Today I headed out to scout some private land that I have access to. It is a large chunk of land so lots of pre-scouting is in order. While out I saw 2 small Whitetail bucks and a dozen or so Doe's. While walking a hay field I spotted this fox out 350+ yards. I laid prone till he came into 207 yards. I settled in and squeezed off a careful shot. He didn't even flinch. The A7 and Rapid Z took their first. With that kind of shooting its gonna be hard to wait for Monday.

Bull down!!!

Unbelievable! Opening day score on a beautiful bull Elk. The day dawned cloudy and windy. By the time we got out to the hunting area it was snowing and visibility was poor. None the less we headed out hiking. By noon we were 7 miles in and jumped 3 bulls. The resulting stalk is exciting and nerve racking and will make one heck on a episode of the Outdoor Quest. The Zeiss optics were priceless and of course the Rocky Mountain Rifle in 260 Ackley was flawless and when it roared the ivory hit the ground.
Special thanks to to Trevor for his help and Matt on the camera.

Elk Season!

Finally my elk season is here! Today Matt and I scouted with buddy Trevor Carruthers for my prairie elk. There were no shortage of elk to be found and the largest was easily 100 animals. Never put a monster too bed but did see a couple 330 class bulls in the herd. Tomorrow we really put the boots to  the ground and see if we can track down a prairie giant.

Deer Trip Last morning

Sandi and I sat the blind one last time yesterday morning. We saw 4 small bucks, three of which we had never seen before and three does. We hope to get back in November for rifle season. We had a great time with Curtis and Jennifer of Silverwillow Taxidermy and look forward to the chance to hunt with them again.

Win a DVD

Danny Smith was the winner of a DVD in our September video contest. Congrats to Danny for some great work. At the end of November we'll be giving away another DVD for the best field photo of game killed in 2010. Post your photos on the Outdoor Quest Facebook page for all to enjoy and have a chance at winning an In the Crosshairs DVD

Range day for Matt

Well this morning I was out of bed early to head to the woods to get a big ol load of birch wood. On the way home I couldn't resist a chance to hit the range.

I'm shooting a Sako A7 chambered in .270 WSM, with Talley lightweight rings/bases and a Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14X44 with a Rapid Z 800 reticle. I just got the long range set up back from Corlane's gun shop. They had fluted the barrel, skeletonized the action, pillar bedded the stock, and lightened up the trigger. So needless to say I have been dying to shoot it. After getting it zeroed at 200 yards and dialing in the scope in to my ammo, it was time to see what this thing could do. Right from the 250yrd chicken to the 550yrd Ram this thing was on fire. To say I was impressed would be a huge understatement. Man I cant wait till November 1st.

Day 4 Whitetail Hunting

Daybreak saw us in the blind again and as the light came up we were surrounded by deer. All does and one small forkhorn. Just as legal light clicked over an old 4x4 scooted over the hill and rousted the does chasing one after the other. Sandi decided the buck wasn't large enough and we enjoyed his early rut activities until he finally drove the dozen deer off after half an hour.
The lack of wind has really increased the amount of deer out and the amount of time they are out in legal hours. The big bucks are still tripping the trail cameras a half hour after dark so it is just a matter of one making a mistake.
Last morning tomorrow!

Close call!

Ten minutes before legal light we had two bucks working their way to us. By the time it was legal they were in the trees and and under 200 yards out. As luck would have it only the small buck gave us a chance and Sandi decided to pass. Lots of deer tonight but no bucks.

Day 1 Whitetail Hunting

As it always goes the one wind you are not prepared for shows up. Day one dawned windy with a NW wind. We scrambled to find a place to hunt and ended up working a bunch of brushy pasture. We saw mule deer and whitetail does. In the early afternoon we got caught by two nice bucks with our hands full of blinds and not guns and a camera. Go figure. We helplessly watched the two good bucks as they stopped 100 yards away gave us a couple of minutes to look them over and then bound off. Dang! We sure would have made a star out of one of them.
Tomorrow is another day.

Whitetail Deer Hunting

Sandi and I are guests of Curtis and Jen Fischer of SilverWillow Taxidermy. Curtis has caught some good deer on his trail cams and tomorrow is the opener for muzzleloader season. We got out for a scout tonight before dark and saw lots of deer. We are excited for the morning to get here!

A Few pics from the Weekend

Great Day on the Prairies

Vanessa and I had a stellar day on the prairies today, taking two non-trophy antelope, sharptails, ducks and a huge Canada goose. Jet got to flush his first birds and he also got to do his first water retrieves. For a border collie he did pretty darned good. The card reader on my laptop seems to be malfunctioning but we'll post some pics when we get home Monday. We're off to shoot some more grouse and ducks tomorrow.

Luke Scores Big Again! Giant non Typical whitetail.

It is Oct 7th, 5 days after killing my moose, I sat in my tree stand tonight and killed this buck. He came out about 10 minutes before dark. I got it all on video. Dropped him with one shot at 300 yards. I just finished putting a tape on him. He is a 6x9. Right side scores 77, Left side scores 103 6/8, 21 3/8 inside spread, total is 202 1/8 NT. Net score is 190 2/8 NT. Five inches 

Trail cam the night I shot him.

 from book.

67.5" Alberta Moose!!

Pro Staff Luke Viravec was only doing his most favorite thing in the whole world - hunting moose. He knew he was in good country but had no idea what was waiting with the noisy cow in the thick willows. His unbelievable bull stretches the tape to Yukon moose dimensions and beyond with 67.5" spread, 19.5 and 20" wide boards. he grosses over 232 B&C inches and loses very little in deductions, in fact if it weren't for the six drop tines (Yes 6!) it would be the new Alberta record. As it is the Viravec bull is the largest killed in Alberta in 32 years and sits 13th over all in the world. The enormous moose is already being heralded as the Alberta big game trophy of the decade.
Congratulations to Luke and watch for the entire adventure on the Outdoor Quest in 2011.

Moose Down!!!

Heard from Rich a little before 9:00 p.m. tonight.  They were just getting back to the truck with Jake's moose.  Not a lot of detail right now, other than it's a bull.  More details to follow when they get camp packed up and head back home tomorrow morning.  Stay tuned for some photos.  Congrats to Jake!!

The Huntin Fool Accepts My Desert Sheep Story

Well i received a nice phone call from Garth Carter telling me that my desert sheep story was accepted as a feature story in the huntin fool magazine , it is a 5 page story that i wrote on the whole hunt.

Now with the story being accepted i qualify to win a remington rifle or a matthews bow if my story is voted the best story by huntin fool members. So if your a huntin fool magazine member and you like my desert sheep story sign in to there website and vote for the story, And if im extremely lucky i just might be shooting a brand new remington or a matthews bow.

No moose yet!

Heard from Rich again tonight.  It's been cooler at night but warmer during the day.  They've seen - or heard - moose just before light and just after dark, but nothing they could get close enough to for a shot.  Supposed to be around freezing tonight and a high of 14 tomorrow so maybe they'll be moving.

Moose update

The boys called tonight.  They saw one 30" bull last night but everything was still packed and they couldn't get the camera and the gun out quick enough.  Tonight they were back around the same spot and saw a big cow and heard two bulls fighting in the bush.  Too dark to go after them, but they know where they're starting in the morning!

Moose Camp!

Jake and I leave in an hour for camp. If i can get cell phone reception I'll have Sandi up date the blog daily. Sometimes reception involves climbing a tree so don't be surprised if I miss a night!