Your Best Hunting Memory

[rocksteady]

So we were all discussing what makes a trophy hunt, so lets hear some examples of what makes them special...Okay, I will go first......

I had grown up in my early teen years following my Dad and older brother around deer hunting, but I always packed the .22 or .410 for grouse. I got a lot more shots than they did....Anyways, when I hit the ripe old age of 15, my brother went off to college (Yes!!!) and I got to move up the ranks to assistant deer hunter (no longer squeezed in the middle of the truck)..We were at my Grandmothers house and we were talking about me deer hunting and she said If I wanted I could have my deceased Grandfathers 30-30, if I wanted it....My Dad used a .303 and my brother would not lety me use his...So I said sure...

Marlin 30-30 Lever action 4X scope mounted on it...I was good to go...Bunch of shooting at the range with those old yelow tipped round nosed 170 grain CIL's and I was set.....


So me and the old man hunted every weekend, but just could not connect (too far/winded/etc, etc)....So this one morning I get him up early, we drive out to our favorite area and there is a hunters camp (5 or 6 trucks) set up so we decide to go to this other area....We are driving up the logging road, the old Ford is putting out some serious BTU's which in turn gives me a nasty case of the head bobs.....

In between one of these bobs I see a mule deer peeking his head around the corner of the road where it goes into a creek draw. I yell at the old man and bail out of the truck....Stick a shell in the pipe and just as I am raising the rifle he turns and wheels back into the draw.... So I run as fast as I could down the road, in about 2 inches of mud...When I get to the corner I see the buck running straight up a real steep hill coming out of the creek draw about 100 yards away from me, I threw the x-hairs on middle of his back and touched the trigger....He stumbled a bit and then went over the hill......

SO eventually Dad drives the truck down to where I am and says "I think you hit em" then proceeds to have to spend 5 minutes lacing up his boots (this was just about driving me nuts cause I was pumped)....Eventually we hike up the hil and find the buck bedded at the top of the hill, I finished him off and then we got to work...Gutted him and had to drag him a whole 10 yards to the top of the embankment, which was 100 yards high and steep, so no need to drag him down there....He went by himself....We got him loaded in the truck and were driving home, I am absolutely stoked...My first deer and its a 4 X 4 mulie to boot......

I keep looking in the back of the truck to make sure he is still there....

HERES THE KICKER::::

About 15 minutes later the old man stops the truck and asks me if I know what day it was, I said Sunday, he said WHAT DATE...So I got our my tag and said it was November 16th (or whatever the date was) and it turns out that THE DAY I GOT MY FIRST DEER WAS THE 7th ANNIVERSARY OF MY GRANDFATHER PASSING AWAY AND I USED HIS GUN TO GET MY FIRST DEER.......

My Dad then said to me "That was a hell of a shot but I think you can't take all of the credit..I think Granddad helped you out a bit"....

When I got home called my grandmother, she was understandibly down because of what day it was, however when I told her what had happened, she was laughing and crying (joy, not saddness) and she also ended up with half of that buck in her freezer......



Sorry, it is so long but its 100% true and to me its a "TROPHY"

[Dragginbait]

GOOD memories:D

[cowboy-up69]

Awesome Story!! Brings a smile to my face hearing stuff like that!!

[J_T]

Cowboy, to heck with the hunting story, your avatar brought a smile to my face.:lol:

JT

[BlacktailStalker]

Good memory Rocksteady. I wish I had family to learn the outdoors with, nobody I knew hunted. I developed an interest which is now a passion on my own and taught myself everything I now know. That in itself is a reward too I guess.
My first deer came too easy, driving to a place I had seen lots of sign. I saw him bedded under a small cedar tree looking back at me. I drove 40 yards past him, left the truck running to cover any noise I made and snuck back up the road. Made a shot that counted and that was that. It was weird, atlhough being happy I had finally taken my first deer, there was no satisfaction from the minimal effort required, which is why I won't road hunt today. Not to take anything away from those who get venture far from the truck or just dont like to, but since then I have always gone to the extreme to fill my tags because it makes me happiest feeling I deserved the end result.

[NEEHAMA]

mine was the first time i went on my own (no adults) deer hunting. i was 16. i shot a deer and was so proud and happy, i was a man now! but i only seen one gutted a few years back, i never did one myself. i had really only been on two hunts prior. i ran back to the truck to grab the C.O.R.E. book. my partner with me at the time was on his first trip out ever. he stood there holding the core book open for me while i tried to follow the feild dressing diagrams. i had the hide all nicely skinned back all around the belly. i mean skinned back! the whole bottom of the deer was skinned right up past the sides even...lol . (picture just skinning a deer but not opening it up). ??? i started to pull at the belly of the deer.?? nothing would happen it just sort of slid toward me. i thought if it wasn't coming i just had to keep skinning it up higher. ( i haven't cut into the animal at this point). i was pulling at the belly but it just wouldn't come. i tried pulling at different angles to see if something would come loose. nothing!.. i kept looking up at my newbie partner for ideas. he just stood there looking at me with the most afraid expression. he wasn't excited about the gutting part let alone the bizzare things i was doing to this poor deer by this time. finally i figured it out and cut it open and then pulled the guts out. we got it done. ass backwards but we got it done. (then i became a man).

[CanAm500]

Really good stories guys!!!

My best hunting memory was my first grouse (this year!!), I know its not a big animal...but its still a memory. I couldnt get it moutned, but it sure tasted good :)

[Islandeer]

Thanks for sharing this with us,wonderful story.

[Offroad]

These stories are what hunting is all about. The real trophy is the one you carry with you in your memory.

[Steeleco]

My best todate, is taking my first Blacktail behind Mission, my then 8 year old son was with me, he spotted it, pointed it out and let me do all the work, great kid EH!!! His first big game animal. He's 10 on the 21st of this month, and keen to do some shooting, I'm sure the memory bank will need some more room!!!

[PGKris]

Not a big game animal.....but I made a shot I was really proud of. I dropped a chicken that was going like he forgot his britches at home from 50 yards with the ole Cooey .410 Couldn't believe that I hit him. Dropped like a stone. I was high off that one for a week.
(My first bull was pretty damn fine too ;) )

[bsa30-06]

my best hunting memory isn't that of my first deer , instead it comes from last year and is of an animal that i had to watch walk away withuot pulling the trigger.(Nice memory eh!). I found an area i was sure was holding a moose all the sign were there,but hadn't been able to find it,after working this area for about 4 days i was driving thru it and come around the corner and there it was standing there on the side of the road, as i stopped the truck he started to walk off thru a small clear cut.Sounds good right no trees to hide in all the time in the world to make the shot and it would have been easy.Oh did i forget to tell you it was so foggy that it was like somebody put a pillow case over your head, needless to say i couldn't get a clean look at his head gear to tell if he was legal so i watched him walk away and thought there will be another day and another time, right after i stopped saying some real bad words.That memory sticks out the most when i think about my past hunting trips, i was pretty proud of the work i put in to find this animal and the fact that i let him walk.Him and i will meet again and he'll be biger next time.How about that eh my best hunting memory is of the one that got away.

[livingston]

This years mulie hunt wasthe best hunting trip I can remember.We didn't get our moose draws in region 5 so we(Dad and I) picked a spot on the map(3-39) and headed in that general direction.After driving highways for 1 day then bouncing on logging roads for another we decided to camp and check out the area.
The next day(Monday) we set up camp and in the afternoon glassed cutbloks and checked more area.We found an area that looked good and decided to try a hike and check out some cutblocks and timber.I did a circle up in the slash glassing as I went, after a couple of hours I heard a 2 shots coming from the area Dad had gone.I circled back and saw a doe and 2 fawns.Then returned to the truck at the same time as the old man and sure enough he had been succesful but he said "the big one got away" so thinking he had plugged a two spike we drove to get his deer.Turns out the little deer is a nice heavy racked 6x5 which was a great surprise.
So the pressure was on to get another deer to take to the butcher by thursday. Skunked all week we decide to try the same spot again for wednesday evening, within 5 min of leaving the truck we are walking on the road when 4 deer come running down the road towards us 2 does ,1 spike and a fork at the rear.I loaded a shell which they heard and stopped I had a head\neck shot maybe 40 yrds away on the fork which I took, at the shot he dropped but was kicking on the ground so I took another shot to finish him.Dad says hes down and we start walking towards him when he lifts his head sees us jumps up starts running away from us down the road,startled I get another shot off before he jumps off the road and down a steep embankment and into the sloping timber. Long story short no deer after tracking specks of blood that dry up after 3 hours of tracking on hands and knees very depressing.Thursday we drive into the butcher and shopping which ends up being an all day affair we end up trying hunting an area close to town the butcher tells us about we end up seeing 40 does in one evening and morning hunt and not a bit of antler to be seen. We decide our best bet is to go back out to the same area again(no hunters lots of sign but 3 hour drive offroad).
Only two days hunting before returing to the island and havent seen anything we decide to try the same area dad got his deer and the hit and miss deer.We try an evening hunt but the wind is just howling and it looks like rain, I check the far slash and dont see anything and no fresh sign decide to try back near the truck were I saw the doe and fawns earlier.Feeling discouaged tromping along I look up and a Big deer with a nice rack is standing not 70 yrds away looking at me I raise the gun as he turns to leave I get the shot at his neck and pull the trigger.I follow a heavy blood trail through the timber and find him about 200 yrds from were he was shot right beside the road. I dress him out and wait for Dad to come on the road below me, when he finally shows up I say its only a fork and tell him to get the truck.While hes gone I drag him to the road and wait for the truck. Turns out were I end up on the road is the exact spot I shot at the fork.The surprise on my dads face when he comes around the corner and sees a nice 5x4 with 28" spead and a real hog instead of a fork was priceless,it was a great vacation,both deer of a lifetime for us!!

[Tuffcity]

I can vividly recall almost every animal I've taken, my first bow kill blacktail, the stone sheep, my first moose. The ones that I let got away (intentionally or otherwise) and the ones I would have liked a better crack at.

But so far my fondest hunting memory goes back to a day when I had my son out. He was about 7 at the time and we had put in a good long day on foot. We had seen some game, and had a couple of close calls. It was about half an hour before dark and we were watching a clearing when he leaned over and whispered "what time is it?" I told him, and thinking he had had enough for the day I asked if he wanted to go home.

He looked at me and said "no, I just don't want today to end".

RC

[Gus]

My first leh for bull moose would be one of the many hunts I'll never forget. Me and the old man fought an absolute blizzard all day long until a few hours before dark when it finally let up. Right away we cut a track that had absolutly no snow in it so we knew it was fresh as can be. We jumped into the timber after him. After about an hour of tracking we crossed the road just feet away from our quad. You could see where he stopped to look at the quad before he carried on. We moved back down the road for a ways and started calling. Finally just before dark we gave up and headed back to the quad. We were nearing the quad and i had just unloaded my rifle when my dad stopped dead. I looked up and there he was. I'll never forget seeing that big, black bull standing there facing us in the freshly snowed in forest. As much as I wanted to enjoy the picture, I had to shoot quick. I reloaded, raised the rifle and shot. The bullet struck the bull directly between the blinkers and he droppd so hard you could almost feel it in the ground. He barely even twitched. That will be one I'll never forget.

[alremkin]

ELK VALLEY ELK



Background

In 1986 I’d planned two hunts the first for deer about 100 miles from home and the second for elk 600 miles away in the Elk Valley. The first hunt went well. Three of us hiked in 5 miles set-up camp hunted the next day, opening day, got two deer packed them out the following day and retrieved our camp the day after that. I’d had two other hunting buddies who went up to the Elk Valley a day ahead of me, having agreed on where to meet. Because of my earlier deer hunt I would arrive in the Elk Valley the day after opening day September 11. I’d been backpacking through the summer and had been weight training and running for about a year before the hunt, so I was in pretty good hunting shape. I could do four reps with 485 lbs in the squat, proper power lifting deep squats, 2 sets of 3 reps with 295 lbs in the bench press, and I could standing press 225 lbs for 2 reps and was considering entering power lifting competition in my age and weight class group. And I’d been shooting competitively for three years after spending a couple of years practicing and developing loads for all my hunting rifles.



The Meeting

The previous year I’d found a trail after doing a lot of scouting and bought a new mini 4x4 to negotiate a road I’d found with a big wash-out in it six feet deep and about 15 feet across. When I found the road it was passable to about half a mile from where the trail started. From being in the country and studying my maps I found a very good looking hunting spot not much more than a three mile hike from the trailhead, although the trail climbed about a thousand feet. We’d agreed to meet where two creeks met and camp near there so I’d expected to my partner’s truck parked on the road when I arrived, but it wasn’t there, so I drove ahead to where a tree had fallen across the road parked and got out with my rifle and daypack to look around and see if I could find any sign of my partners. I was dressed in hiking shorts and a sweat shirt carrying my rifle and binoculars. After about 20 minutes of walking down the road I found a complete wash-out, so I stopped and had a look around as it had started snowing. Another hunter showed-up a young guy about thirty we talked for a few minutes. I asked him if he’d seen any sign of my partners, he said that he hadn’t and then his partner came up wearing a heavy set of rain gear, he looked at me as if he’s just seen Paul Bunyan for the first time.

We all decided to head back to the main road the older guy with the heavy rain gear got in the bed of my truck as we drove out through the wash-out onto the main road, I saw a piece of flagging tape hanging from a tree limb and had a closer look and found a note from my partners saying they’d gone to Forsythe Creek another spot I knew about. So I dropped the two guys off and wished then luck. The younger one tried to lift my 85 lbs pack and was just barely able to lift one end of it up saying he’d never be able to carry that thing. I’d hiked up Forsythe Creek in ’84 on our way to Connor Lake a beautiful remote lake ten miles from the road and at that time noticed a good hunting area about half way in where a gas drilling rig was working when we backpacked through to the lake. When I got to the end of the road at Forsythe Creek I saw my partner’s truck and got out putting on my pack, binos, and rifle. Then I saw Mike, one of my partners, walking down the road which is closed to motor vehicle use, toward me. So I waited and met him he said that he’d gone in light the day before and now was coming back for a load of food as well having a look a the country as he’d never been there before. We walked up to camp 5 miles up the road at the old drilling site together arriving about 3 PM.



Camp


It was a good camp site except for being too exposed in the open to wind. We had a small stream fifty feet away and lots of fire wood nearby. After setting-up my tent, unpacking and then having diner, Robin came into camp from his day’s hunt. We gathered around the small fire talking and laughing, it was about 18:30 and the sun had gone behind the mountain it was partly cloudy and cool about 45F with a light dusting of snow on the peaks around us. I brought out my insolite to sit on around the fire. As darkness started to fall we noticed a mist or cloud above the valley, about two thousand feet, and the setting sun’s rays set the mist aglow making it look about half way between and aurora and a rainbow it was very beautiful and lasted about five minutes. I took it as a good omen. We talked about our plans for tomorrow and then the other two went to bed down while I stayed up until about 23:00 watching the stars under the mostly clear sky.

Mike and Robin had left camp by the time I got up about 08:30 and had a leisurely breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. I admired the beauty of the surroundings as I gave thought to where I’d start, deciding to walk about three quarters of a mile to where the creek crossing is for the trial to Connor Lake and then slowly brush bust my way up the mountain side to check out a very promising looking bowl



Hunting


I started up the mountain after checking the creek crossing. It was dense with shrubs and small trees as well as old wind falls to be climbed over and going was slow as I traversed my way up the mountainside. Being in better shape was a big help I was not sweating as I climbed and was able to be more alert. I’d come across game trails which would appear and vanish seemly without reason until I made it to the ridge where I found several Moose beds on the ridge with four or five game trials leading to and from them. These were places where the Moose would have good escape routes from predators. Continuing my climbing traverse I came upon what was a very pronounced trial and decided to follow it since it seemed to lead in the direction I wanted to go. Following the trail up toward the bowl I started noticing windfalls that had been cut by saws, but the cuts were aged perhaps ten years ago. I realized this was an old guide trail that hadn’t been maintained for a while since there were some recent windfalls that hadn’t been cut. I had the sense that I was moving into a very good area.

As I reached the beginning of the bowl about 13:00, I had lunch while being able to view the valley floor and surrounding mountain sides. It was a very beautiful setting I wished I had a camera. I spent a couple of hours scouting around the bowl and saw lots of Elk sign

[alremkin]

as well as beds in the lush vibrant green grass on this north facing mountain bowl. As I reached the highest spot I went to that day I felt a presence like I was being watched. Since the bush there was very thick I decided the best thing to do for now is back off study the terrain closely as it appeared that the three of us could do a type of pincer movement with one covering the trial I’d found the other covering the trail leading across the mountain side to the next bowl and one coming down on the suspected Elk bedding area from above. I turned back to head back to camp and share the information I’d got. It was about 15:30 and I stopping on my way back to camp high on the trail as it left the bowl. I noticed a large bull moose; they didn’t open for another month or so, at the large pond near where the stream form the next bowl east empties into the valley floor. I set-up my spotting scope and he looked like a 45”-50” bull. While I was watching another bull moose about the same size approached him and they square off and butted heads once, about five seconds later I heard a THUNK, so I thought they were about a mile away. A cow moose suddenly came running out of the bush and went up and seemed to smell of one of the bulls then wandered off. I guess she was sniffing to see how serious they were or something. I think the bulls knew they’d be fighting when the rut started in a few weeks and wanted to test each other, a very interesting site to witness.



The Kill


About fifteen minutes after leaving my vantage point, I noticed a golden brownish color on the opposite mountain side across the valley floor which was about two hundred yards across. Putting my binoculars on it, I immediately saw a bull elk with three points up high on his rack meaning at least a five point; it’s a three point minimum in this area. He was feeding as he slowly traversed the opposite mountain side very nearly exactly opposite me on the other side of the little valley. The bush there was way too thick for me to go over there and stalk him, so I did some quick range estimation as I got out my ammo. I always carry forty four rounds with me when I hunt, two full boxes and four in the rifle. I set-up my spotting scope stand for a shooting rest with its’ adjustable aluminum legs on the roughly 45 degree side hill. I wasn’t certain of the distance to the Elk, but I figured it was around 500 yards. At 550 yards my.338 Win-mag with the 250 grain Sierra spitzer-boatail bullet I’d hand loaded to a muzzle velocity of 2780 feet/second would give me about 2250 foot lbs of energy roughly the same energy as a 30-06 180 grain bullet at 250 yards. I normaly zero for 200 yards. I aim my rifle using the scope stand as a rest aimed so I could see a little space over his back and fired. I’d missed the elk lifted his head up and was looking around to see where the shot came from while I added one body width to my hold over and fired again. Down he went. I looked over at him with my binoculars and could see him lying there and once in a while he would shake his head, but he couldn’t move his body. So I packed my gear up checked the opposite side mountain for a land mark to follow so I could find him because as soon as I left the side of the mountain I was on, I wouldn’t be able to see him. I check him again before I left in case he’d recovered, but he was still down.

Coming up to him I could hear him shaking the bushed with his head at my approach. I walked up to about ten feet from him drew a bead to finish him, but I’d forgot my scope was still on 5 power and lowered my rifle to turn it down to 1 ½ power because at the higher power all I could see in the scope was hair. As I began to raise my rifle the
Elk must have recovered from the adrenalin of me approaching so close as he stood up and faced me at ten feet. There was a look in his eye as if to say, “Now I’ve got you, you *******!” I quickly shot him through the neck and he dropped into a low spot. I checked him to make sure he was dead and then fired my alerting shots that we’d agreed on to let each other know we’d downed game and could use help. It was about 17:00. I could look across the valley with my binoculars and when Mike and Robin weren’t behind trees I could see them warming them selves at the fire. I can make a loud booming sound which I started doing as well, but I could see them looking around and because of the sound reverberating in the Valley the couldn’t tell what direction I was. After a frustrating half hour of yelling, I realized I’d have move the Elk and clean it myself. It took half an hour moving each end successively a few inches at a time to turn him so I could easily clean him. At that time I realize what a good idea it was to have been weight training in preparation for the hunt, the Elk probably had a live weight of seven hundred pounds It took about 45 minutes to clean him and ½ hour to walk back to camp arriving there at 19:00 as it was getting dark. Of course everyone was happy we stayed up until 23:00 talking about the hunt and planning to go butcher and pack the Elk into camp tomorrow.



The pack out


We all had a good breakfast and headed out of camp at about 09:30. We had a full size game saw a hatchet and our knives for butchering the Elk. After Robin and Mike took pictures with their cameras it took about two hours to cut the Elk into pieces we could carry, two front quarters and two hind quarters with the hide on and the bone in. At the local game cutting place the front quarters weighed 135 lbs and the hinds 105 lbs. We decided to leave the hide on both to protect the meat and Mike had a friend who asked for the hide to tie flies. Mike is about 6’-5” tall and weighs about 210 lbs. Robin at 5’-6” weighing about 130 lbs wasn’t able to carry the quarters so he stayed at the carcass guarding it while we packed the meat into camp which was roughly one mile as the crow flies from where I shot the Elk. We all arrived back at camp at 17:45. I cut off some of the tenderloin for diner that night.

While the first part of the pack out off the mountain was dangerous because of the steep hillside, the most difficult part would be the five miles to the truck. We left camp at 09:30 arriving at the trucks at 11:45. We found the best way to pack something that heavy over that distance is to take lots of short breaks pack for 15 minutes get the weigh off your shoulders and rest for 2 minutes. Mike and Robin went to town with the first load while I went back to pack out another quarter. We happened to meet as I was bringing out the second front quarter, they’d stopped by the pub and Robin was drunk. Mike suggested they take the quarter I had and that they’d go to town rent a motel room for the night. I was too tired to argue. I’d had a deja-vue type experience looking at the Elk quarter I felt like I’d some how connected to my ancient ancestors in some way, it happened several times as I’d look up at the quarters while I was packing them out. At the end of that day I packed 270 lbs of Elk quarters ten miles to the truck while carrying a ten lbs rifle and then walked back to camp empty another ten miles. The next day I had a head ache, but found it fairly easy to pack out the 105 lbs hind quarter.



Conclusion


From all this packing in and packing out I think it’s fairly easy to see why most people use horses and or guides for this type of hunting. For me to hunt one day it required four days of packing in and packing out. Of course there are easier ways to hunt, but this was a true wilderness experience where as a group we’d found the area to hunt on our own in previous year’s adventures and went in and completed the hunt. This gives an idea of what it’s like for someone starting to hunt of the requirements to be reasonably successful. I’ll try to include some pictures I have of the hunt. Good hunting, alremkin.

[Adam.c]

great story alremkin

[rocksteady]

Now this is what hunting is all about...Great stories guys, keep them coming.....:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

[Islandeer]

So many great memories hunting with my Dad, sons and my brother. I will keep it simple...first deer. I was 10,hunting in the goldstream watershed,1970. I had been hunting with Dad since i was 6 and had shot some grouse but no deer yet. It was a typical watershed day,raining like mad and the doe season was on. We came around a corner and there she was about 50 yds standing broadside in a little timber patch. We had been having our usual breaky of hot coco and peanutbutter and jam sangies,as i tried to get organised they went airbourne along with my lucky shell i had been clutching. I half fell out of the truck and listened to my dad's advice to "aim behind the shoulder" as i chambered a round into my lever action 25/35. I took aim and fired... down she went! I will never forget the smile on Dad's face as he got out of the truck and we walked over to the doe. He told me that the bullet had done it's job and that this deer would be good eating. A proud hunter was born.

[Johnnybear]

My best memory (maybe not best trip) was about 12 years ago. The father in law, his step son, and I hiked up to the top of O.K. mountain the night before opening day and slept under the stars. We got up early and started our hunt. We saw lots of does and a couple of bucks but couldn't get a good shot at the bucks. I decided to go back to our spike camp and have breakfast. On the way back I heard some rustling in the bush on the hillside next to me. That's when the excitment started, two bear cubs came crashing through the salal and stopped about 100 ft. away from me. Then I heard momma coming and the cubs instantly retreated and treed. I had backed up some 60 feet more before momma came into site and stopped where the cubs had been. We stared each other down for about 5 minutes then she started snapping her jaws and rolling her head. I put her square in my cross hairs and slowly started walking backwards away from the situation. I got another 100 feet or so away from her when she finally turned to go to her cubs. I turned to walk forwards the whole time looking over my shoulder until they were out of site. I met up with the others and we exchanged stories over breakfast with an incredible view. No deer that trip but it was memorable just the same.

[oldtimer]

Best hunting memory --- hopefully I haven't had it yet.
Been hunting and successfull when with my son and grandson.
Been hunting and successfull when hunting with my dad and my son.
The best memory will be when all 4 of us click on the same hunt.
Up to this point I would have to say this year out hunting with WillyQ and Sammy 99 and she got her first deer. Nothing like family. Mike

[todbartell]

my most memorable hunting moment is probably my first moose, in 1998, my third hunting season

the short of it is I was sitting in a clearcut overlooking a foggy lake in September. I could hear some crashing coming closer and closer, but saw nothing due to the fog. I could then catch glimses of moose trotting below me, a cow and a young bull. As if it was staged, the cow stopped 100 yards below me, the bull stopped as well. I put a Barnes X through his lungs and that was that.

I will never forget the sight of those two moose drifting in and out of the fog

[Kody94]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/Staggerino/firstmoose.jpg

First moose...1981.

Cheers,
4Ster

[huntwriter]

Nice story rocksteady.
My fondest hunting memory is the very last day I wnt to hunt with my father. Only two days after that hunt he passed away. The hunt took place on a small piece of land covered in brambles, perfect rabbit habitat, just around the corner of our house. The trophies are two rabbits that I shot with my fathers favourite shotgun. Notthing special but to me that is a hunt I will never forget for as long I live. For me it has everything in it, sadness, joy, happiness and unforgettable memories all rolled into one.

[bigwhiteys]

My best hunting would be from my grandparents hunting outfit.

At the time my favorite thing to do was go flying with my Grandpa in his supercub... I logged many hours in that little cub sitting on phone books until eventually I could see out the windows on my own.

We'd see sheep, moose, caribou, wolves, bears, elk, goats everything that roamed the northern country where their area was. My grandpa or dad whoever was flying would take the time to circle around and make sure I saw whatever it was and would explain to me what we saw and why etc... I learned plenty about the country and animals that inhabited the area.

I would hear that cub fire up and if that seat wasn't going to be filled with a hunter on their way to/back from camp I would have been in it or my Grandpa would have one pissed off grandkid when he got back.

The flying is probably my most favorite memory and will remain as one of them for the rest of my life.

I would be up there for the entire summer and I would always look forward to the fresh batch of hunters that would be coming in for sheep come August 1st and I'd often trade them chips, and candies or other knick knacks etc... to show them how to land one of the monster bull trout in the nearby lake. (I have a 13lb one on my wall!) I was the inhouse fishing expert.

My dad was one of their main guides. He would take me up there for the summer and would usually be out in camp most the time guiding for sheep. Occasionally I got to saddle up and head out into camp as well but usually I was left at the ranch to explore the foothills around the ranch and take in whatever I could with whoever was willing to go.

I would run out to meet the pack string if I wasn't with them when they came in from a hunt and would oogle at the hunters rams they had harvested and I would want to hear the stories and then ask them if I could flesh out the skull so I could use the chunks of sheep meat for fish bait.

It was my Grandma who actually taught me how to fish the rivers up there and in between cooking meals for the 12-18 people/hunters who would be at the ranch she would take me fishing or hiking or berry picking whatever it didn't really matter... I just loved being up there.

I was extremely fortunate to have had that experience. That area will always remain near and dear to me for a long time to come. The memories are plenty.

Happy Hunting!
Carl

[Ddog]

My most memorable hunt was 2004 November late season, after looking for several hours for a place to put my treestand finally found the most incredible game trail i have ever seen, tracks and tracks and tracks right down to the earth through a foot of snow. Oh ya this is the spot and thats my tree right there! I neglected to say that my partner and i were so tired of hiking that when we found this trail we just decided to get up the trail and find the first fork so we left the bows in the truck..Dumb!
well we found my tree and started to put the ladder up and my partner was up on the second part of it and i looked up the trail and said to him shhh dont move, deer coming down the trail. he says how many and i looked up and said all of them i think! well maybe not but 6 does decided to come check out the noise we were making and they walked right up to the tree and started sniffing around barely 8 ft from us..so picture it i am hugging the tree and my partner is standing on the ladder with the backs of his knees in my face,,it was all we could do not to laugh as they just couldnt figure out what we were doing to that tree!..well after a 5 min standoff they decided the coast was clear and we were no threat to them and down the trail they went. Wow so close.
so after about another 15 mins or so we had the stand hung and off we go to find another tree for my partner not more than 50 yards from my tree i stop and my partner bumps into my back ...shhhh dont move,,huge buck looking right at us 50 yards or so up the trail "where, i can't see it" so i point my arm out and he leans on my shoulder looking down my arm to try and spot it,,,shhh i hear "dont move" huh what.. look to your left. i slowly turn my head and look to the left , not more than 12 yards a real nice 3 point whitey looking right at us! he had just crested the hill and decided to stare at us for a minute before starting to scratch the snow away and start feeding towards us! unbelievable no bows in hand and a nice buck 10 yards away now,duh what were we thinking not bringing at least one bow!! after 10 mins of tis he walks up the trail and pokes the big one ( who hadnt moved) right in the heine and my partner says oooo i see him now! then again "shhh dont move " look and that same very trail to our left another buck! this ones a spiker but what a spiker he was! huge spikes straight up at least 14-16". this one does the excact same thing as the 3 point did but stayed way to long so i looked at my partner and said time to leave he says no we'll spook em and i said right back to him i just dont care we hafta get outa here before the real bruiser comes and then i will be really choked. so we turn around and start to walk away looking back every 10 feet or so and this spiker just watched the whole way until we were outa sight..
first day in my stand i got therearound 8 in the morning and by 11:50am i had 22 deer come past my stand the 21st deer was a real nice 6x5 whitey that got an arrow through the boiler room! the 22nd deer was that spiker and this time he watched me climb down my tree and came to check me out!! i had to put my bow in front of me in the air cause he just wanted a closer look at me and closer he came! right to me not much more than the lenght of my bow away! wow..thats my most memorable hunt ever!!!

[rocksteady]

Awesome stuff guys........Great reading and its sure shows why we hunt, its not just about killing something, like the antis say....

I have often thought of taking all of my hunting pictures and scanning them on a flat bed scanner (which I did, so they are all now on CD) and also writing a detailed story behind each picture , like we have been submitting above, and creating a hunting legacy for my children and their children.....

Probably would not be on the NY Times best sellers list, but would be a real treat for any of my offspring who decide to hunt.....I have 2 daughters (19 and 14) who live with my ex and they dont hunt, but who knows if one of them will give me a grandson (or gdaughter ) who would be into hunting.....

Anyone else ever done this......

My great-great grandparents came across the mid west states in the old covered wagon train and my GGPa actually wrote a diary or journal that we have recently located (in the last 5 years) with relatives back in St. Louis, and it is awesome reading......


:biggrin: :biggrin:

[3kills]

rocksteady thats a good idea what u should do is maybe make a dvd out of ur pics and u can add music and probably do some voice overs.....

[Dano]

I was hunting geese on the Pitt River on a monday morning in mid november. Nothing flying so we just waited for the unusually low tide to move back in when I spotted this buck swimming our way along the island. I still had a tag open so I slid a couple buckshot into my 870 and we watched it get out of the water and walk along the shore towards out dekes.
When the buck got close, he either smelled our scent on the dekes or he just knew something wasn't right, he started to angle away so I figured it was then or never. Not wanting to spoil meat, I took a neck shot, the buck stumbled and took a couple steps into about a foot of water. He fell there and tried to get his head up but I was out there quick and put another shot into the base of the back of his head.
My biggest buck ever and I was home by 11am and off to work on afternoon shift later in the day!
Dano
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/buck11.JPG