Little Creek Calls

Just got home from my elk hunt and thought I would share a quick picture of my 3B Muzzleloader Bull. More photos and story to come later when I have some time

My dad had built up 15 bonus points hoping some day for an early rifle tag in unit 1 or 27. When I ran the odds on the calculator I told him he would probably wait over 10 more years for one of those tags or he could make the bonus pass for 3B muzzleloader this year. Being over 70 years old he told me he didn’t want to wait any longer and to put him in for 3B. He did make the bonus pass and I got lucky on a separate application and drew with only 4 points. With my parents and my wife’s parents both living with in the unit we were able to do a lot of scouting for this hunt. Early on we saw some nice bulls in velvet but they all seemed to disappear just before the archery hunt started. One morning after spotting two nice bulls scouting during the archery hunt my Dad suffered a major heart attack and was flown down to the valley to have two procedures done on two separate days. The doctor limited his physical activity for 3 months. We began to explore all available options for his tag (signing it over to my nephew under 18, applying for a CHAMP license, trying to get his bonus points reinstated and surrender his tag) but after waiting over 15 years to draw this tag he wanted to find a way to complete this hunt. This put a lot of extra pressure on us trying to find a water hole and a blind on a fairly smooth road where he could sit and wait without having to hike. The day before the hunt my wife’s little brother and one of his friends turned us on to an often overlooked area that was holding a lot of nice bulls this year. Opening morning we spent trying to figure out how best to hunt with my dad’s condition. Even walking just a few yards had him tired and worn out unable to go out in the evening. I took my wife out for the evening hunt and just missed a shot under a bull at 199 yards. This would be the bull that I ended up harvesting 4 days later. The rain came on Saturday and Sunday and I missed on a primer that didn’t ignite the powder. After the first one and the elk had gone I fired 2 more primers before the powder finally went off clearing the barrel. Monday morning we had my dad set up on a meadow just off a main road that had a decent bull and cows frequenting it. Things just worked out perfect and he was blessed with a 80 yard one shot kill. I think he enjoyed sitting in a chair watching everyone else do all the cleaning and loading of his elk. It wasn’t the biggest bull we had been seeing but for him and his condition it was the best opportunity we could find. It made me so happy that we were able to help him hunt and fill his own tag without endangering his health any more. After working on breaking down and processing his elk all day we took a break that evening to go out and hunt our #1 bull we had been seeing. We were able to call in one of the satellite bulls to his heard and just before dark moved in and almost got a shot at him but he busted me with just one or two seconds to spare. It was tough watching him trot off into the sunset. The next morning we got set up on our #2 bull (the one I missed a shot at on day one) and this time I didn’t miss. In fact I hit him twice but he was a tough bull and took off with his cows. After finding his tracks and blood the tracking began. When we caught up to him he was still alive and had started down this canyon. I put a few more shots in him to make sure he wasn’t going any farther but he still managed to roll a little deeper down into the canyon. My wife’s little brother climbed down near him and said that all the shots looked like kill shots to him. He was one tough elk to go that far. We then tried the gutless method for the first time and packed the meat and head out of the canyon with the help of a few friends.. My bull had long main beams with lots of length up top and on his fronts. He had lots of mass too. He wasn’t the widest bull we saw (that was bull #1) but still had decent width. The tracking made it fun and rewarding, glad we stuck with it and found him. It was a great end to a great hunt. I am still trying to gather photos and videos from friends and may update again later. My dads Bull Where we caught up to my bull picture showing mass (sorry I cant get it to turn right side up)

I might be mistaken but I think the bonus pass only works on your first choice. My dad made the bonus pass with 15 points. According to my calculator the bonus pass should have been around 13 or 14 points. I got lucky and drew with 4 points. Sorry about the blood, it started spraying after the final shot to finish him off after a long tracking.

The High Desert Hunt Club just north of Cordes Junction along the Agua Fria River also has pay per released bird Chucker and Pheasant hunts. This is where the game and fish hold the Ken Middleton memorial youth Pheasant hunt each year.

Here are a few pictures of the puppies on day two. The orange coloring starts light on english pointers and will darken up after a month or two.

Well we ended up with 6 new puppies. 3 black (2 males 1 female), 2 orange (both males), and 1 liver female.

Well the second puppy was a liver female and the third was an orange male. Wow we are only three puppies in and we already have all three colors. here is a picture of the the liver female.

Well the first puppy was just born right on time (we had estimated tomorrow for a due date) and is black and white with great spotting. My wife thinks it is a female. I will update later this evening with final numbers, colors and pictures.

My brother in law saw a nice 7x in the back of a truck in Lakeside this morning. They were driving so he wasn't able to get a picture.

Our female is looking really big. Just two more weeks until her due date. A few more detail about the puppies, they will be registered through American Field Sporting Dog Association. They will have their first set of shots and their dew claws removed. They will be available for pick up starting around November 7th. I will post details of numbers and sex of puppies after birth in a few weeks.

I was expecting not a lot of changes and was pleasantly surprised with 16 more Gould’s tags for next spring over last years numbers. Maybe it will be my year to draw.

Great shotgun at a great price. I have one real similar with the same engravings. It is my understanding that Browning doesn’t make any new ones that are engraved and haven’t since the late 90’s. The engraved models are becoming more rare and harder to find. I have shot Dove, Quail, Chucker, Pheasant and Turkey with mine. It is my go to gun for 5 stand sporting clays, I shoot better with it than any other gun i have tried at clay targets. Good luck with the sale.

Tommy, have you heard of Maverick. It is not to far from there. It about 3 miles upstream from where Pacheta Creek dumps into the Black river.

Did you have any pictures of Pacheta Falls? Beautiful area and well worth the long drive to get there.

Great composition with the turkey looking back into the picture. I like calling across the reservation fence to those WMAT birds to try to entice them to cross over. This spring two or three hens answered the call and came across. This picture with the hen looking back reminds me of that.

Here is a picture of the box call I made and donated for the banquet tomorrow night. It is a Mesquite call body with Arizona Walnut base plate and lid. It sounds great. I will be attending in Sierra Vista with my Wife two boys and Parents. Hope to meet some of you there. Here is the info on the banquet. The Huachuca Gould’s Chapter 16th Annual Hunting Heritage to be held on August 2, 2014 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 156 W. Kayetan Drive, in Sierra Vista. Doors open at 4:30PM.

Wish I could make it, I will be out of town with family. I will have 3 calls I donated in the auction.

Yoshi, what unit for turkey did you put in for? I just bought the bonus point for turkey, still waiting for the spring Gould's tag.

Finally got it mounted up last night, thanks for your help Vowell. It is a Knight 45 cal disc extreme with the new Leupold ultimate slam. I have had the Muzzleloader for a few years and love it, I was just upgrading the scope.

If you are going to be shooting a lot of ducks a semi auto might be nice but harder to get a quality gun in your price range. Like khmer6 said Stoger might be the best semi auto on a budget. If you go with a pump you can get top of the line gun and still have a few bucks leftover. My suggestions for pumps are if you are a remington guy get an 870, if not buy a Browning or Mossburg or Benelli. If you are wanting to hunt a lot of ducks and turkey defiantly go for one with a camo pattern, if you dont you will wish you did later.

What do you mostly plan on using it for? (target shooting, home defense, doves, quail, turkey, exc)

I have been wanting to try this. Do you use the hole pod including the seeds?

It was a good banquet. It was at bass pro and a little smaller venue so there was only seating for around 90, It was sold out. There was lots of guns. Food was good, all you can eat buffet of Chicken ribs mashed potatoes and apple pie. Lots of help from other chapters to get it going, Steve Sams from Prescott, Donna and one or two others from Tucson and of course Justin the regional director and his wife. Mike the new chapter president did a good job. Up next is the valley long beards banquet on July 26th. I will be out of town and cant make it but will have a couple calls there. Then last is Sierra Vista and the Huachuca Goulds August 2nd witch I hope to attend for the first time.

Drawing a bow is allot of stress to be putting on a newly healed clavicle. I had a bad clavicle break about 12 years ago and I dont think I would have tried it but I didn't get the titanium hardware. Doctors were back and forth on what they wanted to do and ended up just letting it heal naturally. My recommendation would be to get your doctor to write you a letter not recommending the draw a compound bow take it to game and fish and get a crossbow permit.

The smoker was purchased in the live auction but you daughter did sell me the winning ticket to a youth pheasant hunt.