The Hunting Times

The kids wanted to go sledding in the approximately 5" of snow that we received.  They wanted to be pulled behind the truck, since we don't have any hills that make it worth our time.  So, I obliged and drove.  They rode in the back and took videos of our 2 X 2 jaunt through the bean fields.  Don't reckon I made it over 40 mph in the field, but the turbo chargers did kick in once or twice.  They could only go once around the field before their faces got too cold and it was time for a break. City boy Alex did not believe Kathy when she told him that this is what we were going to do.  So this ended up being another "first" for him on the farm.  Shelby, on the other hand, had been pulled by snowmobiles and 4-wheelers before. Good fun had by all.  All photos by Boppum Barb.  Video links at the end.  Kathy and Shelby coming around for a photo op by Boppum. Kathy and Shelby.  Note the "clear" spots on the back window so Ni...

The true story is that Meijer had soda on sale for $5.50 a case.  We stocked up 'cause it ain't gonna go to waste. However, it appears as though we're preparing for the Mayan apocalypse. I'll miss you most of all, Mt. Dew!

Davey, Alex, and I went out on Sunday evening, 23 DEC - the last day of muzzle loading for our county. As Alex walked in, he jumped 8 doe due E and off our property.  I watched them continue E, stop and start feeding after jumping the fence and getting about 1 mile away from the "danger" of Alex. I went back into the woods and jumped 3 more doe, and they ran N.  Seems like Alex and I are both "Bad Dogs."  I ran back N to try and cut them off.  I then cut diagonally through the woods.  I came upon 4 beds, which I diagnosed as 3 doe and 1 buck - due to the location of the urine stains.  I thought that maybe the buck was still in front of me just over the rise. I made the top of the hill and surveyed the woods.  I saw nothing.  So, I got my camera out and took a picture of the sun setting in the SW.  Here it is. Blow it up and look closely, as outlined by the arrow in this picture.  There's a deer in the field watching me. ...

Davey, Re-Phil and I took a day off to head for Batesville to hunt pheasants.  We drove down for 2 hours and walked around 2 different properties on Tuesday, 04 DEC. We saw absolutely nothing.  N'er a shot was fired. We drove on it to Oldenburg and ate lunch at Wagner's.  We had the place to ourselves, so Phil thought he'd have a shot at the bartender lady.  Wow, he can have her. We ate fried chicken and drank Warnsteiner Dunkel.  We left after lunch so we could make it back for the Wildcat Conservation Club's rabbit fry. Re-Tard made the mistake of leaving his hat in the back seat with Dave when he got out to pee.  Come on Man!  You know something like this is going to happen... Yes, that's Re-Phil's hat coming out of Davey's pants.  THAT'S gonna need a washin'!

As I was coming home from Indy on Wednesday, 19 DEC, I saw a Bald Eagle resting on the S of the pond, the very last tree on the NW corner of the woods. I stopped the truck directly below him (or her) and watched it from my sunroof.  I got my cell phone camera ready and jumped out - successfully spooking it.  It flew SW across the field and landed by the creek at the fertilizer plant.  It's very tough to see, but you can make out the white tail in the picture below. Then, as we're coming back from hunting on Sunday, 23 DEC, I tell Nick and Alex that I saw an eagle in that tree right there.  Son of a gun, s/he was back - in the exact same spot. This time, I drove past it about 20 yards.  Nick and I both got our cameras out.  We were too far away for our crappy cell phone cameras to get good pictures; but, we all three saw it this time. Awesome!  It's not every day you get to see a Bald Eagle on your own property in the middle of Indian...

Davey, Alex, Nick, and I headed to Jenkins and the Golf Course this morning.  Neither Nick nor Alex have a muzzle loader, so they borrowed Pa Jerry's.  As Nick and I were sighting those muzzle loaders in, I broke one of the ram rods.  We fashioned one out of a dow rod, but I really suspect that this is a single shot muzzle loader.  So, since I broke it, I used it today. They dumped me out at Jenkins and I grabbed the 3 extra rounds - but neglected to take the primer charger.  This, I realized about 20 minutes into my walk.  There I was, a spectator, carrying a knife and a club.  I would NOT be taking any shots this morning. So instead, I just enjoyed the day.  It was a BEAUTIFUL sunrise.  If you look, you can see the church steeple in this picture.  You may have to blow it up. I continued my walk across Jenkins and toward the course.  I never saw a thing. I picked up Nick at Hole #15 and we walked W.  We heard a s...

The storm from Thursday left us with close to an inch of snow on the ground.  It's 15 degrees F and it's all FROZEN.  Which makes it impossible to be quiet.  That didn't stop Nick and me from trying. We chased all the deer off the course as we walked in.  We got nothing but cold. The deer ran N, across #14, behind #12's tee box and continued off property - all 8 of them. Here's a scene that not many people get to see, this is the tee box for Hole #16, facing W, covered in snow. And no, there were no golfers out today - the course is closed.

Oh the weather outside WAS Frightful!  We're talking 47 mph winds, snow, ice, rain, with 32F and dropping at 5 degrees per hour.  And yes, Re-Phil and I were out hunting in it.  You may question our sanity, but you can't question our dedication. Phone screen shot showing conditions. Radar map from truck GPS showing map. We hit the golf course, and after a week of seeing absolutely nothing, I saw 3 tonight and Phil saw 4.  They just all happened to be running AWAY from us.  Had I seen 2 of my 3 earlier, I could have taken a shot, but the wind and their noses conspired against me. We had fun and saw deer and that's what it's about.

Phil, Nick and I hit the golf course this fine evening. Never saw a deer, but we did get to watch a beautiful sunset. That's why it's called "Hunting" and not "Killing."  Heck, if it were easy, everybody would be doing it.

Had the occasion to travel and saw this sign at the airport. Totally in shock!  That's right, fellow citizens, turn each other in so the Gestapo can come and haul them away. Sorry, I have to go throw up now...

Nick, Eric, and I had a successful morning at the golf course. Two down in less than 30 minutes. Guess that makes up for yesterday's fiasco. We got run off by 8:30.  Somebody showed up to cut trees. Shooting all around us. I was in the wind and it was COLD.  26 degrees F when we hit the course at 6:50 am. Nick and Eric stayed out of the wind.  I need a new spot tomorrow. Eric did take a 275 yard shot with the 20 gauge.  Nick called it "ill advised."  Eric said "I had a shot." Yes, E, they were out in the open, but you're limited to 100 yards or less. Oh well, at least he saw deer today. Got back to the gut pile and Denis and Eric Neighty were there.  They shot another one out of the E stand on Neal.  They said we should have been in the fence row on Marshall / Boyd / Neal, as 4 deer ran right by that spot this morning. Some photos and a video for your viewing pleasure. Yes, we used the golf carts to go pick up our kills.  Note t...

Nick, Eric and I got up and out this morning to hit the golf course.  Arrived and ready by 7 am.  Legal shooting light was 7:12. Nick walked up 18 to 11, down 14 to sit on 15's tee box.  He jumped a buck and a doe on 14.  Too far for a shot. Eric walked around 9 and sat on 16 along the woods. I walked hole 1, across 3 and sat on #4, middle of the fairway behind a tree. I had four doe (mama and 3 yearlings) come out to my W at about 50 yards, below #4's tee box.  I stepped behind the tree to cock my muzzle loader (I carry my muzzle loader throughout shotgun season).  The deer spooked and ran back up to #3's green - but still only 100 yards away. I put my cross hairs on mama's chest and squeezed the trigger.  All four took off to the S.  I reloaded and walked over to survey for blood.  Nothing. I found where mama was standing (prints) and where my bullet struck the hillside.  I shot completely under her.  Bad form. Not t...

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Us ins?  We've got a lot to be thankful for.  Since I was 13 years old, I've been hunting with my Dad, Uncle, and Cousin on Thanksgiving Day.  That's some 21 odd years straight now.  We scarf lunch meat sandwiches, candy bars, beef jerky, and crackers for our Thanksgiving meal.  And really, it is a treat! I'm thankful that everyone is still around to enjoy it with me.  Plus, we all make it a priority to do so. Since the beginning, we've added folks here and there and lost a few too.  Grandpa Robert Seager used to go with us until his body wouldn't let him anymore.  Nick's goes most of the time, but he's missed a few because he picked sleep over hunting.  I think we've broken him of that though.  And every other year now, we're adding son-in-law Alex to the mix (family obligations on his side keep him away on the even years). As is our usual custom, we headed up to Carroll county ...

Well, my hopes of updating this for every day (i.e. journal) have gone to pot the past week. We have been out and about - early mornings, evenings, etc.  Suffice to say that we've had our chances, seen deer, gotten shots, and only added 2 to the pot. Kathy, Alex, Nick, Eric and I went out to Marshall / Boyd on Saturday morning, the 17th. Colonel Vice had a party at his deer camp next door.  Heard them making noise (grunting, rattling, etc), but no shots over there either. Kathy, if she hadn't been waiting on the big buck, could of had a nice doe.  No one else even had a shot. It was a nice morning though. Sun coming up on Marshall on Opening Day. We called it quits by 11 and came back in for some grub. The Tribe having some liquid nourishment before calling it a day.

We took the time to shoot in our muzzle loaders and shotguns while the weather was nice. While we did this, I also needed to shoot in my AR15, as I had taken off the scope to put it on the .308 for elk hunting. Here is a photo as shot from 65 yards (60 meters). The four on the left show that I'm still a little off.  I readjusted and shot the two at 12 o'clock. That right there - 6 shots in 2 holes - that Bob Lee Swaggert shootin' if you ask me!  And, 2" high at 65 yards ought to put me dead on zero at 150 yards. I was shooting my own hand loads.  I am pushing a 55 grain Nossler ballistic tip bullet out with 27.5 grains of Hodgon's CFE223 powder and CCI small rifle primers.  They are running 3,355 fps.  And, as you can see, they're pretty darn accurate. Then, on my way home from Indy on Thursday, I see this traveling north bound.  First thought, Drug Runners. You're looking at three 300 HP Yamaha motors on one boat.  That's...

Re-Phil and I went out to Jenkins tonight.  RePhil took the large stand in the middle and I took the stand to the N.  On our drive in, we saw 4 does being chased by two bucks, and one of the bucks was a monster.  For sure he was a wall hanger.  A solid 10 if not 12-pointer. RePhil says I bumped a large 6-pointer out of the willows on my way into the stand.  He said it ran right past his stand.  The only problem was, he wasn't in the stand yet.  He was still walking to it. The weather was not too cold, but the wind was ferocious.  It was hitting 40 mph tonight, blowing to the NE.  I only lasted about 30 minutes in the stand.  I lowered my crossbow and climbed down.  I put on a bolt and started walking toward the golf course - out of the wind.  I had not gone 20 yards when I turned around and saw the 4 doe from earlier right under my stand.  Crap. I turned around and walked through the woods toward the deer.  I hi...

Nick, RePhil and I headed for Marshall / Neal this fine Sunday morning.  Nick and RePhil hit the two stands on Neal and I walked in on Marshall's bottom ground by the creek.  We got out a little late, as you can tell the sun is already coming up at about 7:40 am. Nick and Craig ready for Sunday morning's hunt. Before I even got to the bottoms, two doe came up from the S and crossed the road in front of me.  I watched them run N through the bottoms and turn W.  I slowly walked N along the creek. About half way through, I saw a 4-point buck cruising from the S to the N.  He turned and followed the doe. Then Chuck Buck showed up, along the same path as junior.  He continued N until he winded me and then turned W.  I continued my walk along the creek. About at the end, I saw another doe in the bottoms, but she was walking W and S.  So far, I have seen 5 deer and no shots were available. I got to the end and started through the woods w...

The girls (Sandy, Kathy, and Shelby) all went up to Michigan City today to go Christmas shopping.  The boys are ruling the house (until they come home). Alex showed up after work, about 3 or so.  He and Nick loaded up and headed out to the stands on Neal.  I stayed home to clean house and cook dinner (don't revoke my Man Card just yet, read on). The boys, they saw nothing in the woods.  Nick did manage to fall / jump out of the stand.  As he was descending, he slipped and caught hold of the foot plate with one hand.  The metal grate started to cut into his hand, so he let go and dropped about 8 feet, landing on his feet.  The only injury to report is a rip in his pinky finger.  He had previously lowered his bow down with the rope, so no equipment damage. Yep, seems to be some skin missing there boy.  Looks kinda raw. I told the boys I would have the meal ready at 6:15.  They pulled in at 6:13, washed and sat down.  I had ...

Today was Election Day in the good ole US of A.  Got up early and voted.  Returned home about 4 pm and headed to the woods with Kathy, Alex, and Nick. The Gang:  Ready to kill sumptin. We hit the woods at 4:15.  It was 50 degrees F with a slight ( < 5 mph ) wind coming from the SW.   Lahrman's were out applying anhydrous ammonia to Neal's field.  Marshal was out fixing his combine so that he could pick the rest of the corn.  Bailey was shooting in his shotgun.  And the farmer at the bottoms was running a disc through the bean field. Odd are we were screwed for the evening.  Not much chance of any deer being around with all that activity. Alex sat W (old) stand.  Nick sat E (new) stand and Kathy walked the fence line.  I headed for the bottoms. Kathy and I exchanged texts.  The tractor was too close and it stunk, so she went and joined Alex in the W stand. I sat along the creek in the bottoms and enjoyed the si...

A lot has been posted, written about, discussed, cussed, and debated relative to buck rubs, scrapes, and the annual rut (mating period for deer).  Yes, that's right.  Deer only mate once per year.  Pretty much the same as married people over 40. This past week-end while I was out hunting, I came upon a spot where no fewer than 13 trees had been rubbed.  What is a rub and why do bucks rub trees?  Excellent questions...allow me to add my perspective. Here is a photo I took last Friday 11/2 of a RUB.  Beautiful setting by the way. Early in the year, bucks may rub trees like this to get the velvet off their antlers.  Later in the year, however, this is done to (a) mark their territories, and (b) strengthen their necks for fighting to defend territories or does.  Basically, this is a visual cue to all other bucks who pass by that this territory is spoken for and you need to leave. Now, this is a relatively small tree.  Does that mean th...

I took 75 of the 300+ photos from our elk hunting trip and set them to music (songs that we sung while hiking).  I turned that into a slide show / video and posted it on YouTube. I got a nasty-gram from YouTube saying that "some of the content was licensed" and may not be allowed.  I do not know how long it will remain on the site. I have also made the video "restricted."  That is, you cannot find it by simply searching for it.  You MUST have this link in order to access the video. So for you, my loyal Blog Reader, here is the link if you would so like to watch.  It's 9:42 long.   http://youtu.be/9unf9spTPHQ The video is restricted because there are a few photos in there that a) some may find inappropriate, and b) may hurt my chances at winning a seat in the Senate for Indiana.  For sure they will not be good for my Presidential campaign.  You know, some peeing pictures and one of me "riding" Re-Phil's pillow.  All in good fun. ...

Kathy and Alex showed up around 3:45 pm this afternoon.  We loaded up and headed to Marshall / Boyd / Neal.  It was 5:00 (about) when we headed out:  Alex to the old stand (W on Neal), Nick to the new stand (E on Neal) and Kathy to the fence line on Marshall / Neal.  I walked the almost fully picked cornfield to the first ravine on Marshall. The Gang in front of now almost gone corn field. It was 51 degrees F with a 10 mph wind coming from the NW, or off to the left in this picture. I had not been standing for 5 minutes when 3 deer, mama and two babies, came walking down the ravine across from me heading SE.  It was too long of a shot with a stick and string.  In fact, I would have needed a gun to get them today.  They walked until mama winded me and snorted.  They ran around for about 5 minutes, not knowing what to do.  I finally got fed up with them and waved my hands to scare them away - but not before I got a picture of one of th...

Apologies to any followers of the blog, as I have been delinquent in updating since returning to Indiana. Rest assured that we all did indeed make it back okay. We drove from Grand Junction to Golden, passing through all the snow in the mountains, and stopped at Golden.  Our plan was to eat lunch and then take a tour of the Coors Brewery. For some reason, Golden was BUSY on Saturday.  We hit the Blue Mountain Grill for some eats.  They had just turned over their cooking staff.  It took 90 minutes for us to get food and eat.  So much for the Brew Tour.  We left and headed for the airport. We hit the airport, returned the car, and then checked our guns and luggage. Our flight was delayed.  We were told it was because the flight coming in was late.  However, once we finally boarded, we were told we were waiting for a connecting flight.  Three people from THAT flight were due to get on our plane to Indy.  We took off about 30 minut...

That damn alarm went off again at 4:45. But we laid around and did not get out until about 6:30. We drove out to the Lower Roan Creek area via DeBeque. There were many more hunters today. Maybe the cold snap brought out the elk! Sure enough, as we rounded a bend, there were 3 large bulls about 50 yards off the road. They bolted south and stopped by the creek at 120 yards. An easy shot for Super Hunters like us. Two problems though: 1) we do not have bull tags and 2) they were on private land. We took lots of pictures though. Shot them with a camera instead of a gun. We drove up the road a bit and stopped to get our gear ready (guns out and orange on). We were standing at the tailgate and a truck pulled up. Fella was Rod Graham and runs his own guide business. He said, "I hope you boys don't plan on hunting here." No, we assured him, we were just getting ready. We showed him our GPS and how we could tell what was public versus private land. We also told him th...

Oh what a long day. It's 10 pm local time and we just got back from dinner. We did sleep in a bit this morning. Up at 6 and out by 7. Suppose that was a good thing though as Phil jumped a lady at the gas station. No, you perverts, not that kind of jump. Her Jeep had a dead battery. So we three Eagle Scouts did our good turn for the day. We topped off the tank and bought a gas station breakfast. Seems that our Nissan Pathfinder passes everything but a gas station. Geordie told a funny story this morning. He said that Re-Phil and I had a snoring contest at about 10:45 last night. I'm sure our wives would agree, but personally, I did not hear a thing. I think Geordie is a Big Liar. Re-Phil says that's what Geordie gets for wearing us old men out. Geordie got out his ear plugs so that he could go back to sleep. He's threatening to film us tonight if we do it again. We drove up to Douglass Pass and spotted 4 mulie bucks that we stopped and took pictures of on th...

Got up again this morning at 4:45. Re-Phil was already in the shower. Said he couldn't sleep. I did not have that problem. Rolled out at 5:30. We were on top of the ridge by 7:30, trying to spot the elk. Sure enough, by 8:30, they were walking back up the opposite ridge, exactly where they've been the past two days. We headed back to the truck and drove around the top of the mountain. We parked and headed S. We were three ridges away at the head of Roan Creek. Elk are on that ridge somewhere. We walked down, up, around, down again, back up and across the top to make it to the opposite ridge of the elk. We arrived at 11. It was very difficult terrain. About 350 feet up and down across shale. We glassed for elk. Nothing. So we ate lunch. We glassed some more. Nothing, but we did hear a bugle. We were still glassing when the snow started. It got down to 29F with lots of wind and very little visibility. Snowing on the way out. Note lack of visibility. We walked b...

I'm disliking that alarm more and more each day. It went off again at 4:45 this morning. We got up and took quick showers. Hit the road at 5:45 and gassed up at Loma. We spotted a coyote crossing Douglas Pass. We arrived at the top of the mountain at 7:30. We headed off the E face to glass the elk again. They were going up the ridge exactly where they came down last night. That's two ridge lines to our east and about 2000 feet of elevation change. We decided that we would attempt to get at them from the bottom. As we walked out, we met two other hunters, a man and wife. Marc and Ginn are from California. They are camping on top. This is Marc's fourth trip out and he is carrying a bull tag. Ginn just retired and is on her first hunt. They saw the same elk we did last night, but are unwilling to walk that far. We drove over to DeBeque and ate lunch. We headed up Roan Creek Road. We made it 20 miles up the canyon before reaching a locked gate. We were still abo...

The alarm went off way too early this morning. We were all sleeping very well. Up at 4:45. Left hotel at 5:33. Kinda windy today. Parked the truck at 7:01. Promptly took a wrong turn. Headed out and down. Got to see a beautiful sunrise. At 8:30 we heard a bull bugle. We could tell it was E and in front of us, but not how far. We stopped for an hour to see if any elk moved up toward us. Nothing. We cut across a S face on an elk trail that switched back. We hung out in an Aspen grove until 2:30. Told stories, ate lunch, and even broke out some iTunes, which I think goes against all hunting rules. We came back out on point and sat both sides, hoping to get a shot as the elk headed down to feed. Geordie saw a roosting hawk and called us over to see. Then he came over to ask if we heard another bugle. We did not. Next thing you know, Geordie is hollering. We ran over. He had spotted an elk. He talked us through landmarks until we could see it. We glassed for an hour and s...

Got up this morning at 5:30. Left hotel at 6:11. Arrived at destination at 7:40. Ninety minutes to go 65 miles. The last 10 miles takes 30 minutes - yeah, the roads are that tough. We busted S down a drain wash. It was STEEP and ROCKY. Re-Phil came close to going over the cliff. Said that was his worse nightmare. Check out our climb. Really, this does not do the area justice. A little better. But look back up. Took 2 hours to get to our home base. We were about half way down the hill, or 600 feet below top grade of 8500 feet. We glasses for several hours but never saw an elk. We left the mountain at 4 after planning our attack for tomorrow. We headed almost straight up. Well, the range finder said it was a 38 degree incline. It was tough climbing, but we did it in about 1:15. We saw 3 more mulies on the way out and got some good pics. Gonna be an early one tomorrow. Geordie climbing out. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Crossroads Blvd,Grand Junction,United...

Well we slept in this morning, which for us was 8 o'clock. We all took showers and then hit Denny's for breakfast. We drove down to Safeway to get lunch items for our packs. We also got a 12 pack of Modello. We then headed W to Loma and SR 139. Then we headed N. We stopped along Douglass Pass for a photo op. That's where we just came from. Facing SE. Our turn off to come back E to our GMU is marked by a large barn. Should be easy to find tomorrow morning. We only made one wrong turn getting to the high gate. Well done for noobs like us. We parked and hiked around with our packs. Had a shore lunch and then back to the truck for more scouting. Noob elk hunters loaded for bear. Notice the awesome weather! We drove as far E as we could and then headed back, checking all pull offs as we came W. At our second pull off, here comes the CO. We initiated contact by exiting the truck without weapons. We volunteered our licenses and he validated them. We chit-chatted for ...