Blog Entries tagged 'Spot and Stalk'

Living the Essence - Hardcore

joeedge@bowcast.com — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Living the Essence; Hardcore Bowhunting

Peers ask me all the time, �Why do you like bowhunting so much? All it is, is shooting animals.� I just have to smirk the comment off, because I know that bowhunting is something that is kindled deep in the heart of a person who wants a challenge; to be responsible, respectful and rejuvenated by all that nature has to offer. Some people say that �If you haven�t already done it, you never will.� I tend to disagree; however, if you really want to be a hardcore bowhunter, all it takes is for someone to plant the seed. From that point on, bowhunting is one of those things that people will either grow apart from, whereas the true hardcore bowhunter will find themselves obsessed by mystique of the bow and arrow. I am of the later.

�

There are many things in life that I have tried, each with their individual successes and failures; however, there is one thing that I simply cannot let go. I�ve loved doing other things just as much; it�s just that bowhunting and I go hand in hand. Not a day goes by when I don�t think of a big velvet buck, or a big bull running in to my setup and screaming, a stick�s toss away. I can be working through a math problem in school, or sitting in the bullpen at a baseball game, however my thoughts revolve about arching the bow back on a trophy animal.

Being 18 years old, it seems that adult always look down upon me, whether it be in the shop, or on the range. They don�t truly believe in the capabilities of the hardcore youth bowhunter. I would agree and say they are few and far between, but I am one of them. As the clich� goes, I eat, sleep and dream bowhunting. From the many bowhunting publications in every reading spot in the house, to the hunting DVD collection that far outnumbers chart-topping comedies. There�s more camo in my closet than all the shirts and pants. I have a spot for my backpack, bivy sack and bow case right next to my bed. It�s a commonality for me to carry one, if not two pairs of binos in my car, �just in case�. No matter the occasion you can find me in a camo hat. However, that�s not where you can decipher the difference between the weekend warrior and the true hardcore bowhunter.

It�s not about how many hunting decals I can fit on the back of my car (although I do have about 20), or how much game I can spit, BS�in down at the pro shop; It�s about what I do, out there where it really counts. The real things that make me a hardcore bowhunter are the things I do when I�m in the mountains. I am the only judge of just how hard I hunted, or just how much I pushed myself; whether I really hunt as hard, and as smart as my skills allow. I�m the only one who can make the decisions that make or break my hunt. When it�s all on my shoulders, with an OTC tag in my pocket, I know it�s up to me to make a success of hunt. As a youth hunter, I believe that when you learn to thrive off the challenges bowhunting presents, and learn that the best judge of your character and hunting performance is yourself, you become a better person and find that your limits are much father beyond what you previously thought you could accomplish.

I have always heard more experienced bowhunter�s describe that, as they get older, they find just as much enjoyment in being out; absorbing all the experiences the mountains have to offer. Myself, I think it�s different depending on individual goals. Personally, I find true satisfaction in getting into game, and closing in on my ultimate goal on any given hunt; arrow a P&Y animal. Maybe I need to slow down and �take it all in� more often, but the drive to success is what keeps he going.

For me, it�s beyond hard to describe what I really love about bowhunting, or why I really try and be the best bowhunter I can be; it�s describing the indescribable. Only when you experience the deep-down feeling of being amongst untamed wilderness, with bow in hand and an OTC tag in your pocket will you honestly recognize the passion for which I have for bowhunting.

To all you youth hardcore bowhunter�s (or the aspiring), know that when you learn to push yourself to the highest end of your abilities, that when you know you can create the success you can push yourself to.

�� Keep it in the pocket~

�� Joe [...]

Scouting Parts 2 and 3

joeedge@bowcast.com — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Elk

For elk, the 3 major areas I concentrate on are;

1) Quality Forage, Shelter and Water - This is number one; simply put elk are big animals and if you don’t have the food, shelter and water to support them, so simply won’t find them in that area. There needs to be a big supply of quality forage, especially if you’re looking to find a good size herd, ample quantity of quality food for the animal.

Generally during the western elk seasons the weather will be warm, and you can count on the elk looking for somewhere cool, and shady for them to bed up in during the heat of the day. Look for north slopes and heavily-timbered pockets to find these cool conditions.

Water is another ingredient that elk need every day, especially bulls due to the fact they are tending their cows, and on the move all day. Even small seeps are a place to find elk sneaking into.

2) Critters of Habit – It seems as though every year the weather might be different, you might be shooting different arrows and wearing different camo but the elk don’t care. They will always be in the same spots, or close by. It’s also a good idea to look for areas like this by the sign; trees with different aged scars from rubs, and rubs that have been rubbed over the season prior. When you have good habitat, elk will return to it.

3) Rutting Remnants- This is very important; you must remember, you don’t care where the elk are now, rather, where they’ll be when you have a valid tag in your pocket. Look for big rubs, both new and old. Look for areas where a bull would feel comfortable wallowing. Elk rut in certain areas and that’s where you need to be come September.

Pronghorn

Here is what I look for, when scouting for goats;

1) Quantity vs. Quality – Here in Oregon, with the pronghorn tag I hunt, it’s very tough to find a quantity of goats. Before you do your scouting, it’s best to do research and find out whether it’s an accomplishment to simply stick a doe, or if you should hold out for a P&Y buck. You then need to factor in your personal standards of what type of animal you’re looking for, and match the two.

2) Water – The obvious answer is to find a good waterhole, however there is more to finding just any waterhole and plopping out your blind. I am quite picky about the waterholes I choose to hunt from because, first, I need to make sure there isn’t any cattle traffic. I have found that if there is a lot of cow traffic the goats are more likely just to by-pass the waterhole and head to the next pothole for water. The next thing is to find a waterhole the goats will come to, and feel comfortable doing so. What is the point if the goats come in spooky, and head on, drink for a few seconds then sprint away, you’ll get no shot. Look for tracks in the fresh mud around the hole, goats are very much, creatures of habit. Pick a “usual” drinking hole for the best blind success.

3) Long Range – It is very important to use your big glass, 12 power and up to a spotting scope to do your pronghorn scouting. Watch from afar. Pattern your buck, and his herd from a vantage point. They are super weary and in an area with few goats and a lot of pressure, ruining your hunt before it starts if a very real possibility.

Another quick thought, when you go out in the woods, take your bow, do as much shooting as you can in the terrain you’ll be hunting before it actually counts. Throw on some judo’s and go to work, pine cones, tufts of grass, or even the occasional sage rat. Practice now, makes perfect later.

Most of all, when scouting use common sense. If you have a feeling there is bucks there, and you have seen them there, then be smart and try and glass them up rather than going in and kicking a big buck in his bedroom. Know that when you see rub after rub reaching up high on a lodgepole that rutting activity will more than likely occur there, so why scent it up more than you have to.

My thought is that scouting is the time to be conservative, and do as much as you can without animal contact. When the time comes to stick an arrow into that animal you have watched for weeks, he’ll have his guard down just as much as he did when you spotted him the first time.

Joe

[...]

When it rains it pours - My 2008 Antelope

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Talk about RAIN!!! It has been a long time since I have seen this much rain this late in the year. In fact, we had TORNADO warnings for the first two days of our Antelope season. I was praying that the area that I was hunting was relatively dry and that I might be able to sit a tank until I was forced to do a little spot and stalk.

Because of birthdays and family visiting I wasn't able to make the first two days of the hunt, usually two days isn't that big of a deal but our Antelope season is only 7 days long so you have to take advantage of everyday. So I rolled out of Silver City Monday morning around 5:00 am trying to make it to my hunting spot before noon. I was able to get to my camping spot around 10:00 am. So I quickly setup camp and headed to the mountain. I say mountain but in reality the area I was hunting was pretty flat. The good thing about this area is that I could see and glass a long way but the problem was that the antelope would see me coming.

A picture of some of the country

{multithumb}{multithumb}

So my hunt really started about 11:00 am on Monday. The plan was to drive to the little tank that I killed my buck last year and sit it. Hopefully, the rains that were hitting most of the state missed this little area of NM. I will admit that it was a lot drier than I thought it would be. The only problem that I had is that antelope will drink out of a little puddle made by a cow hoof print. Speaking of cows, when I got to my little tank it was surrounded by cattle... ARRRGHH!!! I mean surrounded. I understand that the rancher in the area has the right to have his cattle in the pasture but dang. It was a mess and I was pretty discouraged. Hoping for the best I stuck in out until sunset. Unfortunately, It was NBC or Nothing But Cows.

So I headed to the trailer for the evening to regroup and come up with a plan. There was no way that sitting water with that many cows around it, was going to work.

I think that the best hunters spend 75% of there time scouting and 25% of the time hunting. With Mother Nature throwing me a curve this year, I needed to do some serious speed-scouting. I needed to find one of two things; a tank that was being hit by goats that didn't have cattle around it or find some habitat that was more conducive to stalking.

Tuesday morning I covered a ton of ground with my Duramax and with my Swaro 15x's. I eliminated some unproductive ground and I found one little area that held some good goats. I saw them the previous day and if was lucky they might hold in the area during the hunt. If worse came to worse I could setup in the rocks and try to wait them out.

This is a picture of the area.
{multithumb}{multithumb}

I was starting to feel a little better about my chances but I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as last year. So my game planned changed from sitting water to spotting and stalking or hunting travel corridors.

Before I headed back to camp I did put the stalk on a nice buck with big cutters but I just wasn't able to get any closer than 125 yards before the sky's opened up. It was pretty dicey getting back to camp but I made it without any drama.

Before the roads got bad

{multithumb}{multithumb}

I know the picture above isn't the best but let me say that it was slick as owl crap.

That night I went to sleep with raining falling on the trailer, usually that is a soothing sound but I had some hunting to do so it was a little unnerving.

Before I new it my Treo was going off and it was time to hit the hills. I think that when you are spotting and stalking it is all about numbers. The more times you the try, the better your odds get. So I promised myself that I was going to put the stalk on every legal animal that I could glass up(if they were in a stalkable place of course). As I left camp it was obvious that I was in for another rainy day so my decision to spot and stalk was a wise one.

I put two stalks on in the morning and I pretty much blew both of them. I just ran out of terrain to hide behind but my third stalk had some real promise. You can't see it in the picture below but there are two bucks bedded on the top of the ridge. They were looking down and seemed to be nodding out. They were about 3/4 of a mile away and it seemed that they were going to stick around for a little while.

Ridge with bucks on it.

{multithumb}{multithumb}

So off I went. The stalk was going pretty well but about 400 yards from where I thought the bucks were bedded it started raining and lightening really hard. Crap, I had a few options; Call off the stalk like a wuss, put my noisy rain gear on and hope that the bucks wouldn't hear me or suck it up and hunt. All I could think of is a saying my buddy Dan Staton (fitness god) says, "Suck it up, Buttercup".

THE HUNT WAS ON... Something was going to hit the mud; a buck or a Jason.

I was using a little bush as a marker to guide me to where the bucks were bedded. I was able to get to that bush without a problem but now I needed to relocate the bucks. I knew that they had to be close. Danger Close. After about 10 minutes I was able to glass up some little tips sticking thru the sage about 80 yards away. Yes, I mean little but I was committed and given the conditions any buck would be great. The best part is that he was still looking downhill.

I have been practicing all summer and 80 yards would be a doable shot but I wanted to close the distance to about 40 yards. So I decide to push my luck and try to close the distance. Luckily, it was still raining so I had some background noise and I ground would be really soft.

It took me about 30 minutes to cover those last 40 yards but it seem like eternity.

So, I was close enough and I had a decent angle on his vitals but he was bedded and I didn't want to take that shot. To be honest, I don't know why I didn't want to shoot the buck when he was bedded but I just didn't. The wait was on.

To make this a successful stalk I had to do three things; Wait for him to stand, make the shot and don't get hit my lightening.

Taking a hint from the bucks I bedded down next to a sage bush and got comfortable.

After about 10 minutes he started to get fidgety and I knew he was about to stand. So I started to get ready for my opportunity. Almost in unison we both came to our knees. The only difference is that as I rose I also drew my bow back. I let my 40 yard pin on settle on his heart, whispered to myself "Confidence is Deadly" and let the arrow fly.

WHAAACK!!!!!

At first he don't know what happened but when he looked up the hill he saw me and he knew he was busted. He started running uphill to my right but I also ran than way hoping that he would see me and run downhill towards the truck. Guess what? He headed right to the truck but stopped to get a feel for the situation. I quickly ranged him again at 78 yards, I moved my sight and hit him again behind the last rib angling forward towards his front leg.

What a rush! I had just made the best stalk of my life. Is he a monster? No, but that really doesn't matter. I had everything against me and I had every reason to quit but I didn't. I sucked it up and I made the shot.

Nice Shot!

{multithumb}{multithumb}

How about a hero shot?

{multithumb}{multithumb}

A few things that I learned or could have done better on the hunt?

--- I recently switched from a Badlands 2800 pack to a BLACKHAWK! Blacktimber and that was a great move. I think that carrying a little bit smaller but very functionally pack made it easier to stalk my buck. IMO we often we try to get the highest capacity pack but that is always the best decision. Stick to a pack size that fits the situation.

--- I need to find another place in this unit that has more stalkable terrain. Flat is great when hunting water but not so great when spotting and stalking.

--- I really like my new Sure-loc sight. It is a basic 3-pin but it has a slider so I can adjust it on the fly. I had my pins set at 20-30-40 but my sight tape went out to 85 yards. I just moved my slider and I was dead-on out to 85 yards.

--- The new Tekan II's do fly like field points.

This is one of my favorite pictures

{multithumb}{multithumb}

A Bloody Bumper - That means you had a successful hunt and the animal is loaded.

So that was my 2008 Antelope hunt... WOW.... What a hunt...

I hope you liked the story...
Take Care

Jason

[...]

A recent scouting trip

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:00:00 +0100

Hey Everybody...

Just when I was about to get totally discourage, I had a pretty decent scouting trip. As many of you know my deer season doesn't start until Janurary so alot of the work I am doing now is trying to learn new country and hopefully find a new honey hole. As always, my goals are to find sheds and hopefully find animals. Unfortunately, this year I hadn't really found anything noteable until my recent trip. I headed into some country that I suspected held a pocket of Coues and Mule Deer but I need to get in there and really take a look. The funny thing about this area is that a lot of people that draw this tag often drive right past this little section of huntable land.

So my plan was to cover country and take a look around.

What did I find? Well, I found a nice Coues Deer Shed, and I was able to glass up or stalk up on 6 bucks.

LIFE IS GOOD...

Below is the Coues Deer Shed I found. It probably goes around 45 inches.

How about a close-up?

It might not look like a very good shed but remember that P&Y for Coues Deer is 65 inches.

After I find a shed like that I get really jacked up and I am ready to cover more country. I wasn't able to find anymore sheds but I was able to glass and stalk up on a group of Mule Deer.

Below is a picture of three of the Mule Deer!

So what do you think? Are any of these guys shooters? If I was chasing Mulies it would be tough to pass-up that guy in the front.

Anyway... Take Care and SCOUT HARD..

Jason

[...]

My 2007 Goat Hunt - Some Like it HOT!!!

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:01:56 +0100

Hey Everybody... All this talk about Antelope hunting really has me ready to get chasing some speed goats. Below is the story of my 2007 NM Antelope hunt. I wish I would have taken better pictures but when I dropped him it was AFRICA hot and I wanted to get him cooled down ASAP.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me first say that I was very grateful and lucky to have the opportunity to hunt. My dad had been in the hospital with an infection and so I needed to be around just in case things got little more serious but my dad said I wasn't a doctor so I should go and chase some goats. Tommy, my hunting buddy from Gila Wilderness Hunting had an elk hunting client in the same unit a fews years earlier and he had seen some good goats so we had a good idea where to star. I was going to be hunting alone and this was this first tag I had ever drawn, so this was going to be a learning experience.

The plan was to try and spot and stalk in the morning while I was working my way to a tank. Once I got to the tank I would setup my blind and wait one out. On ther way to my hunting area there were goats all over the place. After setting up camp I went straight to bed. As usual the morning came WAY too early, and I hate mornings.

When I got to my general area I started seeing goats right away. I glassed this group of goats from about a mile and I my stalk was ON. I got to within 90 yards before they busted me. I was using a decoy and a call to try to get them to come in but the timing was just wrong, they didn't give me the time of day.

On a previous trip, I had found a hidden tank that had some sign around it so I was hoping that something was feeding or watering around it. So I parked my rig and "stalked the tank". When I peeked over the dam this little guy was feeding about 30 yards way. He was well within my range but I decided to pass. It was too early in the hunt to let my Silver Flame eat.

With temperatures well above 95 degrees, It was starting to become obvious that the only way I was going to get one of these suckers on the ground was to either get one to come to me or wait one out. So I made a beeline for a tank that I wanted to sit. While working my way to my tank I came across a ton of elk. I was able to get these pictures but there was probably about 75 in the herd. It was pretty neat to see these guys in such open country.

My sit in the blind started started at noon, it had to be an honest 100 degrees plus in there. Let me say that I don't strip down for anybody, not even my wife but DAMN it was just crazy hot. I completely stripped down to my AC/DC Boxers and my Danner boots. Sitting in my blind I must have looked like the white filling in a Little Debbie Cup Cake. If I saw a buck coming in I would quickly put on my black T-shirt so the antelope wouldn't see me.

At 3:30, a buck came in downwind of my setup and busted me. The funny things is he just ran around my blind until he got out of my scent stream then came in to the tank. It looked that after only 3.5 hours in my pressure cooker that I was going to get a shot. I wish I had a great story about why I missed but I just blew it. When I setup my blind I range the area before I setup my blind. I didn't to take the time get a second reading from my rangefinder after I settled in. I miss judged the distance by 10 yards. I held for 40 yards and he was at 54 yards.

Sitting alone in a blind gives you a lot of time to think and the only thing I could think about was that I had a chance and I blew it. I was just hoping and praying that I would have another chance.

YEEEEE HAAAW!!!!!!!!! ANTELOPE DOWN!!!! Well it happened, with about 30 minutes left of shooting light I had a buck come to the tank. His body language was much different than the earlier buck and it was obvious that he was committed to water. It was just up to me to make the shot. He seemed to be watering forever, but once he stopped he turned broadside and my arrow was on the way. All I have to say is the combination of my Hoyt bow, FMJ's and Silver Flame broadheads is scary. At 53 yards my arrow blew right thru his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. He was down and out but I just wanted to make sure that I got another arrow into him, the second arrow cut his spine in half. GAME OVER. Below is a picture of my setup and if you look to the left of the blind about 4 feet above the water you can see my buck.

With the temperatures ranging around 95 degrees I needed to get this goat gutted and processed asap. Tommy always gives me a hard time about not taking good photos but pictures are the least of my worries when I harvest an animal. SOOO I was not able to get any field photos other than with my phone but I did take some photos at the taxidermist (to bleach the skull). He is a pretty good buck he is 14 inches.

Take Care

J-

[...]

Pink Arrows on the Hunt

amaro_jason@hotmail.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:39:41 +0100

If you have never had a chance to chase stink pigs, you need to make time to come out to Southern NM or Southern AZ to hunt these little guys. They are a perfect animal for a bowhunt. After reading my story about the Pink Arrow Project, Garth from AZ sent me this story about his recent Javelina hunt. He wrote the story below. Great Job !!! - J

I found out about "The Pink Arrow Project" through Mary Hale, who was the Pearson Bow representative. She explained how she became involved and asked me to help where I could. Since my sister died at the age of 40 from breast cancer, there was no way I could turn down this opportunity. I made a decision to hunt only with pink arrows for the year of 2008.

I already knew I had spring tags for javelina, turkey, and bear in Arizona. I got my arrows in December and had to get sighted in for the Javelina hunt, which opened January 1. I hunted for 4 days before I got an opportunity at a pig. You see, I like to hunt in the flat country near the town where I grew up, Coolidge. Most hunters seem to like the areas where they can glass to find the pigs. I like to find pigs in their bedding areas, which means I spend very little time standing up. Most of the time, I am on my hands and knees going through the Mesquite thickets. I have found a technique that works very well, as I have killed 24 javelina to date.

The problem with this method of hunting javelina is there is very seldom a clear shot over 10 yards so, you have to always be ready and because you are so close, any little sound out of the ordinary can spook them. Because of this, I have learned to mimic the sounds javelina make. From woofing, to smacking my lips, imitating the noise they make when they eat. This makes them curious and very often, they will walk toward me to investigate.

On my 4th day, I was in a thicket and heard javelina very close to me but could not see them. They were coming toward me, but was afraid they would cross into my wind path so, I let out a very small "woof". One of the pigs woofed back at me and about 30 seconds later I could see movement through the limbs. The pigs were walking toward me but would pass me on my left, which is perfect. All I had to do was, find a hole to shoot through. I found a small gap that would give me about a 12 yard shot, and quietly twisted my body to get ready. The first pig came through, but was further so, there was never a clear shot. The 2nd Javelina walked toward the opening and as it went behind a tree, I drew and anchored. The pig stepped from behind the tree and stopped and looked at the 1st javelina. I quickly settled the pin behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger of my release.

The javelina made it 8 yards before collapsing. The distance of the shot was 6 yards.

Thanks,
Garth

[...]

Clip On Knee Pads from Dexter Meadows

aroney@bowcast.com — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 08:40:51 +0100

The following picture of some of the members of the FMP team is from SHOT 2008 and was shared by Dexter Meadows. Dexter has some really innovative clip on knee pads that are very versatile for using while spotting and stalking.

We are planning on getting Dexter on an episode of BowCast to talk about some of the innovation and versatility around the design of his kneepads . In the meantime you can check out Dexter's website at http://www.dextermeadows.com/.

From left to right: Dexter Meadows, Anthony Dixon, Shawn Monsen, Robbie Anderson, David Eaton.

[...]