Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game who else had their ass kicked this season?

Hate to hear that some folks are having a tough year.

Bummer.
Keep your chin up.

I still had a lot of fun though I am not used to eating so many tags. No biggie though it does motivate me to try harder.

Hunted Mule Deer in Wyoming from the high country on horse back, to the lower Aspen/Sage country. Very poor deer hunting. Elk hunting was exceptional however. Killed a bull five minutes into opening day. And saw elk everywhere. Didn’t draw an antelope tag unfortunately.

Spent all spare time in all of Sept and half of Oct on the roof of a barn...everyone told me "you'll be in great shape to hunt"...uh, no. Too much going on to stay strong. So I'll be going into the Frank next week with four ungulate tags and a couple of young teenagers; I plan on a thorough kicking.

Killed a cow elk with 2 days left in the archery season. Plenty of elk, but tough stalking conditions - hot and dry. I also spent 1/2 of the season helping my son and his friend who drew premier tags fill theirs. Deer hunting: saw lots of deer ~60 in 1 1/2days of hunting a dozen or so small 2 or 3 points but nothing exciting. Was going to return for the last few days hoping the weather would cool but had a heart attack and spent the last few days in the hospital. Recovering well and may go on a late archery hunt for mule deer. Overall game numbers seemed about average to maybe a little better where I hunt.

Tough draw year for me so have spent most of the season (early and general) hunting for/with friends and family and packing meat. Can’t complain though…been in on antelope, bighorn (ewe), deer and elk (just packing) so far.

Hunted one full day by myself in an area we saw lots of game and no people last season. Complete reversal this season. Have some plan B and C spots but sucks when plan A is a total bust.

Just finished a big burger made from my “volunteer” doe. 👍🏻

Got lots more tags, but might go fishing for a while. Wifey cleans our fish, and they’re pretty easy to “drag” out.

Ha! You talk about that heart attack like it was a flat tire.

Way to go.

Too hot and dry on the PNW for deer this year. Most of my friends didn't have much luck. And then the smoke was bad, and then it rained.

I'm sitting in my tent in CO, elk are winning. Every year I say I'm never hunting CO second elk season again. Might actually mean it this year. Covered alot of miles so far and not many elk. Been in the 50s every day since Sat. Elk are here but moving first/last light and not moving far. I've heard less than half dozen shots this week. Been tough sledding but I knew that in this unit. Still beats the heck out of working.

This years gone well up to this point but so far ive only hunted bear this year. In a week here ill start hunting lions, do that through november, then if theres not a prohibitive amount of snow ill head to idaho in early december after lions and wolves. Not going to bother with deer this year. Good chance ill get skunked on both cats and dogs. Both low odds hunts.

Mule deer ML hunt kicked my ass.

Damn right!!!

We've gotten snow early this year. I'm heading up tomorrow to see if the bears are heading uphill to den yet. Since deer tag is filled and elk isn't open yet it's bear and cougar. Either one will do but not anxious to shoot anything, Freezers are full.

At 2:00 today, season turned around

I'm not hunting this year, I had back surgery. My Lumbar is now all fused together, including my SI joints.

Looking forward to better health. I'm 6 weeks post-surgery and feeling better. Hopefully I can get in an easy spring bear hunt.

No deer here, blew out my knee two days before leaving for deer camp. Tried to hunt, couldn't climb down the hills, going up hurt. Coming down really hurt. Feeling a little better and will try elk on the fifth. Then get a new knee come January, or so the schedule is at this point.

Good luck and hang in there! I'd be curious how new knees work out for elk hunting. Good luck on your hunts and upcoming surgery. Keep us posted.

I can no longer hike without the aid of trekking poles. I can ascend easy enough but must allow 4x the time for descent.
Muzzle loader season here was uncomfortably hot.
During 2nd combined season I've been glassing a buck on the properties below me but there is little reason for him to come up higher to where I can legally take him.
I had a herd of elk pass through my decoys while duck hunting. That was pretty cool.
3rd season OTC bull will be long odds even if I wasn't mobility impaired.
I'm cancelled Oklahoma deer so I can travel with my dad instead.

Mature whitetails won round one. Several rounds to go though. Its been a good year though.