Knifeboy

Well it all started about a year and a half ago when one of my hunting buddies (Sean) from Wisconsin sent me an email with a long range forecast of some hunts we should go on over the next couple of years. Some of the hunts included going to New Mexico elk hunting, going to Canada to put the smack down on some Moose, going to Alaska on a black bear hunting/fishing trip and several others were listed. I decided to print the email off, and show my wife the wish list, she read through it and looked at me without hesitation and said I don’t care if you go to Alaska ! It was pretty funny; because of all the hunts listed I thought that would be the one she would object to. The next day I called my buddy in Wisconsin and told him I was good to go to Alaska, and he freaked out! The next thing I knew we had talked our two other hunting partners into going as well. Well long story short we planned all the logistics and we were ready to roll. Well it was a few days before the trip and I had been trying to locate a good double rifle case that was airline approved, when out of the blue Chef called me and asked if I still needed a good case. I said “yes” and he told me he had just won a brand new one and it was available for immediate use (SWEET!!! by the way thanks again for letting me borrow the case Chef)! To my surprise when I picked up the case Chef had put a “CouesWhitetail.Com” sticker on the case, and an extra sticker for my truck inside the case. I used the case to advertise your site Amanda. I used it kind of like those people who take yard gnomes on their vacations and take random pictures everywhere with it. It was pretty fun. Okay now to the important part “The Trip”. We left on Friday the thirteenth (kind of freaky to fly on that day but all went without incident) and we arrived in Juneau a little after 8PM while the sun was still fairly high in the sky. We were greeted by a good friend (Junior) who transported the group of us and all of our gear to our hotel where we were too excited to sleep (having the sun still up didn’t help either). The next day Junior came and picked us up and took us to his house where he cooked breakfast for us while we sat in his front yard glassing up billy goats, and bears on the mountain that was across the street. After breakfast he took us to the glacier that was just by his house, and then to the rifle range so we could ensure our guns were still shooting straight. After that he gave us the keys to his truck and let us go touring the town on our own. It is worth mentioning that a significant part of our hunting gear was outfitted by Junior so we didn’t have to bring it all on the plane (a huge thanks to Junior for that). Sunday we met up with our Master Guide (Bud Rosenbruch) to get ready to head out on his boat. The reason we chose to hunt with Bud was fairly easy; he also is a friend of ours, he went to college with Sean and we wanted this trip to be a get together with friends (it made for a really entertaining hunt). After we loaded up the boat we were off on a trip never to be forgotten. I will tell you the hunting part of the story first, and let the photos tell the rest. On Monday afternoon after we had just finished eating freshly caught Halibut for lunch we were making plans on who would go where to hunt, when Bud suggested that someone hunt alone from a small island in the middle of a tide flat. I volunteered myself, and so I got into the 14 foot skiff with Bud and we cruised over to the island so Bud could drop me off. As he dropped me off he told me to stay on the island and glass the shore line on either side of the island and if I saw a bear I should walk off the island to the bear. I thought he was kind of crazy and I was thinking to myself “how is this going to work your leaving me on an island, and telling me to hunt the shoreline that is a mile from the island?”. Then he told me that in about an hour or so the tide would go out and I would be sitting in the middle of a bay about three miles in circumference and I could walk right off the island to any point I wanted too. So I got off the boat and went and sat down under a pine tree and began to glass the far off shore in hopes of seeing a bear. Well about two hours passed and sure enough the tide had gone out and I decided I didn’t like being on the island any longer so I walked off to the east where I thought I would have my best chance of finding a bear (Bud had told me the bears would be in one of two areas before he left me). I went to the one I thought looked the best and waited downwind from that point. After I had been alone out there for about five hours I glassed all the way on the other side of the bay (over a mile away) and notice something black walking around (A BEAR). Hot dog the hunt was on, I packed up my things and started off not realizing that hiking through tide flats is really muddy and extremely tiresome. By the time I made it across the tide flat I looked at my watch; I had seen the bear at 8:05, and it was now 8:40 and I only had a little ways to go to get within shooting distance. I put a huge boulder between me and the bear, and it was wide open space on either side of the boulder so I knew if the bear moved I would see him. I closed the distance to within 150 yards knelt down and took my backpack off so I could pull my tripod out of my bag and use it for a rest. As I pulled my tripod out of my bag I looked up and saw the bear come out from behind the boulder so I just dropped on my belly and put my gun across my backpack. I was at a really odd angle and laying in the mud so I wasn’t really comfortable, however, the bear was quartering away and had just stopped to lift his head (I think he smelled me) I wasn’t going to get a better shot if I had put the bear out there myself so I decided to shoot. I put the crosshairs right behind his front sholder and squose the trigger. It was a perfect shot only problem was my face was practically touching the scope when I shot and WHAM! I got a smack in the face I was not expecting (it’s gonna be a really cool scar on my nose, I can tell my grandkids I got from fighting a bear). When I stopped seeing stars I looked at the bear and saw him drop and started rolling backwards and biting at his wound. I was so excited I told myself I just killed that bear. That’s right when the bear stood up and started running for the woods I was freaked out and put the crosshairs on him again and shot again and WHAM! I smacked myself in the nose with the scope a second time. This time after I stopped seeing stars the bear was already in the woods and so I touched my nose with my glove and sure enough I was bleeding pretty good. Well to make a long story short I took a half hour convincing myself to go into the woods to find my bear, and when I finally did I only had to go about 20 yards and there he was! I can’t properly explain all the feelings I felt but I am sure any of you who have ever had to chase a wounded bear into the Alaskan wilderness in the dark can attest it is exhilarating. Well after my personal photo shoot (nobody around to help me) I drug the bear out on to the beach and went out into the water about waist deep with my gun pointed into the ever darkening forest and waited for three really long hours (I had to wait till the tide came back in before the guide could get his boat to me). Well here are some photos of the trip. It was by far the best hunting trip I have ever been on. And we had as much fresh seafood as we could eat everyday (I didn’t think I could ever fill myself up on crab but it did in fact happen). Alaska from the Airplane Guns made it safely to Juneau (Amanda, how do you like that sticker)? Making sure the guns are shooting straight. Trying my hand at driving the boat. Digging for fresh clams. Starfish were everywhere. Nice flounder! Seven feet nine and a half inches skull was 18 and 4/16ths. Glad I didnt have to shake his hand when I found him! Chompers. The hunting pack and my .300 Ultra Mag. Wow! What a melon! Fresh crab. My favorite. Purdy. The wolf Sean shot. Man those things have really long legs. Sitka Blaktailed Buck. Nice sunset. I have a ton more photos I will add tomorrow.

Looks like I will be going Elk hunting. I got a hit this morning.

Honestly, it’s probably my favorite hunt every year. I'm referring to archery Javelina hunting in January. I have come to the conclusion that it is my favorite due to the fact that I can hunt Javelina, Deer, and Lion all at the same time; and there is a really good chance of getting a shot at a pig every year. As a matter of fact I have shot Javelina seven years in a row in unit 33. However, they are so nasty I decided not to put in this year (so I thought). My friend from Wisconsin called me up the first week of January and told me to go buy a leftover tag for unit 34A because he was flying out to meet up with me and my brother-in-law to spend a weekend chasing Deer and Javelina. I felt like if he was willing to fly out from Wisconsin the least I could do was meet up with him and make some more memories. Well it turns out that I am really glad I went hunting with them. The first day of the hunt we all went out and found pigs right away. I decided to sit and glass to watch my friend (Sean) and my Brother-in-law (Cameron) make a stock, I was going to assist from the radio as best I could. Well it turns out that as soon as my friends took off after the pigs, the pigs decided to leave as well. I watched the pigs go up and over a ridge, and I tried to walk my friends in on where I thought the pigs went to no avail. So after a while I went around that ridge to the next ridge over and started glassing and right away found the pigs again. I call my buddies on the radio and told them we needed to regroup and make a new plan of attack. After a few minutes of discussion we all decided that Sean would stay back and watch as Cameron and I gave the pigs a try. Cameron and I got into the pigs right away and made a great stock on them, however, Cameron forgot to compensate for a very steep downward angling shot and put his arrow over the back of a pig which spooked the whole heard away. After that we spend the rest of the day chasing rutting deer with no success. The second day started off much the same as the first; we found pigs at first light. The biggest difference in the two days is that this heard of pigs was right of the side of the road. I told Cameron to drop my off and keep driving so the pigs would spook off. This proved very effective, as the pigs didn’t seem to care that the truck stopped only momentarily and they just drove off. At this point I was already off the road and heading up the hill to get in front of the pigs who were total unsuspecting of me. I got up the ridge a ways and stopped into a decent shooting lane where the pigs were heading. I waited for several of the pigs to clear the crossing, and as luck would have it two pigs stopped right in my shooting lane. I drew back and let one fly. I hit the pig hard and she took off in a blaze of glory. I was in the middle of some very thick Cholla, and it was a little difficult to see where my pig went. I caught a glimpse of her running downhill where she crossed the road. I was totally pumped up and knew that I had just killed a great Javelina. I called Cameron on the phone and told him what happened, and asked him to come over and help me track my pig. Cameron arrived shortly, and like the blood hound he is was on the trail before I could tell him where to go. We followed the blood trail for a few minutes, and my eye caught movement up and to my right. When I looked I saw my pig moving very slowly toward the road. I called out to Cameron and when he looked up to see my pig we both knew what was about to happen. My pig decided to crawl into a culvert for safety. Unfortunately my Javelina went 40 feet into the culvert before she expired. Well I was pretty excited that I had killed my pig, however, I was devastated that I was going to have to crawl into a culvert to pull it out. As it turns out, I am a little too fat to fit into this particular culvert, so I decided to call Sean who was hunting another area, and ask him for a favor (there is a whole different story from several years ago that ended with Sean crawling into a Javelina den to pull his pig out). When I got Sean on the phone I asked him if he wanted to crawl into another cave after a stink pig (I was laughing as I did this, however, Sean did not find it as comical as I did). A little while later Sean showed up to assess the situation and decided he could in fact fit in the culvert; however, he was not very excited to be crawling into the culvert filled with Cholla, pig poop, and what he thought might still be a live Javelina. You can watch the video as well as see the photos to see how funny this whole thing was in person. As I was cleaning out my Javelina Cameron noticed a bobcat was watching me, and was waiting for us to leave so it could have an easy meal. Cameron was able to range the Bobcat up and shoot it with his bow! Sweet! Way to go Cameron! Too make a long story shorter, Cameron and Sean both ended up getting their pigs at the same time later that afternoon check out the photos below). All in the entire hunt was a blast and I am really glad I went; however, I still gag and question what I am doing every time I shoot a Javelina. Here is the Culvert Sean had to crawl into. Here goes Sean. Sean is the man! Here I am with the biggest pig any of us have ever taken. Cameron's son trying not to throw up as he gets a whiff of the Javelina. Cameron and his Bobcat taken with a bow! Left to right Cameron and Sean get a double out of the same herd. Here is my racoon. My first by the way.

I would guess him at about 85. Shoot him and then we can really find out.

What a great read, and fantastic photos to boot. Tell Jaycie congratulations on a monster first buck. Its amazing how calm the youth seem to be when they are shooting big game; and how anxious adults get. I have been told that youth (especialy girls) are much better shots than adults when put in a situation where they have to make a shot on a great animal. I was glad to hear Chef got to make it out with you, I have been on several hunting trips with him, and its always very entertaining having him along.

Classic. Thanks for sharing.

Happy birthday (September birthdays rock, they kick of some good hunting seasons!) Have a blast tonight.

Bill, The road to Diamond Rock is still closed, I went down there Saturday the 3rd. I have seen the sheep there several times over the last few years, it will be good to see them there again.

I heard them in there while chasing Mulies with my bow (weekend before last). I am headed out tomorrow morning to the same area. I will let you know if they have picked it up any.

And a bat flying through the photo! A buck with no testicals usually due to a tangle with a barb wire fence that because he no longer has a normal testosterone cycle doesn't shed his antlers or rub his velvet off. Their antlers usually become pretty non-typical as you can see with this deer. I am not sure if they are called cactus bucks because their antlers look like cactus or because they may have lost their jewels on a cactus. Cactus bucks are pretty rare. I always understood it to be called a cactus buck because of the way the rack looks. But since you brought it up that would really bite to lose your boys to a feindish cactus. I have accidentally sat on a few while hunting, luckily they never turned me into a cactus man! LOL By the way I absolutely love the cactus buck pictured. Please post more.

Congratulations! That’s fantastic shot placement for a 50 yarder. Shooting a deer with your bow spot and stalk style is really really frustrating and unbelievably rewarding at the same time. Way to get it done.

Your Gemsbuck is absolutely amazing. Congratulations on a phenomenal trip! I still remember reading your story about Alaska. It was kind of an inspiration for me to go. I hope someday to go and shoot a Gemsbuck in Africa. Thanks for the posts, they made me feel like I was there.

Vortex (only recently though). Before that I used 20X60 Pentax, I have seen a lot of critters with them Pentax, in all honesty it was kinda hard giving them up.

The high fives,hand shakes,and blood pressure were through the roof. Thats a hilarious line! We all know the feeling, and I felt it as I read the post. Great Post! And that is an absolutely beautiful bear! Big congratualtions to you.

Way to go! That is some serious dedication. I am really glad it finally paid off for you. Beautiful bear, looks like she has some nice color down her legs and sides. I really enjoyed the write up as well.

That turned out amazing! I love the black color for the backing, it really shows the white fur of the belly. I am extreamly impressed that a nine year old was able to do that. Looks like it runs in the family.

I have always enjoyed your updates from the North. That baby buffalo is great! When my kids first saw it they thought it was a monkey. LOL!

Thanks for posting the survey. I am probably going to start a riot here but oh well. I would rather go hunting every year, as opposed to tagging a record book animal every few years. Hunting is just way too important to me. If tagging a record book animal is so important to you, and you would rather have fewer tags handed out each year start applying in the areas that are already designated for that. By voting to have this occur accross the entire state you affect all hunters, even those who want to get out and hunt regardless of trophy potential. I am not against creating one or two whitetail units similar to what they do north of the dich for the mule hunters, however, thats not the way I interpreted the current proposals from the survey. I also want to make a statement that I truly belive the Game and Fish is doing a great job considering the resources they have available to them. Like I said earlier, thanks for posting the survey. Everyone should complete it.

Way to go! Thats a real accomplishment, and a great looking bear. I really like the long dark muzzle. Post some photos of the skull when you have finished it.

Here are some more photos. Its kind of hard to see but these are dolphins that look like Killer Wales Here was a group of sea lions basking in the sun (wow they really stink). This photo shows where my first shot went all the way through. Entrance hole is on the left, exit hole on the right. We were able to recover my second bullet from the bears hide it weighed 180 when I shot it, and weighed 126 after we pulled it from the bear. Here is Bud salting my bear's hide. Crab lunch. Yum! Here is another bear I tried to digi-scope. Here are some tracks of a boar and a sow that were hanging out together along with my boot track next to them. Here is a photo of the boat we lived on "The Alaskan Hunter" in the middle of a bunch of ice burgs. Here is a bright red Mother-in-law fish that I caught. They are called Mother-in-law fish due to their extream beauty. LOL. Here is another Mother-in-law fish I just had to kiss (gotta keep good relations with the in-laws)! Here is a fantastic specimen of a Halibut that my brother-in-law caught it weighed 70lbs!!!!!

Those pictures make me want to go Javelina hunting really bad. I fell and knocked my scope loose one time. It ended up being a blessing in disguise because I missed a small buck due to the scope being loose. Then I fixed it and drilled a nice buck the next day!

For real Wow! I wanna be like Georgetta Hughes when I grow up!

I read the new posts on here every day; however, I don't post a lot on here so this will be a good excuse to post more. What a great idea Amanda! I am not sure if I did it correctly, but I used the donate button from the main page to add some extra money for the cause. I didn’t see a spot to specify that I wanted the funds to go to Phoenix Children's Hospital charity drive so I just put that in the box that asked me what kind of sticker I wanted. Keep up the best hunting site on the internet. I love how on this site people seem to come together rather than waste their time backbiting.

My sincerest condolences go out to the Kaibab for its loss of two beautiful bucks. Hector and Allen way to get it done in a really big way! These are two magnificent bucks. I loved reading both stories, and seeing the photos. Hector, we need to get together and have some venison tacos (you’ll cook of course) . Thanks for the side view of that massive frame; I have been going crazy waiting to see a different angle since I got your text. I love symmetrical bucks! Allen, help Hector get a bow and take him with you next year on your annual Coues hunt so we don’t have to wait nine years between successful posts from him LOL . I wish you both many more years of successful draws on the Kaibab in the future.

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