Utah Fishing ReportsA 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
Thanksgiving
Day
Mostly
Sunny
High: 37 °F
Tonight
Partly
Cloudy
Low: 20 °F
Friday
Mostly
Sunny
High: 47 °F
Friday
Night
Partly
Cloudy
Low: 23 °F
Saturday
Mostly
Sunny
High: 51 °F
Saturday
Night
Chance
Snow
Low: 25 °F
Sunday
Chance
Snow
High: 39 °F
Sunday
Night
Chance
Snow
Low: 20 °F
Monday
Slight Chc
Snow
High: 35 °F
One student, in particular, was hard put to think of seven advantages.
However, he wrote:
1) It is perfect formula for the child.
2) It provides immunity against several diseases.
And then the student was stuck.
Finally, in desperation, just before
the bell rang indicating the end of the test, he wrote:
7) It comes in two attractive containers and it’s high enough off the
ground where the cat can’t get it.
He got an A.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I wish each and everyone of you a special day. May God bless you and everyone you come in contact with.
I always think back to what something might have been like first, long before what we see today as the way it was, and so with Thanksgiving. What was the first Thanksgiving like? With the world wide web available to us all, it was not hard to find some historical information about it.
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/1stthnks.htm
So, it seems there were but a small band of white people among the Indians of the area. It was Fall and it was also time to prepare for the upcoming winter and it’s cold and snow. All summer long they had taken care of their crops and gone fishing and put up lots of food in their storage places. I picture huge amounts of dried fish hanging in a shed. Each family having an equal portion of it.
I also picture dried game meats like deer, bear and whatever other kind of big game there was around there. It too cut into strips and dried and hanging inside the same shed with the fish.
Game birds were plentiful, at least Wild Turkey, and those too had been properly harvested and taken care of and dried and hanging among the fish and the game.
And with Fall season the migration of the waterfowl was upon the people in full force. They would have harvested many of the birds and done likewise as with the turkey and had them hanging in the shed as well.
Their crops of corn were stripped and dried and some of it made into flour and placed in cribs in the same shed. Lord have mercy should something happen to that shed. All of their food was in there and without it, they probably would not make it long. Of course they had the others around them who would no doubt share their bounty with them should they need it.
53 people all huddled within a small area, each one caring very much about the other as they all worked together to make their survival possible.
And so they joined in a celebration to thank God for all that they had. They invited the local Indians to join them. Fresh game was acquired and cooked and shared with everyone. A bounty of plenty. And it says the Indians came forth with deer to share with the white people. And they celebrated for up to three days. The children played games, the adult men shot rifles and the women cooked the meals. The Indians also joined in the fun and work involved and everyone had a great time.
The local Ogden Standard Examiner featured a story this week and in it the author said that for drink at their festivity they drank beer. Sort of a necessity they thought, because the water just might not be that fit to drink and so to ferment it was the proper way to drink it. I like that idea. I imagine that the party lasted three days because that is how much beer they had on hand that was ready to drink. More, of course would have been in the making but not quite finished to the drinking point (that is my take on things).
In that same article, it reads that forks had not been invented as yet and so they used large cloth napkins to hold onto the meat that they ate. That sounds rather savage right now, but I have eaten in such a way and it is not such a bad way to get the nourishment you need. A huge leg of turkey in one hand and a mug of beer in the other. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough!
I have to differ some with the fact that forks had not been invented yet. As there is much evidence that people used sharpened sticks way back when to hold meat over a fire to cook it. I’ve done that as well. And so, as time goes on a single pointed stick, would be better if it had two points to help hold the meat. I’ve used things like that and sure enough, the meat can be turned to properly cook, without the meat spinning around. And as we progress, suddenly there is a stick with three pointed ends and then four.
As Wapiti says, it is not a “fork” until it has four points on which to poke your food. A three point one is a “trike”, a two point one is a “bike” and a one pointed on is an “eyenk” (if my memory serves me correctly).
I have learned many things in my life and one of them is to not send Edjukateer out to gather hot dog cooking sticks, which by the way usually have two points, because you get back eyenks of the smallest proportion.
Well, enjoy your holiday and may God bless you.
Bears Butt
Nov. 21, 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
In life all is not fun and games. Sometime or another there will be something that comes along and breaks your heart or really saddens you. This happened to me yesterday.
A bit of background.
We took camp up into the Crawfords last Friday and got it set up. During the week prior, I was visiting the Utah Wildlife Network forum and a man on there named “Vaporpest” messaged me and talked about he and his father going into the Crawfords the same day to set up their camp. He and I exchanged messages back and forth and both were very excited. His excitement was for his father to finally get a chance to shoot something with 4 points on each side, as he has never done that in his entire life. I gave him pointers like “hold his caps, and don’t let him take the first one he sees” etc. etc.
Saturday morning found us enjoying the hunt and in the early afternoon we had to go into town and gas up. On our way back into the mountains, a side by side rig was coming out. I pulled to a stop and the man driving said…”Are you Bears Butt”? Of course I answered affirmative and got out of the rig to meet the two gentlemen in the rig.
Sure enough the young man sitting in the passenger seat was Vaporpest and his father, Kevin, was the driver.
I gladly gave the tag holder, Kevin, one of the dream catchers I had made up for this occasion and wished him all the luck in the world. We shared a couple of quick stories, including the fact that his wife was one of the “Hilton” girls (Cache Valley Rendezvous) and then we went our own ways.
Later that evening they stopped into our camp to share with us the wonderful stories they had about the deer they had seen during the day. Grins were everywhere as you can see in this picture.
Matt and Kevin Hardman
We had a wonderful visit with the two of them and of course some of the stories got a bit exaggerated. Including one about the color of the flames the fire was putting out. “Alterwood” makes the flames do that Matt.
————————————-
Yesterday I read about a tragic accident out on the Great Salt Lake, where two young duck hunters had lost their lives when the waves capsized their boat and they succumbed to hypothermia. One of the men was a son of Kevins and brother to Matt.
They would have received the text message just after leaving our camp as they cruised out of the canyon just a short mile away.
My heart goes out to them and their family, as well as to the family of the other young man who also passed in that tragic accident.
From the four of us who were in the camp and got to meet the two of you, we are all very, very sorry for your loss. I personally hope you make it back up into the Crawford Mountains after the funerals as part of the healing process. As tough as it might seem right now your lives will still go on, only now there is a piece missing. Your son and brother would want you to head on back to the mountain and bring home your long deserved prize.
I said a prayer for your families last night.
Bears Butt
Nov. 20, 2012
November 20…that’s today! YAAAAA! What else is going on? Well for one it is National Absurdity Day! Do something really dumb and you will fit right in. If you are reading this before going to work, this is your chance to wear that Hawaiian shirt to your big business meeting and be able to get away with it. Or place a special order with the hospital staff saying your doctor ordered you to eat some crazy food that they normally don’t serve patients (you see I don’t know who is reading this or where they are reading it from).
The bottom line is today is Absurdity day and anything out of the ordinary is perfectly justified. I suggest you keep it legal however. And maybe just inside the sane line or your tomorrow might not be too fun.
I looked up the word on line and found a definition that allowed viewers to make comments…I think that is absurd, and I told them as much.
As for my personal life, I’m just too set in my ways to be too absurd, besides I’m still in Crawford Hunt Mode…which to some may seem absurd. To me it is perfectly normal and I know of 10 people who agree with me and several more that are fighting the urge to join the 10 of us, as they have to work, which to them is absurd. I agree. Just because they have recently changed jobs, I find it absurd that their new boss can’t let them have some time off to come up and join us in the hunt. The boss on the other hand thinks it absurd that the newly hired pee-on is even asking that he have time off to go on a stupid hunt in the first place. You see how absurd things can get in a hurry. So, enjoy the day.
What’s absurd?
Frying your donut. Wearing shorts in a snow storm (that could be confused with freezing your butt off). Or Softballs normal “colder than cold” statement: “Standing on a wind swept, blowing snow mountain with nothing on but a wet sheet” (which IS freezing your butt off). Pouring an entire bottle of ketchup on your fries. Dipping the same fries in a beer before eating them. Asking your brother for $20. Fishing off the Golden Gate Bridge. Desiring to get between a cow moose and her offspring. Adding mustard to your coffee. Washing the red flannel underwear with the white shorts.
You see the list goes on and on and is only limited by YOUR imagination. You don’t have an imagination? That’s absurd….of course you do.
Bears Butt
Nov 20, 2012