For anyone reading this post about the Crawford Mountain hunt I’m going to lay it all out on the line for you.  Most of you think that hunting big game involves hiking around the mountain and sneaking here and there to get the big one and don’t get me wrong you can do that on this hunt and get a big one.  But this is more of a “Gentleman’s Hunt”.

You are going to need a four wheel drive vehicle of some sort and during some years you will need a snow mobile to get around (see story of 2010).  There are a lot of roads in the Crawford Mountains and they will take you everywhere you need to go to get a big muley buck.  You will need some very good tires on your vehicle should you choose to use a truck or SUV.  Some of the roads have large rocky areas, others are “tippy” to the down hill side and can be very slick when wet or ice covered.  Therefore you will need tire chains in the vehicle to put them on when needed.

With chains on all four tires you can pretty much go anywhere on this mountain as long as you are careful and don’t get high centered.  Which is another easy thing to do.  Keep your driver relatively sober and you should not have much of a problem.  Of course there are those cases where the driver has no control as to where the vehicle is going to “slip” sideways and end up in a pickle.  Be safe.

So, with chains on you just drive around and spot for the animals.  Believe me when I say, you will see hundreds of deer during a days hunt on this mountain.  And among the hundreds of deer you will see tens of bucks.  On this years hunt we counted 50 different bucks on one particular day.  Only the 50th one was considered a shooter by these hunters and the shots taken missed their mark.  It’s too bad for the hunters in this case as I will post a picture of that buck in another posting.

And so, we travel up hills and down hills and over dales and up ravines and down canyons and across hillsides looking for our big buck.  We only get out of the vehicle to take care of nature calls, have a snack and stretch our legs or put a sneak on a big buck that we want a better look at or take a shot.

You see, there just isn’t a nicer hunt anywhere.  You can stay warm inside the vehicle, or freeze your tail off out on an ATV…your choice.  You know my choice.

In the process of finding the right buck you are going to see a lot of interesting things besides animals, but it’s the animals that are the most interesting to me.  On this hunt we only saw two rabbits, which was a surprise.  Two years ago we saw rabbits everywhere we went.  Besides that I only saw one coyote which was another surprise…did Utahs bounty get them all killed off this mountain?  Whatever has their numbers down I am thankful for.

I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I thought this was a pretty cool shot of a gnarly old cedar tree.  If you venture into the Crawford Mountains you will see this majestic tree on top of a ridge, or at least you will see many that are similar.  I hope a wildfire doesn’t destroy these big old boys.

You will also find other treasures hidden away up there, like this cute little treasure.

And this came complete with all the items you will need, at least on this hunt, in the future you would be compelled to take some of your own materials just in case.

We tend to like to make sure the mountains we hunt in are clean of trash.  It’s just our nature and we carry trash bags to put that debris in.  At the place we found this outhouse there was a lot of garbage left behind by the users of the camp near by.  We picked up three small bags of garbage at this stop.  I hope in the future the users are more respectful.  BUT…in the process of picking up trash, we also found some lost treasures…..

We ended up calling her “A-AH-LA-A”, and she became our mascot for the duration of our stay on the mountain.  If you are reading this and this is yours, too bad…it belongs to us now.

We also found some other things of interest….

From left to right…Bears Butt…one cent….Baby Boy….a nickle  and No Grimace…26 cents!  Way to go fellas!  Nice finds!

So while you are traveling the mountains of the Crawfords keep your eyes open, you might just find something like this…

Had he found the frames for these glasses he would have had a really good find, but he only found the lenses.  Nice find Wapiti!

I don’t have pictures of the other items we found, but I can tell you I personally found a really high quality head lamp that still works and a speed loader for a 54 cal. muzzleloader, I will employ both of these in the near future.  Did you lose either of these items?  Make a comment on this posting and describe them and I’ll get them back to you.  I’m an honest kind of guy you know.

Well, don’t take your eyes off the ground while hunting up there.  Certainly you want to see some of the game that abounds there.

This is the view from inside a pin-hole camera looking out.  Well not exactly, but close.  If you were a sheet of film on the back of the camera this is pretty much what you would see as the exposure was being made.  I just thought I’d toss this one in to separate the story into another dimension.

Many years ago on this very same hunt, we stopped for a hot dog cooked over an open fire.  We did that at this exact spot and Tracker has saved the cooking sticks that Edjukateer is proudly displaying in this photo.  He went out and cut these sticks and we used them to cook our hot dogs that day.  He used the long one and I used the two point one.  In the process I burnt up a $17 pair of gloves….Edjukateer says “Just get over it”!!!!

And the scenes go on and on.  There is something on this mountain for everyone, even the hunters.  The hardest part is getting the tag.  It took since 1996 for No Grimace and Baby Boy to draw this tag.  Don’t give up on it, keep applying if this is what you want to experience and believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

Bears Butt

Dec. 2, 2012

As I said earlier, the hunt is more than the taking or attempting to take the animal one is in pursuit of.  It’s the whole ball of wax.  The people, the camp, the environment, the EVERYTHING, all rolled up into a perfect circle.

When things seem to be about to end it all, up steps everyone to help get things back on track.  Like going down a bumpy, rocky road, things can and do happen.

Ouch!  That one will slow us down a bit.

Well, it only took an hour or so and we were on our way, only this time back toward camp instead of away from it.  No sense taking any more chances without a spare of getting farther away.

Back at camp things are always on the happy side of everything.

If you can’t tell from the pictures, we are having quite a time telling stories, pointing fingers at who is to blame and in general, just having fun.

But it’s not all about laughing and cutting up.  Sometimes you have to eat.

Food takes on another dimension when camping and when it is cold outside it even tastes all that much better.  We ate well on this hunt.  Steak, Eggs, Burgers, Hot Dogs, Pork Chops, Hash Browns, Onions, Dry Dogs Pickled Eggs, Kipper Snacks, Vienna Sausages, Home Made Jerky, Pork Hocks, Bacon and a whole variety of sweet and tasty treats.

Tracker brought out some “famous” Hostess donuts one morning and the first thing said was he could sell them on ebay…the bidding started at $5!  But ended when he insisted anyone who wanted one of the prized “last of the little guys, never more to be seen on store shelves”, could have one until they were all gone.  The folks dug in!

And the box was passed around…..

Some getting more involved in the eating than others, but soon all the little donuts were gone.  And in celebration, the box the little donuts came in was sacrificed for all eternity.

The END of an ERA………..well maybe.

Well, in our camp it doesn’t end with food and good times.  We have our celebrations when it comes to someone bringing in a big old buck.  The ceremony is one that is earned by the hunter and is a cherished tradition…”The Kill Jug”!  (Mind you, only hunters over 21 are allowed the alcoholic versions of the kill jug.  Those not wishing to participate with alcohol can opt for non-alcohol drinks and under age people get mini spicy v-8 drinks).

A fine little drink only meant for the King of the camp!

OH YA BABY!  That even made me shake and made the picture blurry because of the grimace that followed the drink……

And the next day there were even more surprises in store for the camp king!  Thank you Tracker….ARE THOSE FOR ME??????

Fuzzy Navels every one.

So, you should be getting the idea that our camp is full of fun and exciting and sometimes really ridiculous things.  But it is all meant to be joyful for both the recipient of a good joke and to the one pulling the joke off.  We do sometimes get serious…..hmmm….I’m just not sure when.

Bears Butt

Dec. 1, 2012

A few more pictures is always a good thing for people to look at.  Here are some I managed to salvage from my fuzzy camera.

The last one is a very big 2 point buck…very common in the Crawford Mountains.

Bears Butt

Nov. 30, 2012

As one can clearly decide, we are back from the Crawford Mountain Dream Hunt of 2012.  Soon you will realize that perhaps another trip or two before the actual hunt ends will happen.

The hunt is one of the most incredible hunts any hunter could possibly go on.  Even if only for one day in those mountains to view the extensive wildlife that abound on that mountain.  Not just the deer themselves, but all of the other wildlife that lives there as well.

As a support player on this hunt I was not always afforded the opportunity to take pictures of the quick fleeting critters as they realized they were in a place that was very uncomfortable for them to be, but when I did get the opportunity I took it.

The hunt is not always about the game being sought after as well.  It is the camaraderie of the people in camp.  The visits from those who are also on the mountain enjoying what they enjoy.  The stories of their hunt, and listening intently to your story as well.  Gleaning information from each other as to the where-abouts of a big animal that was seen or nearly taken.

It is also about the surroundings.  The sunrises and sunsets.  The “what has to be taken care of, like it or not”.

This hunt had it all.  And even though it is not truly over for the season, it is for me.  And I am going to share with you my view of it in a series of stories about the Dream Hunt of 2012, for No Grimace and Baby Boy.  It was a very remarkable series of events that took place from day one until even this morning as I previewed my photos and put names to them.  The reading of the comments that were made on my web site by people who have come into my life purely by accident.  So, I’m sure you would rather see the pictures than read my dumb comments and such.

Sunrises and sunsets are always cool to see, especially when there is some spectacular color to them.

Clouds can bring you forecasts of weather that is coming, or post casts of weather that has just passed through.  Morning sunrises bring new life to a darkened night and hope for the coming day.

As the hunter waits until it is light enough to see his sights, he waits and watches the day begin.  The chirping of the birds and scurrying of the little critters that abound.

Anticipating what is coming his way on this beautiful day.  The skyline begins to brighten and his heart beat picks up a slight bit.  A great day is ahead and the one of yesterday is far behind.

Should I take the hunting path to the North today?  Maybe I’d have better luck going South.  Two days ago the animals seemed to be concentrated in the draw we call the veggie bowl.  Yesterday they were in Lesbian Valley.  Last week we found them in Prancer Valley.  What to do?  Where to go?

No matter the decision, the hunter and the support team, head off for a day in the mountains to enjoy whatever comes their way.

What is that way off in the distance?  Is that a deer on that skyline?  A quick check with the binoculars clearly shows we may have made the right decision to come this direction.

Some mornings you get up and are still in camp and look up to greet the day and what is looking down upon your camp just might surprise you.  As it did with us on the last day of our hunt.

A sign of good times I’m sure.  A hunter must be constantly aware of his environment because the game he seeks is also doing the same.  For the game animal it is a matter of survival, for the hunter it is testing his own skills.

But this is not the game animal we are after on this hunt.  We need to see horn in the sky to make us believe we are on the right trail.  And we continue to have high hopes and dreams of the big buck, and then suddenly “There it is”!

It’s still too dark to see the sights and so this big boy will have to be seen again somewhere.  With more analysis of the size, perhaps this is not one we would want to shoot anyway.  Afterall, it looks to be rather spindly and not too tall.  Ya boys, let’s go look for a bigger one.

But wait!  Look again!

Nope.  Still not a shooter.  Let’s go on.

And so, we travel up the trail and over the next ridge, looking for the one of our dreams.  And the morning light continues to grow in intensity and soon the morning sunrise yields itself to daylight.  And what we have here is a genuinely nice looking day for being outdoors enjoying what God has given us.

Hey!  Look over there!

WOW!  If it was as wide as it is tall, that would be a real shooter for sure.  But not this day guys.  Besides, trying to sneak to within shooting range of that big boy would be tough as nails.  Those two does would make sure he was alerted to danger.

And the morning progresses with more of the same.  Lots of smaller bucks being seen and then as quickly as we can say, Crawford Mountain…there stands another monarch of the mountains.

I wish I was closer to this one.  It has quite a bit going for it as a shooter in my book.  Looks to be close to 25 wide.  Does it have 4 points on each side?  Eye guards?  What does your dream buck look like?

Yes, there is a lot to see up there.  Coyotes, yes, but I did not see but one and it was very far off into the distance.  Others in the group saw some close enough for a shot, but they weren’t the ones with the tags.  Sharptail Grouse, yes, but only a couple.

And another danger to the animal community was this mangy dog we saw chasing the deer around through the hills one day.  We tried to get a clear shot on him, but he was smart enough to avoid what would have been his last chase.  We last saw him moving behind a head of does and fawns in the direction of Wyoming.

So, you can see, there is a lot up in those mountains that keeps your interest.  And the day goes quickly by.  You woke up at 5 a.m. and suddenly find yourself totally exhausted by 7 p.m.  14 hours of continual adrenaline rush.  A quick supper, one last beverage and it’s pillow time.  Tomorrow will be another day.

Bears Butt

Nov. 30, 2012

Nine chorizo, sausage and egg burritos heating in the oven.  1 hour 45 minutes until take-off.  Who is excited is ME!

Camp expected to be a wind blown mess but it won’t take long to fix it up.  Only one trailer to get set up and then it’s load the horses and off we go.

We have binocs, spotting scopes, 2 way radios and a cooler full of beverages.  What more do we need?

Crock, Dry Dog and Magpie are already on their way and should have some good reports before we even arrive in the mountains.

It just does not get any better than this.

Will a buck be down by dark?  If it is, I hope it’s very big with heavy horn, or at least extremely unique.

Until next week…enjoy the rest of this site and wish us luck.

Bears Butt

Nov. 23, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Today is the day before we head off into the Crawford Mountains for our last attempt to fill two coveted tags.  13 years of waiting for this time to complete a dream of filling a wall with the biggest or most unique buck around.

This is not a reconnoiter trip.  This one is serious (how serious is a Willow Creeker?).

Both hunters have said they will take “cactus” bucks if given the chance.  We saw some cactus’ last weekend, but they were the prickly kind growing on the ground.  Was it a sign?

We heard about a one horned buck that would have spread over 30 inches wide had the other side not been broken off.  It was said it had up to 8 points on the side it had.  We heard two different stories about this buck.  One was that the one side was growing downward around the bucks face.  The other was it was broken off about 4 inches above its head.   Will we see that buck?

We saw a buck that was pushing 30 inches and it was taken by another lucky hunter during last weekend (it measured in at 28 inches).

We spoke to the hunter who purchases the tag every year at the Sportsman Show.  This year he paid $8,000 for the tag and he claims to take 30 plus inchers every year.  Our hopes are high to perhaps see and tag a couple of those caliber of bucks.  Toss in multiple points, over and above the typical 4X4 with eye guards and we will be in a little heaven of our own.

This is what draws us to the Crawfords and keeps us coming back when tags are drawn.  Will this be my last year for this hunt?  Perhaps, but time will tell.  I personally have stopped applying for the tag and have concentrated on a bull elk tag.  Having never shot a bull elk, I would like to someday complete that dream.

The weather is looking pretty good for our hunt at least through Monday of next week.  Just keep the mud down and we will be fine.  Bring on frozen ground and it will be a bonus for our travels.

So, will the big bucks be hanging around the Veggie Bowl, or over in Hidden Valley?  Will they be up on top of Windy Ridge or down by Tipi Ridge?  We have yet to visit the short road that lead to my buck three years ago.  Maybe a big buck is lurking there.  We have also not gone to Hot Dog road, but saw from a distance many deer in that area.  We have time.

I’ll be seeing you boys in the morning!

Bears Butt

Nov. 22, 2012

Tracker started the tradition many years ago to hand out dream catchers for people who drew the coveted dream hunt tags.  I have sort of taken over that task.  Sherry said once, “you spend a lot of time making those and in the end who really cares”?

I just got off the phone with a guy we met up on the dream hunt last weekend, to whom I gave one of the dream catchers.  He tagged his buck on Sunday and said that when he gets the buck back from the taxidermist that dream catcher will go right up on the wall with the trophy.

THAT is why I suppose those dream catchers are worth the effort to make.  I’m very glad I was able to meet him and give him one of the little trophies.  Who knows, maybe it even brought him some luck.

This one is about you Dave!

Bears Butt

Nov. 20, 2012

Forecast for Randolph, Utah

7-DAY FORECAST

• This Afternoon Partly sunny, with a high near 46. Southwest wind around 11 mph.
• Tonight Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. South southwest wind around 7 mph.
• Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. South southwest wind 5 to 13 mph.
• Tuesday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. South wind around 7 mph.
• Wednesday A 20 percent chance of showers after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. Southwest wind 7 to 16 mph.
• Wednesday Night A chance of rain showers before 11pm, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Snow level 7400 feet lowering to 6500 feet after midnight . Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
• Thanksgiving Day Partly sunny, with a high near 41.
• Thursday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 20.
• Friday Partly sunny, with a high near 46.
• Friday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 23.
• Saturday Partly sunny, with a high near 50.
• Saturday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.
• Sunday A chance of rain and snow. Snow level rising to 6700 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45.

So, it looks like there could be some drying, before Wednesday, but then it depends on how much moisture falls on Wednesday as to whether we will be dealing with mucky muck mud come Friday.

Bones says a major change in the weather is expected next week, and by this forecast that might start on Sunday.

Bears Butt

Nov. 19, 2012

The first weekend of the Dream Hunt was “almost” perfect.  We got to the camp site earlier than expected on Friday morning and just barely beat another hunter and his crew to the camp site we like most.  They had stopped in Evanston to pick up some high point beverages and that is how we got ahead of them.  They had passed us coming up the canyon on the freeway.

The camp set up went quickly, as most of us knew the ropes of putting up the dining fly.  So we were eating lunch right at noon and drinking cool beverages with lunch.  A better start could not have been had.

No Grimace Waving

Since this was mostly a reconnoiter weekend, we loaded up some gear and went for a little drive to see what kind of critters we could find in the mountains.  Now, just because I’m letting you know some of the weekend events I am also not at liberty to tell you EVERYTHING about what we found, but I will let you know this…we saw some beautiful animals and were quite excited to get the hunt underway the next day.  Dreams of filling tags were definitely in the wind.

My camera does not take the best of pictures, especially out at 10 power and me trying to hold it steady, but this shows you one of the bucks we saw on Friday.  We also saw where the other guys put their camp, which was WAYYY UP near the top of the mountain.  And when we went past, there just happened to be a visitor above their camp.

Can you see the buck to the left, just above their camp?

The buck was looking down into their camp when we stopped on the road and by the time I got the camera ready it had moved to the left.  I took this picture to show you just how close it was to their camp and it was a pretty decent buck.

Not a buck we would take in the morning, but still a nice buck.

Before the sun set we found a pretty nice little buck and we analyzed it with great vigor.  Each one of us pulling on the sides of the anters we liked best and stretching it out wider and wider with each different position it posed itself in.  When it was all settled, the boys with the tags were pretty much filled with delight, not to say they hadn’t had their fill of bubbly as well.

What is your best guess as to its width, height and number of points?

And so with the coming of the evening the thrill of being in the Crawford Mountains one more time, we cheered and cheered and then settled in for the night.

Believe it or not, we ate supper and were in bed before 8 p.m.!

The morning brought the usual thrill of an opener in the Crawfords.  A quick check of the low of the night only showed about 35 degrees.  Not cold at all and it will only get warmer as the day progresses.  Let’s hope it doesn’t rain.   Tracker questioned whether we should chain up before leaving camp and we decided not to and off we went.

As usual, we began seeing bucks just out of camp but nothing big enough to shoot.

Seeing as how I was the driver, I could only shoot at bucks with my camera when the situation allowed and a ton of bucks went passed that I did not get to take pictures of.  The ones I did were usually fleeting and moving.  Bear with me with these pictures as most are blurry.

If you ever hunt the Crawfords much, you will see a lot of high antlered 3X3 bucks and we saw plenty of them this weekend.

Some are small 4X4’s as well like this guy.

To some hunters this guy would be in the truck already, but not for the two guys with the tags on this weekend.  Hold out for something bigger guys.  There are still two full weeks ahead.

Back in camp for a quick lunch we had some little feathered visitors.  Birds that I have yet to find the name of and for sure I have never seen the likes of them before.  They flitted about for quite some time.  Very interesting little birds for sure.

(A bit of research makes me think these are “Grey Crowned Rosey Finches”.  If you know otherwise, please make a comment below…Thanks!)

As the day progressed we found the mud to be a real problem getting around and we ended up chaining the front end up, but not before some nasty mud found itself on top of the hood.  Sorry Bones, would you rather it be a buck head?

As the rest of the day went on it became apparent that the need to have chains on all four tires was imperative if we wanted to go where we wanted to go.  It also became apparent that everyone was going to be wearing a lot of mud and the truck and trailers were going to be carrying the extra stuff as well.  I hate mud!

It rained some more during the night and again the temperature did not reach the freezing mark.  We had made plans to be in a certain place at a certain time on the second day and we prepared early for the trip to “Hidden Valley”.

As we progressed in the darkness, Baby Boy was able to pick up on the weather forecast for the day and he found that we were under a winter weather watch with rain/snow etc. possible for the next 24 hours.  You could not tell it from the sunrise.

Nor were the animals acting any different than the day before.

We made our way slowly through the muck and finally arrived at our destination “Hidden Valley”.  It was the first time I had been there since the year of Fat Duck and Gatlin, and on Bo’s dream Hunt we were very close but not quite there when he filled his tag.  It was nice to see it again and we saw a ton of deer all settled in.  I’m not sure how many bucks we saw mixed in with the all the does, but it was close to 10.  While there we decided a break to have some Kippers, Smoked Oysters, Vienna Sausages and Pork Hocks was in order.

Since it was the day we were going to be heading home, no beer was on the menu.  Next week however……

And so as we came to the close of the reconnoiter weekend, we leave the muddy Crawfords and Randolph until next Friday.

May the bucks continue to rut in their ways and pass on the genes of their ancestors in order to fulfill the big buck dreams of future hunters.

As we were packing to come home, making sure we were leaving things that we would need next week, and taking home what we had to take home to either clean up, preserve or whatever, Tracker looked upon the ridge above camp and this was the scene.

Camp trailer in the foreground.

On a side note.  We are always on the lookout for other peoples trash and so this trip was no different.  We had lots of trash in the bag in the back of the rig, but this might be the ultimate trash pickup of them all.  Tracker trying to get a balloon out of a cedar.

And for reasons only the Willow Creekers would know, you will see this again.

Happy Guys!

We will be back!

Bears Butt

Nov. 19, 2012