2017 goals, dreams and desires
Contributors to this thread:Indiana
From: INbowdude
01-Jan-17
January Aporkalypse hog hunt at Shiloh Ranch (I know, shocking for me). Indiana spring turkey. Maybe road trip turkeys if I can find a spot over spring break. June Porkapalooza hog hunt at Shiloh Ranch (still shocking!) Hopefully big horn sheep in the fall. Hoosier whitetails, ducks and geese.
What about the rest of you?
From: pav
01-Jan-17
Indiana turkeys and whitetails of course (bowhunters get better rut dates next November!)
Will apply for several big game tags out west again (sheep, goat, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, bison and moose) and see what happens. Highest odds this year will be Montana elk in the Missouri River Breaks.
Not a hunt, but plan to attend the P&Y Convention in St. Louis early April.
From: sticksender
02-Jan-17
Drew a once-in-a-lifetime Bison tag for the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona. The hunt takes place in June. It's one of the few, free-roaming Bison hunts in North America, with the bulls being P&Y eligible.Like pav, my son & I will be applying scatter-gun for dozens of big game hunts out west, and then praying to the draw gods!
From: stick slinger
08-Jan-17
Nothing too big planned. Would like to get a spring turkey with my bow. Haven't been able to do that yet. With 2 boys, they get first chance unless I can sneak out without them finding out. I have been dabbling with making longbows a little. It would be pretty neat to get one with a bow that I made. Long shot, but maybe.
From: bas
10-Jan-17
Biggest goal...finding a good private property to hunt in Indiana by either permission or lease. We lost our lease which honestly wasn't that great to begin with so it looks like we will be hunting public land unless something changes. Going to be a long year.
From: hoosierhunter
18-Jan-17
My only goal is to harvest something with traditional gear. No big trips planned this year, just chasing turkeys and whitetails with the recurve in IN and maybe OH.
From: pav
21-Apr-17
After striking out in Arizona and New Mexico, finally received some good news last night. Montana came through with a Big game Combo tag (elk & deer) and a limited entry elk permit for the Missouri River Breaks. Will be my first trip ever to the Breaks...a bucket list destination for quite some time.
From: sticksender
23-Apr-17
Good luck pav, it should be a fun hunt. Rooting for you to pull that ram tag in a couple weeks too ;-)
From: KDC
23-Apr-17
Congrats on the tags guys. I finally got my bear tag for New Brunswick. I'll be heading out there in early June.
From: INbowdude
07-May-17
This is the week! Hope for the best. Good luck all!
From: sticksender
08-May-17
Exciting, good luck!
From: INbowdude
11-May-17
Scored a bighorn sheep tag in unit 3 in Wyoming! Pretty jazzed. Hope other Hoosiers pulled the tags they wanted.
From: sticksender
11-May-17
Happy for you man....any sheep tag is such a highly coveted tag to get hold of. Look forward to hearing all about this hunt in the fall. No luck here in the recent draws in NM, CO or WY. Still have some long shots to pray for in NV, ID, UT, AZ, MT, OR. Got the Kaibab Bison hunt in June, and a Q-L caribou hunt in Sept.
From: pav
12-May-17
WOW Mike.....a WY bighorn sheep tag!
You can officially color me green with envy!
Congrats!
From: pav
12-May-17
One of my biggest regrets is letting my WY sheep points lapse when they raised the annual point cost from $7 to $100. Did the math and figured I could draw moose in roughly 5 years, which turned out to be accurate. Sheep stats indicated I could be well into my 70's before getting a sniff. As it turns out, I could have been knocking on the door in the near future....with 17 points going in this year. There is always the chance WY will change the NR tag allocation...but right now...I'm regretting my decision.
From: INbowdude
13-May-17
Thanks guys. I bought a ram Rhinehart target 2 years ago and got to finally break it out today. Will get really serious about long range shooting right after the Porkapalooza. I will be good out to 60 yards but after that, I will just have to stalk closer. Of course if a ram wants to be shot at 20 yards, I'm cool with that. :)
From: NY Bowman
17-May-17
Drew a New Brunswick moose tag.
From: NY Bowman
24-May-17
Drew the best gator tag in all of Florida! :)
From: sticksender
24-May-17
Good luck and be sure to give us the full report later!
From: INbowdude
28-May-17
Rock on Terry!
From: INbowdude
25-Aug-17
Hey guys, Quick update on my Wyoming sheep hunt. Day 5 I was pulling up on the horse and it moved. I heard and felt 3 distinct pops and hit the ground. Pulled out of the hunt and got to a doc. Tore the left hamstring pretty good. Looks like 6-8 months before I am 100%. Sucks worse because I missed a total eclipse. However, I did get 1 good stalk on a ram and saw lots of grizzly bears. Stunning scenery, just bad luck on my part. Cheers.
From: sticksender
26-Aug-17
Aww man that's a shame. Sorry to hear that. But there'll be plenty of other stuff to hunt, once you heal up.
From: pav
26-Aug-17
Absolutely hate that for you Mike. That's a tough break! Kudos on the positive attitude.
From: INbowdude
02-Sep-17
Thanks guys. Whacked a couple of doves today. Leg is still tender to walking on uneven ground and long grass. Slow and steady recovery. Did take a step up on a ladder to see if I could get in a treestand. NOT YET! Keeping the faith.
From: patience2spare
05-Sep-17
Really sorry to hear about the hamstring and having to pull out of the hunt, Mike!!!
I had a sub-acute tear in my right hamstring about 10yrs ago (fell on some black ice while steelhead fishing up in MI). The PT was horrible but was ABSOLUTELY the key to getting back to normal activities. Endure the scraping, stretching and icing and you will be back to 100%. Pete
From: INbowdude
11-Sep-17
Update: I am going back to Wyoming during my fall break (October 14th till ?). This will be a rifle hunt and I thank you all for your kind words. Agree the PT is key and I'm progressing better than my therapist had anticipated. Leg still a bit weak and my training is shot but I'll be hunting so will just take it slow and steady.
From: pav
12-Sep-17
We're rooting for you Mike. Go get that bighorn ram buddy!
From: patience2spare
12-Sep-17
Go get that ram, Mike! Can't wait to see the pictures and hear the story!
From: INbowdude
12-Sep-17
Thanks guys. Really appreciate the support from fellow hunters who understand the importance of the tag, the hunt and our sport. Much appreciated.
From: INbowdude
21-Oct-17
Update: No ram. Hamstring was flat-land ready but not mountain ready. Tried but just couldn't pull it off. Happens. Nothing left but to wreak my vengeance on the local whitetails. Good luck to all.
From: pav
23-Oct-17
That's a damned shame Mike. Would have loved to see a photo of your smiling mug standing over a mountain monarch. That said, there are varying levels of success. You did get to hunt sheep...a pursuit most hunters will never experience. The injury ended your first attempt, but you worked hard in a short window to get back on your feet and give it another try. Congrats on your sheep adventure and kudos on your perseverance!
From: patience2spare
23-Oct-17
I'm super impressed that you got back out there and gave it your best effort given the injury and the short amount of time between! I hope that you make a full recovery and get to do some other bucket list hunts very soon. Good luck with the whitetails! Pete
From: sticksender
23-Oct-17
Tough deal Mike. On the other hand you did everything you could, and shouldn't have any regrets.
From: INbowdude
25-Oct-17
Thanks guys. Yep, I gave it my best shot but things happen. Just gotta move on. Time to move on towards whitetails. Best of luck out there guys.
