The Way West...a bowhunting journey.

[Charlie Lamb]

Well, it's starting to wind down. It's been winding down since I got back from Oregon. Soon it will be time to load the truck and head east.

It's been a fantastic time for sure with plenty of adventure and wildlife encounters. I'm sure to miss it... but for now there's still huntin to be done and more adventures to experience.

For instance... when I arrived back in Wyoming the sage hen season had just opened and I'd been looking forward to that for some time.

Chickens (as they are lovingly referred to in this country) are big birds. Big as...uh...chickens.    

Though I'd been seeing a lot over the last month or two, I knew they could be very difficult to find in the expanses of sagebrush, but I had a spot or two in mind that usually produced sightings.

So my very first night back from Oregon, I unpacked the truck and then threw my bow back in and headed for my hot spots.

You don't actually hunt sage hens at night, but they are easiest to find just before dark, when they can be found filling their crops with fine grit in gravelly areas.

I hoped that they hadn't been worked over by shotgunners and be spooky as a march hare... my luck seemed to hold.

The first bunch I got into spotted me before I spotted them and were moving slowly away, weaving in and out of the foot high sage.

Because of their size I had a Magnus I broadhead on the string and drew it fully to anchor on a huge adult that trailed the group.

The Carbonwood shaft, with yellow cap and yellow fletch, streaked through the evening air and took the bird admidships at 15 yards.

I jockeyed for another shot, but the remaining birds rocketed away...for as big as they are, they are VERY fast.

Oh well, I had a bird in hand and that was a damn site better than none at all. I pressed on looking for another flock.

I could hardly believe my luck when a few minutes later I heard a warning cluck from the nearby sage.
The light was failing fast now, but I picked out the form of a bird standing stock still 20 yards distant.
Once again I drew the heavy recurve to anchor and let the shaft fly. THWOCK!! The big Magnus connected once more and ended the days hunt. (state regs limit you to two birds a day and four in possession).

I was more than thrilled with my performance. I've done much worse.

By the time I got to my camera, the light was almost gone, but I did the best I could with the situation and got this picture...
 

[Hunter John]

I love the moon in the background,and that looks like a great dinner.

John

[vermonster13]

Nice job Charlie, they will be some good eating.

[Charlie Lamb]

The very next day Vance and I headed out looking for an elk to fill my cow/calf tag and my freezer... I'd just love a freezer full of prime wapiti cow.

We accessed National Forest via a neighboring ranch hoping to find undisturbed animals, but sign was scarce.
It was, however, a glorious day to be in the mountains and I never take that for granted.  

Just above a mountain stream and in the shelter of aspens, shining in their golden grandeur, we made a stand and called.    
A lusty bugle echoed off into the hills and was gobbled up by the dark forest.

Faintly and for just an instant we heard an answering challenge.

There just wasn't enough light left to move on the bull and he never tried to close the distance either. We backed off with plans to try the area again the next day.

Some of huntings best trophies don't leave a bloodtrail... but this one comes close.
   

I had to stop for several minutes as the sunset took away the breath which carried my prayer of thanks for this time, this day and this sunset.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Thanks so much Charlie for taking us on this trip with you,It has been great following along.

Nice shooting on the chickens    

Tracy

[just_a_hunter]

Thanks for sharing Charlie.

Todd

[just_a_hunter]

Not just Charlie, All of you fellers. Great Stories. I wish I were there.

Todd

[Charlie Lamb]

John and David... they are fine eating!!! The big ones (called "bombers"), can be tough. The young of the year (called "the good ones"   :D   ) are eligible for frying.

They both smell like hell when you're cleaning them, though.     Like an old friend says, "they'd gag a maggot"!  

[cjones]

Now that is a beautiful sunset! Can't wait to see if ya get that cow. I'm pulling for ya big guy.

[Charlie Lamb]

Chad... there comes a time of day when the color fades from the sky, but there is still shooting light left.

Vance and I headed down the ranch road for home and were just coming down through a patch of aspen when we spotted a pretty nice buck antelope feeding among the sage.

Realize that at that point the aspen are the only trees around and those are scattered around in large expanses of open ground.

Vance shut down the "burb" and quickly moved off into the sage behind a covering rise of ground. With luck he hoped to catch the feeding buck just beyond that rise.

I watched from the warmth of the vehicle as he finally rose and drew his Shrew in one fluid move. The shot was away.

About this exact same moment I noticed movement down the hill in front of the vehicle... a hundred yards or better and there was NO cover in that direction.

My first impression was of a large group of horses moving up the hill at a right angle to our line of travel. Boy! Was I ever wrong!!

As my focus sharpened in the waning light I realized that what I was seeing was a large herd of elk....doh!!

They were out where no self respecting hunter would ever expect an elk to be. I mean clear out in the open sage and they had our number.

I hissed at Vance to get his attention and watched him melt into the low sage. But it was too little too late.

With increasing speed the herd, which I could now see clearly through my binoculars, moved up the hill and toward the closest aspen patch.

Trailing the herd and making sure all of his girls were accounted for was a bull that would make any hunter drool in his stew.

I couldn't count points... there were just too many and the light was getting poorer by the moment... but I could tell that he was wide and long and heavy of beam.

We'd come back and look for him the next day, but without really finding him. At one point we heard a distant bugle and from it's location we assumed it might be him, but once again, daylight, or rather the lack of it, put an end to our hunt.      :mad:
 

[Randy Morin]

Just got caught up from 4 days off chasing Elk myself.  Sounds like you gents had a very memorable trip to say the least in Oregon.  Great pics and stories.  I've spent some time bowhunting via bicycle and know the A.T. they can be.  I expected the last picture to be Curtis with a pair of Spandex bike shorts over his warm weather gear.  

I'm ready for the next installment now Charlie.  Keep them beautiful photos comin too. Randy.

[Joe D]

Wow Charlie....that sunset is gorgeous!  

[kennym]

Lots of good times and beautiful pics on these threads,I've changed my wallpaper 37 or so times this week!

[charlielambsdaughter]

DADDY,
     SORRY I HAVE NOT WROTE IN AWHILE BEEN IN FLORIDA YA KNOW. I KNEW THERE WAS A REASON I WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE OCEAN VIEW SUNSETS. IT IS PROBABLY FROM SEEING THOSE IN WYOMING THEY ARE MORE IMPRESSIVE. COOL STORIES I LIKED THE PICTURES OF THE SNOW AND YOUR HESD OUT OF THE TENT. WELL BACK TO THE SAME OL' GRIND IN THE ER TOMARROW .
             I LOVE YOU AND SAVE A LITTLE PIECE OF HEAVEN FOR ME WILL YA.

[vermonster13]

Um, what happened to Vance's shot on the antelope buck?

[Charlie Lamb]

Yeah! I almost forgot about the shot on the antelope. Lets just say it didn't quite work out.

From his low angle and the hill breaking over the way it did, the shot went low just under the bucks chest.

Hope you had a good Florida trip Melissa!!     Will be enjoying till the last minute... which is coming way too fast.

[Charlie Lamb]

Guess I could plug in another picture from night before last.

Got another sage hen. The shot went a little high of where I was aiming, but took the bird through the neck.
Pretty quick results when you hit them like that.
 

[Charlie Lamb]

Almost had another last night, but I'd left my jacket unzipped and the string caught the corner of the jacket on release and threw the arrow wild.
No tolerance on that miss (it was a pretty close miss) and the chicken hit the breeze at 120 mph.  :D

[cjones]

Man Charlie, that looks like a beautiful place. I have got to go west of Indiana one of these days. How much more time have you got before you have to head for home?

[Killdeer]

Do you pluck those birds or skin them? I wanna see the feathers.    

Killdeer