The start of a Booner Season..

[coach]

Nothing has died yet - but I'm determined to do a little better than last year. Hopefully no more boner bucks. Maybe I'll find a gronk mulie, a toad whitey, my first bull elk and a respectable bear. Anyway.. instead of waiting until the end of the year, I'll try to update this thread throughout the season.

I know I was pretty bored last week, because I started a thread about cutting myself shaving. I'll be the first to admit, it was extremely high on the lame scale. One of the guys I respect on this forum gave me a nasty shot about it and I took his advice to heart..

You cut yourself shaving.....
Put Band Aids on your face.
Took photos....uploaded them to the intraweb.....
...and started a thread on here about it?

Are you fu.cking serious?
Go to a 3D Archery shoot, reload some shells, tie some flies or go drill a Coyote or bear, will ya?
Get a life.
Cheers

Thanks, Dude - I'm back on track now. This thread will be 100% hunting related.

[coach]

A couple weeks ago, I made a trip out to the west of Okanagan Lake - looking for Yogi. Along the way, there was sign that the Mulw deer population is strong - but getting the hell out of the Okanagan and heading for the high country in region 3..



Although I never caught up with the herd, there were plenty of small groups spotted along the way. This little guy had a pretty shaggy coat:



This was part of a group of 10. One had antlers that were already pushing out past his ears. Several others only had little bumps. Unfortunately, I didn't get pics of the promising buck.

[Ourea]

Coach, good luck on the gronk mule deer this season! I am sure the story will be a classic if successful.
I've been out quite a bit this spring scouting in the back country. Areas that I frequent that usually hold bucks this time of year are pretty thin this year. Think guys are going to have to work a little harder and a lot smarter to close on a trophy buck this coming season.

.......and yes, The Dude is a beauty isn't he, LOL.

[coach]

This doe didn't want to leave her bed, but kept her nose in the wind, trying to figure out if that black dodge was a threat or not:

[coach]

Coach, good luck on the gronk mule deer this season! I am sure the story will be a classic if successful.
I've been out quite a bit this spring scouting in the back country. Areas that I frequent that usually hold bucks this time of year are pretty thin this year. Think guys are going to have to work a little harder and a lot smarter to close on a trophy buck this coming season.

.......and yes, The Dude is a beauty isn't he, LOL.

Thanks Ourea! My kids will have their own tags this year (when I can finally get the CORE examiner to put on a course for them). This means they can take on the "pressure" of filling the freezer and I can look for booners..

[coach]

In two afternoons bear hunting, I managed to spot three bears. The first was a borderline shooter - but right beside the main road and very early in the trip. Not really what I was after. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. The second was a beauty. I got myself setup on my pack, laid down, put the crosshairs on his shoulder.. and hit the dirt directly over him. The miss was confirmed by my hunting partner, who watched everything through his binos. The shot was about 220 yards, but I was shooting straight downhill and did a really shitty job figuring out the trajectory. Lesson learned - and even more ammunition for my hunting partners to rib me with! The third bear was a huge chocolate that ran like a bat out of hell as soon as he heard the truck. Although we made a slow stalk in the direction he ran, we never caught up with him.

Unfortunately, I have no bear pictures from those first two hunts. There was still a fair amount of snow in the area and very little green grass. I figure it should be good out there by now though - with the warmth and precipitation we've had recently.

[coach]

The best part about HuntingBC is the people you connect with that have the same passion for hunting and the outdoors. After posting my story of the "boner" buck, last fall, I met Wrayzer. Circumstances were rather humorous. We were out getting a Christmas tree, when we came across a group of people at the base of a steep hill, looking at a truck that had slid sideways into the ditch. Normally, I would stop and help - but I figured there was enough people there already and that they all must be together. The road was slick, but I inched my way past everyone and continued up to get our tree. A couple hours later, we came back with our tree and the truck was still where it had been - in the ditch. A couple kilometers later, the couple who had been in the truck were sitting at the side of the road. I pulled over, asked if they needed help and apologized for not helping earlier (turned out they weren't with the other group of people after all).

"You're coach!" was the response I got. "I'm Wrayzer, I know you from HuntingBC." Kinda funny - but he recognized me and my daughter from the pictures I had posted on this website.

It turned out he had a ride coming to pick him up and the situation was under control, so we continued on home. Wrayzer and I have PM'd a fair amount since then and yesterday got together for a bear hunt.

[coach]

It turns out my new hunting partner is a great guy. He didn't have time to pick up a license or tags - so he left his rifle at home and took on the roll of camera man. After a quick tutorial on how to use my Canon - we were on our way. No bears were spotted, but we did see a few critters along the way:





The most amazing thing about watching this moose was that a second after Wrayzer took the pictures, it walked behind a small bush and completely disappeared from sight. Although we watched for a quite a while, she never showed herself again. This was in a pretty open area - with seemingly not a ton of cover. The experience really highlights the importance of taking your time when glassing an area. If a moose can hide that easily, it would be extremely easy to miss a deer or bear.

[coach]

Later in the day, we spotted these strange looking critters:





We spotted several mulw deer and whitetails throughout the afternoon - including a WT buck who already has 5 inch brow tines and main beams that are sticking straight out past his ears. I'm thinking he's got potential. Unfortunately, it was too dark for a picture.

Although we didn't see any bears, we were both pretty pumped about a great afternoon out and are full of optimism for the rest of the season.

To be continued, whenever I get back for another hunt...

[monasheemountainman]

Good start gentlemen!