Contributors to this thread:
It's that time of the year again to list your hunting trips and goals for the year. I'll start with archery turkey in Nebraska. Early April. Hoosier turkeys (either bow or gun). April-May Ontario turkeys (gun) early May Porkapalooza 17 at Shiloh Ranch Hunting Camp in June. Moose on the Rock, mid-September (bow, I hope) Hoosier whitetails Oct-? And, I wouldn't put it past me, being a weak man, to try to squeeze in another hunt or two. Retiring from teaching high school after 35 years so I can try to catch up with some of you like PAV, Zim, Sticksender, patience2spare, KDC, and others. Best of luck to all!
Some fun hunts this year for you it sounds like...best of luck, and congrats on the retirement!
Have got a few lined up:
-Coues deer in Sonora January
-Tule Elk in California August
-Rocky Elk in Colorado September, pending my hunting partner & I both draw
-Woodland Caribou in Newfoundland October
-Will be looking for an out-of-state deer hunt somewhere in November
-A bunch of draw apps will be in play, mostly long shots though.
Those are some great hunts lined up guys! Wish I could say the same...
Had a caribou hunt planned in Alaska next August, but for the second year in a row, it doesn't appear our transporter has room for us. Still a slim chance, but very slim. Never thought this would happen being repeat customers, but all of these caribou shutdowns have certainly changed the dynamic.
So once again, I'm pretty much at the mercy of the western draws for 2023. Knocking on the door for an Arizona elk tag... fingers crossed! Already applied for mountain goat on Kodiak Island, but the odds are not great for that hunt. If I don't draw the goat tag, will likely throw my name in the hat for Montana elk. Plenty of points accumulated for Colorado mule deer and/or Wyoming antelope if all else fails. As usual, applying for several extreme long shot tags...because you can't win if you don't play!
Congrats on the retirement Mike! Enjoy your well-earned new lifestyle!!!
Great hunts lined up and planned guys. I can’t wait to hear about them. Congratulations on the retirement Mike.
Thanks! 186 days and counting.
Reading these lines, I know that you have a very good archery talent, I like adventurous adventures like in
tunnel rush but very inexperienced and inexperienced so I never dared to hunt, can you teach me Any tips for survival in the jungle?
Mike, Congrats on the retirement. Hope you get a good hunt routine going. I’ll start with IL public deer scouting in Jan/Feb. Erie walleye run March/April. Turkey in IL, IN, WI and then first time in MI April/May.
Then a break after three long years return to China to our 2nd home & visit relatives.
Then September burning Wyoming points for an elk hunt trying to stay ahead of the never ending bait-n-switch points game. Plus whatever longshot tag I might draw in AZ, NM, UT, NV, ME. However don’t expect that despite 25+ points as I’ve gone the last ten years without drawing a single tag in any random-based lottery. This despite many with odds as high as 30%. Go figure.
The wild card in all this plan is attempting this with now partial tears in both my Achilles. The pain & loss of mobility really took the enjoyment out of my 2022 hunts. See where this goes.
Mike, I am definitely honored to even be mentioned in a list with the likes of yourself, Pav, Sticksender, Zim and KDC (and his brother)! Heck, Paul's son and grandson have been stacking em up like crazy the last couple years! This is my 25th year teaching high school biology & math so I am very interested to see how retirement treats your hunting schedule and adventures!
I plan to put in for NM elk though I haven't drawn an elk tag since 2016 & then just a point for AZ elk. Need to get serious about cashing in deer and antelope points for WY but planning to wait another year and hunt with Grace after she finishes nursing school - she's got 8pts for deer, elk and antelope that I started building for her when she was 12.
2022 was a tough year for me. Lost all 3 of my long-standing permission spots to land sale or leasing. Still killed a nice turkey last spring and a few deer this fall but nothing really noteworthy: shot the smallest buck that I have killed in about 20yrs, but Heather doesn't care if I have another set of good antlers!
As always, I'm looking forward to hearing about the adventures all of you have and seeing the pictures! Best of luck, guys! Pete
Zim - really sorry to hear about the partial achilles tears! Hope that you get some pain relief and a solid treatment plan soon. Pete
Not a bow kill but my first Speck. Started hunting waterfoul (yes, spelled correctly if you've read my books), in 1969. You think I'd be good at it by now, but no.
Congrats on the Speck, Mike. We don't get them over here in the NE corner, but would love to shoot one at some point.
Got my dad out for a really good goose hunt over Christmas break. We killed a 2 man limit and 3 bands, including another black band! I killed a black band last season on a solo hunt and this bird was from the same flock a year later. It's a pile of work to get everything out in the field for a hunt with Dad, but it is so worth it! Pete
Nice! I've never seen a black band before. What is its significance?
From what I understand, they began using black bands in 2020 because people were targeting the banded birds and the black bands were harder to pick out. I know guys locally that will land flocks and check birds for bands and then ground swat those birds: no at all sporting. Personally, I think it's really exciting picking up birds and getting the complete surprise of finding one that has a band!
We just returned from our annual deer hunt, south of the border. And it was a good week for bowhunting, especially compared to last year when it rained several inches the 2nd day. This year, by contrast, conditions were bone dry, and the weather was warm and sunny every day. An ideal scenario for pressuring the deer to move and find water. Out of 5 hunters, 9 deer were taken for the week. No huge ones were arrowed, but some nice solid bucks. The one guy who was rifle hunting did kill a 122-inch (net green) booner class 4x4 Coues. And the same day, he took a 170-ish class typical muley. My bucks were modest in size, but I'm thinking both should be P&Y class bucks. First one was a 5x4 with a sticker or two, and the 2nd one just a clean 4x4.
Been waiting for this hunt report...congrats Greg! Great way to dodge the winter weather here in Indiana! Great start to 2023 for sure!
Congrats, Greg! Nice looking bucks for sure!
Congratulations Greg. Nice deer.
It's been a mild winter but I bet hunting Coues in the warm sun was still a great winter getaway!!! Congrats on the successful hunt, Greg!
Found this deadhead while walking my dog the other day. I don't usually find sheds, let alone deadheads. Will bleach it up this spring.
Cool find.
Funny how squirrels usually won't chew antlers when they're still on a skull.
I had never noticed that, but then again, I don't find enough to know one way or the other.
Pulled an Illinois turkey tag. Hunting with Skeptic.
Congrats on the turkey tag Mike! ...but isn't Skeptic a distillery?
We did a snow goose hunt in early February. Also have a black bear hunt scheduled in September.
Nice job Chris. Where was this hunt? LOL, Paul, not sure about the distillery but I'll check it out.
