Thanksgiving 2018 Triple Header

[Elkhound]

As some of you know Sept 1st we had great youth success. 3 bucks on day one for 3 youths that tagged their very first deer ever. My youngest 2 kids and a member's son here that we took out as well. I thought the season couldn't get better.

I was wrong

My wife Auto Girl here on HBC has been very busy with work and has not hunted since she shot her first bear while she was 8.5mos pregnant with our son. He is now 11years old. Gun Range trips. but no hunting lol

But with the kids all dropping deer she told me. Thanksgiving weekend. She is taking 3 days off and I am finding her a deer. Great. No pressure. I tried to tell her its not that simple. Im not a magician. We cant just go out and whack a deer cause you want one.
She told me to quit making excuse and come up with a plan to get her a deer. ummmmmm ok. yeah. I'll get right on it.

We get to the cabin on Fri night.... or should I say 1am Sat morning cause my wife worked the evening shift. Lucky me. Steeleco and wife already there camping out. Petros and his son were there and Petros got his first buck that very night and already had it hanging. First buck for him taken in Canada. He was excited as a kid at Christmas and just beaming. Love it. His son was one of the youth that tagged out Sept 1st.

Great start

So unpack and straight to bed. 3.5 hours sleep is all we are gonna get.

Got Auto Girl and my 16yr old daughter up and headed out. We are the only 3 left in the family with tags. The 2 youngest still sleeping in with their 20yr old sister to watch them.

Saw numerous trucks going up the mountain in the dark and I was worried. looked like a redneck parade. Its ok I told them. We will get off the road. We got a few spots we see deer and Im hoping one will pay off.
The roads were greasy as hell and no traction anywhere on the side spurs. Oh well.

We get to our first spot at first light. Park..... and decided to hike the rest. Well...... more of a slow walk. She hasnt done this in years I remind myself. My daughter Morgan stayed in the truck with the dog.

We walk down and into the spot I was hoping to see deer. Nothing. Strange. We always see at least does in here. Oh well..... walk back to truck and we can try spot number two. Get to the truck and Morgan shows us video of 4 does that slipped by us in a ravine and walked by her and the truck at 100yrds.

So thats the way this day was going to go. Ok..... Game on deer.

Game on

[Elkhound]

We drove to spot number 2 and parked. We were at the spot the kids named Satan's Pit. Well...... because we dragged a buck out of this hell hole on Sept 1st and thought we would never do that again...... but I'm a little slow and dont learn my lessons.

We got out. Instantly stepping in the thick mud slime that makes each boot weigh 10lbs....... Left our Norwegian Elkhound Ragnarok in the truck and the 3 of us crept to the edge of Satans Pit.

We glassed it.
There at 250 yards was a deer looking at us straight on. Could never have found it with the naked eye but no doubt a deer in the binos. And its a buck. Not huge but thats ok...... smaller the better for this pack out.

Auto Girl set up with the Bogpod and the kids 7mm 08 and I talked her through it. Waited for the right shot. She was nervous..... been years since an animal was in her crosshairs. Relax babe. Breathe. Thats right..... side view..... take the shot. BOOM. Clean miss. Must have been over the back. Down hill shot. Deer still standing looking at us.
Breathe babe. Readjust. BOOM. Deer drops like a rock. It was done. Well all the easy stuff was done. Go back to the truck. got the dog and headed down to her first buck. Very careful as we know dogs must be on a leash while hunting deer. Got to follow the rules.

We hiked down. She loved him. Small antlers. Bigger body. Great buck and a great shot. Took us 2 hours to gut then pack out. Remembering the whole time why we vowed never to look over that edge again. lol

https://i.imgur.com/IQy0ayl.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/zsSEroe.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/E05qGLC.jpg

[Elkhound]

One buck in the truck and 2 tags left. My daughter Morgan has a doe draw for this area in 2 weeks. So she has passed up a few smaller bucks. She has been holding out for a 3pt or better. And if she didnt find one she would take her doe. But she wasnt going to settle. Ok then. Im with ya.

We tried a few other spots seeing nothing but trucks. Was disappointing. We knew we wanted to meet the rest of the family back at camp for lunch. But I felt we needed to try one other spot Morgan and I see deer in regularly. So we decided. One more spot to glass and then back down the mountain.

Hit the spur road and was excited. Till we passed a few guys coming out in their truck. Oh oH.....and they looked grumpy as hell. Not even a wave. Then a few more minutes and a hunting family on a few ATVs also were coming out. CRAP. 5 hunters all were in there for who knows how long and doing who knows what. But all were cold and grumpy faced so I assumed no deer and none that we saw in or on the vehicles.

Thats ok......I tell myself. Where we want to look they may not have even glassed there or walked off the road.

We get to a spot we know well and stopped the truck to glass a back corner.

Morgan whispers DEER.
Me. Where?
Morgan. Silhouetted up on the ridge line.
Me. Where?
Morgan. Dad. Right up there. Its a doe. and a buck. OMG its huge. its really big.
Me. Where? lol. Ok....found the doe. Where is the buck. Its alone. no others.
Morgan. Its right beside the doe.
Me. I see the doe.....only thing beside the doe is that big fallen log....... oh crap. That fallen log lifted its head. Nice rack silhouetted in the open sky. Oh my.
Wife..... Its huge. Get out. Get out Go get that deer.


I get out..... ranged the deer. Over 500 yards. All steep uphill and skylined with no back drop. CRAP. Wind will go straight to them. We know this area well and its so thick they will hear us coming before we get to a position to shoot.

We make a plan.
We will hook left........ go up the mountain...... then push right and come down at them with the wind in our face. Great plan. Crap. That will take over an hour. They wont still be there. They are never still there when I try this stuff.

Dont over think it. Get over there and try it. Just do it already.

So Morgan and I left for our hike up. Leaving Auto Girl and Ragnarok in the truck

[Elkhound]

I was right....... Hard hike straight up. Then level while we hike right and then come down towards them. Quiet Dave...... dont breathe so hard. Damn Im old and out of shape. Why do I do this again? Oh right..... its fun. Yeah. Thats it. God I hope hes still there.

Once on the top I smile at Morgan. Shes right there with me. Crap..... why didnt you bring your rifle? Only one Buck dad. You have yours. Oh ok...... Bad move. Too late now,.

Ok..... slowly..... we should be getting close. I hope my measurements in my mind are correct. Slowly ........and movement. WTF? Cattle. Cows scattered everywhere (few choice swear words here) Damn it. We have to go through them.No choice.

Slowly. Thats right mrs. cows. We are friendly..... dont spook....please dont spooo.......SHIT

Cows spook. Well half a dozen of them do. They mooooooooooo they run....... you stupid *******s. Im not here for you...... Movement to my left....... Deer..... OMG bucks. They dont like the cows stirring at all. They start to move. Confused..... they dont know we are really there. Lift the rifle....... scope cap on...... @!$*. Wait, Morgan spotted them. Scope cap now off. Here Morgan. Take it..... I set up the bog pod

BOOM She takes the big one. It drops. More movement...... HOLY CRAP....... even bigger one lifts his head. Give me the rifle..... gimme gimme gimme.
Yes...... BOOM. Another buck down. It was over in seconds.

3 bucks and a doe calmly walk away. Two 4points and a little 2 point. 5 bucks in total. We thought one....... stupid mistake. And one rifle. Another stupid mistake. Could have been costly. We grin.... we laugh.....the excitement was crazy. We walk over and I thought mine was a horse. Holy crap again. How do we pack these out? We have all day and we are gonna need it.

https://i.imgur.com/2eQdKBx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/phpzK2D.jpg

[Elkhound]

https://i.imgur.com/Cg6Pa2F.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/3FoHIRD.jpg

[Elkhound]

https://i.imgur.com/es5gf7z.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/B2FuX1h.jpg

[Elkhound]

https://i.imgur.com/p2d3uWp.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/z0xnqaM.jpg

[Elkhound]

We Hiked down and told the wife the good news. Then we went back up to check them out and take pics and also I knew at the very top we had a cell service. Called the cabin and sent the kids over to BEG Steeleco and Petros to come help us. It was all down hill and it still took us 4.5 hours to get them out.

What a morning. What a season. Dont think we will ever top it.

Thanks for reading people.

Special thanks to two guys that gave everything they had to help us pack them out. Looks like I am butchering for a few nights this week. Should also mention Steeleco got a buck the next day

[Leaseman]

Sweet success!!!!

[albravo2]

Holy smokes! I didn't think you'd ever top that youth opening weekend you had.

I see lots of venison on the menu this winter! Thrilled for you and the whole family.

Stories like these are what make HBC great. Thanks for sharing!

[NeilG]

Wow, that's amazing! Congratulations on a great hunt, I'd love to have a day like that.

[Hank Hunter]

Wow, congrats to all three of you. Epic days hunt. Thanks for the great story and pics.

[Grumpa Joe]

I hate you all! You're up there enjoying amazing success and I'm stuck at home cleaning and cooking for 21 people as it was our turn to host my family for Thanksgiving. I made a point of telling the family on Sunday that I will not participate in Thanksgiving Day dinners any more. If they want to have an Easter dinner or a Summer get together I'm fine with it but no more dos during hunting season.:mad:

In all seriousness, congratulations to you all. Tiffany, Morgan, Dave, David and Petros. Really happy that all your hard work and helpfulness resulted in an amazing outcome.

I don't think there can be any deer left around Clearwater.

[wideopenthrottle]

wo....just wow...on so many levels...thanks so much for the share of the family (and friends) hunt....just fantastic

[~T-BONE~]

Congrats to you and your family Dave! That’s 😎

[bcsteve]

Awesome all around!

[tayleoscar]

Awesome weekend!!! You will be eating good this winter

[Steeleco]

It's all crap, it was a road hunt LOL what I mean is I could see a road, a ways of in distance!! It was hard work, but I'd do it again tomorrow!

[Gateholio]

Ha what a great morning !

[twoSevenO]

Nice work. That's a nice buck. Congrats on a great hunt.

[Cyrus]

Wow what a trip that was! Great job!

[Squamch]

Wow! That's awesome!!

[Knute]

Lord tunderin' jayzus man.

You guys have had a great season, congrats.

[Buckmeister]

Way to go. Body on the smaller rack looks bigger than the body on the big rack

[Billybird]

What a fantastic way to spend Thanksgiving! Nicely done

[fuzzybiscuit]

You guys are stone cold killers...

What a great hunt all around! Congrats.

[mike_69]

Wow, very nicely done!!!!! Congrats!! Going to be hard to top that....

[Elkhound]

Way to go. Body on the smaller rack looks bigger than the body on the big rack

Funny you say that. We said the same but in reality the bigger rack buck was waaaaaaaay bigger and heavier. Pic makes it look the other way lol

[bigbadjoel]

Wow! What a trip. Congrats to you!

[Boner]

Great hunting trip, congratulations!

I can’t wait for family hunting trips, I’m hoping my kid will be interested.

[Steeleco]

Great hunting trip, congratulations!

I can’t wait for family hunting trips, I’m hoping my kid will be interested.

Take things slow, short trips at first then when they start asking to come you have a buddy. I'm 2 for 2, Dave is 3 out of 4 LOL

[caddisguy]

Dangit Elkhound I opened the thread and couldn't stop reading... now I missed my stop lol

What a great write-up of a memorable outing. Some really nice deer. That one Auto Girl got sure is chunky! Great work everyone!!

[Elkhound]

Thanks Caddisguy

I'm glad people are enjoying. I love reading about other family success on HBC. It's why we are here. Sorry about the stop though lol

[Rieber]

Family of snipers - wow!

There's a hunt to remember. Way to go - lifelong memories all around.

[Jelvis]

Hunters that know where to go and what they are doing for sure -- success in all it's glory
Jelly - Mule deer rock -- some super good eye sight folks -- > the trained muley eye < ------------ hunters of the Nor Rivers

[Magnumb]

Horseshoes I tell ya....Congrats you guys! Nice looking bucks. Great photo with the hills in the backdrop.

[Elkhound]

Horseshoes I tell ya....Congrats you guys! Nice looking bucks. Great photo with the hills in the backdrop.

Thanks buddy.

[Petros65]

Awesome hunt -- one correction those were not deer they were frikking horses ----- my back still hurts LOL!
Well done to everyone.

[todbartell]

great stuff!! Congrats to all, thanks for taking the time to post up

[floden]

Dude- great story, great story telling , great pics and a great outcome

[guest]

Quite the weekend wow.
great family share together ........congrats to you all. Way to go Tiffany !
some mighty fine eating animals there.

[DeepJeep]

Wow. Congrats man

[Elkhound]

Thanks people. Love we can share with like minded individuals. Finished cutting up all 3 deer as of tonight. Thanks Steeleco and Grumpa Joe for the help

[Tim Tam Slam]

Holy Smokes!! What weekend

thanks for sharing Elkhound, beauty couple bucks there. And Auto Girl’s is huge bodied lot of good meat on that one.

heading out next week for 5 days and this has me pumped!

cheers :-D