DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
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Oh, yeah, that looks like a happy hog! :shock: No wonder she feels okay petting him.
2021 Hunting Pictures
- Thread starter JD338
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FunnyDrMike":2i4q3sja said:
JD338
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We had a successful Michigan Spring Turkey Season.
I shot my Tom opening day with my 870 Magnum, Pure Gold .670" choke and a Winchester Long Beard 12 ga 3" load of #5's at 23 yards. Beard is 9.75" and spurs are 1.125".
Sue shot her Tom the following weekend with her Franchi Affinity 20 ga, Pure Gold .570" choke and a Winchester Long Beard 20 ga 3" load of #5's at 20 yards. Beard is 9.5" and spurs are 1.125".
JD338
I shot my Tom opening day with my 870 Magnum, Pure Gold .670" choke and a Winchester Long Beard 12 ga 3" load of #5's at 23 yards. Beard is 9.75" and spurs are 1.125".
Sue shot her Tom the following weekend with her Franchi Affinity 20 ga, Pure Gold .570" choke and a Winchester Long Beard 20 ga 3" load of #5's at 20 yards. Beard is 9.5" and spurs are 1.125".
JD338
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Jim and Sue,
Congratulations on taking a fine pair of toms. Those are big birds. Did you weight them? They must be over 20 pounds each. Great calling and shooting to nab them at 20 and 23 yards. That Winchester Long Beard ammo has a pretty small pattern at those distances. Dan
Congratulations on taking a fine pair of toms.
Those are big birds. Did you weight them? They must be over 20 pounds each. Great calling and shooting to nab them at 20 and 23 yards. That Winchester Long Beard ammo has a pretty small pattern at those distances. Dan
DrMike
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You've each done well. Congratulations on a couple of fine birds.
Mmann
Beginner
- Dec 29, 2020
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A little late to post I suppose, but first turkey ever! Thank you JD338 for all of your help, and you were right, your shotgun never lets us down. Lol.
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DrMike
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Excellent! And a beautiful bird.
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Congratulations Mickey on a great Tom! Yup, the 'ol 870 Magnum hits 'em hard. Especially at 7 yards!
JD338
JD338
Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
- 17,804
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EXCELLENT!
hunter24605
Handloader
- Apr 30, 2016
- 2,562
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Well done!
hunter24605
Handloader
- Apr 30, 2016
- 2,562
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My “loss of desire” to hunt has faded when this guy suddenly appeared on one of the cams at the farm/cabin…first time anyone has seen him.. hopefully he’s not just traveling through.
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TNBillyEarl
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Powerstroke
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- Feb 24, 2006
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It's that time of year again, and as quick as it started, it's over. (At least for me) 15 Years to draw the tag, and was a great hunt with a life long friend. Not necessarily the 330+ bull that we had hopped for starting out 15 years ago, but absolutely no regrets. I knew when I saw him, he was it. The only question I have is when is someone going to come out with a range-finder with image stability or infrared thermal lock?
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DrMike
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Powerstroke":1ejhax41 said:
Those are the sort of hunts I appreciate anymore. Quick and done! Congratulations on a fine looking bull.
DrMike
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JD338":1aem6z8x said:
Sue tagged a beautiful bruin. Congratulations to both of you.
My 10yo son fought me a bit to get his Hunters Ed finished before the draws this year. So he didn't get put in but my dad, my hunting buddy, and I put in. We all drew the elk tags we had in 2016 and 2019 again this year. In ID a parent or grandparent can transfer deer, elk, or antelope to kids or grand kids. My dad gave up the best elk tag he has probably ever drawn to his grandson.
The season started last Friday but my son wanted to play his football game on Friday night and so his mom drove him 4.5 hours up to where we were already camped out hunting on Saturday. We rode the 10 miles out on our dirt bikes and took the truck down to pick him up in town about noon. By the time we ate, packed all his stuff up, and got all the way back to camp it was pushing 3pm. We got all our gear ready and started hiking trying find the bulls we had seen the night before. We got up to the canyon where they were and there were zero elk but we did hear a bull bugling back towards camp. We hike back that way and ended up walking within 200yds of a 300" bull. We weren't ready to be that close. I had my gun and my sons strapped to my pack and my hunting buddy had his strapped down to his pack as well. Luckily the bull didn't see us. We dropped down and offloaded the guns but by that time the bull had walked off and out of sight. He was screaming like crazy so we knew he was still close. We kept creeping in and finally caught him coming out of the timber at 250yds but he was walking dead away from us. About 300yds he turned broadside for a second and bugled but my son said he couldn't hold still enough and didn't shoot. He turned and again walked away from us into the timber. He gave us a brief shot opportunity at 600yds but neither my buddy or I could get stable enough to shoot him.
The next morning I woke my buddy up just after 6am and he promptly fell back asleep until I woke him up again. That put us on a bit of a late start for the morning. We did see the same bull again but it was late enough he was already headed into the timber. We did see another bull in the canyon we tried to check first the night before and took off after it. My son struggled to get stable on the side hill and the bull never held still very long. It would of been a 444yd shot and I really didn't want him to shoot past 400yds but I knew if he could hold still he could do it. Later that day we hike back up to the same canyon and didn't see or hear the bull from that morning. About 45-50 minutes before dark a few cows showed up on the ridge across the canyon and then another big bull stepped out on the skyline. It was a 300+" bull at 577yds. It was picture perfect. I actually got my gun out and on him first and my buddy said he would back me up. Earlier in the year my buddy was complaining about always shooting smaller bulls then me so I decided to let him have the shot. We both lined up on him 2 feet apart and he misses and blasted my good from his muzzle brake. It took me a second to get back on the bull and by that time he turned and walked straight away from me. I didn't want to shoot him in the hind end. We walked across the canyon and searched for the bull and blood but found nothing.
My son was tired and didn't want to go Monday morning and I mentioned we should check my buddies gun out. We rode the 10 miles out and checked my buddies gun out on a rock at 550yds. He shot just low and to the right edge of a elk vital sized rock the first shot but said he didn't feel super stable at the shot. He shot again and center punched the rock. Another case of buck errrr bull fever. That's what I get for being nice.
That night we hike up to where my buddy shot both his 2016 and 2019 bulls. BTW these are no easy hikes. It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to get from camp to the rock pile we usually changes sweaty shirts out and add clothes for the sit. Then we walk easily for about 5 minutes to the tree we sit under. I was packing 2 guns, clothes and gear for both of us, as well as food and water. My pack probably weighed 50-60lbs. We saw 3 bulls and a bunch of cows down low. The biggest bull was chasing the 2 small bulls off and bugling like crazy. Its a hard spot to get a clean shot on elk under 400yds so we decided to sit and see if something else would come out closer. We heard 2 other bulls bugling just inside the timber but neither came out before dark.
I couldn't find my good cow calls before we left so I made the call to come out of the woods again Tuesday to buy a cow call and bugle. I figured I'd try an entice one of those 2 bulls out of the timber that night. That night we hiked up the same hill in 1 hour and 7 minutes this time. We crawled under our tree about 5:30pm. By 6:15 or so we heard the 2 bulls bugling again. I started cow calling and bugling. By 7pm my son was freezing and asked to go down. The wind was howling most of the time and he had every ounce of clothing I had taken for him on, long johns, long sleeve, puffy coat, and rain gear. He was literally shaking so I put my backpack over his legs and hugged him to help keep him warm. The bull kept getting closer so I didn't want to leave. About 10 minutes from last shooting light I see him in the trees at the edge of the clear. It was about 400yds. I stopped calling and got his gun ready for him. The bull kept calling and walking our way looking for us until he got to about 200yds. I had the diaphram still in my mouth so I let out a cow call and he proceeded to turn perfectly broadside. My son couldn't get perfectly still right before that so I made a fist and put it under his left hand holding the bottom of the pistol grip. He got right on the bull when it turned broadside and I heard him click off the safety. I said if your good to shoot then shoot and a couple seconds later I hear boom and whack. He sent the 147 ELDM from his 6.5x47L right into the back edge of the shoulder blade. We later found out he destroyed the lungs. The bull walked a few yards and turned downhill and my buddy finished him with a neck shot. We probably had 5 minutes of shooting light left so the plan to get the calls probably payed off. This was the same bull my buddy want to try and kill the night before my son came. It has a broken main beam just above the G4 and if it was even would probably score 280" or so. That night we hung and skinned the quarters. My son was super tired and freezing so we hurried as much as possible but still didn't get to camp until 11:30pm.
Then we boned out the back strap, neck, and tenderloins and packed those out. The next morning we hiked back up, boned out the quarters and packed them off the mountain. My buddy took a hind quarter and the head, I took a hind quarter and 1 1/2 front quarters, and my son took 1/2 a front quarter. Admittedly I forgot a backpack for him so he had to carry the meat bag like a baby or over one shoulder but he was a trooper and never complained.
The picture with my buddy and the horns is right below where he died and is within 100yds of where he killed his bull in 2019, the rib cage is still there. Way down in the background near the Aspen trees is where the 3 bulls came out the night before. I'll get some more pictures from my buddy tonight. He took them all as there was barely enough light to get a nice picture with or without a flash.
Sorry it was so long but it was a pretty cool story and I'm a pretty proud dad. It's his first big game animal ever and what a way to start. There is more to the story but I left that out to keep it as short as possible.
The season started last Friday but my son wanted to play his football game on Friday night and so his mom drove him 4.5 hours up to where we were already camped out hunting on Saturday. We rode the 10 miles out on our dirt bikes and took the truck down to pick him up in town about noon. By the time we ate, packed all his stuff up, and got all the way back to camp it was pushing 3pm. We got all our gear ready and started hiking trying find the bulls we had seen the night before. We got up to the canyon where they were and there were zero elk but we did hear a bull bugling back towards camp. We hike back that way and ended up walking within 200yds of a 300" bull. We weren't ready to be that close. I had my gun and my sons strapped to my pack and my hunting buddy had his strapped down to his pack as well. Luckily the bull didn't see us. We dropped down and offloaded the guns but by that time the bull had walked off and out of sight. He was screaming like crazy so we knew he was still close. We kept creeping in and finally caught him coming out of the timber at 250yds but he was walking dead away from us. About 300yds he turned broadside for a second and bugled but my son said he couldn't hold still enough and didn't shoot. He turned and again walked away from us into the timber. He gave us a brief shot opportunity at 600yds but neither my buddy or I could get stable enough to shoot him.
The next morning I woke my buddy up just after 6am and he promptly fell back asleep until I woke him up again. That put us on a bit of a late start for the morning. We did see the same bull again but it was late enough he was already headed into the timber. We did see another bull in the canyon we tried to check first the night before and took off after it. My son struggled to get stable on the side hill and the bull never held still very long. It would of been a 444yd shot and I really didn't want him to shoot past 400yds but I knew if he could hold still he could do it. Later that day we hike back up to the same canyon and didn't see or hear the bull from that morning. About 45-50 minutes before dark a few cows showed up on the ridge across the canyon and then another big bull stepped out on the skyline. It was a 300+" bull at 577yds. It was picture perfect. I actually got my gun out and on him first and my buddy said he would back me up. Earlier in the year my buddy was complaining about always shooting smaller bulls then me so I decided to let him have the shot. We both lined up on him 2 feet apart and he misses and blasted my good from his muzzle brake. It took me a second to get back on the bull and by that time he turned and walked straight away from me. I didn't want to shoot him in the hind end. We walked across the canyon and searched for the bull and blood but found nothing.
My son was tired and didn't want to go Monday morning and I mentioned we should check my buddies gun out. We rode the 10 miles out and checked my buddies gun out on a rock at 550yds. He shot just low and to the right edge of a elk vital sized rock the first shot but said he didn't feel super stable at the shot. He shot again and center punched the rock. Another case of buck errrr bull fever. That's what I get for being nice
. That night we hike up to where my buddy shot both his 2016 and 2019 bulls. BTW these are no easy hikes. It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to get from camp to the rock pile we usually changes sweaty shirts out and add clothes for the sit. Then we walk easily for about 5 minutes to the tree we sit under. I was packing 2 guns, clothes and gear for both of us, as well as food and water. My pack probably weighed 50-60lbs. We saw 3 bulls and a bunch of cows down low. The biggest bull was chasing the 2 small bulls off and bugling like crazy. Its a hard spot to get a clean shot on elk under 400yds so we decided to sit and see if something else would come out closer. We heard 2 other bulls bugling just inside the timber but neither came out before dark.
I couldn't find my good cow calls before we left so I made the call to come out of the woods again Tuesday to buy a cow call and bugle. I figured I'd try an entice one of those 2 bulls out of the timber that night. That night we hiked up the same hill in 1 hour and 7 minutes this time. We crawled under our tree about 5:30pm. By 6:15 or so we heard the 2 bulls bugling again. I started cow calling and bugling. By 7pm my son was freezing and asked to go down. The wind was howling most of the time and he had every ounce of clothing I had taken for him on, long johns, long sleeve, puffy coat, and rain gear. He was literally shaking so I put my backpack over his legs and hugged him to help keep him warm. The bull kept getting closer so I didn't want to leave. About 10 minutes from last shooting light I see him in the trees at the edge of the clear. It was about 400yds. I stopped calling and got his gun ready for him. The bull kept calling and walking our way looking for us until he got to about 200yds. I had the diaphram still in my mouth so I let out a cow call and he proceeded to turn perfectly broadside. My son couldn't get perfectly still right before that so I made a fist and put it under his left hand holding the bottom of the pistol grip. He got right on the bull when it turned broadside and I heard him click off the safety. I said if your good to shoot then shoot and a couple seconds later I hear boom and whack. He sent the 147 ELDM from his 6.5x47L right into the back edge of the shoulder blade. We later found out he destroyed the lungs. The bull walked a few yards and turned downhill and my buddy finished him with a neck shot. We probably had 5 minutes of shooting light left so the plan to get the calls probably payed off. This was the same bull my buddy want to try and kill the night before my son came. It has a broken main beam just above the G4 and if it was even would probably score 280" or so. That night we hung and skinned the quarters. My son was super tired and freezing so we hurried as much as possible but still didn't get to camp until 11:30pm.
Then we boned out the back strap, neck, and tenderloins and packed those out. The next morning we hiked back up, boned out the quarters and packed them off the mountain. My buddy took a hind quarter and the head, I took a hind quarter and 1 1/2 front quarters, and my son took 1/2 a front quarter. Admittedly I forgot a backpack for him so he had to carry the meat bag like a baby or over one shoulder but he was a trooper and never complained.
The picture with my buddy and the horns is right below where he died and is within 100yds of where he killed his bull in 2019, the rib cage is still there. Way down in the background near the Aspen trees is where the 3 bulls came out the night before. I'll get some more pictures from my buddy tonight. He took them all as there was barely enough light to get a nice picture with or without a flash.
Sorry it was so long but it was a pretty cool story and I'm a pretty proud dad. It's his first big game animal ever and what a way to start. There is more to the story but I left that out to keep it as short as possible.
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DrMike
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Excellent report. Congratulations all the way around. Couldn't help but think that taking the antlers out on the bike could invite an overzealous shooter to take a poke if you were anywhere near heavily hunted land.
Mike,
The unit is about 50 miles long and there are only 180 tags. The hunter density is fairly low. This year was higher then normal because the rest of the unit was pretty dry. I can't believe someone would be that stupid but people never cease to amaze me how stupid they can be.
Here are some more pictures. He didn't want to hold the horns because the elk was still twitching. :lol:
The unit is about 50 miles long and there are only 180 tags. The hunter density is fairly low. This year was higher then normal because the rest of the unit was pretty dry. I can't believe someone would be that stupid but people never cease to amaze me how stupid they can be.
Here are some more pictures. He didn't want to hold the horns because the elk was still twitching. :lol:
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DrMike
Ballistician
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I'm definitely in love with the country. It matches some of the mountains in my AO. Good show on the part of all of you. I've actually been on a mountain bike when hunters were scoping me as I moved out of the area. That was down near the Big Bend in Texas many years ago. It is a most uncomfortable feeling. Yeah, some people can be pretty stupid when it comes to firearms. We get such an influx of once-a-year "hunters" from Vancouver and Prince George each year that we see the same idiocy around here that I saw in south Texas. Great pictures, btw. Thanks for posting them. They are enjoyable to see.
