Biggest Hunting Accomplishment? So far? Future?

[xtreme]

Hunting with the kids. I took my 14 year old grandson on a bear hunt. What a hoot. He is more afraid of bear than I am the government, yet he walked the last half mile to his ground blind and in thirty minutes he called me to say,"I have killed a big red bear". To hear him describe what happened was priceless. He said his knees were vibrating and the scope crosshairs were going everywhere. I had ranged ever likely spot he had covered, one was 600yds. He ask,"are you going to let me shoot that far"? I never doubted his shot and it was perfect. He now has a larger bear than me.
Last year I took two kinds 14 and 16 that both got their elk with archery. Those two are dedicated shooting over two hundred shots daily. They have hooked me on archery.

 

[Retterath]

bucksnbulls nice job on a great first bull. what part of sd do u live in?

 

[RockChucker30]

One of my biggest hunting accomplishments was my 2012 DIY public land backpack bowhunt on an OTC tag in Colorado. I packed in solo 3.5 miles, stayed with the elk, and killed a great 6X6.

My story was published in EBJ 76.

I'd say my most enjoyable was helping my wife take her first deer ever this last fall. She absolutely pole-axed him with a 260 after watching him run does around for several minutes. I'm proud.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Mine was when I took my first Bull Elk with Guy and my hunting partners. It was a week that I will never forget. My uncle passed away the day before my opening morning and I was going to pack up and head home. My wife told me to stay because it what he would have wanted, so I did.
Meeting Guy and spending some fun times and learning how to efficiently hunt was a game changer for my hunting career. Being filmed, having my story published, and seeing myself on Eastmana hunting TV show was such a gratifying time of my life.

 

[velvetfvr]

Getting my first big game animal with my bow this past year. I was with my dad, bro, and mom. None of them are really serious hunters and my mom and dad have never shot a bow. My bro shoots his bow with me. So to do this with them and a lot of it through me learning as I went along, was a huge accomplishment.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

In truth for the future is my wife and daughter. They enjoy hunting and now with my kid almost of age to hunt in Nv it's going to be a family affair more then it already has.

It was a special day for me when my wife took her first deer and antelope. We where all together as a family and base camp and kept in contact while out getting her deer by radio. Her antelope my daughter was rite beside me when she took the shot.

The future will be when Raegan takes her first big game animal by far! When my wife draws a Nv bull tag is going to be a big one too

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I've been a hunter (and fisherman too) almost all my life. I am 72 now and have hunted and fished all over North America. My Father and Grandfather were responsible for my love of the outdoors. My son also hunts and fishes. I took him on his first big game hunt and was with him when he caught his first Marlin on my boat.

My greatest accomplishment was getting my Dad his last big game animal. Dad was 90 and suffered from old age and eye problems. I taught him to shoot left handed because of vision loss due to Macular Degeneration in his right eye. I got him turned in for an ES elk tag here in Colorado and shooting proficient enough with my .300 Wby to go and see if we could fill his tag. I knew a spot that I saw elk almost every evening coming out to feed. We hiked about a mile to some oak brush across the park from where the elk came from. About an hour before dark the elk did their thing and started feeding. They were about 400 yards away and feeding towards up and I told Dad "Let them come, we have lots of time". They were all cows and calfs, no bulls. Dad said he was having trouble seeing them as it was getting a little dark. So I told him to pick out the closest cow and dump her. She was 295 yards away. Dad was sitting using shooting sticks and dropped her with one shot. He started hollering and yelling like a little kid shooting their first deer!

After I gutted her, I got my quad and drove up a two track road to within 200 yards and my son and I dragged her to the quad, loaded her up.

That was my Dad's last big game hunt. We continued to hunt waterfowl together until he passed away in 2012 at 94. For me it will be hard to top that hunt no matter what I do the rest of my life.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Had trouble getting this picture loaded for my original post.

 

[Red Raider]

I guess mine would be my first elk. I went to Colorado from Texas in 1999 with my brother and 3 of his friends to hunt elk for the first time. We didn't see an elk in the daylight the whole trip. However, I absolutely fell in love with the country.

I started planning on going back the next year but couldn't find anyone to go with me. So, I started making calls and studying maps to make the trip by myself. I was at my parents house and was telling my dad about my upcoming trip. My mom came in and went off like a bottle rocket. She said "you're going to go on a 14 hour drive to Colorado to hunt elk in the rocky mountains by yourself" I said "yes ma'am". She proceeded to explain how stupid that was and what was I going to do if I got hurt. She finally got off her soap box after about 20 minutes and told my dad to talk some sense into me. He waited until she was out of ear shot and ask when I was going to leave. He thought it was going to be a great adventure.

I packed up my 2 man tent and all my gear and headed to Colorado 2 days before the season opened. My brother informed me I was wasting my time. I would need a guide since we lived to far away to scout. I told him I had studied maps and I knew where to start and I would go from there.

When I arrived at my camp site, I remembered why I came back. The night before opening morning I was kept awake by the sound of the first elk bugles I had ever heard in person. I left camp at 4:00 and walked down into the canyon I had picked to start hunting. I had nessled my way into a spruce tree to try and hide myself the best I could and waited for daylight. Right at daylight, I heard rocks rolling off the hillside to my left. A 6x5 bull walked right down on top of me at about 30 yards. I shoot left handed so I was having a hard time getting around on him. He started walking off which gave me the opportunity to get myself ready for the shot.

I took the shot at 138 yards with my Browning Lever Action 308. He crashed off thru the tree then all when silent. I was about to pass out at this point. I waited 20 minutes and walked to where he was standing when I shot. There was blood on the ground and I was about to bust. I tracked him for about 100 yards and found him up against a blow down. You can only imagine what I felt like taking my first bull elk on DIY hunt by myself. As a foot note, you will have to figure out for yourself what I said when this Texas whitetail hunter walked up on a 700 pound elk.

I had him quartered and hung up by noon. The first call I made when I got back and was able to was to my brother. He couldn't believe it. I packed him out the next day and headed back to Texas on monday. My dad was so proud of me. My mom was just glad I was a still alive. My dad kept asking questions and wanting me to keep telling him what happened. As you know, that was tough to do.

That one's going to be hard to top.

 

[JMBC]

My biggest hunting accomplishments... Helping my kids. My daughter, when she was young, followed me on trapline and hunting. Watching her have success turkey and deer hunting.
My son, who is now 13, helping him the last few yrs. Whether it was fishing, hunting and a little trapping it is most satisfying for me to see them succeed. Although im not so sure its real beneficial to them if dad helps too much. Haha. But when they go do those things on their own you know you've done something right. So my own personal accomplishments don't mean much to me I guess, just laying down a path for them.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Great bulls guys and I remember that show and the mag. article. The biggest thing is that I just love those kid and family photos. Keep em coming!!!

 

[dhershberger]

My biggest hunting accomplishments include a nice 5x6 bull in the Gila with my rifle and a great 4x4 muley in Northern NM with my rifle. As of the last two years I have become obsessed with the quest to kill my first big game animal with a bow and that is what I would like to accomplish within the coming years Lord willing. Until then all I can do is train and pray that God has it in his plan to bring me success with my bow this upcoming hunting season.

 

[BucksnBulls]

bucksnbulls nice job on a great first bull. what part of sd do u live in?

Thanks! I live in Webster. You?

 

[25contender]

Man good question!! I have been hunting for almost 40 years and out west for half of that. By far my most memorable and most humbling would be my first Pope and Young taken on a Solo trip back in the 90s. I had been trying and bow hunting hard for years before and committed to do whatever I could do to make it happen on a general public land Montana hunt. My hunting buddy couldn't make it so I went solo. I can remember every detail from the highs and lows of the hunt. It was very rough steep high country and chasing bulls was extremely tough. My boots were a few years old and my feet were in bad shape but pushed ahead not giving up. On the eighth day I finally got a break and had figured out were the elk were headed. I made a mad rush 1 mile away down from 10500ft to 8500ft and set up on a pair of trails the elk had been using. Getting setup on a small knoll between the two trails each trail 10yds on each side of me, I heard them coming a herd of about 40 animals. They came off the mountain down both trails, it sounded like a stampede and thought I was going to get run over. Of course the Bull I wanted was pulling up the rear bugling every few seconds. As He got closer I started to get nervous and just focused on him. As he came down the trail pushing cows he stopped 10 yards from me and bugled!! I remember shaking in my boots and the hair standing up on the back of my neck when I released the arrow I saw it vanish right behind the shoulder and watch him run about 50yds and topple over. I could have sworn I felt the ground shake when he hit the ground! Since the adrenaline was pumping so hard I had no problems prepping him and packing him out that night by myself. I have shot quite a few other elk but that bull and that first solo trip is the one that I feel is my biggest hunting accomplishment. Have you ever looked at your bow then looked at a mature elk and asked yourself what the he!! am I doing!!
Its funny I still hunt that same place to this day and the Bull's are there every year.

First Pope and Young Elk.

 

[CrimsonArrow]

Thanks! I live in Webster. You?

I was just out in Webster perch fishing, hope to come back in late March.

I've had a lot of tough hunts that turned out successful, and all of those are memorable. But I think my greatest accomplishment was killing my 59" Canadian moose with a bow back in 2005. My Dad and I went on a semi-guided hunt in Ontario and by semi-guided I mean the outfitter supplied the tags and food and lodging, and pointed to a spot on the map 18 road miles away from camp. We got a little off-course the first day, but found the right beaver swamp the second day. I called a few times during the day, and at last light, the big bull came swaggering and grunting down the shore of the pond right toward us. My Dad and I were shoulder to shoulder, and I said "You shoot him if he stays along the pond and I'll shoot him if he comes through the cattails." The bull popped out 60 yards from us, looking right in our direction, we thought we were busted. Then he turns to go through the cattails and stops broadside at 25 yards. I didn't have bull fever, but I was absolutely mesmerized by this gigantic, beautiful animal. My Dad whispered to shoot, so I drew and shot right as the bull stepped forward. I hit him through the liver and he took off running. I let out a loud grunt, and sure enough, he stops quartering away at 50 yards, and I double-lung him. We watch him go down. After field-dressing, we got into camp pretty late, and everyone is at the cook shack. One particularly loudmouth hunter asks "Did you get lost?" I said "Nope" He said "Did you shoot something?" I said "Yep" We showed everyone pics from my digital camera. Turns out to be the biggest moose the outfitter had ever taken. The funniest part of the whole hunt is that we didn't see another moose the whole 7 days. You'd think driving 18 miles in the dark every morning and evening a moose would have come across the road, or seen one while trying to fill my Dad's tag, but we didn't. That's when I really learned it's better to be lucky than good.

 

[tim]

To many cool things to write down. But probably my 3/4 grand slam. just need the desert ram to get the grand slam. That one might take awhile though.

the funny thing is I started harvesting animals when I made the conscience decision to not hunt with my father. Tough decision but everyone needs to learn when to go out on their own.

 

[tttoadman]

As much as I like my own accomplishments, I always get excited about my kids first year of hunting. My folks had a piece of land in central Oregon. My son and I took off up the hill at first light. We spotted 2 does and a buck a long way out. We spent about 1 1/2 hrs cutting the distance down to about 150yds. I worked hard to contain myself because he was a dandy, and I didn't want the kid to get jacked up any more. The kid made it happen. He is 4x4 at 25.5 wide.

Elk season was equally as great. Hunted with a big family group. Had a successful hunt.

 

[Sundowners@5?]

DIY ALASKA

14 day's, 13 day's of rain! Hunting partner and I both took 50 inch moose and I harvested a caribou with 416 inches of bone! Dodged a few grizz, survived one night of 100 mph winds. Lost 15 pounds humping meat and the mountain. Biggest accomplishment? Making one quart of whiskey last 14 day's!

 

[woodtick]

I've managed to kill a few decent animals in my short adult life, but nothing has been more gratifying then having my 3 year old daughter begging me to take her hunting last fall. It was cold and raining, she was wearing tennis shoes and sweat pants but we managed to hike a good half mile from a road and sit down and glass a little. The highlight was when she finally picked out a deer that had been staring at us. "Dad there is a deer, shoot it I'm hungry!" I couldn't have been happier.

 

[AT Hiker]

I think mine is yet to come, I have had fantastic adventures so far, but now that we have had our first daughter I for see some really awesome accomplishments to come in the future...