NYBUCK

Geez Joe, now I wish you were coming to the smackdown. Nice purchase, looks good.

The more I sit back and reflect on it, I chalk it up to another great experience. I was a little dissapointed Monday when I get back to work but we just drove 30 hours and I was grumpy. LOL I wouldn't trade it for the world. Meeting David was a great bonus. I think I am going to get it blown up in an 8 x 10 and send it to Scott and see if he can get it autographed for me.

I posted my trip "ramblings" in the big game section. I will just say that it didn't turn out the way I had expected, but still had a great time in some beautiful country. Jim

One last thing .... On the way home John needed to stop back at Cabelas again, and yes I spent more money, I heard a page over the loud speaker for David Blanton to come to the front of the store. I couldn't believe it so I went up there. Sure enough there he was talking to some lady. I went up to him and waited until he finished talking and intoduced myself. He said he was just coming back for Wyoming on an elk hunt with his son and stopped in to pick up some stuff. We talked for a while, and let me tell you, he is a great guy. I could have talked to hime forever. I did manage to get a couple pics with him. BTW he made me feel better, they didn't get an elk either.

I will add a few more pics ...... On the way out, we got stuck in traffic fr a car fire ... Here are me and the guys in our hunting garb .... Wayne .... John ..... Myself in my Mossy Oak ...... Myself in Realtree AP .... We had some small fires at camp, nothing like the smackdown, but there is something about a nice little campfire.... We had a camp bird, looked like a blue jay that we were feeding .... Oh yeah, and one ugly hunter .... me I was bored We did see a few rubs, just nothing real fresh ... The first night after we set up camp, wayne and I took a ride and come around the corner and saw these free roaming cows that are all over in the wilderness .....

Ok I will try and cover as much as possible and hope I don't bore you ...... We left on Friday September 14th and drove straight through to Walden Colorado. A long drive but with 3 of us it wasn't too bad. We did stop at Cabelas in Sydney Nebraska and I spent way too much money. Oh well. We got our liscense and decided that it was only 3 pm so we might as well go to our hunting spot and set up camp. Here is my home for the next 7 days ..... Here is Waynes home ..... And of course Johns Home ..... This is the three of us at Cabelas ..... Wayne, myself, and John .... Well the first day, Sunday, we were pretty excited. John went off on his own (he hunts with a long bow and a good guy. Wayne and I hunted together for the first 4 days. We called all morning, heard a few distant bugles but nothing came in. At noon we went to check out a couple wallows that we saw last year and where I saw a big bull last year. We even set up a decoy that Wayne bought ..... As soon as we got set up and started eating lunch, the skies turned form blue to a dark grey and we got soaked. Then the sun came out and dried us out a little. We decided to head to the dark timber. We stopped a few places and called. The last place we stopped at it was extremely thick. Wayne and I both called a little and the next thing I knew I heard a big crash and running throught the brush. I could see a nice bull coming along the ridge. I stopped him 3 times with my "hoochie mama" call but each time he was behind a tree. The last time, all he had to do was go 10 more yards and I would have had a 15 foot wide shooting lane and I would have had a 40 yard shot on a broadside Colorado bull. The wind was in my face and everything was perfect, except he decided to turn and go crashing over the mountain. Gone. We waited 15 or so minutes and then I went up to Wayne and said that was absolutely awesome. The first day and we called in a bull. It was going to be a good week, so I thought. Shortly after that, the skies let loose again, this time hail. And I mean big hail. We tried to find cover but it didn't help much as we got pelted with theese large BB's. Wayne even took out the decoy and we used it as an umbrella. If anyone could have saw us they would have laughed there butt off. Some of the hail ... We were soaked again so we headed up the mountain and stopped to call a few more times then called it a day. Back at camp we died out and as soon as we got done with dinner it hailed again. We were in our tents by 7:30 and never came back out. It rained most of the night. The second day we headed up the hill with lots of hight hopes. We heard a few distant bugles again and moved around and called all day. Nothing. No more bugles. At about 11 am we set up and called and I looked over my shoulder and there stood another hunter. I went and talked to this guy who was from Michigan and he was already depressed at the lack of sign. He said he was with another guy and there were two more hunters camping in the same spot as them. Nothing else the rest of the day. We got back ate dinner, and just like the night before he skies let loose once again. It rained, and I mean it rained hard all night and into the morning. We didn't even get out of our tents until 11 am (eastern time). We hiked, called, hiked and called some more to no avail. Here is some of the areas we were hunting. Some spots were pretty open .... Most of the spots we hunted were very thick like this .... The third day turned out pretty nice except the wind was gusting about 20 35 mph all day and everyday after that. Each day it got warmer and warmer until it hit 75 degrees. Way to warm for elk to be moving good. We had a low the first mornig of about 32 (most mornings were in the mid 40's) and highs in the 70's and very windy. You could not even here each other call. This day we also heard a bugle, well we thought. It turned out to be other hunters and we actually "bugled" them in. There was three of them. We talked for a while and they were saying how they haven't heard any bugles. There were there two weeks ago and the elk were going nuts. GREAT :w00t: The week before was muzzleloading season and the one guy, a local said there was a lot of pressure. He also said there were more bow hunters in this area than he has ever seen. We knew of 10. Lord only knows how many more were in there. It is a big area but when the elk get spooked they shut right up, so I am told. We attribute some of this to an article written in North American Hunter that stated this area was one of the to 10 hot spots in the country for elk. By now we were pretty discouraged. We hunted hard for the next 4 days but never heard another bugle or even saw a cow. I did manage to see a bull moose the second to last day that got my heart pumping. Like I said each day got warmer and warmer and made for real tough hunting when your hiking at 10,000 to 11,000 feet. We went this week becuse we thought they would be more vocal. I think the pressure dove the elk out and the warm, windy weather kept the ones that were there locked down. Now don't think that I am complaining, becuase I know that is hunting. I just know I will not be going back to this area anytime soon. We still had a great time and just camping and hanging out with these guys made it all worth while. Wayne and I had some good laughes and we worked our tails off. The country alone is absolutely beautiful. We saw mule deer, antelope (on the way out), a pine martin, sage grouse and numerous squirrels and various birds. There is nothing like the Colorado Rockies. Here are a few pics from the area ......

Ha Ha you guys are killing me... I am ready. This is my second year so I think I know a little more than last year. I can't wait, and I can't sleep. I will talk to you guys on the 24th. Behave yourselves.

Guys the forums at MO are still free. What you pay for is the stuff on the main page. They have some things that you can get that are pretty neat. It actually is a great forum just like this one, good people there too. The forums are free.

Ken prayers on the way.

I will be on my way to Colorado to hunt the great Rocky Mountain Elk. I am pumped up and ready to go. Wish me luck !!!!!!

Way to go Lil, that is awesome.

That is great Steve. Will continue to pray for you.

Thanks guys, if any of you watched Dream Season this week, they announced my name of the show. It was pretty cool.

Steve, That is what I want to hear. How about elk scents, do they work and would the Montana decoy work?

If you guys remember, I won a hunt through the "Catch - a - Dream" raffle (Dream Season) for Pike County Illinois with Joe Shults. I have been checking the Illinois website at work and for some reason it would never let me in. So last night I tried from my computer at home and I got in. Wooooo Hooooo It looks like I drew both tags, an either or sex tag and a antlerless tag. I will be going November 29 - December 2nd. I can't wait. I leave a week from today for Colorado to hunt elk with the bow, then November 11 - the 18th I will be Ohio in Adams county chasing whitetails, and now I am going to Pike County. Life can't get any better than this. It is a good thing I have a very understanding and loving wife.

That is cool Ken. I will let Dan know. It is less than a month a way. Joe I hope you can find away or drag your father, that would be awesome.

Yeah me too Chris, I was praying for you.

Prayers on the way.

Dan, NY911Bowhunter came up with a great idea....

hey are some great pics. And your welcome. Man I wish I could have made the trip. Maybe next time.

Nybuck 42 September 27 - December 18

Stakes are color coded for different classes. We have 8 classes - 40 targets 1. OPEN 2. HUNTER 3. SENIORS 4. TRADITIONAL 5. WOMEN 6. JUNIORS 7. CUBS 8. PEE WEE

We had the 5th of our 6 shoots last Sunday that I am running at our club and I had the chance to get out and shoot with Wayne my brother-n-law and Johny, a friend of mine who will be joining us on our Ohio hunt this year. I took the opurtunity to snap some pics. Practice range Wayne on Practice range 3 great shots on a racoon Wayne Johny (I snapped the picture and the flash caused John to miss and hit a tree, they thought I did it on purpose just to beat them.. A couple treestand shots This is what we were shooting at from the treestand A beaver Johny The elk we smacked It was great time and lots of fun. I was victorious again .... Jim 365 wayne 347 John 326

Everyday I get approached about this from people who heard it from a friend of a friend. It never gets old. I can't wait. Hopefully you will be seeing my ugly face on the outdoor channel this time next year.

John that is awesome, I have met all three and they are a class act.