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2022-2023 Hunting Thread


markstanco

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Made it to Darby.  A misty  forty degrees this morning in the clouds.

Around 2 pm shove off to the final prox 30 mile leg into Idaho across the Nez Perce Pass.  
 

Driving partner has to chug a beer on video in front of the ranch used to film Yellowstone on account of losing some sort of bet.    

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12 hours ago, deadshank said:

Made it to Darby.  A misty  forty degrees this morning in the clouds.

Around 2 pm shove off to the final prox 30 mile leg into Idaho across the Nez Perce Pass.  
 

Driving partner has to chug a beer on video in front of the ranch used to film Yellowstone on account of losing some sort of bet.    

You’re fixing to get pegged.  

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On 9/12/2022 at 3:31 PM, deadshank said:

Dumas seems to be as good a place as any to stop and take a road dump.  
 

Wanted the panhandle of Oklahoma but I couldn’t hold out that long. 

Have been to Dumas to Pheasant hunt, my road dump there was unremarkable, thinking of going back in December but not to elevate the road dump. Sad little town. 

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18 hours ago, Al Czervik said:

Have been to Dumas to Pheasant hunt, my road dump there was unremarkable, thinking of going back in December but not to elevate the road dump. Sad little town. 

I think it was the inspiration for REK's lyrics to Rolling By: "It's a busted old town on the plains of West Texas..."

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Went to a buddy's ranch in LaPryor Wednesday.  Hunted dove Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  We were covered up.  Easy and quick limits Wed night and Thursday morning.

Some inexperienced shooters were there.  Not that I would ever do this, game wardens, but I could have easily killed three more limits for them Wednesday night so we would have plenty for the grill and to bring home.

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32 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Went to a buddy's ranch in LaPryor Wednesday.  Hunted dove Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  We were covered up.  Easy and quick limits Wed night and Thursday morning.

Some inexperienced shooters were there.  Not that I would ever do this, game wardens, but I could have easily killed three more limits for them Wednesday night so we would have plenty for the grill and to bring home.

Last weekend was steady for us, too.   Finally dried out for a minute. 

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1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

Went to a buddy's ranch in LaPryor Wednesday.  Hunted dove Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  We were covered up.  Easy and quick limits Wed night and Thursday morning.

Some inexperienced shooters were there.  Not that I would ever do this, game wardens, but I could have easily killed three more limits for them Wednesday night so we would have plenty for the grill and to bring home.

im-talking-hypothetically-in-theory.gif

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Dad got a new tree shear we did some work with it last weekend. Setting up two new spots. Have a decent 10 point on camera at this spot, but this will be a down year for us with the drought.

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Factory 300 WBY 200gr ELD-X is back in stock, so I got some practice in with my elk rifle and did some 400 and 500 yard work. I was going to try and hunt with my suppressor on this year, but I was having accuracy issues so abandoned that effort and went back to the muzzle brake and the groups tightened back up.

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Still have some work to get myself where I want to be accuracy wise. I’m having a harder time just keeping myself still and getting the crosshairs to calm down than I remember from past years. I think it’s harder for me to get to that mentally calm “zen” place. Too much feeling rushed/stressed, etc. Need to get it figured out in the next 3 weeks.

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Might want to have your suppressor adapter and mount checked carefully. Generally they improve accuracy.

Something isn’t right with it, but it’s a quick detach model (so two sets of threads) and it also has a slight end cap strike (got a little loose running on a full auto gun). I don’t have time to figure it out at the moment, and it’s really too heavy to hunt with. I’ll probably look at a lightweight titanium unit for hunting for next year.
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12 minutes ago, 686 said:


Nice! I can’t believe he’s in a carhartt - looks like it would get soaked through and cold fast!

Doesn’t really matter what you wear. Moose hunting is cold and wet.

They hunt the non-motorized areas as well. That’s where you hunt if antlers are a priority for you. He was 4 miles from moose camp. They have to cut that thing up and haul it by hand 4 miles. He said he was so soaked thru with sweat and blood and rain he had to squeeze the liquid out of his base layers just to hang them up to dry by the fire at camp. 

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Doesn’t really matter what you wear. Moose hunting is cold and wet.
They hunt the non-motorized areas as well. That’s where you hunt if antlers are a priority for you. He was 4 miles from moose camp. They have to cut that thing up and haul it by hand 4 miles. He said he was so soaked thru with sweat and blood and rain he had to squeeze the liquid out of his base layers just to hang them up to dry by the fire at camp. 

Packing out in waders sounds insanely swampy. Yeah in the research I’ve done about Moose hunting, calculating the meat pack out is basically priority 1 before going after a bull. Can they fully debone it in their area? Isn’t there an area where you can’t fully debone prior to transport?
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2 hours ago, 686 said:


Packing out in waders sounds insanely swampy. Yeah in the research I’ve done about Moose hunting, calculating the meat pack out is basically priority 1 before going after a bull. Can they fully debone it in their area? Isn’t there an area where you can’t fully debone prior to transport?

Moose hunting is a great time until you pull the trigger. 
 

Went to moose camp a few times when I first got up here. Now I’m lazy and road hunt. The wife likes to go, it’s good productive time for the two of us. 
 

I’ve never heard of an area where it is illegal to debone, but the fucking hunting regs are such that I just know the regs for the game management units I hunt, 20A and 20C. 
 

Everyone around here bones the loins, backstraps, ribs, and neck. They leave the bones in the hindquarters, cut off at the butcher’s joint. Makes hanging and aging easier. Hang the front legs the same way. 
 

BTW the hindquarters on that moose weighed about 200 pounds a piece. 
 

Four miles is a long haul with that much weight on your back. And the regs are you have to pack all the meat out before you can pack the head/antlers out. 

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I’ve never heard of an area where it is illegal to debone, but the fucking hunting regs are such that I just know the regs for the game management units I hunt, 20A and 20C. 


It may be some of the remote fly-in areas, like in Unit 25 the regs say “meat taken prior to Oct 1 must remain on the bones of the front quarters, hind quarters, and ribs until removed from the field”. I just never understood why the state is requiring pilots to fly out ~200lbs? of bones instead of just deboning before transport. Maybe it’s for ease of hanging as you mention and they are worried about spoilage if it’s warm.
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@hornmpa96 and @686 I did a cross between the two of you this weekend.  Got to the ranch around 1:30 Saturday.  Rigged up a ruck sack, made a portable target and took my 300 WinMag and proceeded to hike in circles around our place for 3+ hours.  Trying to combine my training and shooting at various angles / elevations in prep for my elk hunt next month.  Got it out to 285-yds and feel much more comfortable now shooting off of sticks, prone, etc.

Got back to the house around 6:00, loaded up the dog and the Mojos in the Polaris.  Only saw a few birds and shot two with no signs of improvement in the birds before dusk.  So, I went back to the house, poured a stiff cocktail and snuck down to one of the water troughs near the protein feeder.  Watched seven bucks until it was too dark to see.  Didn't get any pics, but did see a big 6-pt (should be an 8 but is missing his brow tines).  His main beams shoot straight up rather than out.  I'll set out game cameras in two weeks to see if I can figure out his pattern.  Would be a fun buck for my son to take this year.  

Shot a bit more early Sunday AM.  Back home by 11 AM the next morning.  24 hour trip, but damn it was fun.  I love solo ranch trips.  

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1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

Too early to tell, isn't it?

Not always......some years especially when weather has been extreme either way, I've seen early drops. 

Probably could been have phrased better - Any indication of an early drop is better question.

Heard from a client that has a weekend place in Caldwell that he's got some trees full and some trees already falling - pigs were his clue.   Curious if that pattern is showing up to the west.  

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50 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

You recon I could bribe someone from Lackland to accidentally drop some napalm?

 

Goats.JPG

Surly group hunt?

Seriously, had a friend with the same problem.  You have to pressure them off your place like pigs.  They're invasive (obviously) and can be culled year round.  

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4 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Surly group hunt?

Seriously, had a friend with the same problem.  You have to pressure them off your place like pigs.  They're invasive (obviously) and can be culled year round.  

Yeah - We pressure the shit out of them.  Every cousin, customer, and some sworn enemies have skull mounts to prove it.

Even have ewes ground up for dog food.   (Poor dogs).

Can't control them - only keep them tamped down.  There's some rugged county on this property and they THRIVE in it - won't budge.

We can usually keep them off the feeders during hunting season but they're never far off.  Honestly more of a pest than the hogs at this point.  

I can smell that picture from 600 miles away.

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4 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

Yeah - We pressure the shit out of them.  Every cousin, customer, and some sworn enemies have skull mounts to prove it.

Even have ewes ground up for dog food.   (Poor dogs).

Can't control them - only keep them tamped down.  There's some rugged county on this property and they THRIVE in it - won't budge.

We can usually keep them off the feeders during hunting season but they're never far off.  Honestly more of a pest than the hogs at this point.  

I can smell that picture from 600 miles away.

That stinks.  Literally and figuratively.  They are a giant PITA.  Just keep up the murdering spree as best you can.  

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Here's one I "guided".  Almost caused a divorce for this fella.  He was sure it would make a lovely addition to their home decor and he was WRONG.

Tough goat.  Took a .300wbthy in the shoulder, didn't flinch, and kept eating for a few seconds until it realized it was dead.

 

Goat 1.png

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Our final cooler tally…



Any elk steaks consumed yet? What else did the processor work up for you? My go-to quick and easy elk steak recipe from the last year of enjoying them is: defrost steaks, (tenderize with a bladed tenderizer if the processor didn’t) put in 1gallon ziplock bag with ~1/3 cup Fischer Weiser Raspberry Chipotle sauce and ~1-tbs Worchestshire sauce, mix thoroughly and refrigerate ~30 min. Get a good fire going (or gas grill as hot as it will go~ 500+), and cook the steaks over direct heat for ~3 min per side(total only about 6 min, depending on thickness), check internal temp as needed, don’t overcook. The marinade will caramelize, hot fire gives you some crispy outside, comes out nice.
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15 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

You recon I could bribe someone from Lackland to accidentally drop some napalm?

 

Goats.JPG

Al has a M1A, like the Marine weapon M14 back in the day, napalm was used, sadly, way back in the day, see where we’re going with this?  Ask for help and you may receive, and Lackland ain’t giving up any napalm.  

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17 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

Here's one I "guided".  Almost caused a divorce for this fella.  He was sure it would make a lovely addition to their home decor and he was WRONG.

Tough goat.  Took a .300wbthy in the shoulder, didn't flinch, and kept eating for a few seconds until it realized it was dead.

 

Goat 1.png

Where's your place?

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