Well, after two trips to check out the duck boat yesterday and only to have things not go as planned.  Bob and I are heading out duck hunting with the atv today.  The storm that is here should have a few ducks winging around and we hope to put a couple in the bag.

Colmer Island is the place we plan on hunting.  There were a lot of ducks milling around yesterday afternoon as we were messing with the boat and it looks like today might just be a great day in the marsh.

Will post up pictures of a successful hunt.  If you don’t see pictures, well…let’s just say we didn’t bag any birds!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

The following story happened to me about 20 years ago, or so.  It was a cool Fall morning and my brother Bob and I were out duck hunting.  It was still way to dark to be able to shoot and we were bailing out the water from a sunken box blind.  I had set the decoys out, while Bob started to bail.  When I was done, I came back to relieve him of that task.  As he was deciding whether to finish the job or turn it over to me, I was looking up at all the duck silhouettes passing over our heads.  Hundreds and maybe thousands of ducks were coming off the water in the shallows and flying back to Unit 5 of the Bear River Bird Refuge.  Their flight path took them directly over us.

It was a very cool sight to behold.  It was still too dark to identify what kind of ducks they were, just duck silhouettes passing over head about 30 to 50 feet up.  Lots of quacking and whistling of wings as they went.  Flock after flock after flock.

I made a comment to Bob about it and he took a second to look up and see what I was seeing.

During those days, I wore glasses in order to see distance.  Without them, I could not have seen the first of those ducks.  Blind as a bat at noon I was without my glasses.

As Bob was looking up, so was I and as quickly as not, a LARGE amount of duck crap hit me right between the eyes!  SPLAT!!!!  It covered both my glass lenses and of course my forhead and nose and cheeks! YUK!

I told BOB the season for the day had started!  Let’s kill us some ducks!  He laughed for quite a long time when all that happened!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

I have always loved a good practical joke!  One that is full of things that really make you grin and laugh and at the bottom line, no body is hurt by it.  I love that sort of thing.  It may be something that takes days or weeks to finally come to fruition, or maybe just a few moments, but at any rate I love that sort of thing.

On our muzzleloader deer hunt this year there was just this sort of joke pulled off and it was done in a wonderful manner.

As a bit of a background, we have a running tab going between myself and Magpie that when the vehicles leave the camp in the morning, the first one back with a buck wins.  I have lost this many years in a row.  Not because the guys in my vehicle can’t shoot straight, but Magpie’s group must have better eyes than my guys.  I really don’t know why, but Magpie and his vehicle always seems to come into camp with a deer, long before mine.

And so, this year as the vehicle I was driving came slowly and dust free back into camp,  it was no surprise to see a deer hanging on the ying-yang tree, and Magpie and his crew sitting around enjoying the fire.

My guys and me, all looked at the deer hanging there all covered up in a game bag and the first question asked, as usual, was “Who got the deer?”  Looking around the fire I did not see anyone with the usual blood stains on their pants or leathers.  But then, they could have changed or could have done such an outstanding job of cleaning the animal that they came away without any blood getting on them.

And with some hesitation Softball tells Edjukateer that he needs to come forward.  Which he does, and he says, “It’s only an eight inch buck!”  An Eight Inch Buck!  Hell fire, that is a big buck for our gang!  Let’s go see it.

And the group gathers at the hanging tree for the unveiling.

We are thinking, wow, Magpie and his crew have beat us once again.  When will this beating ever end?  And then Edjukateer joins the Magpie to uncover the deer!

That isn’t a deer!  It’s a sleeping bag!

We have been duped!  But wait there is more!

It truly WAS an eight inch buck!  An eight inch Buck Knife!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  A very good practical joke was pulled on us!  None of us saw that there were no deer legs sticking out of the top of the bag!  None of us saw the bag was not fully closed at the tie off strings!  None of us noticed the lack of blood that is usually staining the game bag!  Nor the lack of antlers protruding from inside the bag.  Oh, were we ever tricked by that one!

I still laugh about that to this day!  Very good fellas but wait until it is your turn!  Maybe next year?

Thanks for the photos Dry Dog!  Well done!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

Well this years mulie buck hunt didn’t end the way I had hoped and with only one small buck sighted within range, needless to say I did not take any shots.

But, luckily for me, I had drawn a doe deer tag for the Bear River/Bothwell/Thatcher area.  I had been out one time before a couple of days ago, to a walk in access area West of Tremonton in a small burg called Thatcher.  The area covers about 400 acres and holds all kinds of animals.

These walk in access areas are really great.  The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources will pay a token amount of money to land owners who are willing to let people, like myself, trespass on their properties.  Of course there are rules that need to be followed, like signing in, walking in rather than driving in, picking up your trash as well as others and in general just being a caring human being while enjoying someone elses property.  I have hunted a few of these walk in access areas and I really love it.  I hope some a-hole dink pipsqueek doesn’t come along and ruin it for me.

At any rate, Brandon said he would go with me this morning and I told him I wanted to be “in position” before it got light enough to see.  We left the house at 6 a.m. sharp and drove the 30 minutes from home to the site.  Loaded up our stuff and headed to the hills.  It took us about a half hour of hiking up hill to get to where I wanted to be.  For a 62 year old fella, it wasn’t easy but then it wasn’t like it was straight up either.  We got to the spot right on time.  It was just light enough to see we were overlooking a flat terrace with large sage brush and some openings in the sage.  My farthest shot would be 100 yards to the very edge of the terrace should a doe present herself there for a shot.

As we sat there it got lighter and lighter.  The birds started to come out and chirp and fly passed us in surprise.  Soon it was light enough I could see my sights and suddenly, there came some deer!  They were not really running, but they were not stopping to look around either.  They were coming up the hill at a fast pace!  But, to my surprise they were going to climb the hill we were on to the left side of us and I would not be able to see them to shoot.

I moved to my left about 20 yards and there they were moving up the hill.  More were coming in behind the first group.  A total of about 15 were bounding and hopping up the hill.  Finally a medium sized doe stopped about 20 yards out and looked behind her self at some of the deer still crossing the flat of the terrace.  I settled the sights on her shoulder and let it fly.  Of course she turned downhill and folded about 100 yards from where she was.

It started with the sight of the first few deer and ended within a minute of that.

I’m very thankful for drawing the tag, very thankful for having God on my side to fill that tag and extra thankful that Brandon was there to help drag her off the hill and back to the truck!  Thanks Brandon, you Weasel!

The pic is a bit fuzzy, as the Weasel had not had enough coffee this morning…..he got up late.

I’ve had this rifle for three years and this is deer number three for it!  Thanks Dry Dog for finding this nice $65  rifle!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

No sleeping in for me in the morning.  Going out one more time to try and fill my doe tag.  I plan on being “at the top”,  waiting in ambush for when the little deeries come up out of the fields and head to their beds.

Hopefully one will find it’s way all the way to my house and spend its winter in my freezer!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

I went out after a doe to fill my tag this morning.  Saw 11 and shot at one.  Glad I missed because it was just a big fawn that I shot at, and after the shot Mama appeared.  The smaller deer was almost as big as mama, but not quite.

I also saw a VERY NICE 4 point!  And a rabbit.  Pretty quiet morning until I shot.

Maybe next time!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

Another muzz deer season has come to a close…last night at dark.  365 days (or so) to go until next season.

Speaking of next season, there are some major changes with the deer hunts for next year.  First off, they have broken the state up into 30 sub-units and we will have to put in for the draw.  They are also cutting the total number of deer tags by 7,000 across the state.

Why are they doing this?  The word on the street is they wish to increase the buck to doe ratio from what it is today to 18/100.  After hunting this year and seeing 4 buck deer in 9 days of hunting (actually I took 2 days off), there really needs to be something done to increase the number of bucks.  The entire herd could use some help because in those same days we only saw “maybe” 100 does and who knows how many of those we saw day after day.

The DWR has discussed the health of the herds state wide and considered all of the things that has made the herd what it is today:  Vehicle deaths, Depredation from Coyotes and Cougars, Poor wintering grounds and loss of habitat (homes), Severe drought and tough winters (fawn and older deer starvation).  And the end result is the need to cut tags, manage the herds in smaller areas and increase awareness on the depredation and vehicle accident issues.

I ask myself, why not issue more cougar tags?  There seems to be a lot more cougars than we are used to seeing and each one of them require a deer a week to survive.  This question has also been addressed to the Wildlife Board and the bottom line affects more than just what we each think about.  There are the recreational groups and houndsmen who also enjoy seeing and chasing cougars in the wild.  If all of the cougars were wiped out, their interests would be destroyed.  We may see more “take em out” tags issued and less “run em for fun” tags in the future.  But whatever the decisions are in the future we have to consider everyone who enjoys the wild life in Utah and not just our own enjoyment of hunting.

So, how will breaking the state up into 30 sub-units affect our hunt?  As I see it our camp of 30 plus people may end up being half that number, or less.  Unless of course you are just going for the camping and not the hunting.  We will have to draw a tag first and the dark side of it all is we won’t know how many tags will be issued for our unit until after the deadline for applying has passed.  Instead of applying individually, we might want to consider applying as groups and I believe there is a 10 person limit on applying as a group.  One win, all win.  OR  10 of us don’t get to have a tag.  Something to consider.

At any rate the future will be different and hopefully this strategy will boost the total number of deer and increase the number of bucks.  By the way, the 18 to 100 number is supposed to be the “after the hunts are over” number.  How in the world are they going to be able to determine that?  Again in my opinion, they are just guessing right now and they will continue to guess in the future.

Are you happy with the way things are today?  Whatever your answer to that question is your answer.  If you want your voice to be heard, go to the RAC meeting or two and let them know your concerns.  RAC folks are supposed to talk to the people on the ground (you and I) and they take their recommendations to the Wildlife Board who discuss these issues and then TELL the Utah DWR what they are going to be doing and how they will enforce it.  So, don’t blame the DWR, blame the Wildlife Board and those member on that board if you don’t like what is coming down.

This season is over.  Next year is coming!  Let’s make it a great hunting season next year, just like this one was.  Only one buck killed among all of us tag holders and only two other shots fired at two different bucks.  We only saw one or two other bucks killed in our area and very few bucks overall seen.  Who cares.  It was a very fun outing and loads of laughter had by all.  In my opinion it was the best hunt we have ever had!!!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

And so it goes.  2011 muzzleload deer season ends today.  It’s sort of a sad deal, but then it’s one day closer to the 2012 season.  It is also “the last day” which means we have until dark to fill our tags.  Just like on day one, we had till dark.  And so, it’s brothers and their sons heading out once again to see if a buck will show it’s face (and antlers)!  Would it not be a wonderful thing to see four bucks strapped to the top of the rig as we pulled into the back yard tonight?

Wish us luck!  Snow in the high country!  Tire chains in the back of the rig in case we need them!  High spirits, hot coffee and maybe we will even stop and pick up a “power ring” from the convenience store on the way.

Power Ring?  You ask!  Our good friend who is a part of the sheriffs department calls donuts, power rings.

Power to the hunters!  Let’s go!

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

Yesterdays hunt had us in position at first light.  It had rained during the night and all the dust was settled really nice.  Deer were not everywhere, but enough to keep us from “bobble heading”.  We saw a total of 34 deer, all does and fawns.  No bucks were seen anywhere.

Most of the camps that were in the area when we were camped and hunting were gone.  It is hard to imagine the deer were held up so tightly while we were up there as long as we were, but they sure seemed to be out and about yesterday.  Just goes to show you, they are where you find them.

We hit a new area to reconnoiter it for future hunting, but it proved disappointing.  The area is full of tall sage, which leads me to believe there are deer there, but we did not see much sign.  Lots of antelope were in the area and we did see one doe deer and two different coyotes.  The coyotes eluded us, but we were trying to gun them both.  The area had a very long and well maintained dirt road and some day I will get back on it and see where it leads.

Today is a rest up day after yesterdays 3:15 a.m. to 10 p.m. day.  Maybe another hunting day tomorrow….after all it is the last day of the 2011 muzz season.  My little puppy has to go if I go.  He gets too frustrated not having me around a few hours each day…and mom goes crazy trying to fend him off with his craziness.  It is not a good thing to come home to after a long day in the forest.

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011

Midway through the 2011 muzzleloader deer hunt here in Utah.  The weather was very hot for this time of year and the dust was almost unbearable.  Few deer seemed to be bouncing around the mountains the past week, but we did see some of them.  Mostly does and fawns, but we did see a few bucks in the mix.  Only three shots were fired from our group and one of the three connected.  Hunter took a fine 3X3 mulie.  Not a monster, but monster enough to win the camp contest hands down.  Congrats Hunter on a fine buck!

Hunter went the “extra mile” to get this buck and had to quarter it to get it out.  Baby Boy went with him for the final pack out and once back at camp he swore he would never do that again.  Nasty blisters on both feet and a memory he won’t soon forget.

L-Rod had a fair shot at a 2 point and missed.  Cost him an extra dollar on the big buck contest and his name went down on the Boobin Baby Board.  Brek, was coming up to camp after school on Friday and happened to run into four bucks just up on the hill side.  He hit the skids, got legal, and took a shot.  MISS!!!!  That was his first shot at a buck with a muzzleloader…..buck fever?  We will never know and he is not up to confessing much.  His name adorns the Boobin Baby Board as well.

A hearty thank you to everyone who got deep into the bushes to help flush out some of the deer we did see.  It is always tough to get into that thick stuff and try and force the animals out.  Every push got out deer and one of these times they will be bucks.  The other tough part about trying to force the deer to move out into the open is figuring out what they are most likely going to do.  I have come to the conclusion, you can’t figure them out.  They will do what they do and if the circles are crossing and you are a part of that crossing event, you might get a shot.  I was about 100 yards from the crossing circles when the 2 point L-Rod shot at and  missed  at  came out.  Oh well, maybe next time.

The camp was wonderful, the camaraderie was likewise very fun.  We were safe and everyone made it home in one piece.

Now it’s time for some morning and afternoon hunts closer to home and I wish everyone good luck in tagging out.

Bears Butt

Oct. 2011