Hi all,

thanks for sharing your awesome experiences from around the world in pictures and words. It is fantastic to read you descriptions and see images from corners that I will most likely never get to see. I am not inexperienced, unprivileged or untravelled, but few men (or women) in the world would be capable of getting to experience what all you in here have. If they are, they are probably not able to appreciate it all.

However, because there is so much talk of doubles, dangerous game, "dugga boys", far off continents, lucky draws and expensive spiral horns, this forum is also quite intimidating. It would probably be easy to think that what is out your back door is not worthy of a post or picture in here. But I am curious, when you go grab a gun, dog and cartridges and head out your back door for the afternoon, day or weekend - what do you see, do and hunt? After all, unless it is our job, none of us spend more time on far off safaris then we do at home.

So here is my challenge to you: Give us a hunting report from a hunt that was not necessarily expensive, well planned, outfitted or even very successful. What we do in our everyday lives says a lot about who we are, and what is your backyard hunt is someone elses dream of a life-time. Big or small, rifle or shotgun is all the same. Mobile camera photos is definitely also acceptable.

I promise to join in with posts from Norwegian backyard hunts later on.

Here you go, i killed this turkey on a local piece of public land yesterday.
A friend who deer hunts only was taking a walk and bumped into a group of gobblers on a friday afternoon.
I was basicly out of options on my private land spots. So over the last 3 weeks i have worked a group of 2 gobblers and a jake. They definatly have been worked and were prone too hanging up just out of range. They also have had a couple of hens with them that would lead them away from me.
Saturday morning, The jake likes to gobble and has been instrumental in getting in tight to them on the roost. I eased in as close as i dared and waited for them to fly down. I had already decided not to call until they flew down. When they pitched out i flapped the primos wing on a little bush next to me. True to form they came up too about 50 yards and hung up. They strutted back and forth then just melted away. As soon as they got out of my site i did some calling but they just got farther away. Well by now i have fiqured out were they like to go and strut. So i headed that way. They had gone silent so i was in full sneak mode and moving slow. When i got to the area the birds gobbled across the creek about 75 yards away. I sat down waited a minute and scratched in the leaves a few times. After a minute they gobbled again but closer. I got up and moved a few feet and scratched in the leaves again. I waited about 5 minutes and moved a little closer to them. I scratched again they answered and were a little closer. In a few minutes i could hear them walking. They crossed the creek and walked right too me. At about 30 yards the lead bird stopped and started eyeing me. The second bird had been in half strut the whole time. When he stopped and stood up straight i pounded him with a load of heavy shot.
A well earned bird. 10" beard 1" spurs and 18 pounds

day.

I remember this hunt so clearly. I was young and inexperienced. But my ethusiasm and passion for hunting was so hard to control.

I knew my quary well. But it's skulking habits and quick darts in the foliage and branches are well known. Stalking is most important and a quick shot is an absolute MUST. You do not get a second chance!

I had to plan the hunt - time of day, position of sun, direction of shadows, direction of approach to use the available cover. I can still rember my heart pounding as I peeked around corners and craned my neck to get a glimpse of a speck of grey hair or a bit of the shiny eye that was NOT looking at me. Or the occasional sound that is so typical. Often the stalk would be in areas well known for fruiting trees that always seem to hold game.

As I stalk slowly with the weapon in hand, using every bush, tree and hedge as cover, I see the grey fur and then I see the animal and stop. I make sure of the angle of the shot and then I slowly draw back and release - I can her the "thunk" and the quarry bucks at the impact and arches its back. the tail flays to one side trying to regain its balance and then the animal flips in the air and comes tubling down to earth - and makes a resonding "plop" as it hits the ground.

As a youngster, I am delighted mith my success of having fooled the elusive and fleet footed Striped Palm squirrel! My Sling shot has proved its worth again! Oh... the joys and passions of hunting as a kid !

I am a resident of Alaska, but haven't done a lot of Alaska hunting as I have been all over the world with the military for almost 20 years.

My parents live in Wyoming and their home game animal is pronghorn antelope and sage grouse, mostly with a bit of rocky mountain elk, and mule deer thrown in. Maybe a few pheasants.

Here in Australia my local game is rabbits, hares, red fox, and wildboar. Sometimes we get to chase deer but not very often. We have fallow deer locally, and a few sambar deer. Farther away they have more exotic stuff but not here locally.

Thunder head, thanks or a fun report. What do wild turkeys taste like compared to the farmed monsters?

Nakihunter, our sport would be a lot cheaper if it was still as exciting to stalk the little things as it used to be. Although come to think of it, it probably would be quite amusing :-)

MOA, sounds like both you and your parents have some fairly good quality opportunities not too far away!

Within walking distance of home I hunt a wide variety of waterfowl, coyote, some upland birds, and both whitetail and mule deer. for the first time last year I had the opportunity to hunt moose at home. That was a very nice bonus!
A few pictures of home hunts:

For me the local hunt is primarily whitetail deer. I have been blessed to be able to help manage the herd on a 1400 acre farm. Only 6 of us hunt it. It is no problem to shoot a 150 class buck each year. Seems we can not get over the 160 mark, we only shoot 1-2 bucks a year letting big ones walk hoping
For next year. Still once they are off the farm they are free game. I shoot a dozen does a year there.

We also have a bow only hunt in city limits that starts early sept. plus a couple of other properties I hunt.

I get in about 45-50 mornings or evenings per year and shoot up to 20 each year.

Gotta feed the need!

How do they taste,
Just like other wild game if cooked properly they are very tasty. Too me they realy dont taste like a farm turkey. They have there own unique flavor.

This is probably the closest hunting we have , wild goats that end up in the freezer. Great animals for introducing youngsters to hunting , and an area that has a reasonable chance of a target if you are quiet enough and patient enough - which is hard when there are 2 boys involved...





And this one wasnt local to us , but it was our most recent father/son overseas trip , to Australia to hunt the humble fox , in January

My favorite are my sheep hunts. I love the mountains.

I also enjoy whitetails.

I forgot one of my rams as well as one of the last Grizzlies in Alberta to be hunted.

I also mostly enjoy getting my kids out for some fun as well.

Very cool pictures, and lucky kids! I would love to hunt any kind of sheep (or new zealand goats and whitetail some day. To have sheep as a home hunt surely makes you fairly privileged!

Those bird hunts look fairly spectacular too. I can make out canadas, cranes(?), mallard, teal, wigeon, snow geese, snipe, some partridges and some kind of grouse?

Really cool to see pictures of your ordinary hunts.

Still waiting for your pics Muntjac!! I bet you have some critters that some of us would envy in your part of the world. I bet a lot of guys would trade you hunts as well just to see another part of the world.

Here is a hunt report I did from year before last.
http://forums.accuratereloadin...081030141#9081030141
I usually take 1 or 2 deer off of my place every year. I go out before daylight and sit where I have a good view of a likely spot and the sunrise. If I haven't seen anything by the time the sun is fully up I drive around to some other likely spots. By about 7am I am back doing my chores.
In the afternoons I go out and sit and watch it get dark and listen to the crickets.
Not like when I was growing up and we used to have 20 guys hunting and do drives or run the hounds. It is different but it's all fun.

As you get older it seems as though killing stuff isnt actually that important a part of the hunt any more. I find I get a bigger thrill out of helping my son successfully hunt something now , rather than me pulling the trigger.

Is that something that happens to other folk or is it just me ?

And I would gladly swap my kind of local hunting with someone who had differant specis on offer , not even interested in trophy hunts , just a swapped experience.

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
As you get older it seems as though killing stuff isnt actually that important a part of the hunt any more. I find I get a bigger thrill out of helping my son successfully hunt something now , rather than me pulling the trigger.

Is that something that happens to other folk or is it just me ?

And I would gladly swap my kind of local hunting with someone who had differant specis on offer , not even interested in trophy hunts , just a swapped experience.

+1
When we had a larger ranch and I was the host I enjoyed getting my friends on a nice buck almost as much as they enjoyed it. One of my most memorable hunts was an evening when I was hunting with a buddy and he took a nice buck. As we were walking up to it another appeared close by and he asked if I wanted to shoot it. I declined and he asked if he could shoot it since he had a second tag. I said sure. That was 15 years ago and he hasn't stopped talking about that hunt yet.

My hunting companion and I had decided to get an early start so filled the back of the 4x4 with a cooler of soft drinks, sandwich makings and assorted snacks. Then, off we went to our favorite breakfast restaurant, arriving about 8:30am since it was only six miles from the house.

A hearty meal under our belts, we continued east with the mountains at our backs. The terrain was rolling and the passable roads (asphalt) caused no breakages on our vehicle. Thirty miles from the restaurant, we were finally in the wide and wild open spaces. This was a low fenced area and did nothing to hinder our prey in traveling wherever it wanted.

Another mile on a two-track road and we decided to set up for our hunt. A shooting table, spotting scope, sandbags, rifles, and what some would call an excessive amount of ammunition was made ready.

Game was seen immediately! I prepared for a shot. Success! The first prairie dog of the day was down by 9:45am. We decided to go for quantity rather than quality. By the end of the day (3:00pm) we each had over 75 dogs to our credit.

Yep, this is my "home hunt" April thru October in Colorado.

quote:

As you get older it seems as though killing stuff isnt actually that important a part of the hunt any more. I find I get a bigger thrill out of helping my son successfully hunt something now , rather than me pulling the trigger.

Is that something that happens to other folk or is it just me ?

And I would gladly swap my kind of local hunting with someone who had differant specis on offer , not even interested in trophy hunts , just a swapped experience.

I enjoy hunting more when I am helping someone else get an animal. If I am doing the hunting for myself, if I pick up the rifle, I am going to go out and kill somethings ass, maybe multiple somethings. I don't hunt trophies, I hunt for meat. For me a good days hunt is over with when the first leagl critter sticks its head up.

For me that is something that will never change. But, if I am helping someone else to get an animal, I can stay out all day and have a grand time.

Really great pictures Nube, you are a very fortunate individual to live where you do and be able to terach you children proper values.

Thanks Crazyhorse. I am not sure if I am teaching proper values or not. I have 4 kids and the oldest would rather play video games instead of hunt. This weekend he had no choice. I took my 7 year old daughter and the oldest 10 year old boy camping and sat on a bear bait for a few hours. My girl wanted to shoot a bear and was excited to be there. My boy was getting bored and wanted to go back tot he campsite! guess I will have to work on that some more.lol

It seems to me I enjoy getting the kids out more and the killing part is getting less and less to answer the above question. I still like my hunts but I like helping buddies and my kids have experiences like I have had. I am blessed to live where I do and be able to hunt so many critters every year.

Don't give up on that boy or that fight. Those kids are huntings future and you have a great start of passing those values along.

Like I said, if I am, helping someone else, whether a paying client, my wife, a friend, does not matter I enjoy those type hunts.

My sole purpose when I pick up the gun is to kill something. That is one of the reasons that over the years I have grown more toward enjoying fishing more than hunting. Also, I would rather hunt waterfowl anyday over 4 legged critters.

If you hunt waterfowl you need to come on up!I am sure I can help you out! I am always open to ideas for a swap as well. Like I said in that other post we were talking on that I would like to hunt a free range Audad some day.
Check out my website if your interested.
Phil

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
As you get older it seems as though killing stuff isnt actually that important a part of the hunt any more. I find I get a bigger thrill out of helping my son successfully hunt something now , rather than me pulling the trigger.

Is that something that happens to other folk or is it just me ?

I wholeheartedly agree. Nothing nicer than that even though it hurts the first time when a 15 year old outfishes you on a trout stream.

For me, my local hunting is for roe deer and an occasional wild boar. Still I enjoy it a lot.

Muzza said:

"And I would gladly swap my kind of local hunting with someone who had differant specis on offer , not even interested in trophy hunts , just a swapped experience"

I would gladly swap you a hunting experience in Utah, or another Western state. I cannot guarantee a trophy, but I can sure try. Mule Deer, Elk, maybe even bear.

I would do it for free. I'd love to hunt NZ, but even if I don't, the offer is still good. I really enjoy see others enjoy a new type of hunting experience.

Like others on here, I would just as soon see my 3 sons be successful. I've been fortunate enough to go on, or participate in, hundreds of hunts! I've killed some trophies, but it's getting more and more important to enjoy the overall experience!

My usual weekend hunt is heading up to the mountains for wild Boar.

I like to hunt deer locally,sambar deer mainly. I snapped this maiden hind only this morning not long after dawn break.
Saw her 'old man' a little earlier,he`s another story.



I wouldn't mind hunting these fellas too,snapped last week.(up north)

What is the cost to hunt a big croc there? those are some big ones!!!!

Been hunting spring black bear since the
beginning of May. Have spent 10 days and
have seen 21 grizzlies and 3 black bear.
enjoy and safe travels

I'm surprised there isn't a swap hunt forum on AR. Can offer AZ coues hunting on a draw hunt. Draw has been basically 100% last few years. Mule deer and javelina also. Not sure how to post pics on here but will put them on if somebody can point me in the right direction.

Nice thread! I spent the weekend out in Homer, AK sea kayaking with the girlfriend. On the way back to Anchorage yesterday we did a bit of glassing/hunting for black bears. We spotted a sow grizzly with two cubs and three black bears. One of the black bears was the biggest boar I've ever seen........but he was on the other side of an impassible revine. More bear hunting to come!

Brett

PS> Weekend black bear, grizzly bear, and moose hunts are a regular thing. Everything else tends to take a bit more doing unless you draw a tag.

quote:

Originally posted by Brett Adam Barringer:
Nice thread! I spent the weekend out in Homer, AK sea kayaking with the girlfriend. On the way back to Anchorage yesterday we did a bit of glassing/hunting for black bears. We spotted a sow grizzly with two cubs and three black bears. One of the black bears was the biggest boar I've ever seen........but he was on the other side of an impassible revine. More bear hunting to come!

Brett

You should have stopped to net some houligan on the way back to Anchortown.

My "Home Hunt" really is a Home hunt.

I live in the country, and I have had a problem over the years with bobcats and coyotes killing my ducks.

And just a few days ago, no doubt a coyote killed my kittenish female cat...

So, when In loose a duck I set up my "home hunt".

I put a towel down, an ammo crate, and then a towel to stand on in the bath tub in the bathroom of my man cave. I slide opwn the window and place a shooting bag on the opening.

I put the ducks in the duck pen...
Then I check every so often. When I see a bob cat I kill it.

I have killed 7 so far, as well as 2 coyotes and a raccoon trying to get into the duck pen...

My other "Home Hunt" is my deer/pig lease about 285 miles away. I shoot deer, wild pigs, turkey, small game some birds and once in a while a few ducks.

I have killed a lot of deer, pigs, and even some coyotes there with my Elephant rifles.

My favorite hunt is for elephants...

But I still like hunting deer, pigs and even rabbits and squirrels.

Bottom line is I just like to hunt...

This is a really cool thread.

Heres this weekend just gone's effort.

Some of the mates arrived at the farm for a pheasant hunt.



We hunted some pretty tight country for some cunning birds. This one was in real jungle meaning a tree also became a victim.



Later that evening we split up in search of a pig. Mick did well and scored his biggest boar yet.



If I leave the farm to go hunting, its likely to be a drive down south to hunt alpine game. Every February I go to a little valley for a fun hunt with no pressure of success or failure.


first night I had my food for the week.

Later I scored a big old bull.



In between, I like to keep my freezer full of venison, so try and get out a few times a year for a hunt on reds.

I had a little time tonight to post a few more pics.