Bowhunt next weekend - WooHOO!!!

[DAA]

So whose going bowhunting next weekend?

The archery mule deer hunt ("bowhunt") is by far my favorite single hunting trip each year. I'll be packing up the whole family and heading out next Fri. morning to camp and hunt on the flank of Mt. Peale for a week.

I can't wait!!!

My bowhunts these days are a lot different than they used to be. I used to be all hard core and into solo back pack hunts and wouldn't even look at small bucks (I came home empty handed a lot too, LOL!). These days I take the whole family, setup the big Springbar, cots, tables, chairs, cook stoves, coolers, big rain canopy etc. and just generally make sure the Wife and Kids (and me) are super comfy and make sure they eat like royalty for the whole trip. And where I used to be all hung up on needing to kill a big buck, I don't care about the size of the bucks I get anymore, at all. Fork horn for the freezer is just fine, these days (and now I usually do get one). Now the trip is more about just being there and spending time with the family, less about the actual hunting. But, it is still my favorite hunting trip of the year, and always has been. There just isn't anywhere else I like being more, than camped in the high country at this time of year. Now that we'll be going in only a week, I feel like a little kid the week before Christmas!

Just wondering who else is going to be getting out there amongst 'em with stick and string next weekend?

Oh, almost forgot to mention! I got a new bow this year too. Bowtech Guardian. Dang it shoots sweet! Smoothest, most quiet, most accurate bow I've ever had. Been shooting it three or four times a week all summer and am shooting pretty good with it. If a little buck decides to present himself nicely, he's real likely to end up in the freezer!

http://photos.imageevent.com/daffleck/bowhunt03/websize/MtPeale1.jpg

- DAA

[Rev. Coyote]

Dark Canyon...?

I was up there about two weeks ago. Saw a lot of pikas.

[MY T PIMP]

I'm stoked, I am heading up to Yost for the opener, and then in September I'm taking a whole week off for the end of the archery elk(my favorite hunt). We really got into some elk in the Uintahs last year. :2thumbs: I also shoot a Bowtec, mine is a Patriot.
As far as small bucks well I say,
"Hunting's like women you take what you can get but eventually you'll mount the one with the biggest rack." :haha:

[DAA]

I'm stoked, I am heading up to Yost for the opener, and then in September I'm taking a whole week off for the end of the archery elk(my favorite hunt).

I can sure relate with that. Hunting bulls during the rut with a bow ranks among the most exciting, most fun hunts possible. Unfortunately, I have not been bowhunting for Elk for I guess going on five or six years now. Having the Kids in school kind of put the dampers on my Elk hunt. Used to do both at once - wait until the opener of the archery Elk to go, and hunt both at the same time.



"Hunting's like women you take what you can get but eventually you'll mount the one with the biggest rack." :haha:

I married that one :lol8: .

- DAA

[rooster32]

DAA....wish you luck!

I've got a muzzleloader bookscliffs tag, so no archery deer this year. I did get a archery elk tag and will be getting after those. Was out to the Books last week for 4 days scouting and found 3 shooters. Hope to meet up with them in Sept

Heading up the North Slope a week from tomorrow to find some Ptarmigan. Packing in about 11 miles with the dog. Can't wait...will post up some success pics hopefully.

Later! :2thumbs:

[icthys]

I'm in on this one and I can't wait either, even though it's 3 days away.

I'm a 3rd year bow hunter and have yet to stick one. The first year I had an antlerless permit for back behind the house. I had several chances but blew everyone and came away with what not to do! Last year I was stuck on getting a big buck and passed up on some smaller guys I should have just stuck. This year I'm putting one under my belt, no matter what size it is.

My hunting partner has to bail on me this year so I'm solo unfortunately.

Good Luck!

[MY T PIMP]

I'm in on this one and I can't wait either, even though it's 3 days away.

I'm a 3rd year bow hunter and have yet to stick one. The first year I had an antlerless permit for back behind the house. I had several chances but blew everyone and came away with what not to do! Last year I was stuck on getting a big buck and passed up on some smaller guys I should have just stuck. This year I'm putting one under my belt, no matter what size it is.

My hunting partner has to bail on me this year so I'm solo unfortunately.

Good Luck!
Bow hunting is like women, you take what you can get, but eventually you'll mount the one with the biggest rack. :five:

[DAA]

Good luck and be safe out there everybody!

I've got everything loaded up except the kids. As soon as we can get them ready, we're on the road.

See y'all next week!

- DAA

[DAA]

Home from my bowhunt - already...

We got camp setup early Friday afternoon and spent the evening unwinding and doing a little bit of scouting to see how the hunt might be shaping up.

http://photos.imageevent.com/daffleck/bowhunt07/websize/IMG_1570.jpg

Although I've said I don't care about the size of the bucks anymore, and I don't, still I usually pass on small bucks for the first few days of the hunt. Not that I really expect that I'm going to get a bigger one, but at least it gives me a good excuse to stay in bow camp and enjoy the hunting that much longer.

Not this year though... Actually, I did pass up on a couple of similar sized bucks on the morning hunt Saturday (the opener). But after cooking up the family an awesome pancake breakfast following my morning hunt, my wife Cindy and I went out for a bit and of course I had to take my bow with me.

Just a short distance out of camp, this unfortunate little fellow presented himself quite nicely, broadside at 30 yards. I was thinking about giving him a pass, when Cindy hissed in my ear a very urgent sounding "shoot HIM, SHOOT HIM!". So... I did...

http://photos.imageevent.com/daffleck/bowhunt07/websize/IMG_1542.jpg

And that, was the early end to my bowhunting for this year.

As mentioned earlier, I have a new bow this year. Actually, all my equipment was new this year - new bow, new arrows, new broadheads. Bow is a Bowtech Guardian. Arrows are Beman MFX 340's. I'd never shot carbon arrows before, let alone these which are super skinny. They seemed accurate enough in practice though and very durable. While they are super slender, they do have thick walls, so they are not all that light weight. My arrows at 27" with a 100 gr. tip weigh a respectable 435 gr. Leaving the bow at 270 fps, they have a lot of KE for such a low poundage setup (I'm shooting at only 66 lb's, and my rotator cuffs still hate me...). I think having some decent weight to them, in combination with being very skinny, should make for great penetration. My one game shot so far certainly had great penetration. The arrows are tipped with G5 Montec 100 gr. broadheads. These are a fairly traditional design, fixed blade, cut on contact head. On this buck, the arrow went between ribs on both sides and blew through him like he wasn't even there. After passing through the deer, the arrow bounced off the ground and then finally stuck in a tree a good 20 yards beyond the deer.

http://photos.imageevent.com/daffleck/bowhunt07/websize/IMG_1551.jpg

So far, so good for the new equipment.

Spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday just hanging around camp having fun with the family.

http://photos.imageevent.com/daffleck/bowhunt07/websize/IMG_1575.jpg

I took quite a few pictures and have uploaded some of them, you can see the album by clicking here. (http://ImageEvent.com/daffleck/bowhunt07)

The family left me and drove home Sunday evening. Then I spent all day on Monday fishing, exploring, lounging and just generally enjoying myself immensely. Before leaving, Cindy had extracted from me a promise that I'd come home on Tuesday. So... it was with considerable remorse for my impulsive promise making that I packed up camp and came home yesterday afternoon.

It's going to be a long year, waiting for next years bowhunt...

- DAA

[shagster]

Nice write up, and great work on the harvest. I know that I am excited for the muzzle loader hunt coming up. :2thumbs:

[JP]

:2thumbs: Awesome :2thumbs:

[fourtycal]

Great report and pictures. Good work on the gear and the harvest.

[MY T PIMP]

Nice, you can be proud of anything you harvest with a bow! :2thumbs:
Heres some pics of my bow hunt in Yost this year no bucks, but still better than working.
http://www.uutah.com/forum/files/bow_hunting_yost_07_013__medium_.jpg

http://www.uutah.com/forum/files/bow_hunting_yost_07_011__medium_.jpg

http://www.uutah.com/forum/files/bow_hunting_yost_07_009__medium_.jpg

http://www.uutah.com/forum/files/bow_hunting_yost_07_008__medium_.jpg

http://www.uutah.com/forum/files/bow_hunting_yost_07_004__medium_.jpg

http://www.uutah.com/forum/files/bow_hunting_yost_07_002__medium_.jpg

[DAA]

Dude, you take some great landscape photos! Very nice. I have not been to that area in a river of years. Went on a bowhunt there once, about 20 years ago, saw a few nice bucks but didn't get one. I heard lots and lots of coyotes during that hunt though, and went back to hunt them a few times and did pretty good. Then the access road to the area I was hunting got a locked gate put across it (had to cross private ground to get to the public), and I have never been back since. That was probably about 1990 or so.

Anyway... Never got to spend a lot of time in that area, but always liked it, and your pics brought back good memories for me. Thanks for posting 'em!

- DAA

[MY T PIMP]

Speaking of coyotes I seen one opening day. There was a fire, on the Park Valley side of the mountain. Fires always make for good sunsets. You can see a deer in one of the landscape photos by a gate. Last year 20 or more deer a day would use that area as a passage corridor from tree grove to tree grove. I thought for sure I would get lucky enough this year. But the forest service conducted a controlled burn earlier and wiped out a lot of cover in my favorite spot. I think thats why I'm not seeing them. Of course I've hunted deer in Yost for 10 years and the numbers have steadily declined. They have enough food, they have enough water, they have enough winter ground, but Yost is known for some of the most Mountain Lions per capita in the State. With no elk the deer take a hell of a hit.