2023 Daily Hunt Reports

MeatBuck

MeatBuck

Hammer Time Executive member
Share em here folks.

Tell us about your day out in critter country.

Keep in mind we have a “2023 big game success thread” already for sharing successes, this one’s just for documenting daily outings/sightings and unsuccessful trips/hunts.
(Ya, I know, success is in the eye of the beholder. That said, if you didn’t kill one, this is the place to share).

Shoot straight and good luck this season folks.
 
I’ll start with a copy paste from the blacktail thread.

We passed on a handful of small forkedhorns this weekend. One average size that we sat on for most of the day without seeing again.

Saw a real healthy lookin lion in the headlights while heading up there about 4:40a.

Elk were full blown rut. Bugling their heads off. Herding cows.

Opening weekend clown show everywhere we went. Our plan a was already double parked and plan b had a vehicle there so we went to plan c. Couldn’t get away from the ppl. Although three times people or gunshots drew our attention long enough to see some deer/bucks in their direction. Unknowingly sat and glassed most of Saturday from a knob that two guys slept on the night before. No vehicles or any sign of people where we parked and hiked in from. Guess they wanted to wake up on the spot. Didn’t pan out for them, we circled in on them early morning and ruined their hunt. Oops. They left, we stayed and saw two legal bucks under 500yds from their camp knob.

Had video rolling on a velvet 1x2 but buddy decided to pass.

Sunday we had 3-4 vehicles of Mexican guys park along the road and hike in around us well after we were already set up and glassing. They bumped two bucks out onto the hillside behind us before taking a perch on a rock above us several hundred yards away. Could easily hear them talking and watched them pointing and gesturing down toward us. Finally one saw us and started waving his hands in the air. We packed it up and left shortly after.
 
Not really scouting, but prepping. Put over 200 miles break in on side by side. Hunts upcoming are out of state so map review, and tips from a local friend are in.

Locally we see more predator tracks than we do ungulates. Wolf, cougar, bear, and coyote. We're in what is called a predator pit here in Washington.
 
Skunked this evening. Didn’t see a thing. Well we did see a deer on the way there and one on the way home but none while actually hunting.
 
So moving here for general hunting talk,
I mentioned in the blacktail thread about fresh bear sign 2 weekends ago and went back last weekend to hunt the bear. The particular road has bear scat every 50 yards or so that was all fresh the prior weekend.... the road is short and ends around the corner in the pic, large clearcut on the right, heavy timber on the left. The Pic is of scat from this last weekend now 1 week later is breaking down. It doesnt appear anyone has driven down the road but what I noticed is there isnt any new fresh bear scat along the road. The black rasberries he was dining on had new ones that ripened since his dinner (I ate them) so this is clue #2 hes left this spot... my first lesson in patterning bears is maybe they roam as they forage and I should have spent time glassing in the adjacent drainages or terrain to this spot...?
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You can see where he carefully nibbled the ripe one leaving the others to ripen. That worked out for me as these are tasty, I believe these are a black rasperry instead of the more common blackberries in the area.

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Similar to deer in that they're following the green line up, only its berries. They'll end up on the north faces where the berries come on last.

Bigger bears dominate the food sources, little bears feed while the big bears hole up in creeks during the heat, and hang in the more marginal feed.
 
Got out yesterday morning. Son and I put on 4miles or so. Didn’t see anything until we stood up to pee before putting on packs to leave. A small buck ran off from below us. 😑

Got back to the truck and couple tweakers in a white ford ranger were looking in our truck. Saw us walking down the hill, loaded up and took off back the way they came from. Same spot my truck was broken into three years ago.

Wish I had seen them sooner so I could’ve watched and seen what they were going to do when they thought they were all alone.
 
I had a blacktail lay down near me, never saw him until he bolted when I got within a few feet. They move too fast like that to ethically take a shot.

The closer I hunt to home the higher risk of breakins, had to give up a good spot last year when someone dumped a motor home at the trailhead and lit it on fire. Prior to that it was a homeless camp. Been driving a couple hours away now just to get away from the city proximity issues... but theres some nice bucks close to home in those spots.

I wont be able to get out hunting for at least a couple weeks but look forward to it. Hoping to see some pics of a kill in this thread soon enough.
 
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ah.... I get it now.
Im so used to public land access. My whole life has recreated on public lands.

If someones whole life was recreating on private lands then thats an entirely different picture in regards to finding a homeless camp or illegal dump site. Obviously that stuff wont get tolerated on private lands. It however is a huge issue on public lands where its legal to camp dispersed for up to 2 weeks... the idea isnt huge but ive noticed an increase in the last couple years.
 
You guys….😑

Not a single hunt report from any of you. 🙄

Let’s get back on track here. 😜

Went out Sunday all day. Saw 12-15 deer. No bucks. Saw a wild turkey and a pile of elk. Heard bulls bugling almost all day. One herd had a pair of 7x8 bulls. Picked up trash on the walk out. Scored a new “blind chair” folding camp chair that had been abandoned in the brush by an old camp. Checked out a new vantage point, found a couple old beer cans up there. Again put about 4 miles on.

Yesterday my son and I headed up to find the 1x2 my buddy passed on opening weekend. Like the last two times I went there he was hanging in the same patch of oaks. After lengthy sit in the rain he dumped the dorky forky at 274yds.

Obviously he’s a “cactus” buck. First we’ve ever seen outside taxidermy shows. Big body but small neck, nuts were there but minuscule. Was a new age progressive trans buck on puberty blockers best we could tell. 😁
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MeatBuck said:
You guys….😑

Not a single hunt report from any of you. 🙄
Click to expand...
C Zone doesn’t open until the Third weekend in September. Trying to do load development to shoot next Saturday.
Couldn‘t go on field reviews for work because of fires and last night flooding. 96 has been closed around my project since the 15th.

Right now looking at the family calendar and work, it looks like I will get opener and maybe one other weekend this season.🤯🥴
 
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