Keeping the duck dog busy. Final update, 10/26.
- Thread starter tod osier
- Start date
How are Beavers' feet holding up otherwise? Sucks about the torn nail...I've had that happen a couple times but have always been able to just cut the nail back...never was so problematic that we needed to mellow the dog out to get it taken care of. If Beaver is like Drake or B, he'll hardly notice it....they always noticed when the nail was still present but it was a huge relief once it was cut back.
Bummer about the mountain grouse. Those woods where the elk were look pretty open (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more open than I ever shot grouse in) and all the trees seem to be the same age. What I recall at least about ruffs is that they like younger tracts of woods but I could be misremembering.
Are the antelope tags also archery? Or one archery and one general gun?
Feel free to give Beaver some "feel better cookies" from me and Belle
Bummer about the mountain grouse. Those woods where the elk were look pretty open (WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more open than I ever shot grouse in) and all the trees seem to be the same age. What I recall at least about ruffs is that they like younger tracts of woods but I could be misremembering.
Are the antelope tags also archery? Or one archery and one general gun?
Feel free to give Beaver some "feel better cookies" from me and Belle
Been wondering where you were or if your just up and retired. Looks like a great trip to some great country. Congrats on the bull he is a dandy. Wild that Beaver accompanied you every step of the way. Love the photos. A lot more steady than my duck dog would be. He barks at the elk on the farm.
Dani said:
Dani said:
In lieu of cookies, how about an elk leg bone to chaw on.
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As for the toenail injury, be glad that you haven't had a bad one with your pups. I hadn't ever had a problem until August and now I'm at 2 of them with Beaver. To give you and idea of what it looked like, the nail was split from tip to base and spread open with the bloody quick completely exposed. He was a hurting unit, really must have hurt. He is not looking very good today. I'm going to rebandage to see what it looks like. Feet are holding up good, we have been in a lot of rock and rough terrain. Doesn't seem like he will had issues with pad wear.
Most tags in WY for Deer, Elk, Antelope are rifle tags and then you pay for an archery tag on top of that to extend the season (there are archery only tags too, but less of them). So for the elk, I could archery hunt Sept 1-30 and then rifle October 1-31. Antelope is similar, just different dates. I'll rifle hunt for Antelope, since that is open now. I'm no purist, I'll use the longest range weapon possible. For elk the rut coincides with archery, that is what makes it desirable to me. For antelope I have an "any antelope", which amounts to a buck tag (same with the elk tag) and I have a second antelope tag that is a doe/fawn.
I agree on the grouse habitat in the photos, but there is quite a bit of good looking stuff too. The Biologist said that there were OK grouse numbers, but the Game Warden said that mountain grouse numbers were pretty low and they were hard to find. I was excited that we might find some good numbers, but in the end, I'm glad that we didn't have that distraction. With Beaver getting birdy and going wild woudl have hurt the elk hunting for sure.
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Brad Bortner said:
We did make some serious progress on the retirement clock this year, so I'm even closer than I was and I'm sooo ready
, but no, not retired - yet!Beaver was pretty good with the elk. He did huff at a couple early on, but didn't mess up any encounters. There is a lot of windblown timber in the unit, so it was tougher than just getting him to heel, to keep him close, since we were having to navigate a pretty complex landscape. Most of the time he was out in front doing his thing, but he pays attention to my movements like no dog I've had and he pops right back if I make a noise to come. The elk we got close to didn't seem bothered by him if they saw him.
Poor Beav....hope he gets better quick
Are you fairly close to your elk and antelope areas or did you have to relocate pretty far?
So, your elk tag is for rifle but you can also get archery....does that mean only one elk but two seasons for you? Or do you get two elk because you have two different permit types? I can't imagine it would be the second way, but things don't always make sense to me when it comes to government.
Are you fairly close to your elk and antelope areas or did you have to relocate pretty far?
So, your elk tag is for rifle but you can also get archery....does that mean only one elk but two seasons for you? Or do you get two elk because you have two different permit types? I can't imagine it would be the second way, but things don't always make sense to me when it comes to government.
Dani said:
I changed beaver's dressing and it made a big improvement in his comfort. It has fossilized with dried blood and was hard and crunchy putting pressure on the quick.
Elk and antelope are the same general area, that was part of the plan. Plus, I really like the area. For elk I got 1 tag to use either archery or rifle, once I bought the archery stamp.
I went to a second vet today after changing Beav's dressing, since I didn't like how it looked - she said rest for 2-3 weeks and antibiotics, no other options. I was able to get a third, and expert, opinion that offered specific and completely contrary advice of how to manage the injury and I feel a lot better. Hopefully, Beavs does too in a couple days.
Last night I almost took a game animal that I didn't have a tag for - with the truck! So it isn't all fun and games.
Young mule deer buck racing at top speed to cross the road didn't quite make it across, but I hope he "made it". I'm amazed how slight the damage is given the speed we were both going, but it always costs worse than it looks.
Last night I almost took a game animal that I didn't have a tag for - with the truck! So it isn't all fun and games.
Young mule deer buck racing at top speed to cross the road didn't quite make it across, but I hope he "made it". I'm amazed how slight the damage is given the speed we were both going, but it always costs worse than it looks.
Tod,
You got by cheap if it's only the bumper. Hope Beaver has a smooth recovery going forward.
You got by cheap if it's only the bumper. Hope Beaver has a smooth recovery going forward.
tod osier said:
At least it did not trigger the airbag sensors.
David Clites
Active member
Tod,
Congrats on what would be a lifetime dream hunt for many folks.
Are there any grizzlies in the area where you got the elk?
A buddy has been after me to join him on an elk hunt in MT (his great uncle was MT's first game warden) . His success rate has been very high but he goes in/up several miles where even the horses can't go (they can go up but don't have enough room to turn around and descend). I wouldn't mind that, but it creeps me out that he keeps a solar electric bear fence around his tent at night, often having Griz tracks in the snow next morning. Not my cup of tea...
Dave
Congrats on what would be a lifetime dream hunt for many folks.
Are there any grizzlies in the area where you got the elk?
A buddy has been after me to join him on an elk hunt in MT (his great uncle was MT's first game warden) . His success rate has been very high but he goes in/up several miles where even the horses can't go (they can go up but don't have enough room to turn around and descend). I wouldn't mind that, but it creeps me out that he keeps a solar electric bear fence around his tent at night, often having Griz tracks in the snow next morning. Not my cup of tea...
Dave
Troy Fields
Well-known member
Great outing Tod! A bucket list for me just to hear them bugle. Looks like you are off to having a very memorable fall of 2022. Enjoy!
I have a rainy morning and internet and a lot of pics, so I thought I'd do an update.
Update on Beaver's toe nail. Toe nail after vet cut it. Ideally it should have been cut back far enough to get the split removed. The two sections moving on each other caused a lot of pain.
Beaver's toe with a thread wrap with superglue to immobilize the two halves.. This made a huge difference in his comfort, it was like night and day how sensitive the toe was. It stayed on for 4 or 5 days then he tore the top of the nail completely off.
Nail progress as of the other day. Seems pretty good, just the smallest sign of an issue as far as pain at the end of the day.
Antelope camp, just in the trees for comfort.
One camp where I spent a lot of time had a pine that was dripping a lot of pitch. Goes to show not to wear your best crocs as camp shoes.
Navigation system. The screen in the truck can't display cartography with property boundaries, so I added the iPad. Worked great with onX maps. Did a lot of driving antelope hunting and sage grouse hunting. Good co pilot helps too.
Sunset neat camp.
Sunrise from antelope camp.
Rainbow from antelope camp.
Hail storm that put down 2" of small hail then it rained and rained. Not too much gumbo in this area, but there is some.
Beaver likes to stay close when glassing.
Looked over a lot of bucks, probably in the neighborhood of 150 before I was done with both tags.
The buck I decided to go for at 500 yards digiscoped. He was at 500 for a couple hours in a strong wind, I couldn't stalk closer with Beaver, the only option would have been to go back and around and pop up from a dip at 120 yards, which I didn't think I could do with enough stealth given the number of eyes.
He and a buddy moved to 375 yards just before dark and the wind dropped to zero, making for a straightforward shot. Another animal broke down in the dark.
Meat tree to get the meat cooled after the kill. I hung meat outside at night and put it in the chest freezer during the day. It would have been fine outside, but this way it didn't get flies on it.
How I hung meat overnight.
Doe tag filled. It took 2 days, even though there were a lot of antelope around. I just couldn't get the shot I wanted on day one. On day 2 I had a half a dozen opportunities before 9 am, including while I was breaking down this animal.
Found this broken arrowhead packing meat back to the truck. Someone was successful on this same hill before.
Herd of antelope that we messed around with trying to fill my doe tag.
This is the buck with this herd. I passed him up trying to fill my buck tag.
Herd of does and fawns.
More antelope.
Busted.
Antelope fajitas.
Seared antelope heart with a wine reduction.
Typical area on the border of the trees and sage where I found a lot of antelope once the season opened.
Truck in the sage.
Beav's first sage grouse.
Sage grouse retrieve.
Beav with a big male, love how the big ones are a lot bigger than a big pheasant.
Sage grouse fricassee.
Driving to a spot in the early am.
Liked this shot.
Tired pup.
Sage grouse fajitas. Messy camp cookery, but good.
Beaver found this beauty.
Racing an antelope.
Just a pose in pretty light.
One bull elk and a buck antelope boned out in the deep freeze in the camper. The other antelope fits in the camper freezer.
Sunset over the sage before moving on from WY.
Moved on to South Dakota. Resting the eve before my license started. This is an area I've been several times.
First prairie chicken retrieve.
Feather tongue.
Prairie chicken retrieve.
Pass shooting prairie chickens at dusk.
Swamp thing. Trying to keep Beaver cool on a hot day.
Last flower of the year?
I'll hunt a couple more days then move on home. I'm ready, but would like to get Beaver dialed in on prairie grouse before we leave.
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Capt Rich Geminski
Well-known member
Great pics of your trip. Seems you guys ate well.
David Clites said:
Sorry I missed this. There are some griz where I was. I don't worry too much, but do carry a 10mm glock. Having the dog's nose is nice too. I've used a bear fence in Alaska, they are supposed to work well, but I wouldn't pack one in on my back.
First, glad to see that Beaver's toe nail is looking so much better. I bet he is feeling lots better too.
Beaver is getting a lot of species added to his list quite quickly! Lucky, lucky fella! Glad you were able to find the sage grouse. Gotta be my favorite upland bird. In part because of how big they are. Plus, so many people dislike them so there are usually fewer people hunting them.
Great antelopes!!!! One of these days I will do a hunt for antelope! My brother made me a rifle just for that kind of hunting. I need to christen it.
Your deep freeze. Does it just plug into an outlet in the camper? Do you have solar on your camper for recharging or are you plugged in somewhere/have a generator with you?
The fajitas look great....makes me wish I weren't spending this absolutely gorgeous fall day down here in FL in my concrete box.....
Beaver is getting a lot of species added to his list quite quickly! Lucky, lucky fella! Glad you were able to find the sage grouse. Gotta be my favorite upland bird. In part because of how big they are. Plus, so many people dislike them so there are usually fewer people hunting them.
Great antelopes!!!! One of these days I will do a hunt for antelope! My brother made me a rifle just for that kind of hunting. I need to christen it.
Your deep freeze. Does it just plug into an outlet in the camper? Do you have solar on your camper for recharging or are you plugged in somewhere/have a generator with you?
The fajitas look great....makes me wish I weren't spending this absolutely gorgeous fall day down here in FL in my concrete box.....
Thanks Dani. Buy wyoming antelope points. I know someone you can stay with there to hunt. .
I'm running a generator a few times a day for a couple hours. We always travel with it, but hardly use it now that we have solar. I can go indefinitely without a/c power unless I need air conditioning or microwave. Really happy with the setup. I suspect that I'm loosing freeze in the freezer, but it is still frozen on the top. Not much longer and I'll head east.
.I'm running a generator a few times a day for a couple hours. We always travel with it, but hardly use it now that we have solar. I can go indefinitely without a/c power unless I need air conditioning or microwave. Really happy with the setup. I suspect that I'm loosing freeze in the freezer, but it is still frozen on the top. Not much longer and I'll head east.