YoungSportsman.com BLOG

This year has been a bad year for bear hunting for us.  The season has been open for about 10 days now, and we haven’t seen a bear yet.  We have seen lots of sign from them though, so we know they are still around.  The season goes until December 31st, so we should see some by then, but it has been slow for the first few weeks of the season.  I’ll keep you updated with the trail camera pictures we get from our cameras that are out right now, and the stories we bring home and hopefully soon we can bring a bear home too!  Here is my 2008 bear.

one of the better sized bears that we got a picture of on the trail camera.

I’ll add more pics as soon as I get them!

John Murphy

Well as the course of time takes place fall changes to winter and generally the trail cameras go from a full bore use, to a dormant state of nothing and are packed away until next needed. As May is now in full bloom its time to start your early scouting again, and generally we set new and better goals every year that we would like to fulfill in our hunting lives. To help you readers achieve this, please take a short break to read my Trail Cam Scouting Tips below.
Now assuming you know how to run your camera, and know there are some animals in your area I will help you capture photos best I can.

The best suited place for a trail camera location is starting at the edge of a clearing in a forested area. I have scouted both whitetail deer and blacktail, but currently I am talking about any big game animal. The animals tend to feed these places, most likely they will feed on them at night or late evenings and early mornings because they do not like being in the open. In my example you will see there are pics of daytime deer on the edge of the clearing, this is because it is a low pressured area, and the deer feel semi-safe there. The elk on the other hand are much wearier and make their “herd moves” often at night and early morning.
   
   
   

Now some photos at the same place of elk.

Now if you can find a natural food source your chances of success increase, and finally once you have found your deer in the opening start watching the pics and find out what way they leave. Then follow their trails up so you can set your stand in the best places, about 200 yards from the clearing.
this is a picture from a buck I followed through pics, and during the season missed him at 15 yards!

Here is a trail that I followed, thinking there was a active buck here, turned out the buck was after this…

Salt blocks don’t really work that well unless you are way out on public land where the deer have no food from humans, same goes for deer cocane, the one exception is blackmagic, for some reason it really works well on deer.

If legal in your state, corn is a great attractant for scouting and finding game, but generally only mineral sites are legal and then you may as well just use nature to find your game.
Wether you do it for fun, for hobby or for hunting you should do it right and follow the correct steps.

For trail cameras, don’t go with something expensive because generally they only last 3 to 4 years I recommend Moultrie cameras.

First Buck!

It was 4:30 a.m. when we left on a long trip from Southern Oregon to Post Falls Idaho. After the 13 hour drive we arrived, and immediately headed for Sportsmans Wherehouse to get our licenses and tags! I was surprised that a out of state youth deer tag and license costed under $18! After we looked around in the Where house a while, we decided to head to our aunt and uncles house for the night, and on the way there, a nice 8 point buck crossed the road not even caring about us! This was a good sign that they were in the rut, we got back and rested from the long trip. The next morning about 6:00 o’clock we were heading out the door for the first morning of hunting in Idaho! Around 6:45 a.m. we were almost to our hunting spot and there was a nice 8 point buck chasing 3 does across a field. It was now 7:00 a.m., we were there and I was ready to hunt! We split up, Morgan my uncle and cousin went one way, dad and I went another direction. We hiked to the top of the hill and rattled for about 15 minutes with spaces in between about 5 minutes apart. We did 2 more sets, and on the second set, we rattled for about 12 minutes and were just about ready to pack up when a buck snorted under 20 yards straight in front of us and it was right behind the one and only bush that was in front of us, the buck took off down the hill never to be seen by us again. We saw some does, but I was holding off for a buck, so I passed on them. We headed back for the day, and headed out early again the next morning. We found a excellent spot, and saw 2 BIG deer running through the brush, but we couldn’t tell if they were bucks or not. We walked up a few hundred yards farther and we were seeing a ton of tracks coming up and over the road, and about at the same time, dad and I looked up and saw a deer behind sticking out from behind a tree. It ended up being a doe, so we hiked up the hill and made our way to the top, but the deeper the snow the less tracks, so we walked back down the hill to where we were seeing all the tracks. We didn’t see any more bucks that day, but plenty of does, so we walked back to the truck and headed back to our aunt and uncles house. We still had a couple hours of day light, so we walked in the woods around there house and we heard a buck rubbing of a tree, but couldn’t ever see him, so we headed back for the night. We got up before light again, got breakfast and headed out the door for day number three. We went to the same place we did the day before because it looked so good! We parked at the bottom of the logging road and did the same thing as the day before, but someone had just gone through there with a bull dozer! That spot was ruined for the day at least we thought. We where looking at the freshly bull dozed road and there were some BIG deer tracks coming up on the road! We saw one deer that day, but we knew that area was good so we had it in mind for the next day again. We tried some other spots that day, but there was nothing like the spot we were at earlier that day. Day number four of our seven we had there, so I was ready to shoot a doe. We returned to the same place for the third time in a row, there was a promising sign that day though! There was a big rub right at the entrance of the road, so we were exited. We decided to use a new method of hunting, and we walked what seemed to me slower than a turtle! It was working like no other though, there were two does not even a hundred yards into the walk, and they didn’t even know we were there! Since it was only one hundred yards into the hunt, I decided to pass on them. We walked another two hundred yards and saw 3 more deer, but again they were does and I passed on them. Just as we turned the next corner, we spotted a big deer trotting on the road, so we slowed down even more! As we turned the corner dad and I saw them at about the same time, two nice 8 points walking broadside at 120 yards. Then all the sudden bang bang bang! “What the heck was that?” I asked dad! About a ½ mile up the hill someone fired a 7mm 3 times! Luckily the bucks didn’t care, so I got my gun ready for the shot! The only thing now was that the bucks never stopped, and pretty soon they were out of sight! I was about ready to kick myself for not taking a shot, then I saw the rack of a 10 point buck working his was down the draw! I got ready again and told myself that I wasn’t going to let this buck go, so I aim where I thought he would be coming out from the brush at. Sure enough, I see the big buck come out and he had his nose to the ground eating grass. This buck wouldn’t stop either, so I gave him a quick whistle, The buck stopped with one ear back and his head up in the air. I steadied the cross hairs of my 30-06 behind his shoulder and fired! The buck slowly took 3 bounces and made it about 18 yards and fell over! I was really exited for it being my first big game animal, we walked up to the big buck and all is he did was got bigger as we got closer! We got a lot of pictures, then started the gutting process, and then we heard something was headed right down the hill at us. It was a nice 9 point buck, but something didn’t seem right about the way it ran. I was to exited about my deer to worry about it, so I kept gutting away! Pretty soon this guy came walking up to us and said “Hi, have you seen a buck come through here?” We told him yes, come here and we’ll show you where he went. As the guy was coming down the hill he saw my buck, and I think he thought I shot his deer! After he got down there he was looking at my buck and said “Congratulations” Then he asked if that was the buck. We told him no, there was a nice buck that just came running through here though! Come over here and we’ll show you. We showed him where it was, and it ended up being only 75 yards from my buck. The guy shot, and then walked back to us and told us the story of that buck. The guy shot the buck at the top of the hill, but his scope was fogged up so he made a bad shot, and he kept jumping it instead of giving it 30 minutes, so he ended up getting it 75 yards from my buck. Then dad and I returned to my buck and called my uncle and told him that I had just shot a doe, and would be dragging it down the logging road that we came up on. About 20 minutes later, we had it about 1/8’s of the way down, and my Uncle and brother were coming around the next corner. We stopped and stood in front of the bucks antlers and they thought it was a doe until they got up to it! They were surprised that I got a buck, and then we continued the rest the trip down the hill. After we got it in the truck, we were driving back and saw a MONSTER buck working his way through a clear cut, and Morgan and my Uncle tried to sneak up to it, but had no luck. Then we got back to the house and started taking his hide off, and then let it hang for 3 days in 25 degree weather. The 6th day of the hunt, Morgan got a button buck and the next day we headed home. 2 days after we got back, the taxidermist came to our house and picked up the buck to get it mounted. 7 months later I got him back, and he has been hanging on the wall for everyone to see him.

I added some pictures for you to see my first, and hopefully not my last whitetail.

Right after the shot!

First Deer Hunt By myself

It was going to be my first deer hunt all by myself and I was extremely excited. I barely slept the night before, but I managed to get a few winks of sleep every now and then. We woke up at Three o’clock and started to get ready. We had coffee and had a small bight to eat. I went out to our barn and started up the 4wheelers and when I came to mine it was covered in bird crap, but it didn’t bother me so I just wiped it off and went on. I went back in and got my dad and brother and we headed off. They went across the down a old dirt road with huge ruts down the sides and were going to hunt in a old grown up field with some downed trees. I went about a mile behind our house and was going to hunt in my dad’s old wooden tree stand that he built about twenty years ago. I made it to the creek before I had to go up the hill to it and turned around and saw that one of my dogs had followed me and I tried to make her go back but she persisted so I said Oh well at least I will see some wildlife in the tree stand. I finally made it up to my stand and was climbing up and I put my hand on the top rung of the ladder and poof it came flying off. I was swing with one leg and foot on it but I got my balance and got to the top and sat down with my dog at the bottom of the stand. It was beginning to get light out and I see our cows in a distance and watched them for awhile with binoculars. At about six-thirty I looked down and Sophie (dog) was gone. I thought well this just may turn out good. At six forty five I heard scratching at the bottom of the tree that I was in and saw a medium size bobcat. I was shocked and scared at the same time. It looked like it was trying to climb the tree to get me and I didn’t know what to do. I turned away and saw my dog running like a bat out of h*** right towards the bobcat and barks and tackles it. Their was a scuffle under me and it was crazy. The bobcat managed to get up and started to run off with my dog right at its heels. They ran off barking and screaming. I waited about fifteen minutes and got out of the tree stand because I had enough and was ready to go home. I got on the 4wheeler and was heading and I was about fifteen minutes from my house and stopped and saw my dog running back towards me. I got off and checked to see if she was alright and she was miraculously unharmed in any way. We got back home and told my family the story and they were amazed that my dog did that and it happened. I had a cup of cocoa and took a nap. Later that night somebody was spotlighting in the field across from our house and then boom. We jumped but didn’t think they got anything so shortly after that we went to bed. A couple of days later we saw buzzards across in the field so we decided to go over and take a look. They had shot a doe and it was laying about one hundred yards in the woods. The buzzard and coyotes got to it and it was torn up. I can’t stand people who spotlight and then just leave what they shoot. It really ticks me off.

I guess I should have known it was going to be a odd day when there was bird crap all over my 4wheeler. I guess if I ever see bird crap on my 4wheeler again I will just head back into the bed. lol

ATV

Sophie