1999--ANOTHER GREAT PERSONAL
HUNTING SEASON!!
THE YEAR OF THE NECK SHOT!
MONTANA MULEY WITH MUZZLELOADER
WYOMING WHITETAIL WITH MUZZLELOADER
ILLINOIS WHITETAIL WITH MUZZLELOADER
INDIANA SELF-DEFENSE WHITETAIL!
ARIZONA COUES/MULE DEER BOWHUNT
9 1/2-FOOT BROWN BEAR!
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I've lived in Alaska since 1982..............and this is the FIRST year that all the stars, moons and planets lined up just right, allowing me an opportunity to take this GREAT BROWN BEAR!! What a thrill it was! Each year, I see literally dozens of bears......both Brown and Black. In fact, it becomes so routine, that I seldom take a second look at the majority of them. HOWEVER..........when I spotted this big boy, feeding on the carcass of a moose that one of our hunters had shot, I knew he was a great bear! This was definitely a hog of a bear, and deserved a closer look. So, the next day I hiked to a shallow ridge just above the gut pile, and waited for just over 6 hours for this brute to WAKE UP FROM HIS NAP! I could see him in the brush, sleeping off the gorging he'd been doing all night. The brush, however, was too thick to offer me the clean shot I was looking for. Talk about nerve racking!! Finally, he woke up and made his way the measley 15 FEET to the carcass to begin feeding again. It was getting late in the evening and I didn't want an after-dark tracking job. So, when the bear offered his huge neck, I shot him, dropping him like a bad habit! It was 120-yard shot. He never flinched! I shot him with a Lazzeroni rifle, chambered in the 8.59 Titan. This is a .338, 225-grain Nosler Partition bullet, smoking out the barrel at 3300 FPS!! This bear never knew what hit him!!
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In the picture on the left, you can see exactly how he fell on top of his dinner, a moose carcass. In fact, sticking out from the middle of the bear, is the head of the moose, with antlers removed. The picture on the right will show you what the inside of the mouth of an OLD BEAR looks like!! The Fish & Game Department has extracted a tooth for aging. They said the results might not be available until the spring of 2000. However, the biologist who sealed the bear estimates that he was at least 15-16 years old, and possibly much older! It'll be interesting to get the results back on this brute's age!
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This bear was 8 1/2-INCHES ACROSS THE FRONT PAD!! To give you some perspective.............. I'm 6' 2" tall, weigh 270 pounds, and HIS PAWS DWARF MY FOOT, HANDS AND HEAD! This bear could obviously take my head off with one swipe of those mighty paws!
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The picture on the left is of the incredible, huge front paw from this giant! On the right, a biologist with the Fish and Game extracts a tooth. This tooth will be sent off for aging. He said the bear was at least 15-16 years old, and possibly upwards of 20+ years old!!
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Here the Fish and Game puts the calipers to the skull of this great bear. Then, the skull and hide were both sealed.
If this great bear is any indication of how the rest of my hunting season is going to go..................I CAN'T WAIT!! I have hunts lined up in 6 more states with rifle, muzzleloader and bow. I'm ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MONTANA MULEY WITH MUZZLELOADER
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I left Alaska for Billings, MT, Thanksgiving night. I was greeted in Billings the next day with unbelievably hot and rainy weather! In fact, the entire west, as well as the rest of the nation, was unseasonably hot and dry. When I got to Doug Gardner's ranch, there wasn't a flake of snow anywhere. However, in spite of difficult weather, I managed to take this 28-inch buck on the last morning of the season. Shot him in the neck with my muzzleloader. Pictured above with me is my little buddy, Myles Gardner. He used to be my 6'-4", 250-pound "BIG" buddy...............that was, until I stepped on him in the middle of the night, reducing him to a mere shell of a man............kinda like a popsicle stick now! This was the 4th year in a row I've hunted deer with DOUG GARDNER, POWDER RIVER OUTFITTERS, BOX 678, BROADUS, MT, 59317, 406-427-5721. If you want to go on a great deer hunt, contact Doug! Doug leases in excess of 900,000 ACRES OF PRIVATE RANCHES! And the quality of deer hunting is great!
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I shoot a 50-caliber muzzleloader. I specifically shoot a 600-grain bullet! I have had tremendous results over the years with this combination! As you can see above, the exit hole is a FULL INCH in diameter! However, without the bullet enhancement process I have done to my bullets, my exit holes would be more like their entrance holes..............50-caliber. Read more below about this unique process................THAT'S NOW AVAILABLE TO ALL OF US!!
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In the past several years, I have taken JAVELINA, INDIA BLACKBUCK, FALLOW DEER, MOUFLON SHEEP, AUDAD SHEEP, SIKA DEER, several WHITETAIL DEER, several MULE DEER, AND BISON with my muzzleloader! They have all been taken with ONE SHOT each!! Additionally, only one whitetail deer required any kind of follow-up tracking. And that was due to poor shooting on my part. The only way I've been able to achieve such devastating, one-shot, killing power, from a slow-moving, 600-grain muzzleloader bullet, is with BOB PARKER'S enhancement process. Pictured above is a diagram of his process. It's simply unbelievable the results and efficiency I get with my bullets when they have been enhanced by Bob! All muzzleloader hunters know the biggest challenge we have from slow-moving, lead projectiles, is that they tend to fail to expand. With Bob's process, my bullets will DOUBLE in expansion! 50-CALIBER IN............1-INCH OUT!! ALL muzzleloader hunters should contact Bob about this process!! In fact, ANYONE shooting sub-sonic calibers could improve their killing efficiency with Bob's process. Bob is currently working on some projects for J.D. JONES! Of course, J.D. Jones is "the man" in regards to the Thompson Center Contender handguns! As well as having developed his own proprietary cartridges..........ever heard of the .375 JDJ??? Contact Bob Parker at: PARKER ENTERPRISES, 691 BLUEGRASS DR, ELKO, NV, 89804. His number is: 775-753-2195. OR!!!! You can email him at: parkerproductions@elko-nv.com
WYOMING WHITETAIL WITH MUZZLELOADER
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On the 28th of November, I left Montana for Wyoming. On the way there, I lost 3rd gear in my Suburban's automatic transmission. I learned pretty quickly that you also lose reverse! With the season ending on the 30th, I couldn't let a little thing like that stop a good hunting trip. So.......I drove the 250 miles to Wyoming in 2nd gear. I kept telling myself it was still faster than WALKING! To make things more challenging (besides the hot weather), I would be hunting a ranch I'd never laid eyes on before. I didn't draw my "normal" deer license, and had to settle for a leftover license. On the last day of the season, I spotted the above whitetail buck, who was with another smaller buck, and a few does. They were 200 yards away. I sat down, grabbed my "doe-in-estrus" call, followed by a couple of buck grunts, and the next thing you know, this buck responded!! He came out of the pines in the background at 50 yards! I shot him at the base of his neck, picking him up and body- slamming him to the ground. The buck never moved after I hit him! See the part above about the bullet I use. The neatest thing about this hunt was to have been able to call this buck from 200 yards! What a thrill! He 'aint the biggest buck.........but it was EXCITING! In fact, I was able to call whitetail bucks to me in every state I hunted, with the exception of Idaho.
ILLINOIS WHITETAIL WITH MUZZLELOADER
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The reason there is no picture available is because THERE WAS NO BUCK AVAILABLE!! Actually I had a great hunt, as usual. The stinkin' weather was too hot in Illinois, just like it had been out west. I hunted with my muzzleloader and actually saw a mature, trophy buck the first evening of the hunt. He stopped 120 yards from me, giving me the opportunity to size him up with my binoculars. I noticed that he had broken his right eyeguard off at the main beam, as well as the fourth point on his left beam. Had this buck been whole, he would have been a mid-160's deer!! He also would have been backstraps for my belly in a 600-grain second! And you KNOW where I'd have shot him...............the NECK! I let him walk. I did have some fun with him once I decided I wasn't gonna' shoot him. I grunted him in within 20 YARDS of me!! Downwind on top of that. Again, it was thrilling to be able to call bucks in like this. He wasn't the only buck I duped with the call in Illinois. Oh well.........he'll be that much bigger next year!! If you want to see an absolutely HUGE non-typical, 230-point B&C Illinois buck, go to my trophies you gottasee link. He was shot with a bow. Probably the largest non-typical killed in Illinois in the past 30 years!! Killed right down the road from where I was hunting by a fellow I know.
INDIANA SELF-DEFENSE WHITETAIL!
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The next state I hunted in was Indiana. I've never hunted Indiana before. So, at the invite of one of our clients, Terry, I figured it would be a nice fit with the Illinois hunt. Of course the miserably hot weather continued to haunt me and the hunting. The first morning, Terry put me in a proven stand he just knew would result in deer sightings. Well, by 10:30 a.m., one doe and fawn came by as a result of Terry's drive. We quickly figured out the deer were not going to be moving of their natural accord, so Terry place me at several different places, while he made some mid-day drives. At the 4th place, I set up on a brush-covered levy that had a deer trail running right down it. Of course, I set up by a tree, RIGHT ON THE TRAIL!! I'm sure you know what happened next! Terry's successful drive had deer scrambling right for me. A doe, with this buck following, came right down the trail, stopping a mere 15 FEET FROM ME! As soon as the doe stepped to one side, I simply looked over the top of my muzzleloader and fired. I knew I'd hit him somewhere. He was simply too close to miss. Well...........you guessed it! Another neck shot!! This buck also was not the biggest on the Indiana block, but was A VERY EXCITING HUNT!! He literally was about to run over me! Hunting Indiana was a different, unique experience for me. I'd like to hunt there again some time.
IDAHO MULE DEER BOWHUNT
UH OH!! Same story, different state. Boy did I pick the wrong year to bowhunt Idaho mule deer on winter range!!! WHAT WINTER??? For the first time in my life, I chose to bowhunt mule deer in Idaho on a fantastic winter range. Knowing the area as well as I do, I can recall all the big bucks I've seen in past years during the muzzleloader hunt. The bowhunt starts AFTER the muzzleloader hunt ends. So more and more big bucks show up on winter range all the time. Of course, the blasted heat that had hurt the hunting so much in 4 states prior to Idaho, had persisted in Idaho, too. At least until just before I showed up. It did begin to snow, but it was too little too late. I had to return to Alaska before the deer had really poured into the winter range. Just my luck..........the hottest fall, and latest snowfall the west has seen since anyone can remember. Oh well........I guess that'll mean more big 'uns to survive for next season! I'll be b-a-a-a-a-a-c-k!!
ARIZONA COUES AND MULE DEER BOWHUNT
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In January, I left for a bowhunt in Arizona for Coues and Mule Deer. My primary emphasis was on the elusive Coues Whitetail. After having hunted for Coues now, I'm convinced that the Coues bucks are the ones who have placed all the "3-finger" cactus in the area. Since they have split hooves, and not enough fingers to "flip" us hunters off, this is the next best thing! Can't you see the big Coues buck in the picture on the right? I didn't think so..........this desert deer is one of the hardest animals to spot I've ever hunted. You could locate a buck with your binoculars, move your eyes to your spotting scope, and completely lose where you just saw the buck! After about 10 times of this, you MAY finally be able to find the deer in your spotting scope. I did see several nice bucks, with a couple of them pushing 100+ points. After having spent a whole day at a distance, just trying to size up their movement, I wiggled my way into a promising position. I had a Coues buck come by me at 17 yards! He was a little guy. Heck! They're ALL little guys! But, this one was little even by little standards. I did feel quite an accomplishment by just having got within solid bow range of one of these elusive critters! Mule deer sightings were slim. And I only saw a couple of forked-horn bucks. There were 2 Boone & Crockett Coues bucks killed on the ranch earlier in the year. CACTUS! CACTUS! CACTUS! Wow!!! I've been around plenty of cactus before. But this was something else. This is really unique terrain. You'll see below on the left what looks like a soft fuzzy little harmless desert plant. Closer inspection on the right below reveals quite a prickly picture!! It was definitely a new experience for me. I'd like to hunt these little gray ghosts again................
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