Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 2019 Hunting Season

I don't post much here anymore, but one of the things I miss about this place before it went off the rails was the threads dedicated to simply pics and stories of how guys' season went. I can't remember how they were titled, but I remember there were threads that were kind of a catchall for how the season went for everybody. Would be neat if we could do it again.

Our rifle season opens up here in a few days, pretty stoked. I haven't tagged out on anything the last couple years, been too picky but my son has done ok. This year I'm not being so picky.

Good to see you Gruff. Our rifle season is still a month off.

Hope you and your son have a fun season Gruf,

Great to see you back I like those threads too!

Best of luck to you and your son this season,

Efw

So far it has been a good season for me, and I still have a Montana mule deer hunt and a late cow elk hunt left here in WY, plus lots of pheasant and chukar.

So far this fall I've taken 3 antelope (2 does, 1 buck), a mule deer buck, a raghorn elk and a fair amount of grouse.

If you want to count 2019 as a whole: I've also got a mouflon ram, Iberian red deer, spring black bear and 2 tom turkeys, plus some late winter rock and willow ptarmagin. I struck out on Himalayan snowcock.

Could be a worse year, no doubt.

Haven’t killed anything but pigs yet, but having a great time!

Hey Gruff, look forward to the photos....like 'the old days.'

Good luck to you and your son. Bet he has grown.....


Still packing the fast twist .22-250?

Gwen and I have both killed does during archery season. rut starts very soon more to come. give em' hell Gruff

Give 'em hell BGG...Im sitting this one out...going to Texas and hunt where its warm!

Thanks for the well wishes gentlemen, been gone from the homestead quite a bit this year, looking forward to some downtime in the woods with the boy. Good luck to all you guys as well!

I was going to try and smoke a pig when I was in TX, but just didn't work out. Someday.



That's a hell of a year T-man. Damn! never heard of a snowcock, afraid to Google it.




Almost 17 and he's bigger'n me now. Looking forward to him dragging my deer out for a change.

The 2-fiddy is on back up. Too many damned grizz around, I'm toting my '06 with 200 gr partitions when I'm by myself or with the boy. Got pics and shidt right here tight against my property fence. Makes dragging the deer home through the willows and across the creek up to my place a bit tense lol.



Been seeing your pics, good times man.

17? Holy spit, times flies.

I smoked a pig in Texas once. Did not taste good. She was a fattie......and ugly.

Miss you.

Hey 'Gruff, good to see you posting.

Rifle season starts Nov 2nd, so Deb, the boy & I will likely get into it soon enough.

Got a couple of bears tearing things up, so if our paths cross before Oct 31st, that'll be first meat.

Been so wet that we didn't bow hunt this season.

Lookin' forward to everyone stories & pic essays !

'Gruff,

Here's a link to our 2018 season report.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13759005/1

Thanks for the update!!

Look forward to seeing photos.....

The fast twist Swift worked out very, very well. Sure kills shidt....

Ohhh that's nice when that happens. lol.

I'm right on the cusp of that happening. He's 14

One bear so far and my blacktail tag filled

Flies indeed! Lots a variety where I was, most of a spicy pepper persuasion



Damn, egg on my face I missed that whole thread in my perusal last year. Good times.





Dude, they're magical.



Nice critters.





Still no joy 'round here yet. Did follow some black bear sign while poking around in a new area today. Big damned grizzly tracks where I was going to start the day

I may have missed it, but what do you have tags for?

My only Montana hunting was as camp cook, deer rattler, grouse shooter guy while friends hunted deer and elk near Libby. Nice that you can hunt the two at the same time, vs. Oregon where deer and elk have their own season, to eliminate the party hunting the old loggers did so much of a few decades ago. Everyone kept hunting till all the tags in camp were filled. Or a party would get one or two elk tags and everyone would hunt deer but would shoot an elk if they saw one and punch a camp tag. Friggen outlaws ruined it for all of us for life. Would love to take one vacation a year and hunt everything.

Good post, I wish there were more like this, sometimes it is difficult to find much on hunting& shooting here.
My season has been so interrupted by health stuff and I live at the doorstep of the west slope. I haven't found much that interested me, so have passed on smaller rams, I have a mountain goat tag in my pocket, hope I can get out. Sheep season is over, elk too. Everything else is on. NW Montana, not far from us in SE BC.

Not my biggest critters, but I'll take them without complaint.





NoDak pheasants next week, then Montana deer after that.

Good luck up there Gruff. That NW Montana country is tough hunting.

Good to hear from you Gruff. I quit posting here also, then realized it was just a certain toxic area here that was good to avoid. It’s still a pretty good site aside from that one.

Anyway, I finally managed to draw a couple tags this year and am looking forward to some quality time outdoors. Hope your time is as good and that all is well with you and yours...

gruff been hammer time here Gwen and i got 2 studs this week while bow hunting

'Gruff, Deb put the hammer down yesterday !

Decided to sit for the afternoon, as we had a cold front coming in.

Got the call, at work at 4:45pm, Savage lady hunter in 7mm-08, 120gr TTSX Barnes Vortx, 2-7 x Redfield revolution.





Meat hanging !!

Tenderloins n heart for supper tonight.

Outstanding!

I've only killed 2 does so far with the crossbow. Didn't shoot a damn thing during early muzzle loader. Haven't seen any good bucks yet, only 6 & 4 pointers. The rut will kick up in a couple of weeks and everything will change. Gun season comes in on the 30th right about the time the rut is going crazy.

Almost had a coyote on Saturday morning. He came out of the thicket about 75 yards away and came directly towards me. Couldn't get a shot with the crossbow. When he got about 30 yards away, the bastard saw me up in the tree. It was cold and I think he saw my breath. The freaking coyotes have about ruined my deer hunting place. My son killed one last spring from that same spot when he was turkey hunting. The yote went after his turkey decoy. That #4 shot didn't cut him any slack.

Thanks JG, I'll pass it on to Deb !

I forgot to mention, that by the time I got there, she had dragged it half way to the trail too !!

That is awesome! Congrats to Mrs. 99.

She looks happy as a lark and should be, on a job well done.

Enjoy the fruits of her success.

Cheers everyone !

Yep, Deb is special, in the GOOD way !

Antelope season is over and we filled 4 of 5 tags. Could have filled the fifth but no shot was taken (304 yards). I filled both of my tags.

Haven't had a deer license for a couple years but Daughter and SIL have filled theirs.

Elk season starts in 7 days. SIL and I have two elk tags, Daughter #1 has one and I think both have deer tags. Could have taken an elk last year but wanted Daughter #1 to get her first and she wanted to close to 400 yards (from 477). We tried but by then they were gone and then the truck broke down, pretty much ending the hunt. To say i'm mentally ready for this year's hunt would be an understatement.

Good luck to you and your son.

My freezer is full and it's time for small game hunting.

Couple of highlights:

Turf n turf:



Pretty good SC buck:




Felt my age getting him back to the truck.

was fortunate to kill plenty of squirrels earlier, then killed a cow elk in chama, new mexico last week. our deer opened yesterday. have seen several but just not the one i want. we have a long deer season, so getting a few with the kids and grandkids hasn't been a problem. i have 5 sons and at least 5 grandkids who will hunt this year. expecting a great deer and duck season.

Annual porcine parade..

Shot a few more, but that's the gist.

Hope all of you have a good season.

Howdy B G G, good to see you back.

I post these few here for you. Normally I post the season's activity in the Deer Hunting Forum and there are quite a few threads there now pertaining to this season ( 2019 ).

In October we have a Modern Gun Doe ONLY season and this guy shows up !
But I shot him with my Iphone anyway.



He was dead and didn't know it --> but he got a pass.

Our Regular Modern Gun Deer Season opened last Sat 11/9/19
I've been sick with Sinuses and we've had Rain, Wind, Record Cold etc. TILL today. This was my first day to hunt
SO.... I busted this 9 pt, 170 #



That is where he fell and he WAS headed to the pond before I shot him..... He almost made it.



He fell on the bullet exit side. He had been tearing up Pine & Cedar saplings.
My M 98, 284 Win won the battle.



I still have 5 Saturdays and 4 weeks to find the 'BEEG' one.

Don't be a stranger.


Jerry

Started with pheasants


Then pronghorn



Have a cow elk hunt Dec 7th.

The rut is cranking up now. Friday afternoon was pretty busy, but Saturday morning was crazy. The does were doing their best to elude the bucks. Then this guy came along. I almost missed him. I was using my crossbow and I thought it was about 30 to 35 yards. It turned out to be more like 40, so I hit him low in front of the front leg and exited behind the other front leg real low. Luckily I was using Rage 2+ (2 3/8") and got enough vitals to put him down. He was quartering a little towards me and I shot a little to the right. He ran about 100 yards and stood there for a second, then walked off and disappeared into the thick stuff. I couldn't believe he didn't crash right there. I knew he was hit good because I could see blood on his front legs. I had a good blood trail and located him 150 yards closer to the truck than where I shot him for a change.

When I was tracking him, I came across this rub.

Brian, That's a really nice buck----Bob

YEAH ! That'll work.

Glad you were high enuff.


Jerry

Jesus, helluva buck there Greg...

Fantastic Buck Greg !!!

Thanks fellers. This was my target buck. I found this buck on opening AM but his left beam was gone. No reason for it to be. We are not close to rut yet.



The big 3 was my backup buck but I am fortunate to have found him where he was living with 85 degree temps and the backside of a full moon...

Summer photo of the big 3 not quite maxed out yet. Crappy photo. Does the buck no justice...

Very happy for ya brother man, shows what scouting, patience and gettin after it will do...grats man

We need cactus surgery pics...grin...

😂😂😂 God damn it!!!! Everything in that country poles or scratches ya!!!

Way to get it done again on public land, bud...Monsters are out there. You always prove it. 😎

Greg, that is a great buck. 85 degrees, whew!

Gwen hammered a nice 12 point opening day of Missouri's rifle season. 243 Browning abolt. The girl is on fire i tell you

Dang Greg that is an absolute beast of a mulie congrats!

Congratulations to Gwen as well RC that’s super cool!

Need picks Bobby !!

Love it when the girl's succeed !

I don't post a lot of pics but wanted to share my 2019 AZ Coues Whitetail. 280 Rem 180 ELD-M, 530 yards.

Oh heck yes bud! Great job!

It was rough....

Pee',

That's a ripper !!!!

Pee',

That's a ripper !!!!
--------------------------------

X 2

Very nice!! I want one!! 🤣🤣

Dewd!!!! That’s awesome man!!!

Two genuine bucket list animals in this thread; Greg’s mulie & that hawg coues!

Nicely done sir!

Thanks guys. Both from Arizona too.

Gruff,

Hope this finds you well ?

Link to our "making meat" - https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/14310476/meat-making#Post14310476

We started with Antelope...





Moved to the youth deer hunt...




Then I tagged a decent mulie...



Still looking for elk but haven't given them a lot of effort. Less worried about it with a freezer full of antelope and some leftover elk from last year.

passed on a bunch of bucks, a few bigger than the one I shot, in Montana and took this one.




this Montana antelope

Gwen and I pole axed a couple of good ones during MO rifle season

and during bow season

Blessed Bobby !

Stonecutter & RC awesome bucks!

RC you got yourself a fine woman; I’ve been begging my wife for years to come hunting I’d love to get her out in the woods with me.

Medriver those family hunt pics of yours are something I look forward to every year. You’re living the dream sir what a great family!

Congrats to all I’m loving this thread!

Wow thanks for all the pics and posts. You guys have had some fuggin good seasons! I love seeing them, from all over too, good wide representation. Badass, and congrats to all you guys. and wives thereof. Keep them coming!

I ate tag soup this year. Not for not trying, spent a lot of time in the woods. Kinda hard headed, in that I really wanted to poke something close to home. Lots of rubs, scrapes, trails, etc. No trouble finding does by end of season, but only bucks I saw were a dinky 3x and forked horn. Last year I passed small bucks damn near every day in some spots, this year it was crickets. Plenty of bear sign, some in conjunction with drag marks from someone else's deer the day before. Makes a guy pay a little more attention and explains the musky odd smell he'd been catching all morning off and on lol. All in all, time in the woods regardless of punched tags is time well spent. But that being said, I'm expanding my hunting range next year. Maybe in another year or 2 try and head back to AZ for a mulie or another coues. After hunting the wide opens of AZ and eastern MT, this thick as timber is something I'm still working at. Be easier if I weren't too big a puzzy to climb a tree stand.

Still have valid wolf tags, and fingers crossed I'll blow the guts outta one.

Holy Smokes! I missed this Coues....Nice job peeshooter!

😎

We had a great season

daughter’s buck


my extra doe


son’s first deer


my buck


my cow elk


big helpers


530 grain Parker Traditional Hunter

Good to see you back “onboard”......pun intended! We need you to visit more often.....even the “nut house” has those that attempt to keep order! memtb

We had a very good upland season. This is the end full year for Finn and I together. The partnership is working well.

We started off with an early special sharptail season



followed with pheasants



and then waterfowl



my big game hunting was limited to one trip for an either sex elk draw (write up in the muzzle loader section)

Those photos are just fantastic HughW. Congrats, and thanks for sharing those.

ALLLLLLLRIGHT Hugh !!!

Congrats on the partnership. There's something special about a dog that likes to please his 'feeder'. You can tell it in
their attitude and body motionS.

I've had Labs, Beagles, & G Sh Pointers. Your post makes my heart warm and tingly. THANKS

Fantastic Pix


Jerry

Pretty good season so far. Got to do a DIY Caribou hunt with my son. Was the experience of a lifetime. I definitely understand the appeal of Alaska.









Shot this sow out of the neighbor’s wheat field. I kill every pig I can get crosshairs on and still don’t make a dent in their numbers.



With a 100 yard zero, takes about 1 mil of elevation at 25 yards. 😁



Haven’t shot a deer yet. There’s an older fork horn that I’d like to take out of the gene pool but haven’t seen him in a while.

John

So far this year knocked a couple off the bucket list in NZ this past May.



Elk from my October hunt in New Mexico

Beauty Dan, when I grow up, I want to be you !!

Merry Christmas.

Sure some excellent field photo's in this thread. Nice to see people taking the time for clean up of the site and making a good presentation. Great year and congratulations to all.

nice pictures thank you all ! Pete53

Only one tag for me this past fall so a pretty light summary. Bagged this 11 days into a 6-day hunt. A bit tough shaking them out this year.

My boys did pretty well this year.


My younger son with his first archery deer. That's a vintage (60s) Bear Kodiak Magnum bow.

A more pressing situation curtailed the plans to my 2019 hunting season, but I was able to make it out for several hours opening morning of firearm deer season. Blessing to the doe who brought this buck within range.

Late to the party but with today being the last day of our deer season better late than never. 2019 was a great year for me, decided a couple of years ago to spend less dough and things and spend more time and money on experiences.

Season started with me being a Florida resident. I drew a Feb hog hunt tag for a local WMA. I invited a buddy from Pa down for my guest permit. It turned out to be kind of a road hunt with most successful hunters cruising old logging roads until happening upon one. We tried this and did some swamp bushwhacks but weren't feeling it. My buddy got in touch with a nearby private landowner he knew. Landowners was having issues with hogs...so we were in. First evening sit I smacked this boar with the trusty and exotic .270 w/150 Hot Cor, DRT. Very gracious for the opportunity to hunt a beutiful piece of property.


Fast forward to Spring, I was up in Pa working and had a weekend to kill. Got in touch with my pard for turkey hunting and trout fishing. Hit the Game lands friday night for scouting, found a few, but on on the way back spotted a 3-4 birds strutting their stuff in a field near my friends house. We secured permission and went after them the next morning. With only one day to hunt (cant hunt Sundays in PA), we werent going to be picky. I dont have the best hearing so am not the best turkey hunter to begin with. Anyway, we called in these two birds, I smacked one then my buddy dropped the other. Sunday was spent trout fishing with his kids.


Spring fun continued with another work-cation to Maine. With another weekend to kill I rented a canoe in Baxter State Park. The Ranger station keeps some canoes chained out on some remote lakes for rental. I backpacked some primitive camping and fishing gear about three miles in a spent the night. Didnt do well fishing but enjoyed the scenery. At least the mosquitoes ate well.


After the Maine trip I had a strange turn of events. I completed my second degree at age 39 and we sold our FL home and moved to the mountains of TN. I fulfilled a life long dream of owning some property of my own, We are very happy and smitten, but the move was a ball-buster as they all are. Shortly after moving in we had to fly to Poland for my Sister-in-laws wedding, which we purchased plane tickets for almost a year in advance. I had a great time eating (love their fresh food) and drinking local beer, but also wanted to work some outdoor activities in. We took a side trip planned by the in-laws to the mountain town of Zakopane I convinced my wife, her sister and now husband to hike the Giewont. It was a great all-day hike with beautiful scenery, though a bit crowded. My wife experienced vertigo near the top. It was very reminiscent of my sheep hunting days in AK. I kept looking for Tahr and there was lots of tracks and scat but never spotted any. I was very happy I made a pit stop at a local store for a pair of wool socks, otherwise I would have been blistered badly.

Giewont is the peak on the right.




Part 2 coming up...

Fast forward to fall. Me and a buddy made plans for an antelope hunt a couple years ago and so finally felt like we had some points to get'er done. We applied as a party and each drew buck tags and individual doe tags. I had only been to Wyoming once before, just driving through on my way to Alaska. I remembered being in awe of all the antelope and always wanted to come back and hunt, very happy I did. The area we had access to is hunted hard, so we opted to go in early October hoping there would be less pressure while being aware there would also be less animals. We were in it more for the hunting of wide open spaces vs seeking a trophy, so though this approach was best. We saw/stalked antelope every day and had a blast. My buddy got his buck first, then I finally patterned a group that kept crossing into our unit in the evening. I found a boulder to hide behind and the plan worked like a charm. Again the boring 270 this time with a 110 TTSX, again DRT...



We took one day off from Antelope and spent the day shooting praire dogs. Another first time, had a blast. Learned that shooting in 30-40 mph gust with a 222 is challenging to say the least.



Last couple days we were covered in snow. Saw a beautiful Mule Deer buck with his harem, also kicked around in the Medicine Bow for a while. Beautiful country.



With the big trip behind us, I started focusing on squirrels with my daughter and chasing whitetails close to home. I missed a nice buck with my bow at the tail end of archery and was pretty bummed. Nonetheless I killed him with my muzzleloader one week later in the same footprints he stood in when I put an arrow over his back.



After getting him processed and about 25 lbs of sausage done, I decided to head out again. I decided to only shoot If I encountered a big one. I was in my stand when a big body 8-pt came out limping. His main beam was also busted off after the brow tine. I thought to mself I would love to see who kicked his ass, the noticed a cedar tree shaking violently. I spotted another buck making some rubs so thought there he is, looks tall, bam...As it turned out he was pretty tall but not very wide, a good buck nonetheless, but pretty sure he wasn't the fighter.



Plan on heading out in a few to see if I can get one more doe in freezer to last us until next fall. Lots of fun and great memories with friends and family this year. Cant wait to see what this year brings.

Great pics guys!

That's some damn beautiful country. Those are both from Poland? I knew a guy who married a girl from Poland. Hunted boar when visiting his in-laws, said it was a great place.

Yes, my wife is Polish. We go about every other year though I’ve yet to do any hunting, just fishing and hiking. Someday I hope to do some boar hunting. We’ll see.

Sounds like a great year Tom,congrats

Well I ate my Montana deer tag...I found the right one, but he just wouldn't give me a responsible shot. That's alright.
Since I made this post in Oct, here's a small sampling of what did happen according to plan:






A fair number of pheasants were killed and I called in a wolf that a friend got, but I have no pictures loaded.

Whats the story on the headless yote?

Blood really isn't thicker than water...


I snared him and he got ripped to shreds. I am not sure if it was while he was alive or not. No other predator tracks around....nothing but other coyote tracks. I assume it was his pack mates, but can't really be sure.

Nature is ruthless at times.

My boy got his first buck, only a doe to report on my end so far. Very slow season but have 2 weeks left to go.

Man he looks happy...lol. Good job!