I honestly thought I had posted this link on here a while back, but I could not find it, so I must have drempt it.  (Is drempt a word?)

http://www.chuckhawks.com/long_range_muzzleloader_hunting.htm

It’s about long range shots taken with a muzzleloader and granted it was written back in the late 1960’s and a whole lot of changes have taken place in the muzzleloader world since then.  But his rules for taking or not taking that long range shot (over 100 yards in my opinion) still apply and if you are an ethical hunter you should apply these rules to your hunting and shooting especially at deer sized and bigger animals.

Bears Butt

August 29, 2012

It’s hard to believe but this Saturday begins the hunting season for 2012 in Utah.  The archers are going to be out and about looking for that trophy buck.  This is the first year and the first season for the 30 unit hunting as proposed and adopted by the Wildlife Board in an effort to help our deer herds grow.  Will it actually help the herds grow?  That’s pretty much anyones guess right now.  My vote is no.

At any rate we have it and it will be with us probably the rest of our lives so we need to make the best of it.

The DWR recently posted their best guess’ on each of the 30 units and for most of you reading this I believe you will be hunting in Unit 2.  My tag is for Unit 2 and several of my friends also hold tags for that unit.  So, I extracted the wise words of the DWR for that unit and have included it here.

Unit 2 – Cache, and Unit 3 – Ogden

This summer has been drier than normal on both of these units. Expect to find animals concentrated around water sources. Plenty of fawns survived this past winter, so more yearling bucks should be available to hunters this fall. Deer are using summer ranges in areas with mixed conifer. Look for bucks in the mornings and evenings as they move from open meadows and hillsides to areas with cover. To find success this fall, you need to scout and look for deer around water sources.

The overall number of deer on each unit is still below population objectives. Expect the hunt on each unit to be similar to the last few years. Also, please remember that the Ogden unit has large blocks of private property. Don’t wait until the season starts to get written permission to hunt on private property; get that permission now.

Please remember that you may hunt only in the unit you drew a permit for.

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So let’s recap.  Lots of deer survived the mild winter.  Lots of small bucks can be found.  The herd is below population objectives.

Now toss in a $5 bill for the big buck contest.  But, because you are a concerned hunter and wish to see the deer herd grow, you will pass on any buck that isn’t at least carrying one antler that has 4 points on it.  You will also remove yourself from the vehicle and hike a minimum of 4 miles into the woods to find this animal (be careful about the distance you travel because you might cross into another unit and be poaching).  You will only drink beer while in camp and your weapon has been put away.  You will only take shots if the animal is standing broadside and less than 40 yards from you.

AHHH!  The hunter/sportsman code of ethics.  We need this for the good of the deer herd.  If you do your part and follow these rules, well, what can I say?  I will win the big buck contest, because I will have the only buck on the meat pole!

On a side note, from very reliable sources and some personal views, the small bucks have grown some substantial antlers.  The two point I saw a week or so ago was sporting antlers at least 12 inches tall.  My other source has likewise reported tall antlers on most of the bucks he has seen.

Let me remind you:  “Don’t shoot at the antlers”!  There I have said it for the first time this season.  Trust me, you will hear it again.

Bears Butt

August 15, 2012

It’s going to be a very hot day here in Northern Utah.  So, the Weasel, Bob and I are heading out for a walleye adventure early.  Will post up results when we get back!

Bears Butt

July 30, 2012

Home by 10:30 a.m. and man is it HOT outside!  COOKIN!

The three of us fished with nearly identical lures today.  We tried trolling with an electric motor which worked fine for about 10 minutes and then the battery died.  So, we cranked up the 8 hp and trolled too fast for most walleye fishermen.  It was all we could do however.

The bite was pretty good until the sun hit the water and then things slowed wayyyy down.  I think there was only one bite after about 8:30 a.m.

As  what seems to be a usual occurrence Bob paid out 4 quarters.  Two to me and two to the Weasel.  So, what does that mean?  Weasel and I each caught two fish.  One cat and one walleye each.

The picture does not do justice to the size of the fish.  I think they each weighed about two pounds.  We missed several bites (Weasel and I that is).  Bob was determined to catch a fish on what I called a chandelier in a cat house.  He finally traded for something that looked more like a fish lure on our last pass, but by then the bite was completely dead.

All in all it was a great day on the lake.

Bears Butt

P.M. report

By Golly!  When you think real strong about it, there are quite a few ladies out there that like to hunt and when I went to looking for a hunting song that involved some ladies, I found a real good one.

I think you will get a kick out of it, just like I did.

Bears Butt

July 29, 2012

Well, even though it’s over 100 degrees outside, I look at the calendar and see that the hunting season is closing in on us.  I look at the web forums and see all the trail camera postings of bucks in various stages of antler growth, it is all in the hype and makes me get all excited about the upcoming hunting season.

As I cruised the web I found this hunting song that fits pretty much the gang I hunt with and maybe it will become our camp theme song….who knows?

Enjoy!

Bears Butt

July 29, 2012

Utah’s 2012 antlerless tags have been drawn and credit cards are being hit as I type.  If you put in for any of the antlerless tags make sure you have the money in your account to cover them, or the tag will be given to the next person.

The Weasel and I put in for Deseret Land and Livestock, CWMU elk.  We each had two points going into the drawing and we feel pretty confident on drawing.

If we do, it’s pretty much a done deal on filling the freezer with yummy elk meat.

Dry Dog, Magpie and Sam also put in for the same unit and I hope they draw as well.  It would be quite a show for the five of us to go and shoot our elk the same day.  That would be quite a truck full of elk!

Bears Butt

June 29, 2012

Heading out to try and find some walleye at Willard Bay.  Brother Bob bought a 8 hp Honda 4 stroke outboard and we will be trying it out on the water.  It’s one of the quietest motors I think I have ever heard.

Anyway, I hope the Weasel and Bob bring lots of quarters because they are going to need them.  I’m rigged and ready!

We should be able to nail some wipers, cats and walleye where I plan on pushing the boat.

More to come later in the day!  It’s gonna be a hot one…highs in the mid to upper 80’s!

Bears Butt

June 14, 2012

Got on the water about 7:30 or so and the wind was WAYYY to strong to chance Bob being out in the water.  With his tracheotomy tube, just a teaspoon of water getting into it could cause instant death.  So we turned around in the marina and anchored for some close in fishing.  We did have three or four bites and Bob caught the first fish, a 1/2 pound bluegill.  Probably the largest gill I have ever seen.  He said it was the largest one he had ever caught.  It’s still in there for one of you to catch later.

The wind died down noticeably and we headed out into the main water.  Set up the trolling motor and headed down the shore line.

Two of us had worm harness’ on and the Weasel had a new lure on that was guaranteed.  Guaranteed for what we will never know.  After Bob caught the first Walleye, the guaranteed lure came off and never went back on.  I had many strikes but just couldn’t hook them.  I did finally manage to bring one to the boat, another nice walleye.

A couple of guys were fishing in a tight circle around a marker they had thrown out and were catching fish like crazy.  As we went past them on one of our passes, they yelled out that they had their limits and were heading in, in case we wanted to troll through their honey hole.  Of course we wanted to troll through there.

Then they surprised us with a free fish.  They had miss counted and had one too many.  A nice walleye!  I’ll never turn down a nice walleye.

A few passes later through this honey hole the Weasel finally hooked up and pulled in you guessed it, another fine walleye.

We continued to fish for a couple more hours and then it got HOT!!!  Besides we had told everyone at home we would be home by 11.  We missed that time by almost 3 hours.

A good day on the water and good eats waiting!

Bob is showing us how long the fish are by using his arm.  HAHAHA!

P.M. Report

So, for all of you who didn’t draw a deer tag in Utah this year, I’m indeed sorry.  But there is nothing to stop you from viewing this video I found on Youtube.

And for all of us who did draw out, may something like this come into your sights during the hunt this year!

I know of two guys, No Grimace and Baby Boy, who will be enjoying a very good hunt in the Crawfords this fall and an animal like this is very likely to be on that mountain during their hunt.  I hope there are two like this for you guys!

Anyway, I had fun viewing this video and if you are a deer hunter, I know you will enjoy it too.

Bears Butt

June 8, 2012

The Weasel and I are in the drawing for a couple of cow elk tags.  With a whole lot of luck on our side, we just might be drawn.  Both of us have 2 points going into the drawing.

Bears Butt

June 7, 2012

Ok trappers, listen up.  What in the world is going on here?  Earlier this year (January) muskrat auction houses were buying muskrat pelts for over $10 each.  Even going so far as buying badly damaged goods saying there were plenty of low paid folks in the business that could repair the damage via sewing.

We also heard of the bellies of these lowly critters being more sought after than the backs, which goes against all us trappers have been used to for decades.

So, here come the country buyers and scarf up our rats at ridiculously high prices (you have read my account on here), in hopes of cashing in on the Chinese, Greek, or whoever market.

For those who may not know, we American trappers catch a lot of muskrats and those little critters are prized for their color, feel etc once they are tanned and made into garments.  (By garments I’m talking about coats, neck scarfs and assorted other outer wear to shield the wearer against the cold, not some underwear worn by a religious group.  I’ll just bet garments made of muskrat would be really warm to one of them however).

The makers of the garments are usually the Greeks or the Chinese.  They seem to have the biggest demand for our raw furs.  And so they buy them up by the millions and tan them.  Suddenly we find our little furs buried deep in a shop making coats or gloves or scarves or boot linings or whatever they are making.  And those little furs look good!  And they place those collected and sewn furs on very good looking models and they swagger all over looking better than ever.

The models wink at the right people and those people bid on the end result, the coat, the hat, the boots or whatever.  I think some of the buyers think that if they bid high enough the model will take off the clothing and they will see something more to their liking.  But I digress.

So, who are these  end product  buyers?  Russians mostly!  It’s WAYYYY cold in Russia and so they wear a LOT of fur clothing (maybe even some garments).

Now here is the rub for me.  January raw fur prices were over $10 for muskrat.  February fur prices pushing $11 and more.  Where will it end?  Could our catch be worth  over $10 at our level in the chain when we sell in March?  We hope!  How much will the guy make that buys our catch?  He is speculating just like us.  If he buys low and sells high, he makes a ton of money and is a happy camper.  The market looks very good for this to happen.

So, as we are all dreaming of cashing in on a fat cow, China and Russia are talking.  Not about fur prices or anything like that.  They are talking about the price of oil.  Russia has a lot of underground oil and gas reserves and China would like to tap into that reserve and buy it from them.  Which would lessen their need to depend so much on the Arabian oil we all so much seem to need.

Did I know that as a fur trapper?  Heck no!  Why would I care about such as that?

Did the buyer of my fur care about that?  Heck no!  Why would he care about such as that?  What does that have anything to do with a Russian lady wanting to buy a very nice looking fur coat from a Chinese guy?

WOOPS!  There is the key!  TRADE RELATIONS!  The Russians want more for their oil and gas than the Chinese think they should pay for it and so the talks were thwarted and the Chinese guys all went home in a stew and the Russians had another glass of vodka.

And so, at the latest and greatest auction in Canada, the ONE everyone watches for the end sale on wild fur, one called the North American Fur Auction (NAFA), the BOTTOM FELL OUT OF THE WILD FUR prices!  And I’m telling you the BOTTOM FELL OUT!  Period!

I’m not just talking about muskrat prices, I’m talking about Bobcat and Coyote too.  Everything that was trapped and had a good fur on it tanked!

So, speculator guy who bought our muskrat fur for “$ a.lot” most likely lost his butt…Sorry!  This is one time the trapper didn’t get trapped.

Look at these sale prices (thanks NAFA):

Bobcat pelts sold 100% at averages of $68 – $380, with the top fur bringing $1,275.

Lynx sold 100% with an average price of $123 and a top of $340.

Marten sold 100%, averaging $46 – $128.

Red Fox sold near 100%, averaging $39.

Grey Fox sold 100%, averaging $26.

A smaller percentage of fisher pelts sold, but the ones that did sell averaged $68 – 80.

Coyotes sold at decent levels (74-87%) with an average of $21 – $51.

Raccoon pelts sold at varying levels with prices from $3 – $19.

Mink sold 100% with a $21 average

Otter sold at 50%, averaging $70.  Some were held back due to price resistance.

Beaver cleared at lower levels and averaged $9 – $32.

Muskrat sold at 80% and averaged $8.10.

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OUCH!  Those prices are WAY BELOW the prices everyone was expecting.

I heard some local buyers were buying coyote hides for over $25.  Imagine you buying a hide for $25 and then getting $21 for it.  That’s a $4 loss.  And then imagine yourself buying 1,000 of them at that price!  You just lost $4,000!

It makes me cringe just to think of it.

Well, am I going to put my traps out next year?  YES!  Do I expect over $8 for my rats?  Nope!  UNLESS China and Russia make some sort of deal on gas and oil and then, maybe just then we could see a rebound on fur prices.

I can say for sure, I’m very glad I did not pull my 401K out and buy my friends collection of rats, but rather talked him into putting his in with ours for our sale to the local guy.

Well, enough of this for now.  We have traps to mend, stakes to cut and bait to cut.  I sure hope those Chinese folks get a good deal on some Russian oil reserves.

Bears Butt

June 6, 2012