Harvest time

[Big Fin]

Once a year, I go out to a friend's place and shoot as many whitetail does: 1. As I can get tags for, which is a lot. 2. As I can stand to shoot. or 3. As I can fit in the freezer, even though a couple will go to the Food Bank as part of my "annual giving."

Bringing the two camera guys with. They will have buck tags and doe tags, so I should film it, but I am just to worn out to mess with the filming stuff this week. That will have to wait 'til we leave for Nevada on Sunday.

This is usually a harvest, as much as it is a hunt. I think in all, we have seven doe tags, and three buck tags.

I am saving my buck tag for later in the season, but if the big one were to show up that could be a problem. The cameras will be at home, so what would I do if one of those 160" whitetails stood there and looked at me? Hmmmm.

Always fun, and the weather is supposed to be nice, as it should be on a doe hunt.

What would you guys think if we filmed a doe hunt or a cow elk hunt? I get a lot of requests for it from guys who hunting primarily or only for meat. But, let's face it, people watch hunting TV hoping they get to see the big one fall. I would like to do such an episode and talk about the importance of taking does and cows, and how often volunteering to take anteless critters has eventually led to me getting permission for antelered animals. This ranch is an example of that.

I have never been denied permission to hunt when I had a fist full of doe tags, whether it be deer or antelope. The same with cow elk tags.

Anhow, hope we have a good time. Getting hungry just thinking about these alfalfa fed deer.


One of the many we took in 2007, when NVLongbow came to MT with his freezer in the back of his Subaru. Hilarious.

 

[shoots-straight]

Mix the hunts up. Put a trophy hunt in with a couple of scenes of antlerless hunting. Don't make it a whack and stack show. Also my advice never, I mean never laugh after killing an animal. I get really disgusted when this happens.

 

[duckhead59]

Randy, you're on the right track for it...a good 'conservation' hunt show of a mix of does/cows would be very good...and what better medium to launch the concept than OYOA? guys hunting for meat are a very important part of hunting that people seem to loose track of when filming/watching all the great trophy hunts...but it is the backbone of the sport...the OYO guy.
tie it all together with ideas like resource management, family hunts, kids, helping land owners, gaining access and donations of meat to food pantries...many states including Missouri even help with the cost of processing thru cost arrangements with many local meat processors...you might even throw in a 'lesson' on field dressing/meat handling ideas.
let us know your thoughts...

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Randy, As a Hunter who goes west whenever I can here is my take on this. When I look at the new membership on HT I see more diverse areas that the new membership reflects. Many of my friends will never, ever hunt a Mule Deer or an Elk. They would jump through Hoops to just shoot a Cow Elk, do not take what is Common for the Western man to downgrade what the Easter man has no acess to and allow that to schedule a show. In 10 years of Elk hunting (Late Starter) I have taken 5 Elk, only 1 was a small Bull. My fist pump on those cows was just as big as the fist pump on the cows. John

 

[elk_hunter]

Randy, I'd love to see episodes where you take cows/does -- like you said, there's a lot of logic involved and it's important for people to see that and be educated about it.

 

[noharleyyet]

How pc is the OTDC & sponsors in respect to actual knife in the animal meat care shots?

I second duckhead's reccommend.

 

[Muley Crazy]

Randy I like to get doe tags prior to drawing a GOOD buck tag so I can go scout the area and chat with other hunters and kind of be undercover when I talk to other hunters nobody is scared to talk to a DOE hunter. Most hunters are willing to tell you about the big bucks they saw, missed or shot. Pre season scouting is good but as we all know we cant predict what kind of hunting pressure to expect on public land.

 

[----]

A show where you were on a real mountain hunt for a cow elk would be alright, but gotta be honest I have no desire whatsoever to see someone shoot whitetail does out of an alfalfa field. No problem with anyone doing these hunts, they definitely need to happen, just takes the 'Adventures' out of the title of the show, if that makes sense.

 

[genesis273]

As odd as it sounds, I sometimes would rather watch cow/doe hunts. It`s just something different to watch. I think with all the big bucks and bulls being shot on all the shows it has become taboo or less of a hunt to shoot does in some hunters eyes. I take my fare share every year and eat every one of them...and more!

 

[the nikster]

Do it

Randy,

In most folks' minds I guess I would be considered a trophy hunter. Early in the season I pass on anything less than a real trophy wallhanger. As the season eases into its second half I begin to worry about eating this winter. I almost always settle for a small buck. I think many of us do likewise. Some might be bored by the antlerless hunts but let's face it, a HUGE number of hunters each year do not harvest book animals. Youths need to have this reinforced! If every show only portrays 180 class bucks or 340 class bulls as a 'successful' hunt, we are sending the wrong message.
You're a salmon, Randy, you have fought against the stream so far-don't stop now.

 

[T Bone]

A cow/doe episode would be swell I think.

One thing of value IMO, would be to show step by step how to reduce a 300 pound cow to 90 pounds of boned out meat and get it out of the mountains on your back. It may not be doable to show the procedure due the graphic nature.

Most that have no mountain hunting experience havn't a clue how handle the animal.

 

[Buschy]

BF,

I am a notorious doe slayer and would love to see a hunt dedicated to putting meat in the freezer. I have taken a lot of crap from friends about getting very excited about having a rifle in my hands and a pocketful of doe tags. I guess I get excited about hunting in general though!!

I say go for it and I think you can respectfully show a some does hitting the ground to feed the family for the winter. If you had to choose would you rather eat a stinky bull/buck or a big doe??

Buschy

 

[schmalts]

The Doe/cow hunt would be OK IMO but thats about it. For the most part they are easy hunts compared to the male of the species. Now if a Kid is doing the hunting that would be better

 

[Big Fin]

Did not mean to imply that because it is doe hunting, that it somehow is less of an experience. I love it. It is what I eat. When I have a trailer full of does, and heading to the freezer, I have a big smile.

As far as the blood and stuff of gutting, quartering, etc. that is a big NO NO on all networks. That chaps me, as I so badly want to show guys how we get these critters into manageable pieces, onto pack frames, and into our freezers. The most common email question I get is about how we process these critters without them spoiling.

Like most of you, I think the doe/cow harvest has an important part of hunting. But, as one TV host told me, it is like putting ugly people (that would include me) in bathing suits - We know it happens, but people don't tune in to watch such things. He tried it, and it was a flop from a TV standpoint.

Don't bet that I won't do it. It might be a cow elk hunt, it might be a whitetail doe hunt, or who knows what.

The sharing of the harvest is a huge deal to me. Maybe not to other hunters, but it is to me. I grew up where everyone ate a lot of venison. It was much appreciated when someone shared venison with a family that might not be so lucky.

From that, every year, I shoot at least two whitetail does and pay to have them commercially processed, so I can donate them to the food bank. I know how much those people appreciate having a piece of protein in their diet. I don't feel that they should be the place where we take a rutted old muley buck. Rather, I want them to enjoy venison, and the best venison I can get.

I feel strongly that if we as hunters do not maintain a connection to the harvest and conservation role that hunting plays, we lose a lot of our validity and purpose to the rest of society, who in the long run, will be the poeple who decide the fate of hunting.

I make no apologies for shooting does and eating them. I pass many small bucks, as in the mule deer hunt we filmed last week, and would rather take a doe. Better conservation, and allows the bucks to get a little older.

Seems like a strong story exists in those aspects of antlerless hunting, such that we can do an episode about it. It will be one that I try to do next year, if I can build a compelling storyline around the hunt.

In the meantime, load 'em up and head 'em out. Time to get the truck full of tender whitetail. Get some backstraps, tenderloins, burger, a little jerky, and some teriyaki pepper sticks, and I will be one happy guy.

 

[schmalts]

Hey, i will be in MT in 3 weeks... Have some pepper sticks waiting for me

 

[Big Fin]

So, I take the camera guys over to this ranch and we have six doe tags between us, and they both have buck tags, also. I tell them how fun it will be to not have cameras in my face all day, a joy I have not experienced for the last two hunting seasons.

Well, they show up, toting enough junk to make the carnival look small. The normal goods of tripods, lenses, audio, and whatever else they pack in those big bags that hardly fit in a full sized pickup. I explain that this is a hunt, not a TV episode. They both get a big smile and say, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Given that I did not want to be filmed, I told them they are filming each other, and I would be a second camera, if need be. They brought their new digital SLRs, which record Hi-Def video, and they wanted to play with those and see how they would work for our kind of show.

The day went well. Troy started it with a good shot on a doe. The Loren made a stalk on a buck - his first whitetail.

After field dressing these, the deer had by then made it to the brush and were bedding in the creek bottoms.

I then told them to stand where I had historically seen a lot of deer exit from the creek bottom, and I would make a push. The hopes are that Troy could fill his buck tag, and they could each fill their remaining doe tags.

It was now Troy's turn to shoot.

As I left the set-up, they decided it would be best for me not to take my rifle, as I would be tempted to shoot something, and we are saving my MT deer tag for an episode later this month. I protested, but laid my rifle on the packs and headed around, making the big circle along the neighboring fenceline, where the bucks always seem to congregate. I knew leaving my rifle with them was a bad idea, but if I was saving my tag for a later episode, what's to lose, right?

It was very slow, bumping only one doe while getting to the fence line. As I ented the creek bottom, it was very noisy with all the falled cottonwood leaves. But, this was the best spot I knew of, so I had confidence that a few deer would be there.

Now is where filming and the sacrafices of doing such get ugly. I circled upwind of the thick brush where the deer always bed. As I did that, three bucks stood. I could not really make them out that well, so I moved forward quickly, hoping to drive them west, to Troy and Loren and cut them off from crossing to the outfitted property to the east.

The bucks must have sensed what I was up to, as they quickly started trotting up the trail, but toward me. They were going upwind, and so long as they could see me, seemed comfortable heading that direction. As I cleared the brush, I could see one of them was a real smoker. I moved to the knoll above the trail they were taking to the adjacent property. They stopped 80 yards below me and gave me the stare down.

The big guy was a lunker. At least 6 points on one side, created by a forked G2. And his tines were long and the mass was excellent. Oh, how I wished to have my rifle with me, not back with Troy and Loren. Eventually, the bucks tired of me, and continued down the trail. I watched as they crossed the fence, knowing the big guy would soon bear the tag of one of the outfitter's clients. Such is life.

I continue on my way, and headed south and west, hoping to push deer from the brush. Withing a few hundred yards, white flags are bounding in front of me. I see lots of does and a group of four bucks, with a really nice 5X5. I see the does head to Troy and Loren. The rifle sounds and the bucks escape down the thick brush and another doe bites the dust.

I tell Troy and Loren of the big buck with the forked G2 on the passenger side. They look at my with that same "Yeah, sure, whatever" kind of look. I tell them that if I were not required to hold my tag for a future episode, that buck would be dead. In fact, if I had my rifle with me, I would have shot that buck, filming or not.

We dress Troy's doe, leave it in the shade and walk back toward the ranch headquarters where we can secure a vehicle to retrieve the carnage we are leaving in our wake. On the way, Loren shoots another doe.

Loren is putting on an impressive shooting display. He has never hunted big game, and he uses two bullets from my .257 Weatherby and takes two deer in spectacular fashion. One drops like it was hit by lightning, and the other runs twenty yards after a heart shot, and cartwheels for the camera. Troy's shooting is pretty good also. But, could they shoot this well with the pressure of two cameras rolling and two camera guys giving directions while they focus on shooting? Probably.

After all this, I offer to walk to the ranch house and get the retrieval truck. Troy and Loren stay, hoping to fill the final doe tag, and possibly Troy's buck tag.

On my way back, I shoot a nice fat doe that had been grazing in the alfalfa. The brush of the creek gave me ample cover to sneak up and take her with one clean shot. Wow, we are now making progress on the harvest.

I find Loren and Troy taking pics of the early evening scenics. Troy asks if we would go retrieve all the deer, while he sits the creek bottom in hopes of filling his last tags. Sure, I will do it, as he helped pack that big elk last week, so it is the least I can do.

Loren and I jump in the truck and drive around to pick up the deer we have dressed and put in places to cool. We get to where one of Troy's does was laying and drag it to the truck. Troy comes running from the creek bottom, winded and not carrying his pack or rifle. He saw us close by and came over to ask if we can help him get his recently taken deer from the creek bottom. Uffda, the pile is getting pretty big now. Good thing the rancher had me take his flatbed.

Troy jumps in while Loren, a rep for Big Sky Brewing, decides since his hunting is over, it is time to ride on the truck bed and sip a cold Moose Drool. Troy tells me he shot a buck down where I had chased all those bucks earlier in the day.

I ask him if it was a good one. He says he thinks it is, but since this is his first whitetail buck, he is not sure. I ask how many points. He tells me it is a 9 pointer (he is a midwestern boy, who still hasn't picked up the western 4X5 vernacular). Cool.

He says nothing else, as we drive toward the place he left his pack and gun, other than thanks me profusely for arranging the day's hunt on this friend's ranch. I park and he instructs me as to where the deer is, and that he would be down in just a second. I put on the headlamp and go to where I see his pack hanging from a blown down cottonwood.

I round the corner and see nothing but tines, and lots of them. And, a big forked out G2 on a whitetail buck that is looking pretty familiar. This is no "9 pointer." I turn and shout some expletives at him and erupt in laughter. He is giggling at my expressions and soon, we are all laughing hysterically.

I will have to let Troy tell the story of the shot, as I was not there. And, he did not wait for Loren to film it. So, in my books, this buck doesn't count. For two reasons 1) I could have shot it, if they had not absconded my rifle from me, and 2) He didn't wait to get it on film. Imagine that, the camera guy shoots without the cameras rolling. WTH?

Anyhow, it was a great day. Lots of meat. Loren took his first big game animals, and Troy took a buck of many lifetimes.

A few pics to add to the story.

Loren's first big game animal.



Food for the winter.



Lucky dog.



And he couldn't get it on film.

 

[TheTone]

Awesome sounding hunt, what was the final tally on deer taken? Troy's buck is a dandy.

 

[Oak]

Wow, way to go guys! That buck of Troy's is something. Looks like he may have busted off the matching fork on the left G-2?

But Randy, you really should have posted a photo of that .257. I'm in love and want one just like it. Same caliber and all.

 

[Spitz]

Looks like a great harvest Randy! Lots of fun and plenty of meat for both your family and the more needy families this holiday season. Troy's buck is a stud too!

 

[Lawnboy]

Great hunt and congrats to Loren for getting a great first. Troy on the other hand is a lucky sucker I wish i could of been behind him with the camera saying not yet I can't see them or hold on it's not quit right. Just kidding Troy. Looks like a true trophy. You guys did awesome and I wish I could of witnessed the mayhem.

Ok Finn I'm ready for my first whitetail. Maybe 2010? What's a guy got to do to get invited to the whitetail festival?