2009 West Boulder Ranch Adventure

[Nakohe]

Ok, some of us have weeks to go till we can hunt. Lets have the story,  

[sticshooter]

WELL????????????????????????????? OK I am ready. I got a bag of PORKIES and pop let'R RIP<><

[Gatekeeper]

If Charlie starts getting antsy we'll know you’re taking too long… tic toc  

[Gerardo]

come on , its raining outside and i sure will like a story

[Pinecone]

Doug's photo is taken on the mountain where a fire several years earlier ravaged the forest.  Still, native grasses and other forage have made a come-back, creating an abundance of feeding opportunities for domestic grazers and wildlife alike.

It was close to this very location that our little band of hunters was surprised by a herd of nearly 30 elk who began trotting toward us early one morning.  The lead cow came in suspicious and tense and when a light "mew" was offered from Doug in an effort to calm her fears and bring her closer for a shot, she panicked and bolted over the mountain, taking the whole herd in tow.

While it is true that all wildlife when viewed in their native habitat has a spleandor that is hard to describe, it is even more true of elk.  The impressive size, regal carriage, and striking beauty of these animals is truly awe inspiring.  And when a bull's bugle pierces the morning sky, the picture is complete...reminding we humans of how truly small we are.

The panicked behavior of the elk we witnessed on the mountain that morning was a continuing theme with every animal we saw throughout the day.  Even the cattle were acting oddly...watchful, frightened as if something unseen had become suddenly threatening.  It didn't make sense, at least not until the next morning.

Doug emerged from he and Jeff's tent at Cow Camp early the next day for coffee and to discuss the day's hunt plans.  The cattle were bunched together in the valley in a manner consistent with how bovine species react when threatened.  Immediately, Doug raised his binoculars to scan the area and what he saw answered all of our questions.  There, two black wolves, filled the frame of his Swarvovski's and the reason for the sheer terror we had witnessed from virtually every creature we saw the day before became clear.

It was clear that with the animals on high alert and the elk pushed off the mountain by the entrance of the pack of wolves, we needed to focus our hunting efforts elsewhere.  So, in the afternoon, we packed up our gear and returned to the ranch to spend some time stalking for mule deer.

Here is a pic of Jeff taken at Cow Camp before we headed back down the mountain.


 

[sticshooter]

Well the bag of porkies is all gone    . And sister this is all you give us  :rolleyes: ? MORE PLEASE.     <><

[oneshot-onekill]

Okay....let's get on with this, the natives are getting restless....got a fresh pot of coffee...take us with you.

[Bear]

You mean you didn't stay to bask in the glory of the "successful" re-introduction of wolves to the greater Yellowstone ecosystem!!? For shame.  

[Mike Bolin]

[tippit]

Cow Camp was a real treat for me.  Now I was beginning to get a taste of how Wranglers used to work & live.  A one room log cabin with stove, kitchen table, and two bunk beds would be our eating area plus Karen & Claudia's sleeping quarters.  Doug & I would sleep in the wall tent.  The first night was rather cold holding the promise of elk come down from the high country.  That promise was soon to be dashed with the mercury climbing into the mid 80's and the wolfs arriving  :(  

 

The Cow camp Crew!

 

My weapon of choice.  Shrew Classic Hunter 54" 52#@28 bow bolt.  I would soon discard the bow quiver for belly stalking Mules though...Doc

 

[Pinecone]

That is one mighty pretty bow that Jeff brought along on this trip.  The veneers are simply gorgeous.  And in Jeff's hands, it is quite a shooter!

The other item that Jeff brought out to Montana was something that taught me a lot of lessons...his Ghillie Suit.  I have never before seen anything that would permit a person to literally crawl right up to deer until I saw the Ghillie in action.  In fact, I thought one stalk was impossible and Jeff proved me wrong by crawling through the wide open grass right under the nose of a couple of bedded bucks.  I'll let him tell the story, but it sure made a believer out of me!  Later, I sat on a bucket in the suit at the edge of an oat patch and had numerous whitetails walk right past me.  I couldn't believe it!

Stalking for deer was an absolute riot, but we still tried one last pre-dawn hike up another mountain in an effort to try and get into some elk.  As Jeff and Doug said earlier, the weather was incredibly hot, which dramatically reduced elk movement.  It didn't stop us from glassing, listening, and enjoying the view, however.  The scenery was breathtaking!
 
 
 

[tippit]

Couple more views of life around Cow Camp  

 

 

You know what they say about all work & no play...well we didn't have to worry about that!

 

[tippit]

The first night out of Cow Camp, Claudia & I sat tree stands over two different springs on Baker Mountain...hopefully to see some elk coming to water.  The land scape was a bit spooky with the charred black pines and all white dead aspens. That night I had two 4X4 whitetails come by about 60 yards out.  Dang, one was a real nice palmate buck too!


My view going into the stand.

 

View from the stand.

 

 

[Shinken]

This story is beginning to pick up some momentum!

So far so good...but let's get to the GREAT part!!!

Shoot straight, Shinken

[tippit]

The surprise of the trip was definitely the Gillie Suit!  Here's my Gillie in the hard woods of New England turkey hunting...with my Martha Stewart Wreath     It was apparent that it was too dark for the west...but I sat beside a disc hitch on an oat food plot for two nights.  Both nights I had 13 whitetails around me some as close as 5 yards.  Two does even circled me and still couldn't decide what I was...only to go back to feeding!  I hadn't come to the west to shoot at whitetails as I was having too much fun learning about Mule deer so I let Claudia use my Gillie as Doug & I decide to try some fly fishing one evening.

 

Doug had just ordered a Gillie top & bonnet that came mid week.  It was a straw grass color just perfect for the terrain around the ranch.  One afternoon, we glassed two nice mulies laying in the middle of a grass pasture.  It looked like an impossible stalk and it was Claudia's turn for the next stalk.  When she decided to try a different one, I bailed out of the truck. Not being too smart, I told them to just leave me as I'd give it a go.  I didn't think it would work but I didn't have anything to lose.  I belly crawled 200 yards across the field.  The one thing Doug had said was keep your Head Down & Don't Peek!!   As I was getting close I saw one buck get up and circle around me.  Had I spooked them?  No as it turned out that buck just gotten up to go to water.  I sat up thinking the stalk was over when I saw the other buck was still laying down about 60 yards ahead.  

By now my elbows were bleeding but I was still excited to see if the Gillie would work.  I mentally figured my direction and started crawling again.  By this time Doug had dropped Claudia off for a different stalk and was watching my progress.  

Did I mention I had calculated my direction?  Well it seems my right flipper is stronger than my left one.  With Doug watching from a 1/4 mile away, jumping up and down, and screaming...I missed my mark and proceeded to crawl past my buck!  I missed him by 6 yards and didn't even know it.  I was still crawling when Doug drove into the field to inform me that the buck stood up with me at 6 yard and watched me crawl by him...then walked off    

I did prove the Gillie to be effective.  I did pay complete attention to Doug's direction of not peeking.  I just needed a flipper correction and some navigational help  :eek:  

It proved to be a funny afternoon.  AND I Did Not post this until I already had a Western/Desert Gillie suit on order    See I did learn something...Doc

[Doug Campbell]

It was great fun watching Jeff and Claudia doing all these stalks but frustrating at the same time    As Jeff crawled by this buck he literally stood, stretched and watched Jeff crawling by. Completely unalarmed, he ambled off up the hill to a quieter bedding spot    Not a great quality pic but you can see Jeff in the grass with the buck just beyond.
 

Seeing the Shaggie suit in action was indeed an educational experience. Plus Claudia's patience during a stalk was something to see also. She got so close she'd have been better off with a spear a couple times  

The burnt timber is slowly giving way to new growth. I imagine in a couple years it's going to be a real jungle up there and the critters will love it.

Here's resting during the middle of the day.
 

And Jeff with a nice West Bolder Brown.
 

[Pinecone]

While Jeff was playing with the deer in the Ghillie, I was attempting my own stalk on a bedded buck.  A mature mulie had bedded in the dense sage and I was slowly making my way toward his location.  Like Jeff, I lost track of the big buck for a time, but was able to get re-routed by my friends watching from the truck.

I crouched, crawled, and inched my way over the brittle, cracking grasses and foliage to a point where I was 20 yards from the buck.  Hours had gone by in the hot sun and the painstakingly slow crawl had just about zapped my energy level down to zero.  When the buck finally stood up and gave me a slightly quartering toward shot, I drew my bow, launched an arrow, and mmmmmmiiiiissed!!!!!!  ***##@@@@!!!!  The deer was a huge 3x3 and given how the rest of the week unfolded, all I can say is that it just wasn't his time to die.  As you will hear later, I think that this is the luckiest mule deer buck alive. LOL!  

[Pinecone]

I brought two bows along on this trip...the St. Jude's Firefly longbow that I used to kill the pronghorn bucks in Wyoming and a Morrison Cheyenne that has been responsible for bagging multiple critters over the years.  Both of these bows shoot great and handle my heavy arrows well.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that when I miss, I sure can't blame it on the bows!  Oh well....that's huntin'  

[Charlie Lamb]

Amazing pictures. Having hunted over a lot of that same landscape several years ago, I hardly recognize it now.

I guess there is a plan in the natural scheme of things.
Just wish the government would have considered that when they reintroduced the wolves.

[Littlefeather]

Really nice photos! I'm jealous! CK