Iccyman001\'s 2014 hunting journal

\"zpd307\" said:
wolf tags are cheap, $31.75.... If I had tagged out on the 3rd or 6th day, I could have chased them around the low land with my rifle. they seemed to stay down low where the cattle were. locals report was a the rancher had lost 8 cattle so far....
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I was looking that and OTC elk tags are not bad either. Next year will be interesting, but I need to stay focused on this year!

I only have a few days of work and then I leave for Oklahoma! Thursday morning I will be driving out, setting up camp, pulling cameras real quick, and then setting out for an afternoon hunt. The plan is to hunt hard until Sunday.

The weather isn\'t the best temp wise, but I will make it work!


I am taking two of my buddies out there, so here are my goals for the weekend.


For me: Shoot a doe or a 125\" buck minimum.
For them: To get one of them their first archery deer ever and the other to get him his first archery buck.


But for the most part, my goal is just to have as much fun as we can! :dance2:
 
dan, by the time you buy the elk tag, hunting license, archery validation, and \"convenience fee\" it will be about the same as I have seen for any other state, $600. good luck on your deer hunt!
 
Well guys, the time has come.

I am all packed up, trailer is good to go, bow is ready!


I will be working 11pm to 7am tonight and heading to Oklahoma right after. I\'ll get in, set up camp, pull my cameras, pick a spot to evening hunt based on camera movement and wind, take a nap, then game on!

I can\'t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this year. I\'ve been scouting all year, practicing with my bow, and mentally preparing.
Now for the next two months, I get to put that all together.

I have 6 tags for Oklahoma and 2 for Missouri.

I don\'t plan on using them all, but 2 bucks and 2 does would make me VERY HAPPY.


I also want to spread the wealth to my friends this year. I will be taking out a lot of people on their first whitetail or bow hunts ever and plan on getting them hooked!

I will be gone Thursday and be back Sunday night, hopefully with good news.


Everyone enjoy your season and stay safe.
 
Thanks everyone! I had a ball!

Just got back from a fantastic 3 day trip to Oklahoma. If you don\'t like stories, I passed on small deer and didn\'t get to pull off shots on the bigger ones...


If you don\'t mind reading. I got in there Thursday night and pulled all of my cameras, this is where it started off BAD. Literally everything had stopped moving on my cameras September 26th. I was very upset, but started piecing it together. It has barely rained out there at all and all of the watering holes were dried up minus one of my secret spots and a windmill guzzler. Day 1 I spent most of my time at what were suppose to be my honey holes, but realized were dead. I did a little exploring that evening and came across a tank bodied 8 pt. He has a small rack, but it was also 30 minutes after shooting hours. Next day I decided I wanted to check all the spots that I knew had water and see if stuff was moving through there. I did about 20 miles that day, but it helped a lot. I did pass on a spiker that day. I saw him about 500 yards out and though he was a doe. I snuck up on him while he was feeding and once I got within shooting range I realized he was a spiker. Too big to be classified as a doe and too small to fill a buck tag on. I spooked a couple does that day too, but the worst part was that night. I was checking out a spot and waited until legal shooting hours were done before I moved. As soon as it was over I started walking out and I saw (it was still light enough to see with the sun/moon) a 10 pt 140\" sitting 15 yards away broadside... I was mad, but it amped me up for the final morning. SO today I went out to a spot that I knew had water. I wanted to glass from up high and see what was moving. Well, I get to my spot to glass and as soon as I look down, I see a buck....
It was still too dark to tell how big, but I knew it had a rack. I ranged it and it was at 82 yards. I saw it heading towards another ridge that I know they like to use, so I sprinted back about 500 yards to find a spot to cross. It was way too wide, but I found a spot I knew he could cross. I waited until I saw him and let out a call. He heard me and froze. After about 10 minutes he started making his way towards me feeding. He was originally 150-200 yards out, but I ended up getting him to within 100 yards.
He was standing on the side of his ridge and all he had to do was cross down and come up my side giving me a 40 yard shot. Anyways, he fed there for a while and then started doing circles, so I figured he wasn\'t going to come. I still had another level below me, so I ended up backing out and sliding down this spot. I used brush and the call to get me closer and finally I got to a bush that was 45 yards away from him. He was broadside on the opposite side, but looking at my direction. I waited and decided I was going to draw and shoot. I drew back and when I went up, his ass was starring me in the face.... He just kept feeding and then finally went directly up his cliff side and the rest of the way up his ridge. I had so much fun, but I wanted that deer. It was a nice echolocate colored rack with white tips, 8 pt, 120\". Anyways, I watched where he went to bed down and it\'s a new GREAT area that I will be checking next time.

So I won\'t be going out this upcoming weekend, but I will be out there the next. I cannot wait!
 
Sorry to hear no tags were punched Dan, but it sounds like you should be in better shape next time you make it out there :upthumb:
 
\"cohunter14\" said:
Sorry to hear no tags were punched Dan, but it sounds like you should be in better shape next time you make it out there :upthumb:
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Next time I go out the temps should be down a bit more and my game plan will be that much better off!
 
\"cnelk\" said:
Dan
What call were you using/doing?
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Brad,

I had those two custom calls made this year.
One was that cow call and this one that I was using is just a grunt tube.


I personally think it\'s too early for grunting, trying to get the bucks worked up over territory, but I think this worked well in a different way. After I let a few calls out, the buck seemed to calm down. He never focused as much in my direction, he only looked behind him and the opposite direction.

When I said I backed out and went down that slope to the lower level, it was not easy to be quiet. I went down a very sharp angle about 30 ft (almost sliding down) then as I got closer, there is no way he didn\'t hear me. I just think me grunting every so often, gave me somewhat of an advantage.


The call is very crisp and sounds great, it will surely pay off once their testosterone starts flowing more!
 
Well, I got back from a FANTASTIC camping trip this weekend and just figured I would share a few pics.

We took the trailer up to Eagles Nest, NM and camped out with a couple of our good friends.
The leaves were changing, the mountain air was clean and brisk, and the ELK were bugling.

I have never been up to this area before and I feel in love instantly. I am for sure going to be adding it to my hunting preferences this year for both Elk and mule deer.

We hiked, we ate, we fished, and we just relaxed. It\'s exactly what Dr. John would have prescribed :D

See, I will probably be gone every weekend starting October 1st until halloween. Then I have most of November off, so it will be a LOT of time away from my fianc?. SO, I decided to take her on this last trip before it gets wild.


Anyways...

Plenty of mule does up there.









My friend opened me up to a whole new world.... ORYX steaks....



more pics coming...
 

















and I am going to regret posting this, but I am doing it to counter the large amounts of dead animals that will be posted over the next few months....






All in all it was a great weekend, but I am itching at the bit to get in the woods with my bow..
 
Thanks Brad!


Just went for my food shop and packed my trailer! This is going to be another fun filled weekend of whitetail hunting!
I just wish it was longer than a weekend :crazy:
 
More small deer passed this weekend, but the rubs and scrapes are picking up, new shooters showing up, and I\'m having great experiences in the woods.

I had one of the craziest things happen today. This area I hunt in Oklahoma is nothing like I have ever hunted before. No trees big enough for stands and tough to cut blinds in, so it\'s basically a ground hunting WMA bow only.

Anyways, I was scouting this spot that I had found over the summer. I remembered that while I was out there over the summer, I jumped a doe from her bed down in the spot. So I made sure I went nice and slow.
I was walking around and found this really cool area. I had been really quiet, so I let a grunt out in my call.....them all hell broke loose.

A few seconds after I grunted I heard what I imagined tines tickling would sound like
Wrong... It was a buck taunting me...

Once I figure it out I hung out behind a bush and grunted again
This just pissed him off even more! He ran towards me and started destroying stuff on the other side of me.
We were 15 yards from eachother and seperated by two bushes.
I kept grunting and he kept destroying stuff.
This went on for about thirty minutes. The entire time my heart was going nuts. I backed up a little just incase he came around, but I still don\'t know how I would have shot it.
Anyways, after the thirty minutes he hung up....
I have no clue why he disappeared. Wind was in my face, but maybe it\'s because we were so close. Or maybe it was because he never actually saw me?

This was so amazing. 100% a shooter based off the massacre he did to the trees and just the sound of his rack.
I wish I could have seen him, but oh well.
Back out next weekend, then off to Missouri!

Sorry if there are any typos. I\'m on my phone\'
 
Also.... Had a GIANT hog growling at me from a thicket across the way on Saturday. That was a very unsettling
 
Well, it\'s almost that time....

One week from today I begin my Whitetail madness of 2014.

I leave here and drive to Kansas city airport to pick up my best friend from high school. Then we get to our lease Sunday night and hunt from the 3-8th. Then on the 8th I drive all the way back to NM to pick up my trailer with my friend and then drive out to Oklahoma to hunt from the 9th until the 15th.
Then we drive BACK to Missouri and hunt the 15th til the 18th. Then I drive BACK to Oklahoma for the 19th, drive home to NM for my fiances birthday on the 20th and take her to a concert, THEN drive BACK to Oklahoma and hunt the 21-23 with Colorado Russ!



I can\'t even tell you how excited I am..... I\'ll be shooting my bow twice daily until I leave, my fianc? came home from bass pro today with some new broad heads for me and a rattle bag, and I am eating elk a few times this week so I can amp myself up to get more meat for the freezer!
 
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