Hope and Faith Sarrels of 2014

[elkken]

I have returned from my adventure with Hope … things did not turn out quite as planned but then life is like a box of chocolates isn't it ….

First stop was dove hunting and I had some flu flu's all ready, but it turned out we would be hunting a sunflower field and I am sure my arrows would never have been seen again. Shot gunning was good, in fact the best we had in 20 years or more. Most of our wheat fields in our old dove hunting spots are now apple orchards or vineyards. This was a brand new discovery and it was awesome, we did have to pay a trespass fee but it was well worth the fun.

I had a full ankle  replacement surgery in May and knew this entire outing might be a bit much for me, I had the other one done last year and it is doing great and had no issues this trip. On the first morning going to my spot in the dark carrying my shot gun, bucket to sit on, and a mojo dove decoy I managed to trip about 20 times between rows and drainage ruts to turn my new ankle pretty good.  Loss of range of motion is the biggest draw back to my new ankle and your balance takes a while to return. That said we shot our ten dove limit each day in less than two hours, but I was limping pretty good the last morning.

I took the next day off and visited a friend in Spokane before I headed north to scare some deer.

But first in honor of the FROG team I wanted to post my first photo. This was taken in the Cascade Mountains in big timber at 3500-4000 feet elevation.

 

[elkken]

 

I saw lots of deer in the area I was hunting, unfortunately they were all young bucks and does and fawns. Temps were in the 80's and none of the bucks had been shedding velvet yet. This area is a 4 point minimum each side or 8pt eastern count.

[elkken]

 

   

In the three days I hunted deer I saw upwards of 50 deer and not one legal buck. I decided to pack up and head to the Cascades looking for elk. My ankle was still a bit tender and I needed a break  so I went an visited another friend in Deer Park WA and spent the night. We walked the woods around his place the next morning, saw a few deer and some fun tracks in the mud.

 

 

The bear track was going one way and the turkey track the other way in the same mud puddle.

[elkken]

 

Hope leaning on my tent at elk camp …. temps were in the low 80's and the full moon was coming on strong. Tough conditions for elk hunting but great for camping. The elevation here is about 3500-4000 feet with some peaks higher, I believe you can get upwards of 6000 in the highest elevations. I would have to look at some of my maps.

[elkken]

 

Some of the surrounding countryside. High meadows, low meadows, lakes and ponds with a mix of old growth fir and reprod that is approximately 35 years old. Last year I bugled a nice 5x5 in the big timber at the edge of that lake.

   

Hope leaning on a BIG fir ….

[elkken]

There was plenty of prime stump shooting in this part of the country. Especially in the big timber, the reprod is way too thick for any kind of fun .. it's like hand to hand combat in there.

[elkken]

Some very nice stands of BIG timber to hunt, unfortunately in comes in pockets unlike the good old days in the 1980's when it went forever. If you fly over the Cascades it looks like a big checker board of clear cutting and timber stands. Some of that was due to who owned what and also logging regulations.  I shot my very first bull elk in this timber patch back in 1985, a very nice 6x6. He was down in a dry creek bed rubbing a small spruce when I spotted him. I figured if he walked away from me I would bugle to him, but as luck would have it he walked right to me and I shot him at 12 yards… Some times it's better to be lucky than good    

[elkken]

Fresh rubs were hard to find and usually this area has LOTS of them. May be the heat and also I was having trouble covering much ground I was just hitting my honey holes. Here is Hope sniffing an old rub … she really did want to hunt something bigger than a frog    

[elkken]

The view from camp …. It was with a heavy heart that I had to pack up and head home, my new ankle will be ready in the late season or perhaps not until next year and then we'll give'm heck once again.

I want to thank Sarrel's Archery for their generous donation of this years St Jude pass around bows. Hope was just awesome to shoot, a true stump killer. I'm going to get Hope off early to Dark Timber so he can have extra time with her and shoot something tastier that a stump perhaps            

Wish you would have connected Ken, but it looks like you had a great time in the woods anyway!

Good luck to Dark Timber!

Bisch

[South MS Bowhunter]

Great pic's and story Ken...and what was that little green and yellow thing in the first picture?

A "Mountain Toad" perhaps???  

[elkken]

       very good John

[Bud B.]

Opening morning here in NC. Just woke up and checked the RADAR. Thunderstorms and rain. Maybe this evening I can finally get out with Faith. No scenery like Ken's here in NC, but I promise pics when we do finally get out.

[Bud B.]

The kind of red I do not want to see.

 

 :(

[Bud B.]

This afternoon turned out nice, but muggy. I sat 'til dark with nothing seen.

Wish the season started yesterday. Look at the timestamp.

Sunset tonight was 19:29.

 

[DarkTimber]

Well I should be receiving Hope from Ken in the next day or two.  My plan was to hunt with her in October for bears here in Arkansas but Ken was able to send her out a little early and it looks like she will be here before I leave on my elk hunt this Thursday.  Hopefully I can get her tuned up quick enough to take to Colorado and get some elk hunting done with her as well.  

I started running a couple of baits last Sunday Sept 7th. We can't legally start baiting until Sept 1st and I had family commitments on Labor Day so the 7th was the earlist I could get out.   My son and I ran the baits yesterday and a bear had hit one of them within 5 hours of us putting it out.  Here are a couple of pics from one of the baits.  

 

 

[Bud B.]

Sat Saturday eve, Sunday eve, and this morning. A squirrel, rabbit, and songbirds were my entertainers. No deer seen yet.

Chores now await  :(

Will be back out this evening.

[elkken]

Go get'm Aaron ....        

[Bud B.]

Got Faith out yesterday evening. Had a doe and fawn blow into my area. Literally. After situated for about 1/2 an hour a fawn comes storming in at a full run and slams on the brakes about 30 yards out.Mom follows about 2-3 seconds later. She appears to scold the fawn as if to say, "Look here son, running blind into a new area can be deadly. Lets back out and look somewhere else."

And they did.

About 1/2 hour before sunset a flock of blackbirds came to visit for about 15 minutes. Anything that would have come into the area was probably running from the squawking invasion on all eardrums withing 100 yards. They started a rainfall of acorns that beat me and the ladder stand up pretty good. Wasn't pooped on though. That's good.

[threeunder]

Keep at it guys!  Wish we were huntin' here in VA now.