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I just got back from my first Archery Elk hunt in the Lemhi mountain range in Leadore Idaho! This was my first guided hunt and first time hunting out west. Although I didn’t get the monster bull that I had been dreaming about for the last 9 months, we hunted our tails off and I couldn’t be happier bringing home some meat. The first day of the trip was spent scouting and glassing for elk. We saw tons of bulls coming in and out of the alfalfa fields every evening and morning and planned our ambush points along the pivot fields for the following day. The second day we called in a spike bull, but I decided to pass on it with the hopes of a bigger bull presenting itself to us later in the week. It was incredible to call in an Elk to 40 yards and watch him mill around for a minute or so. What was even more incredible was that as soon as he winded us and ran off, a 140” class whitetail walked infront of me at 15 yards perfectly broadside (Will have nightmares/dreams about that for months). Unfortunately, I didn’t have a deer tag, but was still very cool to see. The rest of the week was spent glassing and getting on cow elk, but unfortunately no other bulls came within 200 yards of us. Day 5 me and the guide were glassing a drainage and were watching a nice spike heading towards one of our buddies from 500 yards away. We ended up watching him make a 60 yard shot through our glass and the bull go down. This was his first Elk ever and had his two sons and son in law there to share in the experience. It was a bucket list hunt for him and he couldn’t have been happier. Really cool to see one of these animals up close (I should have shot the spike my second day!) On day 6 (The day I was leaving) we had a massive 6x6 heading towards us down a fence line in the direction of a group of Willows that we had been hunting. Unfortunately, it spotted some cow elk in the opposite direction and started heading their way and wouldn’t respond to any of our calls. With just hours left in my hunt, We spotted a cow elk headed down the same fence line and was able to make a 30 yard shot to put her down. The property we hunted was one of the most incredible places I’ve ever seen. We saw dozens and dozens of elk, about 20 different moose, 100’s of antelope, wolves, badgers, some real nice mule deer and more Whitetail than I’ve ever seen in my life. We hunted extremely hard and had an incredible guide who truly taught me how to become a better / smarter hunter. I’ve never hunted outside of New York before and can see how people can become obsessed with Elk hunting. I also drew an Antelope archery tag and tried to spot and stalk one for the 6 days I was there. We had a few blinds set up over watering holes, but the antelope wouldn’t cooperate and come to the holes while we were sitting there. The terrain was incredibly open and wasn’t ideal for a solid spot and stalk. I learned that wearing a white shirt acts as a decoy and allowed me to get within 100 yards of some of the antelope. I never felt comfortable making a shot over 60 -70 yards on an animal like that, so I never was able to get a shot off. It was like trying to sneak up on a whitetail in an open field with 40 other white tails staring at you. To wrap up the week, I just got off the phone with the local butcher and will be receiving all of my meat within the next few days. Truly an incredible trip and cant wait to do it next year. Here are some of the pictures I got from the trip! Mike's first Elk. Nice spike! Probably my first selfie ever. Some beautiful country My first Elk ever One of the 20 Moose we saw Some nice mule deer One of the bulls that we were hunting. Was coming in and out of the Meadow that we were sitting at every morning, just before sunlight Hitting the glass hard

People are going nuts here. All stores are a zoo as are gas stations (assuming they have any fuel left)! I'm in a high area (for Florida) so flooding won't be an issue. Wind and rainfall intrusion will be of concern. We have enough food, water and Bourbon to survive! LOL

Skipped archery practice this morning to take my best shot to date to his first day of Kindergarten:

Real Bush

Checking the farmer's field just off my hunting area look who took off running Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Look at this target we from Hawkeye. How cowardly is it to shoot a bear in the back while he's taking a leak?? I refused Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As we all know, hunting near food plots is often not a good idea due to getting busted as you enter or leave. Last year I built a berm which worked well, but I did get caught a few times as I climbed up and down. I hope to go undetected this year

Great story.....Congrats on your elk.....Cow elks is some FINE eatin ' !!!! You are hooked now, My Friend....Go again as often as you can afford to... Life is short....I did a number of hunts over about a 20 year period when I was physically and financially able to.....I never regretted one of them... Do it while you can, because life sometimes has some unpleasant surprises, and you never know what the future might bring...

So the maintenance engineer was throwing away this in the dumpster. Mr B grabbed it before he did...he says I thought you'd find a use for it's it look brand new....Well of course one would think the laundry room...me.... not so much....

Orrrrrrrrrrrrr maybe he is. lol

I must be on a different page as I never really thought of buying hunting land as an investment. I've got about 85 acres that I bought in three stages in the 90's and early 2000's. 7 acres for $900/ac, 43 for $700, and 36 for $1000 acre. We go through life only once, and we mostly get to live it as we want (within each person's means of course). I've got friends who bought boats for that kind of money around the same time. They weren't investments either, but they're selling those for pennies on the dollar these days where at least my hobby "investment" certainly won't lose money. Not knocking the boaters, I'm a boater too. I did build a house to live in on the property in 2008 (on the 7 acre road front parcel). I do want the same return most people look for when I sell it 10-ish years from now. Property tax implications? Well, it's NY state. 12k + per year and rising. Thanks Andy and the previous bad governors! I didn't get it just for hunting, we're using it all year long. But the land purchase was for my and my wife's lifestyle and we won't care about how our investment did when we're dust.

That kind of $$$$ will buy a nice chunk of property in Iowa, or any number of big whitetail states! Hmmmm, what would I do if I had a cool 1.2 million burning a hole in my pocket??? Don't think it would be spent to hunt Old Chatham. Not that I think that is a bad place at all. Just sayin.

18 grand an acre. SMH. I am so glad I live in Western NY.

The banker saw his old friend Pygmy, an eighty-year old farmer, in town. Pygmy had lost his wife a year or so before and rumor had it that he was marrying a 'mail order' bride. Being a good friend, the banker asked Pygmy if the rumor was true. Pygmy assured him that it was. The banker then asked Pygmy the age of his new bride to be. Pygmy proudly said, 'She'll be twenty-one in November.' Now the banker, being the wise man that he was, could see that the sexual appetite of a young woman could not be satisfied by an eighty-year- old man. Wanting his old friend's remaining years to be happy the banker tactfully suggested that Pygmy should consider getting a hired hand to help him out on the farm, knowing nature would take its own course. Pygmy thought this was a good idea and said he would look for one that afternoon. About four months later, the banker ran into Pygmy in town again. 'How's the new wife?', asked the banker. Pygmy proudly said, 'Good - she's pregnant. How is that new hired hand working out? asked the banker. Pygmy replied great and she is pregnant too!

Jokes on you, that's Caitlyn Jenner!

Cider sounds good but it unclogs the pipes for me. They'd smell that from a lot farther than 50 yards

Actually, my doctor told me when I was going to get married to a 21 year old woman that I should be carefull...Considering our age difference, sex could be fatal.... I told him..." Oh well... If she dies she dies...".....

Needs too much work

Yeah, I'm in also. I plan to set up my treestand right on the border of the property, since that's where I heard the big buck was hanging out.

For me Deer hunting has always been anti climatic and the reason why I have always prefered small game hunting FUN, FUN, ACTION, ACTION! Let it happen quick because you can keep right on hunting. The small game seasons and limits are "liberal" (about the only good thing I can say about that word) you can go out the very next day and do it all over again. "Variety", Shotguns, Rifles, Handguns, and Archery all can be used and best of all you do not just pull the trigger on that expensive firearm once. Variety of game, Rabbits-Hare, Squirrels, Coons, Woodchucks, Fox, Coyote, Bobcat, Grouse, Ducks-Geese, Woodcock, Pheasant, Crows! Holy Smokes I am getting fired up and excited just thinking about it! Al

State land I go deep, private land you can hunt the downwind side of the doe area's for good action and that may be just inside the fringe, so not deep. I have some pines and brush out behind my house that I leave alone. It's only a couple acres but the does like to bed there. I've had some real nice bucks on cam there in the last few years.

access to stands is def a big consideration. Hunting isnt much good if you just walked through everything. I always try to place them in easy access areas that i can get in as quiet as possible. Cert dont want to go thru bedding areas to get to a location. Also set them up so I can skirt the edge of a field without being seen too much. I guess it would mostly pend on where you think deer will be coming from to your stand area. Or hunt those farthest locations later in season or only at the best times they are favorable for wind direction.

I tend to agree with you when we are talking about bowhunting, and that is only because my archery abilities or lack thereof, need constant reinforcement. But for jillions of years, I have gun hunted with a nasty ol' 12 gauge shotgun during gun season, and I will say that I usually took a maximum of 3 shots just to ensure that nothing got bumped or moved on the sighting system. There was no target practice involved with that shoulder mangler. And yet marksmanship never cost me a deer. Life is so much nicer now that our county allows rifles for deer hunting. Now I regularly shoot my deer rifle ..... Not because it has anything to do with "responsibility", but simply because now it is fun. As far as trimming, anyone who does any still-hunting might find that a bit difficult.

This guy showed up at the licking branch bouquet on 9.2.17. I don't think those spindly tines are going to last too long. We are minerally-challenged up here at 2,400 feet.

Thanks for the idea's everyone. Let's hope his works! I did this small plot and the big plot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The propane guys came out this morning. Lit the pilot and everything is good now. No charge. Time to hunt squirrels.

There ya go! That's the spirit, if you can't ID a critter at a distance with the naked eye, use your scope. Heck you might just get a shot! Jeezzzz, what if it's a human? Nawww, can't happen.............

I'd shoot him in front of my wife's lawyer

Thought this side-by-side comparison is pretty cool. Same 5 pointer in the same exact spot about 6 weeks apart.

Took the camera with me...here is some of the fall progress...some look very thin...in part due to turkey but also I over seeded with clovers and turnips that are just now starting a little growth...these rains should seal the deal ,one way or the other.. I'm thinking I may have more plots than I thought... When I started counting the different nicks and crannies I've planted...plus not all are all that small....hhmmm...

Just invite me to hunt it I seem to be a deterrent

+1.....go when you can. Good stuff on the hunt.

Sons at school daughter is napping so I took a STC through some junk at 16 yards:

I won't be going. With the bucks I shoot, they would all point and laugh as I walked in.

Dear Tom, if you do this, please let me take the Redneck blind first. I'd hate to know you'd have to clean up the melted plastic and charred metal. Just lookin out for ya Outdoorstom! haha

I will probably retire in two or three years and hope to have way too many interests to keep me going !

Those by themselves are a FULL time interests/responsibility. Hunting was created to help us take our minds off those challenges and to hope us cope with the upcoming challenges that will arise. Keep up the good work and try to get a deer

I am not great in any one real hobby, but have a lot and prefer to enjoy them rather than become so dedicated that they become work or money pits. Hunting is probably the closest to the top. I work on cars and bikes. I can't tune an engine but I can tear one down and put it back together. Just about any mechanical work is within my skill set sans welding and custom work. I love to hunt deer, turkey, pheasants, fish and am going for bear. But I'm not taking trips out west or to Africa. I like to golf, but only a few times a year and have accepted that I will never be great at it. I still play casual videogames but just for fun and am not anywhere "good" at it anymore or do I have the time to be. I like craft beer, but I don't really know sh!t compared to some guys. I don't get to church as much as I'd like and I don't do bible studies. But I'm a man of faith. I work out 4 times a week, but really just enough to stay in shape and healthy and not enough to become shredded. I own some long guns and some pistols, but I don't reload or own anything exotic or anything that doesn't serve a purpose. I get to the range a lot less than i should. I can build computers but only do so once every 5 years or so and feel like i have to relearn all the new tech that's out. lately I just focus on doing well at my job, being a good father and a good husband. It's hard

is this state land? how pig a chunk of property are we talking about? Arrangement of the property make a HUGE difference in the answer. bedding, food locations, travel route, Wind. wind wing. oh and one more thing. wind

All schools are closed Thursday and Friday in Dade and Broward county, home depots or Lowe's are out of plywood and water, most other stores, target, walmart, costco, BJ's, are all out of water. 50% of gas stations are literally out of gas now, with no refill in sight until after the storm. Tolls are lifted on turnpike because people are bugging out now. The storm is 400 miles wide, it covers the whole state of Florida regardless if it goes down the east or west coast. I'm in Broward County, and gave the hatches batten ed down Sent from my SM-G900T3 using Tapatalk

I'd sooner think it was Jack in the Pulpit.

I have cut trails through thickets only to have deer take them over. They love them. So now, I usually run the trails past my stand a ways with a little spur off to get in my stand. Actually, the trails are intended to let me survive the multi-flora rose thickets and still be able to come out the other side in one piece. The areas where I have to cut trails would not be huntable without that kind of hacking. What it does is give me unique access to the kinds of cover that other people will not venture into. That makes them sanctuary areas for the deer when the hunting pressure begins.

Great explanation thanks for posting

Yes, you are missing the fact that you have to pay property taxes, which are especially high in NY. You may be able to write the taxes off on your personal return/1040, but you will NEVER get it all back. Same goes for the loan interest if you finance, you will never get it all back (unless you are able to sell some timber or sign a gas/oil lease). As an example- I bought my camp in Allegany county in 2002. Paid $60k for 58 acres. That's 15 years at $2,500 property taxes each year, so I've got $97,500 in already. That's not even including the home equity interest I've paid, let's average that out at $2,500/year also, now I'm up to $135k, add in $7,000 for work I've had done and a small shack I had built, now we're up to $142k. I worked out a deal to sell the place for 80k in 2009 (I want to hunt the place a couple more years), which is pretty much going rate in the area. Loss of $62,000. I was hoping for a home run with the gas leasing hubub a few years ago, but that's on hold indefinitely. I had loggers out looking at the place a few years ago, it will probably be 15 years before it's worth timbering. Obviously, the write-offs on the mortgage interest and property taxes helped, they may have gotten me $1,500 back each year on my tax return, so I'm looking at it as only a loss of about $40k (so far). And I'm not even factoring in the gas and truck depreciation spent on traveling to the camp 4-5 times a year (300 miles each way). One could argue that I should have bought land with more mature trees, but anyone who has looked at land for sale knows the owners log first BEFORE putting land up for sale. Do I have any regrets? No..lots of great memories, experiences, and some great deer killed. But I will never look back on this as a great investment, but I like to con myself into believing it was still better than losing it in the stock market.

Hey I dont rake the woods any more...I have the back pack blower..lol

I've used the ready made thumb tacks with reflective heads a few times and they work great. In the daylight, you'd never know they're there.

Tough finding anywhere open on a Monday let alone a holiday. Griffin gastropub in East Aurora French onion dip Burger was great. Full pink moon Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I could keep them out of the pumpkin patches pretty good by putting in "t" posts, about 40 ft apart, all the way around. Run a strand of 20 lb test mono up about 15" and a second at 30". Tie some white ribbon at a few locations on each strand. That will show you at a great distance if a strand has been broken and it will show the deer where to avoid the area where those invisible "ghosts" push them at night. Their eyes are not good enough to see the line, and it spooks them when they bumble into it. I would always replace the line on my salmon reels every year anyhow, so this was "free". I also had a bunch of t posts, a small pile-driver for putting in the posts (you can also push them in with a tractor bucket loader), and one of those cheap Harbor-freight jacks for pulling them out. Labor and time was minimal and cost was nothing.

Irresponsible? Why? a life long hunter could easily confirm that his equipment was all set and not much has changed since last season. If you are going to take 50 yard shots I can see more practice. but I haven't shot my compound at all yet. Tell you what. I'll go home tonight. take off my broad heads and set the target up at 30 yards and take a shot and post it. I guarantee it;s a bullseye. Maybe a hunter doesn't shoot over 20 yards? you have no idea or enough information to make a comment about irresponsibility. Irresponsibility is hunting outside your limitations.