It looks like Weasel and Squirrel were beaten by the turkeys today.  They did manage to see at least one Tom but because of other hunters in the area they were not afforded the opportunity for a shot.  DANG!

So, tomorrow, Weasel, Hot Spark and I will be venturing out to try out luck.  I will be borrowing a shotgun from Conner as Hot Spark will be using my youth sized shotgun.  That is all fine with me.  Conner’s shotgun needs to have a turkey kill under its pump action!  I hope to do just that in the morning.  But in order to do it, I have to have the right shell in the action.  Which one would you choose from these three choices?

Head Hammer!  Strut Stopper!  Big Beard Bagger!

Bears Butt

May 3, 2015

YES!  Finally time to go after a tom turkey!

Yesterday was the first day of the Utah youth turkey hunt.  They have three days to hunt turkeys before the general turkey season opens up.  Of course yesterday was a school day and they chose to get “sum learnin” rather than hunt, so this morning, being Saturday, we are all excited to get into the woods and find them a bird.  Everything is right for this mornings hunt.  A full moon (tomorrow) according to the calendar, but looking outside right now, I don’t think we will need flashlights to get to our setup areas.  No chance of rain and absolutely wind still.  Temps will be approaching 80 degrees.  Couple all of that with a chance to go hunting with two of my Grandkids, my oldest son and a brother in law, who by the way will be video taping todays activities and one would be hard pressed to say anything else but that… “it just don’t”….get no better than this!

This morning it is Conner and Kenzies time to try their hands at filling tags!  We have a plan, but will the turkeys follow through on their side of the deal?

Weasel has been tracking them with his trail camera and we have a pretty good idea about their whereabouts but there have been a couple of glitches in the system we might have to take out before the turkeys cooperate.  The only way to find out is to be on the site before first light.

In preparation for this hunt, which has been nothing but fun, I have come to the realization that I need a helicopter.  My pack weighs about 50 pounds and then toss in a portable blind with another 20 pounds, two decoys which add bulk plus 5 pounds and this old man is going to have quite a time maneuvering the hills we have to traverse.  I should have been working out like I did for my elk hunt two years ago.  I have to say this….should I perish on the hillside it will have been worth it!

Over the few years I have been turkey hunting, which isn’t many, it’s been turkeys 100 and me zero….at least here in Utah.  My buddy in Missouri found me one in less than 20 minutes and I was able to put him on the table, but since trying it on my own they are kicking my butt.  I’ve had them within 20 feet several times.   I’ve thrown lead at them twice, both on the wing.  I’ve watched them walk away from me.  I’ve watched them walk toward me.  I’ve had them fighting right behind my blind and picked up the feathers after the battle.  I’ve had them fly right over my head.  I’ve watched as other hunters had them jump from under their feet and fly away.

It comes down to just plain luck as far as I’m concerned.  You pattern them until you just know deep down in your heart they will do nothing less than what you have been witnessing for a month and the day you try to intercept that pattern….they aren’t there.  And yet, go on the internet and see some guy hiding behind a decoy walking right up on a big old tom and shooting it from 5 feet as it is coming toward him!

Well, today I hope Conner and Kenzie both get a chance to at least aim at a tom turkey.  If they can seal the deal all the better, but let’s get real, the chance to be with them in the field will be more than worth this 2 a.m. awakening, the hours drive and half hour walk in the dark woods!  Let’s giterdun!

Bears Butt

May 2, 2015

LATER:

What a beautiful day!  Warm, dry and very much spring like!  We arrived at our destination in perfect time!  Still very much dark and with our hike ahead everyone was pretty excited to be getting on the hill.

There is a whole lot that can be said about a good bright headlamp!  I’d like to have one of those 1000 lumen ones (we all know you have to turn it on before you put it on your head or you will get whiplash from the light beam blasting forward), but with the ones we have we made it safely down to our hiding spots.

I had on my hydration pack filled with goodies on my back and Trackers folding blind on my front.  I felt like a turtle!  Turtle Butt!

Conner and I had our blind put up in record time and were settled in for the long wait until daylight!

Conner don’t like the flash!

So we sat waiting patiently and listening to the world awaken.  It was a very fine morning to be out and about.  Conner and I had both of the decoys out in front of us and in a pretty good spot for the birds on the roost to be able to see them.  Why I didn’t take a picture of them out in the grass is beyond me, but here is what they looked like back at home.

Weasel reminded me to place the hen facing our position and the gobbler with his butt toward where we expected the birds to be roosting.  I guess from what he has been told or read about, the real birds won’t be intimidated by the gobbler if it is facing away.  What do I know?  So, with us waiting and the decoys out, we began seeing animals moving even in the wee bit of light we had.  The morning sun comes up way to quickly when you are on the side of the mountain and today was no different.  As the light got brighter and brighter our hopes for a gobbler were boosted when we heard the first gobble from the roost!  Perfect!

We were in a great spot and Weasel and Kenzie were on the X!  This was going to be a remarkable day of turkey hunting.  The light continued to brighten and when things were just right I told Conner to get his gun ready as the birds were going to fly down any minute.  The gobblers were sounding off all over the mountain.  Some close, some in the distance and then the hens began to speak up.  We thought we could hear 3 different toms gobbling.  And then all went silent!  We did not hear them fly down, but in my mind they had to be on the ground because they shut right up.

We waited and watched for any sign of a turkey walking in the grass.  I saw a lot of deer, but the only turkeys I saw were going up and over a distant rise, walking away from us.  6 hens and one big old gobbler.  It sure is fun to see them strutting like they do.  We didn’t give up as there were more birds somewhere on the mountain.  We held our spot until about 8 and then called it a day.

One can not go out hunting without the all famous Kipper Snack breakfast.

We know that there is still a lot of good hunting between 10 and 2, but with 5 of us we figured that would be too many to go spot and stalking and so we called it a day!  Back at the truck I reminded everyone that we could possibly see a gobbler as we were driving out of the mountain and to keep an eye out.  Sure enough we spotted a bunch of hens and one big old tom!  The kids put a good sneak effort on him, but the hens spotted them and took off for the deepest forest they could find.  Mr. Tom was the last to leave but he went sprinting off to join the hens.  I’m not sure he even knew there was any danger around.

So, all in all it was a successful day.  Sure we didn’t kill anything, but the kids got to hear several toms sounding off and it was Kenzies first time to hear them.  She was almost under the roost of one and to her it was very loud!  A fun day for sure!

Bears Butt

I have to show you guys the latest from Weasel In The Wild.  He is after the wild turkey here in Northern Utah and I think he is on to something.  You really need to subscribe to his Youtube web page and keep track of what is going on.  Here is the link to his latest video…just today.

Bears Butt!
April 9, 2015
 

It’s sometimes funny how things work out.  The other day while looking at all the millions of posts on Facebook, I came across one from the company above “HuntNdurance”.  It’s a local company here in Northern Utah, fairly new, only a few years out trying to make it in the nutritional/quick energy market.  As with any new company they always advertise “we are the best”….that is only a natural thing to say.

Well, I visited their website and read all through the dialog on each of their several products and while perusing it I noticed a couple of small errors in verbiage.  Don’t get me wrong, you have seen a ton of errors on this site over the years and I don’t espouse to be the best at this stuff.  In fact when it came to English in school, I barely got out of the classes to pass.  But, when I do see something that isn’t spelled right or grammatically correct (in my way of thinking), I usually point it out:  remember this one?

When you make a decision sometimes they turn out to be bad dicisions….just sayin.

So, I took the opportunity to email to the President of HuntNdurance (Wayne, as listed above) and told him about the errors.

He was very quick to respond, thanked me for pointing them out and went right to work correcting them.  I have never met him, but he must be a great guy as he offered to send me some samples of his products partly as a THANK YOU for what I did and also as a tester of the products in hopes I would give him a thumbs up and a positive feedback recommendation once I’ve tried them.

As most of you know, I’m not a big fan of quick energy stuff, I usually rely on my dill pickles and the juice that surrounds them for that.  But, I have tried some in the past when Windy and I took a hike up to Grizzly Peak a few years back.  Windy, being the runner he is, had a bunch of runners quick energy bars and drinks and I tried one of the drinks.  Whether it worked or not to give me a quick boost I really don’t know, as where we sat eating and drinking the stuff was the end of the trail for me, I was heading back down and not going on the last 3 miles.  6 miles was enough and I told Windy at that time, “I’m sure I could make it to the top, but would I be able to make it the 9 miles back down to the truck.  I’d best turn around here and meet you back there later”.  As it turned out, he continued and “ran” the last 3 miles up, turned around and ran back down and met me at the 4 mile point.  The energy stuff worked for him for sure.

Anyway, this HuntNdurance company is geared toward “all natural, no preservatives” and aimed at the hunter in us.

Yesterday I did in fact receive a package of assorted goodies from this man.  In the box is a flyer explaining their products.  An assortment of energy bars of different flavors, two quick shots of energy drinks and one larger energy drink called “stamina”.  It’s funny about the “stamina” one….many years ago at my work, we were going through a phase of getting and staying healthy.  You know, healthy people make healthy and happy employees.  They sent each of us to a health doctor’s place for a physical.  It was only a physical of strength and stamina and this young, healthy and quite good looking female ran me through all the tests.  When the results came back, she said, “You are a physically fit man with no stamina”!  I’ve not forgotten that, but the mental image of her extremely nice looking body faded quickly.

Well, Wayne (President of HuntNdurance), I’ll try your products one of these days.  I’ll even share them among my hunting companions to get their opinions as well.  It most likely will happen during the turkey hunt coming up in May.  But I will get back with you once we have tested these goodies out and I’ll give you my honest opinion.  I’m also going to put your company name in my “Blogroll” for others to go and check you guys out.  If, however, I try these goodies out and they don’t do what they are advertised to do, I will remove the link.  So, folks, if the link is there a few months from now, you know they worked!  I’m likely to also include a review of the products on here after trying them out!

Good Luck with your hunts everyone!  And you too might want to give this company and their products a try!  Why not?  No preservatives….All natural!

Bears Butt

April 4, 2015

After writing this, I sent Wayne an email telling him about it, this is his response:

Glad you got them. Keep me posted on the results. Please don’t compare to the buzz and false feeling of energy found in products such as 5-Hour Energy, Red Bull, etc.  Our products were not made for the 18 year old looking for a buzz. Bars with zero preservatives. Compare my label to Cliff Bar, or any other store bought product. Can you pronounce all their ingredient?  I promise you will be able on ours.  And you won’t be hungry 1 hour after consumption. Drinks and Shots will give you more stamina to make it up the hill, without the jitters or buzz most people expect from these types of products

Article is fine with me.  I like real results and tests.

Let me know

Thanks

Wayne C Boydstun

HuntNdurance

www.HuntNdurance.com

This is for all my hunting buddies.

We have all had this happen to us:  You are being as sneaky as ever, as you creep down the trail stalking the biggest buck you have ever seen in your life.  20 more yards and you will be in a spot for a perfect broad side shot.  A rock big enough to conceal your body and provide a solid rest for your rifle is just ahead.  The buck is feeding and has no clue you are anywhere near his hiding spot.  You have been working this trail for over two hours.  Your heart is pounding with excitement and you are beginning to tremble a little.  The ground beneath your feet is just moist enough from the fresh rain fall to dampen any noises from the crunchy leaves that lay on the ground.  A perfect breeze is blowing in your face as you approach the waiting boulder.  There he is, in all his 5 point (Western count) glory.  30 inches high, 33 inches wide!  For sure, you know it will score in the high 230’s!  A buck only dreams are made of, but here he is, right in front of you!  All you need to do is rest the rifle on the boulder, put the cross hairs on his chest and squeeze off the shot!  You can’t miss!

And then here comes mister squirrel!  The maker of sounds in the forest that alert every creature that lives there!  He barks his noisy chatter and the buck is gone!  Your thoughts turn to destroying him once the buck is out of sight!  But he is gone as well!  DAMN!

Well, this is what Remington has gone and done for us!  They put together a series of short  “squirrel issue” videos to make you remember why you want to destroy every one of them.  Of course it is to promote their airguns mostly, but they are funny!

Check them out!

http://www.remingtonairguns.com/videos.html

Bears Butt

April 1, 2015

48
Utah Big Game Application Guidebook • 2015
wildlife.utah.gov
Muzzleloader hunts
Hunt name
Hunt #
Season dates
Cache/Morgan-South Rich/Ogden (new hunt)
5022
Sept. 23–Oct. 1
Plateau
5023
Sept. 23–Oct. 1
Southwest Desert (new hunt)
5024
Sept. 23–Oct. 1

What you are viewing here is a copy of the “DRAFT” of the 2015 Utah Big Game Application Guidebook that shows the dates and areas for the Muzzleloader Antelope hunts!  If you recall it was a couple of years back that I said I was going to go to the RAC meetings and to the Big Game Board meetings and try to get them to include more Antelope hunting opportunities for us muzzleloader guys.  My proposal was to have a buck antelope hunt coincide with the muzzleloader deer hunt in the same areas.  My goal was to get them to put up a muzzy antelope hunt in the same area we like to hunt deer….Sure enough this is the year they are going to be doing it!  The hunt dates are the same as the muzzy deer hunt!

YEEEEHHHHAAAAAAA!

Now if some of us can only draw a tag!

Bears Butt

December 10, 2014

You never know when something like this could happen to you.  It looks so real!

Weasel and I took a few hours yesterday and went duck hunting out at Colmer Island.  As it turned out it was a day in the swamp enjoying each others company.  We had a total of six ducks act like they might come into the set, but didn’t.  We did have a flock of geese act like that as well and so we took a couple shots at them….sky busting for sure.  I don’t understand where the ducks are.  Monday we kill 10 and ever since “nothing”.

Well, I’m going out again today with Trevor.  Conner and Weasel have a family party to attend in the Provo area and so that just leaves Trevor and I to hit the swamp.  Trevor is 15 years old and has yet to bag his first duck.  He also has a swan tag, just in case.  But I have only seen a few swans fly over where we will be hunting.  We will have a better chance at seeing geese than we will swans.  But, you never know.

Yesterday there were a LOT of guys out hunting.  I think we counted 12 boat trailers in the parking lot and more came out after we were set up.  A lot of guys!  Today I expect the same and more with a bunch of “walkers” as well.

The weather?  Gusty to 20 mph expected and right now it looks like a pretty good 10 mph consistently out there.  The clouds will build during the day and there is a storm expected tonight and tomorrow.  Maybe that is what we need to get the ducks moving.  That is my hope for the hunt today.

Also, I’m going to do something very different with the decoys spread.  Usually, I make a “U” or “J” hook with the decoys right out from the blind and I have placed the spinning wing in the big opening landing zone.  Today I will make the “J” farther away from the blind, more into the direction the wind is coming from and about 30 yards away, with the spinning wing outside the bottom of the “J” and on the opposite side of the landing zone.

Why?  I want the landing zone clear of any decoys or spinners to keep the birds attention on where they want to place their feet.  The landing zone will be right in front of the blind and with the birds coming in at a parallel line to the front of the blind, they will not see us stand to shoot.

Wish us luck!

Bears Butt

November 29, 2014

POST HUNT:

Well, there were a ton of folks out hunting today but 99% of them were in boats and went WAYYYYYYY out.  We had the swamp to ourselves, which was good…and bad.  At least today there were some ducks flying around.  They kept our interest right up until closing time.

I shot 3 shells, Trevor shot 4.

We saw, Spoonbills, Mallards, Pins, Teal and Widgeon.  Our few shots were at Spoons, Mallards and Pins.

By days end Trevor had bagged his first ever Spoonbill!  He made a fantastic shot on one as 4 decoyed in.  I missed mine….what’s new?

And at days end, God gave us a very nice view:

Bears Butt

I’ve told you about the duck hunt Brek and I had three days ago.  It was a blue bird day between storms, a slight breeze and there seemed to be a lot of big ducks moving around…by days end Brek had 6 birds and I had 4.  All in all a very good day of duck hunting.

Well, yesterday was to be one of the same.  A relatively blue bird day between storms.  We had a great stormy day on Tuesday, with a mix of rain/snow and wind.  Yesterday would be partly cloudy with some breezes blowing and everything in anticipation of a fully overcast day on Thursday (Thanksgiving day) and pretty good winds.

What better to do than take Conner and his friend Trevor out for a great duck hunt?

The plan was made and off we went about 10 a.m.  I was full of anticipation that the two young hunters would get their first ducks.  Weasel and I were fully prepared to allow them to take the first shots and get lots of ducks.

Because there were 4 of us, hunting the box was out.  We needed to set up across the small pond of water away from the box and then sit on buckets in the toolies.

Well, we got everything set up and even used Dry Dogs, spinning wing decoy to help attract the birds.  Our biggest issue was the lack of cover to hide in.  We figured it would be better to sit in the low bull rushes closer to the decoys, rather than nearly 50 yards back in the higher grasses and reeds away from the decoys.  We hadn’t been there long before a hen mallard dropped in on us from out of nowhere and we figured our disguise in the reeds was going to work just fine.  By the way, Weasel and I both missed that easy shot on her.

Well, as the day progressed it became quite apparent that the ducks were not going to cooperate.  We sat there from about 11 a.m. until nearly 4 p.m. without seeing more than a half dozen ducks and most of them were ducks the two boys jumped up while they traipsed around in the swamp.

Around 4 p.m. and with only an hour left of shooting time, a few birds began to show up.   Almost all (not quite) were singles and doubles and when they just would not finish and come into the decoys  we moved back into the taller reeds to hide ourselves.  We still only got a shot at two ducks even after moving into the reeds.  Still we did see quite a few last minute birds.

The sunset was pretty for sure last night.

I left my shotgun and went inside the phragmites in order to see any birds that might be approaching from the West of us, I think it paid off with me seeing the birds coming our way and alerting the others of them approaching.

Phragmites is thick and nasty stuff….huh Brek?  Brek and a friend were lost in a forest of phragmites a few weeks ago and it required search and rescue to come and find them.  It could have been a real disaster had they not called to get help when they did.

So, with the season closed for the day, I took a last picture of Trevor and Conner with the sunset in the background.  Sorry guys!  No birds today!

Bears Butt

November 27, 2014

November 24, 2014

A blue bird day for the most part with just a breeze blowing enough to make the water ripple….what water there was.

After the storm we had on Saturday I figured there had to have been some Northern birds come in and with the forecast expected to be snow this morning tapering off to nothing by this afternoon I was going hunting!  There just wasn’t two ways about it.  I hate to hunt by myself, but I was going to do it today, no matter what.  Winemaker was not happy with my decision.

Well as luck would have it, Brek came down the road just as I was taking the trash can out to the street.  He showed me what he had gotten for his Grandpa, Bob, for Bob’s birthday and we talked about that for a little while.  I asked him what his day looked like and he said he was off and his next shift would be days.  Perfect!  I asked if he wanted to go duck hunting with me!  SURE!  Was the answer.  Ok, we are leaving at 9 a.m.

Well, he had to wait until Grandpa got out of bed but he would meet me in the swamp.  Of course my first statement to him was that he just wanted to get out of the work of bailing the box and setting the decoys.  He assured me that was not his intentions.

So, about 9 I helped Weasel with a small moving project and then headed down to the swamp.

Blue Bird day was not the word for it.  Everything was in place for mosquitoes to be flying except for the cap of thin ice that was everywhere.  I arrived at the box and decided I would set out the decoys first and then bail the box out, maybe Brek would be there to help with that.  First things first, I had to break the ice up and try and get a “hole” for the birds to land in.  I dragged the sled around and around breaking the ice, that took a good half an hour, but once it was done, a slight breeze was blowing and made a pretty good little hole for the decoys.  I set the duck decoys up and then started on the goose silhouettes.

The goose decoys aren’t exactly silhouettes, they are what was called “Johnson Fold Out” decoys and they are my favorite.  I can carry two dozen over one shoulder and have a really nice goose decoy spread when I’m done.  I have fooled many a goose with those old decoys.  Someone really should “re-invent” them.

Goose decoys set, I looked up toward my truck and still no Brek….dang, I best get started bailing the box.

These boxes measure about 4 ft X 4 ft square and about 4 ft deep….how much water is in that 4 ft cube?  Almost 500 gallons of water….at 4 gallons p/bucket (5 gallon bucket)….125 dips of the bucket.  And once I was sitting in the box, Brek was still nowhere to be seen.

My butt was kicked by now and so I just sat there looking across the swamp wishing something would fly in.

Brek showed up about 2 hours later…by then it was nearly 1 p.m….I had seen some ducks but not too many and all of them were way out of range and for some reason just would not decoy in.  I figured it was the slushy ice that was still around the decoys, so I got out and tried to scurry it away with the wind.  The wind had actually started to blow a little harder by about noon.  The ice hurding did me good in that it got me busy doing something besides thinking I had made a big mistake by coming out duck hunting on such a nice day.

Well, when Brek got there I had not seen a duck close enough for a shot, but I had seen several “just out there”.  I said we needed a spinning wing decoy and that it would draw the ducks….he said he had one up in his car!!!  And he had more decoys up there too….Well, go get em!  I said and off he went.

About 15 minutes later he was there and we set the decoys out.  The spinner was way cool and I had never hunting by one before.  It was fun to watch….Well, it wasn’t long after that a nice big fat green head came swinging in for a look see….BLAM!  I missed!  It was too easy of a shot and I should have had it.  I think my head was up, as I don’t remember seeing my front bead…heck I don’t remember even seeing the barrel.  I was so confident in the shot I was looking for the place it was going to fall instead of shooting at the bird.  Oh well…Edjukateed….

From that point on we had several onesy’s and twosy’s come in and around.  Several came in and surprised us for no shot.  Some came in and then veered just out of range….everything you could imagine was going on, but every once in awhile the birds would do just what we wanted them to do and they folded up in a heap.

We took turns with the first shot when we could and by days end, I had shot about nine shells, while Brek took nearly a box to lunch.  As I have heard it said before….No Lead…No Dead….That must have paid off for Brek because at quitting time he had 6 birds and I had 4.

Of the 10 birds we had between us, 6 mallards, 2 pintails and 2 green wing teal!  And I kept Brek from shooting at a very large flock of teal that came right in and landed just on the edge of the decoys.  I did that because we had a nice flock of mallards swinging in for a final approach, which didn’t happen when the teal set down.  Brek would have had his limit for sure had he shot at those teal.  They came in low on his side of the box and right over the decoys!

All in all it was a super day to be out in the swamp.  This picture is one when the sun was perfect, but doesn’t show Breks final drake mallard that he bagged right after the picture was taken.

A duck hunt doesn’t get much better than that!

Bears Butt

November 24, 2015