Markleo21377

Thought the pack out was going to be narly but found a two track up the backside that got us within 200 yards….quarters slide nice in the snow 👌

Decided to go try a new hunt in Wyoming with a buddy. He has hunted the area a few times and had good success. Arrived on a Friday morning and drove a fair amount of country trying to cut tracks in the snow. The day was a bust on sightings or tracks. Next day we split up and the morning was a bust, however the evening I hiked into a canyon and found a couple bulls and a few cows but last light with no time to make a play. Day 3, I hiked into a drainage near where I spotted the elk the day prior and found 10 bulls. I closed the distance to 270 yards and put 3 bullets in this one. Beautiful country but man the wind sure does blow up there…almost every day it seems. Great cap on an awesome season!

💯

Agree, I am solo I’m to the bull already by the time buggy arrives but new hunter different story 👍

I think we did what many ethical hunters would do but I have hunted here 15 years now and seen an unbelievable amount of people turn into monsters for an animal

IMG_8192.mov IMG_8192.mov IMG_8192.mov I ran into a unique but not uncommon situation this year on my buddies wife’s 5B late rifle bull hunt. Opening morning we turned up 2 bulls first light at 1100 yards. Her effective range is about 600 yards so we needed to drop off the ridge and onto a spine between us and the elk. As we made our way there we heard a side by side coming in. I told my buddy to continue on and I would let them know what we were doing. It ended up being two guys from Washington, one with a tag. They too had seen the bulls and were in pursuit. I told them since two bulls were in there we should work together and we can make a final decision on shooter once in position. They were agreeable so we eased in. We got to 600 yards and had the biggest bull in plain site bedded. The other was bedded in thick junipers. My buddies wife had never killed a bull and neither had this gentleman. Despite my gut telling me “ladies first” I knew they had just as much right to the bulls as us, so we agreed to flip for it. Well, she lost. So we got her in position in the event the second bull popped out and helped him with distance, windage and execution. He made a perfect shot and the other bull slipped out just giving us brief glimpses but never long enough for a new hunter. It was disappointing and exciting all at once. Bull was a tank and scored 351”. Super solid dudes and even offered tons of assistance trying to help her connect over the next few days but she could never quite put it together. On day 2 I found her the bull of a lifetime, conservatively 370” and had her at 400 yards from him but she couldn’t get him in her scope in the thick cedars before he bedded. I had to go home but they saw him two more times and no shot! IMG_8192.mov I sure love mentoring new hunters but after killing lots of animals for 35 years it is easy to forget the newbie mistakes that occur over and over again that we made and is so glaring when someone else does it. Test of patience, kindness, and humility for sure! Here is the bull they killed 351” IMG_8201.mov My Movie 9.mov

Thx man!

69-84

We decided to give it a go in a true desert unit this fall. Never had hunted it before but a couple buddies have seen a fair amount of deer in January during OTC. We arrived Thursday evening with only two days to hunt and as we picked a camp spot the landscape blew me away…how do these things survive and thrive out here. Looked like the surface of the moon with the surface mostly volcanic rock, scattered creosote bushes, and the occasional palo verde washes sprinkled around. 4 of my buddies generously offered to help on Friday and as we all picked high spots to glass from the reports started coming in of bucks. Multiple bucks and some good ones were located in various locations. Max and I spent most of the day on stalk after stalk trying to close the gap to under 600 yards with not much available to hide our approach. We had a few opportunities on small bucks we passed on and a couple close calls on bigger ones but nothing just right. We totaled 19 bucks seen that day. Saturday morning we were down to Max and I and 2 buddies so we all went to the spot that the most deer were seen Friday. Almost immediately we found a group of 3 bucks at 1000 yards. We had some topography to work with this time and we closed the gap to 340 yards and Max anchored the biggest one. It was a fun hunt that I think with a few extra days could produce something pretty special! This was his best desert buck to date and another awesome father son hunt in the books! Now time to get packed for Colorado 4th season Deer 🤙🏻

That is incredible! 14 in the natural world is a dinosaur!

Nope, these conversations on the rut are always interesting. The scientific facts, proved by biologists everywhere is peak estrus is always the same give or take a couple days because it is triggered by length of day. The perceived “rut” can vary based on drought, temperature, bull to cow ratios and other factors. If cows aren’t bred in their “window” typical 10-16 hours they will come back in estrus approximately 28 days later. Often, October intensity can be high because available cows left to breed is low and bulls are competing heavily for last breeding rights. They get desperate and seek more, sleep less and bugle more to announce to cows they are available.

Excellent! Hardship and trials are the building blocks of a resilient young man! Congrats!!!

Those look great! Keeping that nasal cavity in tact shows attention to detail!

Super awesome!!

Lots of rain in 5bs this morning so we just drove prime country til we cut tracks. Started out on the tracks and had a bull bugle up a head. We snuck in the herd of 10 cows, spike, and good herd bull. Set him up on BOGG and had this small cow feed to 60 yards offering the perfect shot for a brand new hunter! Such fun seeing how worked up he was but kept it together to make the shot.