Average Joe Hunting Adventures with Dan and CJ

Before I head up to the moose mountains for two weeks I figured I'd recap my September. Oh what a month it's been!

September 2nd I killed a great bull in an OTC unit here in Idaho. That bull took a lot of stress of my shoulders as it filled the last corners of my freezer. Because at the end of the day, I hunt for meat. I don't make enough money to hunt as much as I do and not kill anything. I've been blessed with a freezer full of wild game meat every year I've been on this Earth, and I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.



With my freezer full and vacation still on the books I decided to spend that leave helping my buddy kill a bull in AZ. I could have gone moose hunting, deer hunting, or spent more time on my antelope tag, but I wanted to experience some of the elk rut. And Arizona did not disappoint. After a slow start, the switch was flipped and the woods erupted with rutting bulls and all of the chaos that comes with them.

My buddy killed an incredible elk and I was honored to be a part of it. It was great to reunite with an old friend and to make new ones. Despite how physically demanding the trip was, it certainly refreshed my soul. It was incredibly fun. I can't wait to do it again. (Side note: We're planning a January javelina hunt. All of us are going to use wood long bows my buddy's dad built. It's going to be a blast.)



After getting back from AZ, much to my wife's chagrin, I had to try to fill my antelope tag. Running on fumes, and with a few lucky horseshoes tucked somewhere I haven't found yet, I was able to kill an antelope that might be one of the biggest I'll ever kill with my bow.




If the season ended today I would be more than content. I can't think of a better word than 'blessed.'

Tonight I'm heading up North to spend 2 more weeks being blessed with the opportunity to hold a once in a lifetime moose tag. Whenever people ask me how I'm doing, I look them in the eye and say with a smile, "I'm living the dream." And I mean it everytime.

Good luck to everyone hitting the woods the next couple days. I hope you find what it is you're looking for.

Great summary, and so happy God is blessing you (and us following your adventures!). Looking forward to hearing how your moose hunt goes! Praying God blesses you with a big one!

Love following your hunts and look forward to reading about the next adventure whether you take game or not!!! They are all successful trips when your spending time outdoors and enjoying nature!!!

CJ is still out hunting hard for his moose!


I'm packed up and ready to head out Thursday after work for New Mexico antelope.
I should arrive sometime Friday afternoon and will have a couple hours of glassing. I hope to put a good one to bed!

I also picked up two Oklahoma deer tags and 1 turkey tag. I'll stop in there on the way back. There will be a nice temp drop that lines up perfectly with my drive home, so I'd be silly to pass up that opportunity.

Cameras are charged, so I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and videos. (Pending Randy's approval to post the videos)


Thanks for following along!

This just keeps getting better and better.

Good job guys. Keep it up!

Well I am New Mexico bound.
I stopped in Mississippi for a cup of coffee and some gas.

Trip start




I swear there is a common theme with me this year every time I have to go hunt New Mexico.
It seems a storm likes to pop up and and throw all my plans for a loop.
No worries because I always plan and have backups to the backups.




This trip may get cut short depending on the storm, but we will see!


I am super excited though and so ready to chase after an antelope buck!

Well I made it to New Mexico. Time for some lunch and it's off to the ranch.

I can't wait for a shower lol

You have no idea how bad I needed this ��

Opening day!

Here goes nothing

Have fun!

Good luck.

I'm back to civilization. I still have a lot of work to do before I can sit down and write out the last few days of events. But let's just say I've been blessed with a lot of luck.

Awesome...congrats man! Can't wait to see the pics and read the story! Getting a moose is my biggest hunting dream...

I have a very long night ahead of me.

Glad New Mexico treated you well.

Congrats on the moose. Glad it worked out for you. Can't wait to hear about where you found him.

bobbydean said:

Glad New Mexico treated you well.

Click to expand...

New Mexico is always very good to me! It's my favorite place ever.

So this hunt wasn't my standard type of hunting. We woke up Saturday morning and ate our delicious and free holiday in express breakfast.
Nothing says antelope hunting like cinnomen rolls, eggs, bacon, and coffee.

The ranch had been flooded out by some nasty rain so we wanted to wait for the sun to come up before we started our journey.
On the way into the ranch we found a present some loser left at the road enterance .



I've said it before in here, but I'll say it again. I'm probably the worst hunter in the world, but I always pick up so much trash that karma generally works itself out.

We made it to the ranch and our fun began.

The first half of the day was slow. We had to search the ranch and find areas that weren't flooded.
It wasn't until the afternoon where we found where some goats where hiding.

I glassed two bucks and my buddy and I put a stalk in. There was plenty of terrain out there to use to our advantage and we were able to sneak up this little hill that put us 200 yards away from them with a down hill shot.

I looked over the bucks and decided I didn't want to shoot either of them, but my buddy did!
He picked his spot, bang, and the antelope dropped!

After the buck dropped the other one with him decided to come investigate us. He got within about 45 yards and just sat there snorting at us. He was a young guy, but it was neat.


This is my buddies second year of hunting and I've had the pleasure of taking him on both hunts and teaching him everything I can. He's now got two antelope bucks to his name from New Mexico and that's a great start!