Firstly I would like to thank everyone who contributes to this forum, I hope you understand how valued your posts are, how many times they are read and re-read.
Hello everyone, my name is Mike and I am an addict... the seed was planted when I was 12 years old and I shot my first grouse with my dad. I'm now 26 and have accepted the fact that I am a hunter and plan to be a hunter till the day I die. There is just something so satisfying about hiking in the mountains and having the opportunity to harvest your own meat. I have harvested multiple small game,whitetail and mule deer, mule deer being my favourite because I love to be up in the mountains. I used to have to restrain my addictive behaviour around my non hunting girlfriend but after introducing her to deer jerky she has become a believer. Not right away though, I had to threaten her by telling her none of the wild game I harvest will be made into jerky, if she wants jerky she has to go out and get it herself! Two years later she is my fiancé and has her PAL, Core, first grouse harvest and first mule deer harvest under her belt. Helping her get her first mule deer was by far my favorite day in the bush ever, although it may have given her high expectations because we showed up to the trail head late, 5 vehicles had beat us there and we still managed to harvest a 3pt, break it down and pack it back to the truck in 5 hours, being the only gunshot on the mountain. She is now a huge fan of how ethical hunting is compared to the mass produced grocery store meat and is dedicated to trying to fill the freezer enough to not buy meat from the store.
So now that I'm talking about hunting, I realize I'm rambling. I have creeped on this forum for a few years now and have retained tons of incredibly useful information, also lots I haven't retained like trying to decipher what the hell Jelvis is saying sometimes ha. I currently shoot a Tikka t3 7mm with a leupold 3.5x10. By far my favorite animal to scout for and hunt is mule deer but I'm researching and practicing calling like a mad man for elk, definitely an animal I want to be able to hunt consistently. Its just a bit of a slower process when I wasn't raised elk hunting but left to learn from books, forums and podcasts. Part of my motivation to posting on this forum is to meet up with fellow hunters so we can speed up the learning process when it comes to this wonderful sport.
I know you guys and gals would rather read about hunting than learn about me so I will wrap it up with a joke that hopefully a few of you haven't heard.
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls 911. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says, "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence; then BANG!!!. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?"[
See you guys around