Late night deer run.

Hunting public land in southern Ontario is interesting. Lots of people, few (shitty) spots BUT I found a little hidden gem 10 minutes from where Kim and I live.  This season was by far the most daunting I have had; 12+ sits, 40+ hours, and not one sighting. Plenty on the camera, just not when I'm there.

Date should be 12-17; my camera is f**ked

I was tired of sitting and about to call it a year. I sat one day at Brent Patterson's house this week, but decided to give my stand another shot yesterday. At 16:30 I had returned to my dark place and had a lengthy internal debate about shooting a lone grouse. At 16:35 I spotted what turned out to be the fork-horn above, walking ever so slowly towards me. At 16:45 with twenty minutes to spare I shot, not sure exactly what sex or age it was.  I spotted blood immediately as these new broadheads I bought do alot of damage:

He bedded close (and I wasn't patient enough...), but he didn't go far.

Photo from today; easy tracking.

Givent he proximity and darkness,  I called up a crew to help locate and drag it out. Recognize anyone?

Fall Wanderings

Thanks for the kick in the pants, O.

September: elk hunting in the newly designated Castle Provincial & Wildland Parks. They took quads out of half of the parks this year, with the rest going foot-access only next year.

Heading in. These few flakes were just the beginning.

Trophy Grouse. Almost close enough to stab with a trekking pole. (I definitely tried this.)

Whose dumb idea was it to walk through the Christmas tree farm?

Dumbass.

About a half hour after this, we called in our one and only bull of the trip. 5 or 6 point, I couldn't quite tell from the brief look I got at him, even at 50 yards or so. Brush was too thick for a shot, unfortunately, but damn if it wasn't awesome having a bull come screaming in at us from halfway up a mountain. I might just have to come back and try this again next year.

Winter wonderland

October - Two hours to hunt in Grande Prairie on Thanksgiving Sunday. Supplemental antlerless WT tag filled. Almost as efficient as Pincher.

Fully bipedal when it matters

So much fat.

November: Back down south to Pincher to visit J&A and have one more crack at an elk. Found a herd, spooked a herd, no legal bulls anyway. Dang.  

Elk were here

Back in the swing of things

It's been a while. I'm putting this here to break the silence.

My challenge to the rest of you - a low-effort check-in on the science, shooting and/or skinning front. Or stats, I guess.