Any opening day luck?

[gallogiro]

Anyone have any luck opening day for bow? Share the pics/story!

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[salmonriverjohn]

Very, very close. I put a nice bull and six cows into the lap of a young hunter saturday, he got excited and tried to close the gap instead of letting them do it and blew them out. Got into a group of four five point bachelors monday morning but couldn't close the deal (heavy sigh) and could only watch as the drifted into 14' tall reprod. Back to work for the rest of the week, but have nine days in a row off starting Saturday,,, the weathers improving thankfully and hopefully?? Win lose or draw I love this stuff.

Note to others hunting the coast, the bulls are not bugling yet, to warm right now. Light chirps only. This will change, but right now the only ones blowing are the hunters and it sure tells the elk where they are and where not to go. Good luck to all, and hopefully everyone has that same stupid grin on their face that I do.eace:

 

[gallogiro]

Oooo... how young of a hunter are you helping? Sounds like your doing something right and will have more opportunities.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

He's around 26 but his lack of experience is due to having only took one elk prior to this, and that was with a rifle. He's diligent in his practice with the bow, now if we can work on the waiting thing I think he'll turn out alright. Honestly, I've taken more Elk than I can remember and I'm ok with missed opportunities, thats how we all learn. He's a member here and a hell of a good kid, put in his time with Airborne recently so there's nothing lacking in the physical dept. and therein lies the key,,, this old man will probably need some help packing these fat old rosies some day in the not to distant future ( I'm getting a little long of tooth) so I look at it as an investment into both of our futures.

 

[BullsBucksandBoars]

I didn't fight the crowds opening weekend but on monday I snuck down my favorite skid road on the coast and into a canyon that usually has a couple animals hiding out. I kind of still hunted my way in throwing around a little cow chatter every 5-10 minutes. 45 min later I hear P-Pop-Pop crash, mew! meew! coming from the other side if the drainage and see about 6 cows filing towards me. As I knock an arrow I hear more clatter coming from the bench 90 yards away. I throw my binos up to see two bulls fighting! New experience for me! One was a good framed but stubby tined 5 the other was a little 3. Needless to say the 5 ran the 3 off and came to check the cows. I threw out a couple more estrous cow calls and here comes the 5 on a string snorting and grunting the whole way!!! Now the knees are getting shaky and I start thinking how great it was going to be to fill my tag with my biggest bull to date after 2hrs of hunting. 42 yds he turns broadside... With his ribcage behind a 9' hemlock sapling :doh: his eyes couldnt see what his ears were hearing and he got impatient. I watched him run around and check cows for another 15 minutes before he gave up and left. The cows wouldn't give him the time of day. With a 2 week old future hunting buddy at home I was more than willing to stick a cow and call it a season. Well as we all know you can either keep up with a feeding herd of elk or be quiet and sneaky; not both but I had to try anyway. So an arrow never got loosed but that experience is what it's all about for me! Being a part of that is damn near as good as punching a tag . I did pick an entire paper grocery bag of chanterelles over the last 2 days. Always a nice bonus

lots of season left things will pick up soon! Keep at it!

 

[WilliamIV]

I didn't fight the crowds opening weekend but on monday I snuck down my favorite skid road on the coast and into a canyon that usually has a couple animals hiding out. I kind of still hunted my way in throwing around a little cow chatter every 5-10 minutes. 45 min later I hear P-Pop-Pop crash, mew! meew! coming from the other side if the drainage and see about 6 cows filing towards me. As I knock an arrow I hear more clatter coming from the bench 90 yards away. I throw my binos up to see two bulls fighting! New experience for me! One was a good framed but stubby tined 5 the other was a little 3. Needless to say the 5 ran the 3 off and came to check the cows. I threw out a couple more estrous cow calls and here comes the 5 on a string snorting and grunting the whole way!!! Now the knees are getting shaky and I start thinking how great it was going to be to fill my tag with my biggest bull to date after 2hrs of hunting. 42 yds he turns broadside... With his ribcage behind a 9' hemlock sapling :doh: his eyes couldnt see what his ears were hearing and he got impatient. I watched him run around and check cows for another 15 minutes before he gave up and left. The cows wouldn't give him the time of day. With a 2 week old future hunting buddy at home I was more than willing to stick a cow and call it a season. Well as we all know you can either keep up with a feeding herd of elk or be quiet and sneaky; not both but I had to try anyway. So an arrow never got loosed but that experience is what it's all about for me! Being a part of that is damn near as good as punching a tag . I did pick an entire paper grocery bag of chanterelles over the last 2 days. Always a nice bonus

lots of season left things will pick up soon! Keep at it!

Sounds like an adrenaline rush!

 

[gallogiro]

Awesome stories fellas, put up pics if you mange to stick one. I am yet to go bow hunting, I've never been. I really wanted to try it out this year but I was not able to buy a bow last year to practice with. My hopes is to buy one late this year (maybe x-mas gift for me, lol) and practice, practice, practice. Seems like this rifle thing is getting really crowded and I keep hearing about hunting "accidents", don't want any of that. So this year I will keep dodging bullets, maybe one of mine will be able to connect with some ribs.

Hey Salmonriverjohn, maybe next year you could use another 'young' 31 year old to help you pack out the meat, lol.

Good luck gentlemen and keep the stories coming.

 

[CJ49er]

not opening day, and no luck....but came across this herd on our way out last night. It was @ 1930 and they were on the move so pretty much out of time to make anything happen. We counted 6 cows, 1 calf, 1 6x6 bad boy in the group. Pretty much a horrible pic, but hey its a phone

 

[BDA.45]

I had some pretty good luck today. I watched 2 hunters go into the trees behind my house. They parked at the gate down below. Grabbed my AR and put 10 rounds into my steel plate at 650. They were fukin PISSED! DONT TRESSPASS YOU AZZHOLES! Not the first time and not the last. Ive called the cops before but this is way better.... STAY THE FUK OFF PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!

 

[WilliamIV]

I went out looking for a bear today. Saw 3 deer and got into a very nice size heard of elk. Two bulls were in the herd. One was a nice 4x4 and the other was just a spike.

 

[Swedish K]

Saw this small bunch of 35-45 on the way up to long beach yesterday afternoon.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

I agree and understand your issue with private property and trespassers. Those who have a understanding that they are indeed trespassing are not my friends. But actions like you described make hunters who are new to a area or the state, not to even want to try to go hunting here. New Regulations, new areas, who owns what, public land but its all leased by multiple logging companies, state, federal, BLM, and the list goes on. Maybe you should walk out to them and ask them if they know they are on private property. Then use your judgment on if they are truthful or B.S.ing. I have 160 acres back in Minnesota that I own with my brother and used to be my grand parents old farm. MN is flat, and roads are not so remote, and you know if its private or not. Oregon, bubblegum, you could turn off the blacktop and be on one of 10 different types of land. All im saying is give the guys a bit of understanding. If you deem them to know the land and are locals, call the cops, but other wise, shooting near them may get you killed. What would you do if you accidentally were on private property and you heard and or seen someone shooting towards you?

I had some pretty good luck today. I watched 2 hunters go into the trees behind my house. They parked at the gate down below. Grabbed my AR and put 10 rounds into my steel plate at 650. They were fukin PISSED! DONT TRESSPASS YOU AZZHOLES! Not the first time and not the last. Ive called the cops before but this is way better.... STAY THE FUK OFF PRIVATE PROPERTY!!!

 

[BDA.45]

I agree and understand your issue with private property and trespassers. Those who have a understanding that they are indeed trespassing are not my friends. But actions like you described make hunters who are new to a area or the state, not to even want to try to go hunting here. New Regulations, new areas, who owns what, public land but its all leased by multiple logging companies, state, federal, BLM, and the list goes on. Maybe you should walk out to them and ask them if they know they are on private property. Then use your judgment on if they are truthful or B.S.ing. I have 160 acres back in Minnesota that I own with my brother and used to be my grand parents old farm. MN is flat, and roads are not so remote, and you know if its private or not. Oregon, bubblegum, you could turn off the blacktop and be on one of 10 different types of land. All im saying is give the guys a bit of understanding. If you deem them to know the land and are locals, call the cops, but other wise, shooting near them may get you killed. What would you do if you accidentally were on private property and you heard and or seen someone shooting towards you?

First of all I didnt shoot towards them. I will say they were down muzzle though. (Damn that bullet smacking the plate is loud) Second of all Id get the fuk out of there. Obviously Im not where Im supposed to be. My property is posted. Ive had cocky dikhead hunters shoot animals on my land and Ive called the staters. 2 yrs ago some a-hole shot one on my land, it was witnessed, we called the cops and they waited till the a-holes gutted, skinned, quartered and packed out the animal then busted them. Took their guns, meat and impounded their truck. You should have seen it, it was AWESOME! Talk about pissed. Its YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to know where youre hunting. If I walked out to these dudes all the time I may as well be a fukin guide. Im not nice if I do talk to them. The majority of the dudes hunting around here know exactly where they are and the property layouts. They push the boundary when they can. So I do what I have to do. Shoot my steel plate.

 

[MinnesotaORnewbie]

First of all I didnt shoot towards them. I will say they were down muzzle though. (Damn that bullet smacking the plate is loud) Second of all Id get the fuk out of there. Obviously Im not where Im supposed to be. My property is posted. Ive had cocky dikhead hunters shoot animals on my land and Ive called the staters. 2 yrs ago some a-hole shot one on my land, it was witnessed, we called the cops and they waited till the a-holes gutted, skinned, quartered and packed out the animal then busted them. Took their guns, meat and impounded their truck. You should have seen it, it was AWESOME! Talk about pissed. Its YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to know where youre hunting. If I walked out to these dudes all the time I may as well be a fukin guide. Im not nice if I do talk to them. The majority of the dudes hunting around here know exactly where they are and the property layouts. They push the boundary when they can. So I do what I have to do. Shoot my steel plate.

Sorry if I implied or sounded like I was accusing you of shooting at or towards them, that was not my intentions. People deliberate trespassing or pushing the limit on it sucks and I too would get tired of it. The only reason I mentioned all this is because for the last two years, I have been buying maps, BLM, Forest, plot maps, and researching using web forums, Google Earth, and asking everyone and anyone including forest rangers and state and federal officers on law clarifications, opinions, and helping tactics. I really am trying to do it 100% legal and ethically towards private land owners. If I had the extra money, I would buy a new gps and purchase one of those cards that have state, federal and private land boundaries built into it. Even after doing this much homework, I still am very fearful that I will make a mistake and be in a situation that I am near or on someone's private land, on a logging companies land that does not allow hunting use or needed prior permission or any other type of trespassing charges. All I want to do is hunt. Not road hunt and jump out and shoot a deer on land that is easily known or seen as private land, but walk, hike, explore miles into a national forest or similar land that is open to the public in hopes that it is far enough away from most hunters who stick close to forest roads.

With this said, I am making myself get out this year to hunt black-tails and to not let the fear of all these new learning criteria's in a state that I am not used to yet, keep me from doing what I love to do. So if you see a young guy doing what others have done on your land and you feel you can tell they are not intentionally trying to trespass on your land, Maybe you could help them and educate them so they don't make the same mistake again. And if they are rude or understand the law and are just disobeying it, well, use your gun barrel and a reaming tool and let them know what it feels like to get Phucked over constantly. Take it easy and best of luck hunting this year.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Well, their rutting now. Screaming rutting. Got into a beautiful 6x with his ladies this morning and we both told each other how bad we hated the other. Very, very close to closing the deal, but such is Elk hunting. Don't get me wrong, I'd have took a cow as it's all about the meat (yes, I'm one of them) and I have plenty of racks in the pole barn. Frustration, excitement, exhilaration, anticipation, chest pounding heart beating rush! He came into 65 yards and tore up stuff all around him, deep full bugles that make your blood pressure jump 50 points. The deceitful wind got me as it seemed to swirl every direction in the thunderstorm that was occurring. Also had two very nice spikes catch my wind as an attempt was made to get on the downwind side. I mean, how much fun can a person have and keep their pants on?:woot:

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Yeah! Sorry! It is the hunters responsibility to know where he is! A bong on the gong seems most educational!

 

[nwwoodsman]

I mean, how much fun can a person have and keep their pants on?:woot:

My pants would have been off at that point.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Took a nice Bear that came flying into a cow/calf call. Still working on that Elk though.

 

[BullsBucksandBoars]

Well isn't that convenient? Let's see some pictures!


I'm headin to the cabin tonight and will give it at least til Sunday. Hopefully I'll be able to put something together by then

 

[salmonriverjohn]

I'm headin to the cabin tonight and will give it at least til Sunday. Hopefully I'll be able to put something together by then[/QUOTE]

If you knock one down and need a hand,,, you know how to get a hold of me