The last day of the 2012 muzzleloader deer season found Winemaker, Weasel, MAPA’s and myself bouncing along the dusty mountain roads of Unit 2.  Lots of animals abounded as we tripped our way through the day.  There really wasn’t a time where we thought the deer were all bedded down, as we saw deer pretty much all day long.

Some were us as high as the roads we traveled went, while others were midway and still others down low.  We saw many deer very low when we ventured into the local small town for more fuel.  You see, it takes a lot of fuel to road hunt.

The local establishment must love the hunting season and they must truly love the road hunters and if I owned that store I would offer free snacks to the road hunters and encourage as much road hunting as possible…just sayin.

We saw a small moose and even though I took a picture of it that turned out fuzzy, I think my camera had too much dust inside the body to be able to focus.  And so I can’t post a picture of it, but there didn’t appear to be a momma moose around it.  We also saw a weasel in it’s coat of brown cross the road in front of us.  No picture there either as they can move quite fast.

MaPa’s too had a fun time with squirrels and chipmunks at our numerous stops to stretch and grab a snack out of our snack bag.

It was a very fun day.  A bit breezy all day and colder than what has been the norm of late.  A cold front has come in and if I was to have been camping and didn’t know the weather forecast I would have predicted a drastic change in the weather coming very soon, like today.  Perhaps it was the wind and the change that had the animals out and about.  They did seem to be everywhere, but alas only one buck all day long and he did not afford us an opportunity to take a shot.

We did see groups of deer like these:

To be able to get out and visit the nature that houses in these mountains around Northern Utah is really a blessing.  We saw a total of 115 deer in our venture and that is not counting the one that crossed the highway in front of us as we made our way to the hunting area.  THAT is a LOT of deer and to only have one buck among them was another thing that makes you scratch your head.  Maybe Option 2 (for those of you who know what I’m talking about) will change that, but I have my doubts.

We looked across the skyline last evening as we drove our way off the mountain and with the high winds blowing across the ridge we rode along and this is what we saw:

Not just one, but two forest fires burning in the distance.  Our discussion lead to why one would not be more careful with their camp fires, when suddenly it dawned on us that these fires were no doubt the cause of disgruntled hunters opposed to Option 2.  And with the close of the muzzleloader deer season we deduced the fact that the SFW probably had a hand in it too.  With camps showing up for the rifle elk hunt that begins tomorrow, we also decided that those elk hunters were probably sighting in their rifles using steel jacketed bullets and that combined with Option 2 and the SFW it’s no wonder there were two forest fires burning.  I hope they get them put out before next muzzleloader deer season.

It was a fun season, but now another 365 days to wait….It’s going to be a very long year.  Thank you all for being a part of it for me and my family!

Bears Butt

Oct. 5, 2012

Tomorrow, Oct. 4, 2012 is the last day of the muzzleload deer season.  I have prepared some baked chicken for our lunch, packed the truck, packed the cooler and am preparing to go to bed in anticipation of this “end of the season day of hunting”.

So long to come, so short to go.

Weasel, Winemaker and myself (along with the pup, MAPA’s) are heading out for a day of driving around the mountains and enjoying the beauty of it all.  The fall colors are wonderful and my wife needs to get out and see some of it.  Of course with nobody home, the dog, MAPAs gets to go along.  He was fun last year.  Who knows maybe we will have to use him to find our wounded animal…?  I hope not.

Roadhunting!  What a scorned practice.  Hunters all over the U.S.A. frown on this sort of “hunting” and yet it is probably the most actively sought after way of hunting there is.  Look around…atv’s, utv’s, golf carts, 4 wheel drive vehicles, bicycles and even family cars are being built to double as a vehicle that can be driven up the back roads of our mountains while  all the occupants are looking for the deer that daddy can shoot.

It’s a fun way to get out and have a good time.  But the anti-road hunters disagree…plastic water bottles are tossed and lay along side the roads everywhere, and what about the beer cans and bottles and plastic wrappers from the donuts the kids ate?  The empty 30 pack boxes from the Keystone Lights drinkers.  But wait!  I found a very large plastic tarp this year with nice heavy duty ropes that once held it down…well it was being held down until apparently the wind lifted it up off  the truck it was on and tossed it down the hill.

I know the garbage we see along side the roads is “peoples fault”, it is also peoples fault for letting it lay there.  I have picked up a bunch and plan on doing more tomorrow.  No sense letting the upcoming elk hunters see what the muzzleloader hunters left behind…those trashy muzzleloader hunters anyway.

I’ll have an update for you tomorrow evening, or maybe the next morning on what our day was like.  Afterall, we are out to fill a couple of deer tags, ROAD HUNTING, and enjoying ourselves.  I hope someone doesn’t mind if I build a small fire in the middle of the road to roast a hot dog for lunch, oh never mind, I have some left over chicken.

Bears Butt

Oct. 4 (predated), 2012

The Weasel, Bones and I are heading back into the hunting area for a day trip, hoping to find one of the last of the bucks hiding in the trees.  Actually, hoping to find 2 bucks.

I am not so blessed as to have room inside the vehicle for more than one, if we are that lucky and so if there are two gotten they will both be tied to the top of the rig.  A rather redneck thing to see.

Wish us luck as we venture into the wilds of the Rocky Mountains!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2, 2012

Update on Yesterdays Trip

We left town at exactly the time we wanted.  All three of us very excited to get back into the mountains for more fun.

Safely arriving at the place we wanted to be just at first light.  It was a beautiful day ahead.

We were a little sleepy eyed as was the camera when I took this picture of a sky lined cow moose, but it showed us a preview of what was in store for us this day.

We continued on our journey up and over the great pass we were venturing on and into the area we really wanted to be hunting in.  Our travel lead us into an area we had never been before and on that trail we came across three Blue Grouse.  We named this new trail “Three Grouse Road”.  One can really see in this picture how the bird got that name.

As opposed to its cousin the Ruffed Grouse, which is much smaller, but just as tasty!

It’s a wonder any of these little birds are even in existence as they just don’t do things that are typical of animals that every wild predator likes to eat.  On a side note, this little guy is standing right out in the open and notice how it blends in quite well, it is this camouflage that prompted the owner of “Grouse Wing Camo” to develop his pattern.  I say he is on to something here.

Our continued travels had us seeing seven doe and fawn on our way up to the top of Rock Creek and on over into the Bug Lake area.  Once on top we started to see more and more deer.

It seems that most of the doe have two fawns but some even had more, at least that is what it appeared to be.

(sorry about the sharpness of the picture, my side kick took the picture)

Some of the doe have kicked out offspring very late and I’m not so sure some of them are going to make it.

This little guy doesn’t look to be more than a week or so old.  Why so late?  You tell me.

As the day progressed we found ourselves wishing for a hot dog and we decided that we would venture on to Crocodile Rileys camp and start a fire in his fire pit.  We found out from them that hunting had been quite good, especially this morning.  They had had 5 shots between three hunters, but did not tag any more bucks.  There is a possible naming for one of his crew from the happenings of their morning hunt.  Crock did show us the buck he downed last Sunday.

Congrats to you Mr Crocodile!

After a brief lunch we went on to our travels.  Up over and around we went until we found ourselves coming around Buck Mountain.  But no deer.  HMMMM where are they?

Onward toward Crocodile Monument and suddenly 5 deer are spotted on the ridge above us…doe, doe, doe, doe, BUCK!  Our spirits were lifted very high at this time.  How can we get on him?  No way, the area is way too open and they can go in any direction without any problems.  We watched as the spike ran off.  The unique thing about his antlers was they almost touched at the tips and they were about 12 inches long.  A trophy for sure.

We were on a road I had only been on once in my life and so we continued up that road and made another plan as to our direction of travel.  Suddenly Bones spots a deer nearly hidden in the brush….doe…another on the right….fawn.  Dang.

“There’s One”!  And the Weasel is pointing in the opposite direction of the two that Bones had just spotted.  “Let’s walk over the edge and see what it was, I didn’t get a look at its head”.

And over we walked, rifles in hand….BUCK!  And the deer was running hard away.  But like almost all muley deer, it stopped about 125 yards out and turned broadside to me.

I settled the open sights on its shoulder and touched the trigger…the rifle roared and the dust flew right in front of its brisket!  DANG!  Another missed shot.  The buck ran hard and fast up and over the top, a clean miss as attested by video from Bones camera.

Why didn’t you shoot Weasel?  I was about to, when you shot, but then, I realized I hadn’t cocked my rifle.   Another HMMMMMM….buck feaver?

At the close of the day we found ourselves at Hamburger Hill and Bones made us up a very good roast beef sandwich for the ride home.  Total count of deer seen today….91!  With only 2 bucks in the bunch!

Maybe tomorrow gang.

Bears Butt

Oct. 3, 2012

Once again we have just completed what is coined “The Shortest Week”, the week of the muzzleloader deer hunt.  On other posts I coined “The Longest Week”, and “The Longest Day”.  The shortest week follows both of those and it includes the ride to camp.

Camp Setup

The standing of the beaver sharns

And all the other things that go into establishing the camp.  So very much to do to get ready for a week of hunting deer and having fun.  And that we did.

I guess that is what makes the time go by so very fast.  We waited a whole year for the day to come and then it passes quickly and we have to wait again until next year.  All the while, as the time is fleeting by, we are making memories of our time together.

And if that was not enough we even found time to head off and do some deer hunting!  Some like to walk among the hills and forests, while others like to just sit back and let the vehicle do all the walking, but no matter how it’s done there is fun to be had.

Karma for everyone.  And some like to toss in some of their own good luck charms!

Day after day we try our best to put it all together and bring home some venison, but for most of us it just doesn’t seem to be working in our favor.  And next year we will be back to do it again.  On the flip side however, some seem to have everything working for them in one way or another.

This year it was Sackless who bagged his first ever buck with a muzz.

And even though it won’t make it into the Boone and Crockett book, it is still a very big trophy to this man!  And following up on that as a first buck, Blackfoot also put his tag on his first deer.

And from this picture you can see he really got into the cleaning of the deer up on the mountain side.  Congratulations to both of you first time buck slayers.

And of course there are the seasoned veteran buck getters.  I did not manage a picture of Mobile’s buck but it was a fine 2X2 much bigger than this one taken by the famous Dry Dog.

And so, by the count, the 2012 muzz deer hunt as accomplished by the Willow Creek Free Trappers and friends was four.  But wait!  There is more to the story behind the scenes!

The Boobin Baby Board tells another tale indeed.  What is this?  For every time you shoot at a deer and you don’t bring it back to camp, you put your name on the board and another dollar in the biggest buck contest!  Hash marks behind the name mean only one thing…another missed shot by that person…oh my.

As I counted it, 22 missed shots!  A new record for us fellas and gals!  Some of the missed shots were at the same deer that were killed, but most of them were not.  Some were at shots of very BIG bucks and one can only say it was buck fever that got in the way…or to hear their side of the story…”my sights must have been knocked out of adjustment”.  OR BETTER YET….’DAMN GERMAN CAPS’…..Whatever the reason, I can see your name on there.  On closer look, I see MY name on there!

And the winner of the biggest buck contest and the taker of all the money in the pot goes to…..BLACKFOOT!  Good job buddy!

While looking for the illusive buck, we also had other interesting times while away from camp life.

And we found some interesting things while we were out and about.

I suppose these small chairs made the ground blind a better place to wait out the bucks coming to the water hole.  I know my face would be grinning as big as Sponge Bobs on that chair if I was in that blind and a big old buck was coming my way.

And as we progressed from day to day along our hunt, the evenings fun coupled with the heat of the sun and perhaps just plainly not enough sleep, the bobble headed suds suckers gave in to the tired eye syndrome.

But for those who were able to keep a watchful eye out, they were rewarded with views of other types of wildlife that abound in the forests and the sage covered hills.

And last but not least the fabled story around the campfire the night before about a pelican that had flown its last and we all thought there was a punchline in the tale that none of us were about to fall for.

So, there is the story as I saw it and why the week was so short.  Thanks to everyone who helped make this a wonderful memory and put the 2012 muzz hunt into the books.

Until next year!  Proust!

Bears Butt

Oct. 1, 2012

Well folks, this is what we have been waiting for for a whole year!  Less than 2 hours until we pull out of town and head for the hills!  This also begins “the shortest week” of the year.

We just finished the longest week and the longest day but now everything except the frozen things and the last minute packing is done and then unhook the electrical cord from the trailer and hit the road!

It’s gonna be a wonderful week according to the weatherman and I sure hope the rain from yesterday and last night hit the ground up where we are camping otherwise it will be a dusty bugger.  Much similar to the year the old Dry Dog came dragging the Old Muskrat back into camp with a broken toy….DUSTY!

Wish us luck!  And to all of you heading out for a similar hunt, GOOD LUCK to you!

Bears Butt

Sept. 25, 2012