Some of you may remember a couple years back when me & one of the grandson's got on a couple of nice bucks, he nailed his first ever muley & it was a dandy, since then we've talked about it many times.
Also since then him & his dad have managed to get Ridge another muley, an antelope & a very nice black bear, he's off to a very good start in his young hunting career.
This year we've been hunting for several days, seen a lot of deer, passed on a couple & had some great fun, him, his dad & one of my other son's have really been enjoying our time in the great Idaho outdoors. We've even found a little time to eat!
One day I saw 31 deer, another day I saw 26, but when you're hunting with an iron sighted 44 maggie you don't actually get many real shot opportunities. Its much like archery, you can hunt the whole season for one shot, thats what happens in this game we play with revolvers on big game, especially on public land.
I've been trying something different this year, at least as far as cast slugs are concerned, I've been testing some of the MiHa 240 gr HP's in my Ferminator 10 1/2" 44 maggie that Fermin had changed over to a Bisley, I love it!
A couple of days ago we were headed back to our hunting camp along the river when we spotted 2 mature bucks crossing a field, we had to change directions & go about 2 miles to an area where we hoped the bucks might cross. This usually never works because mule deer don't really know where they're going so its hard to second guess them.
This time we got very lucky, just as we got up to a little high spot in the field both bucks almost ran right up to us. I had left my Barranti shoulder rig behind & was carrying my 44 in my hands, Ridge was carrying his 243.
When the bucks saw us they slammed on the brakes & milled for a split second, I was on them quick but had to wait, there's no way I could explain to his dad & his uncle why I shot first!
Finally Ridge shot the buck on the right, a nice double lung shot but the muley stumbled 10 yds before going down. Now my buck whirled to run & I got very lucky, I dumped him in mid stride with one of the 70/30 alloy HP's & he never took a step. Later my son ranged the shot at 97 yds offhand, not my favorite position but this time the hunting gods smiled down on an old fat boy & that buck actually ran down that HP & intercepted it right though both lungs.
This is me & 14 year old veteran Ridge Thompson with our bucks.


There's also some dandy trout fishing if you get bored, there's some real arm yankers in the river where we camped.



Here's our campsite, nestled deep inside the worlds biggest playground....Idaho!


Muley bucks love shale slides & heavy cover, soon the snow will force them out into the open a big more where its much easier to spot them.


Its amazing what an under powered, iron sighted sixgun can do with a simple cast bullet when you download 240 grs of lead posioning through both lungs. Again, this was a lucky shot, the combination of a good sixgun & a good bullet, placed in the right spot isn't luck.


Yup, wearing my trusty Croc's, I'm still wearing a brace on my right foot, caused by the back surgery, besides, everyone knows a good buck hunter wears Croc's!!


Great times spent with 2 of my son's & several of my grandkids, I'm lucky & I know it.

Dick

Dick,
Congratulations on a great hunt with your grandson. Great pictures also!
Jon

Fantastic. I love Idaho, used to hunt waterfowl with some guys in Caldwell.

Beautiful state.

Outstanding Dick. Beautiful country, too.

Thanks guys, I'll have more tomorrow, I got a call just before dark & another of the grandson's (12 yr. old Brock Thompson) just smoked his first 4X4 buck. Had to go haul them off the mountain. We've also got 5 elk tags to fill, seen a bunch, including a couple of nice bulls but they are wild!

Dick

hi dick we have talked before .In fact you and your son done some work for me on my ruger 44 mag. Are you allowed to run 4 wheel atv on this public land . Nice bucks ,nice country good story the best to you and all them boys tks ken

Nice work as usual, Dick! Congratulations! I always enjoy your threads!

Congrats to you and your grandson.I have a feeling your lucky shots are better than my well aimed shots with a handgun!!!!

awesome job,scenery is spectacular, but the memories are priceless

CONGRATULATIONS NOTHING IS BETTER THAN HUNTING WITH THE FAMILY .GOD ,COUNTRY AND FAMILY PILARS OF CIVILIZATION .
THANK YOU

The pics are great. Thanks for sharing. And thanks for getting the young kids hunting. I have nine grandkids and have got two of the boys and one girl hunting. The girl is a ten year old cutie. Last year she asked her dad to teach her to shoot with a stick and string! She is doing great. Hunting hogs this year with her dad.

Ken, you can use 4 wheelers in much of Idaho, there are some restrictions but there are lots & lots of roads in the back country where they are legal. In the areas with restrictions you can still take one to retreive game, you can't take a firearm while getting the game out but it sure helps when you have an elk down!

Dick

Dick, you earned that buck. It wasn't luck. I have been following your posts here and other places for years. You're one of the finest revolver shooters in North America.
What a great heritage to share with your grandsons!

Bill, thanks! We just got home from Arizona, had a great winter down there & came home to 4" of fresh snow, went from 84 degrees to 31 degress, oh well.
I did see some rock chucks as we got close to home so I'll be hunting as soon as we get the RV unloaded. Met a guy at the RV park from Sun River, Oregon, he's a gun guy so we hit it off, he's into the cowboy action stuff.

Dick

Welcome back Dick,
So you are the reason we got the snow. lol