bwana Report post Posted October 19, 2019 Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heat Report post Posted October 20, 2019 Epic man, so glad it all came together for you! Your luck sure turned around! First day bison with a bow is tops and better yet no grueling sits in the blind ALL day for twelve days like my hunt. Great Job getting your family out to experience the beautiful creation that the Good Lord has blessed us with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heat Report post Posted October 20, 2019 Almost forgot...This is how cool Kevin is. He stayed in elk country an extra morning to try to help us get an elk for my wife. That means a lot to me and displays what a top notch guy he is. Thanks Kevin! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 20, 2019 Thanks Nick. I enjoyed the morning and didnt get myself into too hot of water by coming home a bit later. You guys have a solid plan. I want to see pics asap! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1denogean Report post Posted October 20, 2019 good job Kevin i remember you from deer camp last year. the guy with all the steelers stuff hahaha 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 20, 2019 On 10/19/2019 at 12:32 AM, MT_Sourdough said: Way to go. It's nice to have helping hands with that much work. Momma and Auggie the oldest boy held their own on this one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 20, 2019 19 hours ago, bwana said: Congrats! When's your hunt? Do you have a plan? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 20, 2019 4 hours ago, 1denogean said: good job Kevin i remember you from deer camp last year. the guy with all the steelers stuff hahaha Yeah that was us. Lost interest after all the national anthem crap. Wasnt die hard myself anyway but the wife's cuz played for them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 20, 2019 Anyway here's a few more pics of the bison portion of the hunt. Will be adding the elk part shortly. It was great to have the kids up there with us. Mom made them have a contest to see who could collect the most firewood, clever of her huh? Auggie won! Also a pretty cool pic of my daughter squishing a bison with just 2 fingers. 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucafu1 Report post Posted October 20, 2019 Nice pics! All that meat looks awesome! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 20, 2019 Part 3. The kids cow hunt... So we zipped down to 23 and got to the youth camp barely in time to sign the kids in and have a steak dinner. Now originally the whole plan was to have Dale take my kids out hunting while I was on the Bab. I decided against that because I didn't know when I would ever have the opportunity to have my wife and kids with me up there for one and for two I really wanted them to see Bison up close and personal, something that I've always myself wanted to see. Well we still joined with Dale to hunt the next morning. Saw some elk and made a move, in our haste we realized we were after the satellite bulls so that pretty much was it for that morning. That night we went back and checked an area to make an evening plan but that plan involved a whole bunch of hiking the next am. We were all tired from traveling and decided the next morning to hunt around camp up top. Went to find Caliche later that night and see this... We ended up sleeping a bit too late so rushed to get in the truck and go check a couple areas. Got to a burn and jumped out to glass every hundred or so yards. I hear a bugle and start to give chase, hes moving fast and than we hear nearby shots. That's pretty much it for that morning. Unfortunately a couple days later we went and checked that area and found a young spike bull laying just off the road covered in crows and stinking something fierce. That evening we decided to split up. I Sent Aurora with Dale to hunt in Young and me and Caliche went up to check a super secret evening spot. Its super secret because it's a special place that's known to hold 200" mule deer bucks. You guessed it... POWERLINES BABY!!! We park at the top and theres a truck parked there, I walk over to one of the giant metal powerline thingymajigs that hold up the wires. I glass the north side and suddenly realize theres a dude sitting there, he startles me and I blurt out a profanity. He then tells me his son is taking his grandaughter on a cow youth hunt. I tell him good luck and we head down to the next opening. I drive the road downhill a bit and stop to glass out my window and I drive off to see the dude with his kid standing there and drive down the hill. Once I get to a place I can glass a good distance I found cows way in the bottom. I decide to rush up the hill and try to find the dude with his daughter. I hope we can maybe help them fill a tag too. I tap the horn a few times and yell for them out the window. I wait for a few minutes and theres no response. We zip down and park the truck where the herd cant see us. We hightail it into the edge of the woods and work our way down. Pop out, and the cows are right there. I try to lay my pack down and get Caliche set up but theres a slight highspot in the ground and he cant see. He says let's use the tripod. I say are you sure? He says yeah. We set him up on the biggest cow and she's staring right at us, I know I'm already shaking and I know hes gotta be too. I hear a boom and an instant thump. I look through my glass as fast as I can and see her drop like a rug slipped out from under her. I'm like "dude you drilled her!" And hes like dad I might have gut shot her. I tell him I dont think so.. we get over there and its obvious she's paralyzed and I see the look on his face, instant sadness and I can tell he is riddled with guilt. I tell him that we need to end her suffering quickly and he does. Afterwards I explain how he felt is good and we should have empathy and respect for the animals we hunt and that I'm proud of him. I quickly emphasize the high notes of what just happened and what he just accomplished as we go get the truck and make a quick call to Dale. Were hoping Aurora didnt kill because I didnt wanna do 2 night time pack outs. We look over his cow and take a few pics. I'm amazed by the size of this cow, never had one this big before. She was nice and healthy with lots of fat. She is way bigger then the pics show. Literally I have never seen one this big. Once Dale is there we all jump in for an evening pack out. If y'all want to learn how to break down an animal FAST! hang out with Dale! I was helping sure... but it was all Dale that made this pack out happen in record time. I kid you not from start to finish we were driving away in literally one hour! Holy crap! I thought me and my family doing it in a few hours was a record! I learned some new stuff that night and was happy to be next to Dale on this one. I feel more confident than I ever have when it comes down to breaking down big animals in the field. Crazy thing is he didn't break out a knife once. All done with a shortened version of a havalon knife. Probably not more then 4 inches in total length and that cow was done.. crazy! Now fast forward.. the the night before last day. Dale tells me where to go to glass where I see a herd at last light. The plan is to hike in up top a bluff in the dark to where they should be under us. Well dumb dumb (me) goes to the wrong spot. I'm supposed to be on the ridge that I'm glassing just off a big flat of a meadow. Well just under the meadow are deep cuts and I'm seeing elk work there way up. Finally see a bowl that's not glassable from anywhere except from my position. Elk are actually in the meadow and we start hauling butt down the hill. First time to this spot and I just bust in there with my honking loud diesel thinking I still am half a mile away.. nope I'm right on them and I send the herd scattering like a friggin idiot. Aurora jumps out for a shot but I call her off. I know it will be too rushed and it's just not a good idea. Battery in phones gonna die. Second half in a few.... 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 21, 2019 Ok part 4. Kids elk hunt. Well after I call Aurora off on the shot we head back up hill. I see a white 4 door Chevy truck glassing the area we were in. I can tell though after being in the bowl we were in they could not have seen the elk I just busted. I probably just blew it for them too. Next morning go up high on the same spot. I know elk will be in the meadow somewhere but I opt to go up higher for a better vantage point to mark location. I see where I think they are but stay for a bit more light to make sure. I also see headlights in the distance making their way towards us and hope they are deer hunters... At this point I wonder if Swaro 15s would prove themselves over my meopta. Once I have enough light to verify we jump in the truck and go for it. When I get to the bottom I open the gate and before I drive through I stand on my step bars to reverify location one last time. I dont see the herd but I do see two figures silhouetted in the distance on the meadow closing in on our elk. And unfortunately they are ahead of us... I think dang, but at that point I realize it's the white Chevy from last night. I know they made a quicker play then us and probably saw my truck light up on the way down and made a b line for them. I dont fault them at all, after all that's hunting. I wish them luck silently in my head and bust out of the area while there is still light to make a move somewhere else. We get to the top of the ridge and find Dale waiting in his truck for us. He says you guys are in a hurry you must be on something. I tell him no and say what just happened. He gets in my truck and we head elsewhere and he drops a little jewel on me. "Never glass from where you cant make a move on foot and so you dont have to start your truck up and spook something". Pretty darn solid advice and he was right. The only reason i did it that way was because I knew if the elk were in that bowl they were not glassable. But they weren't in the bowl and they WERE glassable from where the white Chevy was. Live and learn I guess. Anyway, Dale takes us to what I would consider by Duwane Adam's vocab.. a "push zone" or a sanctuary if you will. Problem is this is not where you wanna pack out an animal. We split up to go glass and leave the 2 kids by the truck to entertain themselves while we search. He glassed some up and I found a bull with cows but they were far away and in nasty country. We talk and come up with a mid morning plan.. While glassing, the kids entertained themselves. Entertained themselves indeed. They decided to draw on the dust on my truck, Aurora also took a pic of Caliche and added some "art" to it herself. Ordinarily this may have upset the old Kev, because I really didnt want to be scratching up the paint of my truck. But on the first bison scouting trip I got a couple scratches on the truck. On the actual hunting trip due to being in a hurry thanks to my broken intercooler I was in a rush and got a few more scratches. I figured hey it's a once in a lifetime hunt just roll with it. Well by this time I knew it was time to make a choice. Do I want to have a still halfway decent truck or or just subdue to the fact that I just love hunting to much to have a nice truck. Well at that point I finally made the decision to just "let it go" and let me tell you. It was a freeing moment for me. Well here is some of my truck art. It basically consists of some poorly drawn Boston terriers and penises. So before you judge me or my kids let me just tell you. Whatever you think you know from this you are probably wrong. No conversation is taboo in our home, and we dont hide anything we talk about from them, and have left them exposed to the world but with explanations for all the things they experience in life. We obviously have an off sense of humor and will do and say things just to make people laugh. It's all about humor here. Deal with it. Anyhoo, after heading back to take Dale to his truck we stopped at the last gate and he says stop! backup for a second and so I do. When I do I feel something give in my brakes and as I start to pull forward and slow down I feel my brakes go completely spongy. I jumped out of the truck to look at the opposite wheel that i already changed pads on only to see my tire completely covered in brake fluid and I think come on man not on the last day. Well that morning Aurora and caliche not only got their second try at changing out tires and brake pads they also learned how to install a whole brand new brake caliper. The crappy part was while we were supposed to be hunting we were sitting waiting for someone to bring us a new caliper from Payson. Once it was installed we were on our way with only 3 hours left of the hunt. We Haul butt up to a spot where Dale had spotted a bull up on a hill and believe that he had cows with him even though he couldn't see them. On the way up I decide to Glass the hill that Aurora shot a buck last year that we ended up not being able to retrieve. I called her over and I say hey check this out she looks in my glass and sees a cow feeding she immediately wants to go grab the gun. I tell her I don't want her shooting this distance and that we will put this in her back pocket and head up to the top where Dale saw the bull. She is a completely against it but I override her and we drive to the top. I make the kids glass the hill the bull is supposed to be on and I go climbing a knob that gives me a better view of the other areas, i find nothing and head back to the truck. I asked my daughter if she is prepared to take a long shot she says yes let's do it. We go back down find the elk get her set up on two packs on top of each other and one I have stuffed with down bags so that she can use it to lay prone. She is laying down hill in rocks and I didn't know it at the time but as we were waiting for shots to present themselves she had rocks digging into her elbows and arms stomach and hips she had tears in her eyes and never told me. Me and Caliche see she's hurting and take off our jackets for her to lay on. I made her take several dry fire shots over and over again and make her promise me that the target stayed where it was supposed to be every single time before I even let her put a round in the chamber. Now she was ready and I told her it was up to her and for an agonizing half an hour she lined up a shot and got ready to squeeze the trigger and the cow would move, or another cow would step in front of her or behind her. It was completely maddening and light was fading fast. Finally the moment presented itself and she squeezed the trigger I saw the cow Lurch forward just a bit, she walked a few steps and bedded down.. at this point she took another couple shots but it was pretty much dark and I told her our only option was to come back in the morning and look. I left one of my cheaper pairs of binos on the tripod facing the exact spot that we lost track of her. The next morning I pulled out my Garmin GPS and use that little known feature called sight and go. I pointed it in the right direction typed in the distance and it was ready to chirp once we got to that side of the Hill. Since I decided I was officially over worrying about scratches on my truck I wasn't worried about the two track that would take us up there. My truck is now officially full of the Arizona pinstripes. The front left headlight and back of the truck bed isn't from the trip though. Let's call the front headlight an act of my wife when she had a sheer fit of "joy" and the other was another act of my wife when she tried jackknifing a trailer for the first time. You may not know this about my wife but she is crazier than a shithouse rat and if you do know that about my wife please don't post it here. On the upside I got a good buddy named Justin that has a whole body shop at his disposal. Hopefully soon I will have him fix the front end and my wife's jackknife mishap. If you all need some affordable top notch work hit me up! Once we finally get up top of the other side of the hill we start working our way down to a knob from there I find the bottom half of a broken off elk shed we all check it out and are pretty stoked over our find. We make our way further down where my Garmin starts chirping and says hey we're here! We start circling around in some thick nasty s*** and lo and behold I find the other matching elk shed! We searched all around the only thing we find is what I believe to be either a tiny piece of coughed up lung or a piece that came out of her side no other specs of blood absolutely nothing. Later in the morning we went to get one of Dale and Heather hounds and one of their other dogs they throw on some expensive freaking GPS collars with an expensive GPS unit to monitor where they're going and we roll back out. We end up heading back down to the same exact spot so that I can let the dogs take a whiff of the good stuff. Then we start just kind of walking around and working our way down hill, and down to the nearest tank. We're thinking that we might get lucky along the way and find our cow. Well as luck would have it we don't find our cow but we do find some blisters on our feet and when walking around the tank Caliche finds his first ever shed which happens to be a nice 2 point whale tail shed. In the end it just didn't happen for my little girl. She hunted hard and suffered as usual. She still had fun though and I did too just to be able to hang out with my kids. The hike back up to the truck was not too much fun but we did the right thing and I'm proud of my kids for putting in the effort to do the right thing. Stay tuned for next years mishaps... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muledeerarea33? Report post Posted October 21, 2019 Awesome!!! Haha! I knew I liked you, just didn’t know why. Awesome family time done right. Good job Kevin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CatfishKev Report post Posted October 21, 2019 13 minutes ago, muledeerarea33? said: Awesome!!! Haha! I knew I liked you, just didn’t know why. Awesome family time done right. Good job Kevin. I knew you liked me. I just figured it was because I'm extremely handsome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muledeerarea33? Report post Posted October 21, 2019 20 minutes ago, CatfishKev said: I knew you liked me. I just figured it was because I'm extremely handsome. I mean your cute and all. The Amish beard gets me going though!! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
