This bear was the first big game hunt that I ever went on out of state, or rather that my dad ever took me on out of state. It was awesome to have shared such a hunt with my father and I appreciate what he has done to get me into hunting. This hunt was done with dogs and we were looking for bear every day from dawn until dusk. After the 5 days of the hunt we had still not gotten a bear. Knowing we were scheduled to return for an antelope hunt later that year, the outfitter extended the hunt one day for free which I appreciate to this day. On the 6th day of a 5 day hunt, the dogs treed this beatiful color phase bear over a mile down a very steep canyon. This picture was taken in the mountains of New Mexico's Gila National Forest after we packed the bear out of the canyon. Sharing such a special bear over the view of the beautiful mountains with my father is something I won't forget.
This antelope was taken on a New Mexico hunt that I took with my uncle, my cousin, and my dad. The family experience was terrific and we all took good antelope. I was the second to last to take a shot on this trip and passed multiple good bucks before I shot this one. He scored right around the 78" mark and as you can see was quite close to escaping onto property that we could not hunt. As one of the toughest animals I have ever taken, this big buck dropped on the first shot, got back up and dropped on the second shot and I had to put two more into him while he layed down before he finally expired (all vital shots believe it or not). Hard earned trophy on a great family trip.
My first mule deer which I shot in Nebraska while hunting a cattle ranch owned by the family of my girlfriend at the time.
My first "big" whitetail which I shot in Texas in November 2009. 140 class buck with both brows broken off. Not much to say except for how excited I was to have completed my goal of shooting a "big" whitetail...I now return every year because we all know goals like that are never complete for us hunters.
The 11 point whitetail buck that I took in Nov 2010 on the exact same date as the 10 point from the year before. I consider this my "hard luck buck". A friend and I drove from Michigan to South Texas (30 miles from Mexico) for me to buy a new truck. From there, we rode 10 hours back up to North Texas to spend the evening in Fort Worth and check out the stockyards. While we were in Ft. Worth, one of the trucks was broken into and, by some miracle, they criminals left all my guns and hunting equipment and just stole some electronics. We then drove the 3 hours to where I would be hunting. On the 3rd day, I shot at a nice buck and just plain missed, we all do it eventually. This nice 11 point didn't show up until 5 and a half day through a 4 day hunt. Was a long process to get him but it pays to hunt with a landowner that wants you to get your buck!
Finally, I leave the best story for last. In Jan 2009, my father, a friend (Chad) and I traveled to a bowhunting only ranch in Texas. They were hunting hogs and I had paid for a multiple animal hunt. To say the least, the ranch was not as expected and the hunting was quite bad. Dad had to leave early and the guide decided to try to put me on a bison on the last day to salvage my hunt. This cow came into 18 yards and I put a perfect double lung shot on her and the arrow had full penetration. We found the good blood trail but decided to give it a few hours and follow up with dogs, just in case. To make a long story short, during the tracking we thought the dog bells were getting louder instead of quieter. Indeed they were as the hunters became the hunted although we did not see the bison on this encounter. When we did actually find her, as soon as the guide (who decided following up a full-grown bison only required a .30-30 with 3 shots...) shot, she charged but didn't get too close. We gave her a while longer and when we cam on her again it was dark. Chad and I were standing about 15-20 yards from her with lights waiting for the guide to shoot for what seemed like a half hour. After another poorly placed shot, she charged hard this time. All I remember is looking back and seeing the glare of her eyes not 10 feet away as we sprinted through the unfamiliar texas brush. The guide was out of ammo and left us in the dark while he went to get more. Needless to say, I made him follow her up and finish her off by himself after being shook up from the charge. After getting back to camp, the guide and ranch owner disappeared as Chad and I, two midwest deer hunters never having dealt with such a huge critter, were left with skinning and processing the bison by ourselves until 4 am. Lessons learned: do your research on your outfitters, call references, then call some more....and NEVER leave your carry guns at camp no matter what the ranch's firearms rules are ha.
Sorry for the long stories but I hope you all enjoy some of my most cherished hunting memories
