Man, we had a great time on Tuesday and Thursday night! Thanks to everyone who attended the Elk101.com Extreme Elk Hunting Class held at the Boise, ID Cabela’s. We packed the conference room both nights and had a blast talking about elk and elk hunting! A special thanks to Donnie Drake and Dave Perry for their help getting the room set-up and checking people in.
If you attended the Elk101.com Extreme Elk Hunting Class at the Boise Cabela’s on July 28th and 30th, please take a few minutes to fill out the brief survey below:
Big game hunters whose names were drawn in controlled hunt drawings have until Saturday, August 1, to buy their tags, except in unlimited hunts.
Any tags not purchased by that date will be forfeited. After a second drawing, any leftover tags are sold over the counter. Read the rest of this entry »
Congratulations to Jason Fuller, the winner of the Elk101.com Hunting Story Contest. Jason will win a free pass to the Elk101.com Extreme Elk Hunting Class at Cabela’s on July 28th and 30th. You can read Jason’s story below (The Mudhole Bull), or by clicking here: http://elk101.com/?p=355
Congratulations to Aaron Moos, the winner of the July Photo Contest (photo #2, shown below). Aaron will receive an Elk101.com prize package consisting of a 4-pack of Alaska Game Bags, a Bugling Bull elk diaphragm, and an Elk101.com wind-checker.
Aaron Moos' Bull
Thank you to everyone who submitted stories and photos, as well as all those who voted! Watch for our next contest coming soon. Be sure your cameras and video cameras are charged up and ready…
We got a lot of GREAT hunting stories for our July contest! Thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a story. We’ve narrowed them down to the top 4 (shown below), and in similar fashion to the photo contest, we want you, the readers, to vote on your favorite! To vote, simply leave a comment at the end of the story. The story that receives the most comments (votes) by Thursday, July 23, at 5PM MST will win the free pass to the Elk101.com Elk Hunting Class at the Boise, Idaho Cabela’s on July 28th and 30th ($59 value)!
During the hike in to our hunting camp on Labor Day weekend 2008, I found myself thinking of the last bull I’d killed. I couldn’t believe it was in 2000. Had I really drawn blanks for seven seasons in a row? Wow, it was without a doubt 2008. I’ll never forget releasing the arrow on that bull back then. I was shaken back to reality by the hind end of the horse walking in front of me. Apparently the trail had dissappeared, I didn’t know our exact destination, and it was almost dark. Maybe scouting a little would increase my success ratio? Naahhhh…had to be “bad luck”.
OK, obviously the elk isn’t 60 years old, I am. I’ve lived in Idaho all my life and love the outdoors. Those of us my age and older know how it is, your mind has a hard time accepting the limitations of your years. Luckily the body is there to remind you, or you might do things both body and mind later regret. In my case, my younger hunting companions seem to have more difficulty accepting my advancing age than I do. “You can climb these mountains better than men half your age,” they say as I’m gasping for air and pounding on my chest trying to restart my heart. So it was no surprise when Lance Sellers, 15 years my junior, called wanting me to apply for Idaho’s only controlled archery hunt. He wanted to do a group application, three younger commando types and me. “There’s BIG bulls there.” Lance explained, “and lots of them.”
The 2008 hunting season started in June when the draw results for Moose, Sheep, and Goat were released. I scrambled to check the results, for myself first, of course… Unsuccessful again, I mumbled to myself. Since I apply for my little brother, wife, and my buddy Matt every year, I proceeded to check results for each, brother… Unsuccessful, my wife Amy is up next. I am holding out little hope, since she has only accumulated 4 bonus points. I scroll down the page, and about jump out of my chair, Successful 1st choice Moose. I can’t believe it, so I log out and check again, Successful it reads. Now Amy is currently out of town, flying in this evening, so I elect to surprise her when I pick her up at the airport. I arrive to pick her up with a smile from ear to ear. She gets in the car and I can’t hold out any longer and just blurt it out, she looks as shocked as I did.
This past spring I was invited by my friend and co-publisher Matt Smith to join him and other RMEF members to assist the Wisconsin DNR in the elk restoration project at Clam Lake. We would be hunting elk! Well… at least their newborn calves.
We had a bunch of elk hunters e-mail us pictures over the last few weeks for our July photo contest. We’ve decided to make the judging a little more interactive by involving those who visit the website. Voting will be open until Thursday, July 22, at 5PM MST. To vote, simply leave a comment in the comment box at the end of this post, indicating the picture # that you’d like to vote for (the Photo # appears under the corresponding photo). There is no criteria for judging…just vote for your favorite picture! Thanks again for all those who submitted photos!
I just got in from a 4 mile run and need to wind down before hitting the sack. My good buddy and Sitka Pro Staff member Matt Palmquist drew an awesome elk tag in New Mexico for this September and asked me my thoughts on using decoys. Here they are:
Training to get in shape for a upcoming elk hunt, or for that matter, any kind of mountain hunt can be a labor of love – or a love-hate relationship! As variety is the spice to life, interval training is the spice to your training program. It will take your fitness to the next level and it may be just what it takes to get you up the mountain in short order and still be able to draw your bow and make a good shot on a once in a life time elk. Read the rest of this entry »
