elk hunting either one of them had ever seen, especially Steve. I love to look back at my guys and see their teeth. We had 6 mature bulls screaming with over a hundred elk and we were in the middle of them enough that Steve nearly got stepped on by a sneaky cow. Calves sparring at 40 yards, whining with such a tiny perspective on their day. A four point herded them up at 42 yards and started pushing them to the South. A cow cratered off the slope behind us and the herd tumbled 50 yards to look. Hak and I created an entourage to settle them and we had two mature 6 points closing the distance fast, realizing we would let them live we slid out so they wouldn’t run us over. Behind us more screaming and we were reminded of the 48 inch 6×7 that we couldn’t reach earlier due to a ravine and 30 cows. Creeping our way up the hill, the wind holding steady, our toes curled when he cut loose a wacked-out falsetto that only he could produce. Scanning hard for a visual - a string of cows file out to our left at 130 yards. Hak asks if he is behind them I’m thinking yes but not sure. Then he rises out of the bottom, sun illuminating his width and mass as he herds his harem away from the other bulls. Hak settles in and I cut the air with a “don’t you even think about it” bugle, the bull stops to answer back, the air fills with smoke the shot is high, the bull grabs at the red dirt to make his way. The hillside is freaked now and 100 head of elk crash off the breaks and we are left with eyes wide open…..what just happened? The story is a clean miss - the pride took it hard instead of the bull and none of us will ever be able to get that scene out of our heads.
Hak had reconstruction on his shoulder and was unable to bow hunt this year so he picked up a muzzleloader to hunt with his brother instead. In the effort to protect his shoulder he used a sled to sight in his muzzleloader. We learned the hard way that his sight ring changed from the sled to off his knee enough to miss that shot. We remedied the problem with a couple shots and a little pain. The pain because his shoulder is still not healed. We were off on our elk quest again.
The next day late in the evening Hak decided that he wanted to take a 6×6 home so that is what we did. A hard run, bad wind, wary elk and backstraps was the gist of it. The brothers were together for two good 6×6 bulls the whole point to the trip was complete, the moon was full, just really good stuff. The bulls were still screaming down below when we loaded the bull into the Tundra, kind of cool every time I back that thing up to a 6×6 bull.
Congrats Hak and Steve - see you next year!
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It’s a good one
Posted by Wes on 16 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Elk
Elk hunting Guide Miles was able to find a needle in a haystack a couple days ago and wah-lah! After a giant shift in the elk movement we were left with very few elk for a day and a half, until Miles heard a far off bugle. Covering ground in a hurry he bugled and the bull fired back. Again a searching bugle and the bull was closer, now to get him riled up. The bull bugled Miles cut him off and that was all the bull needed to charge in to 56 yards and stop in front of Jeff. Jeff hammered him good and they found the bull piled up a 100 yards down the hill. What a super bull he tapped out at 324 6/8 and is Jeff’s biggest bull by a long shot. Congrats Jeff on an incredible animal and great job Miles on turning a tough hunt into a hunt to never get over.
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Epic Elk
Posted by Rachelle on 15 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Elk
Saturday was opening day of muzzleloader….we were glad to welcome back repeat hunter Hak, who brought his brother Steve along this year! It was a little bit of a slow day, elk 3 miles away, and of course the creepings-in of concern in an outfitter’s mind that come with a slow day. But things shifted yesterday! In Wes’s words, it was ‘epic’. He, Hak and Steve spent all day on the mountain with 50+ head of elk & 3 shooter bulls. Unfortunately I don’t know enough of the details to give you the epic report you’re looking for here but I at least wanted to get you the pics. Steve made the perfect shot on this beautifully massive 6×6. Congrats, Steve! Now it’s Hak’s turn and we’re waiting to hear back from the mountain…………
Plus, stay tuned for the story on another cool surprise yesterday!
Rachelle
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Jason reflects on his goat.
Posted by Wes on 09 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: Antelope
Good afternoon,
I’m sitting here, supervising detention duty J trying to earn some extra money so I can plan another trip out to Colorado to hunt!!!!!
When I arrived last week and saw the looming clouds and rain in the distance I figured my chance to score on an antelope were probably over. The next morning when the winds were blowing 50+ miles an hour and holding the vehicle on the road was a challenge I figured that pretty much sealed my fate. But then we got behind that school bus and I had to smile…..because I was going to be hunting that day and not working back in Missouri at school!!!!
Any day spent out chasing critters is reason enough for me to smile and so I knew rain or shine or 50 mile an hour winds it was going to be a great hunt. And a great hunt it turned out to be!!! The wind let up, the sun came out and I was fortunate to be able to see lots of game!! Watching that buck and doe antelope chase that coyote across that field was worth the price of admittance.
Watching those 4 bucks come over that hill only milliseconds after hitting send on my “slow day” text has made everybody laugh here at home. It was a shock to say the least!! Then, being able to run over that hill and find my antelope pilled up was a great feeling and putting my hands on my first antelope was a dream come true.
Thanks again for all your work in scouting that spot out and helping recover my antelope after a tough wait.
The write up on the web is great fun to see and I was excited to see Marty score on “The Professor”!!!
Please tell him congrats and thank him again for me in his help with my goat.
You run a great operation and I would be glad to tell anybody the same.
Thanks again
Jason Meyer
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