The Becker boys are brewing-up another pot of tag soup. Pics

[Don Becker]

Jon and I returned Thursday evening (11/20/08) from a week of muzzlestuffer elk hunting in the Indigo Unit.

'Hunting and camping were great. Finding and dispatching, well that's another story . . . Actually, the only elk we even saw was a cow that another hunter had killed. We were always where the elk had been . . . we just didn't seem to be able to get the timing to coincide.

'Gone a week . . . mid to high 30's at night and mid 50's to low 70's during the day. 'Not a drop of rain until Thursday . . . Thursday morning, as we left camp for our morning hunt, the rain began. 'Rained and snowed (down to ~ 3000') - - - it sure brought-out the deer ('saw some nice bucks) . . . but, still, no elk.

Jon needed to be home this evening . . . so, away we go as this weekend's hunters arrive to take advantage of the storms we had prayed-for. Most camps in the area were gone by the time we returned to break camp for the trip home. We sure did pass a lot of hunters on their way in.

We did see 14 deer, 1 skunk (that's in addition-to these two hunters that got skunked), 4 covey of quail and the grouse score was: 18/6/3. 'Really ODD - - 'seemed like the Blue Grouse were at lower elevations and the Ruffed Grouse up higher. Not that that accounts for the 3 misses . . . I'm not talking about the misses because this time it might not have been me.

There were very, very few critters hanging in the camps. We had muzzleloader deer, elk and youth rifle hunts all going on while we were there.

'Took a few pictures to share:


Blue


'Like to have caught-up with this feller . . .


Ruffed


Diamond Peak









Oh, did I mention that I like rock formations? [Somehow, though, they never seem as awesome in the pictures . . . ]


Oh yes, and sunrises and sunsets . . .



And, finally, a sort-of whazzit. We're pretty certain we know but thought we would see what others think - - species it came from, folks. BTW, the round is .308 Norma Magnum and no, it didn't fall out of the barrel of my muzzlestuffer



One kind-of strange thing on this hunt was the vanishing deer gut pile. On one of the old skidder trails we hunted, there was a deer gut pile. It was about a day old when we first saw it. Two days later, it was gone. Now, I know that's not strange - read-on. ALL that remained was the seeping-into-the-ground pool of blood, a couple of the hunter's paper towels and about 1/2 cup of gut matter. 'Nothing strange about that either. What I did find strange was that there was no remaining sign of where nor in what direction the gut pile had gone. The area was rocky and not entirely condusive to a critter leaving tracks but I would have expected some turned-over rocks as the new owner of that pile drug it away and/or a trail left from its being dragged and, I certainly would have expected more gut matter and a mess had it been devoured in place. 'Nothing to be found in the near-vicinity in the trees and brush. The gut pile was off to the side of the trail and, had it been devoured in place, there certainly would have been tracks in the dirt at the edge. Since this part of the trail actually could have been driven and because the gut pile was very-much in tact, it even occurred to me that there was some remote chance ODFW might have picked it up for study - - - but, there clearly would have been vehicle tracks left.

Don

[Rauly]

Wild horse road apples.....Yum...I mean yuk.

[Don Becker]

You can't call me that! Don

[Jennie@ifish]

Ifish disclaimer: No animals were hurt in the filming of this story.

[Nw dukn]

Great photo's..

[arkansasbasser]

That pic of the footprint looks like one of my buddies. I think he may have been the area.

[gottafish]

My buddy Cliff and I were there as well, We had Muzzleloader deer tags. I tell ya what I could have shot 3 different bulls and 9 different cows in 4 days. But I couldnt fill a hair deer tag. LOL Elk were everywhere.

[quit wishing]

Nice pic's, thanks for sharing. Maybe grouse soup?....Nah, they probably didn't make it home.

[Don Becker]

Originally Posted by Jennie@ifish

Ifish disclaimer: No animals were hurt in the filming of this story.

Thanks for rubbing it in, Jennie! And, I actually was going to bring you some backstrap.

Originally Posted by gottafish

My buddy Cliff and I were there as well, We had Muzzleloader deer tags. I tell ya what I could have shot 3 different bulls and 9 different cows in 4 days. But I couldnt fill a hair deer tag. LOL Elk were everywhere.

Gee, 'sounds like we needed to hunt together. Jon and I definitely could have gotten you into the deer. 'Ever hunted that hunt and had both 100M and 200M tags? We have, over the years, had them about three times . . . there's some sport. Any deer and any elk. Shhhhhhh, don't let the word get out. Did you see or hear any wild turkeys while you were there? Don

Originally Posted by quit wishing

Nice pic's, thanks for sharing. Maybe grouse soup?....Nah, they probably didn't make it home.

You're 2/3 right . . . the two taken the first two days wouldn't have lasted. They got fried-up Tuesday evening for supper. And, the third one got sent home with Jon. I actually prefer to do them at home - - cut up browned and then baked in an oblong baking dish with a bed of long-grain and wild rice. mmmmmmmmmmmgooooood

Don

[TheRogue]

Originally Posted by Jennie@ifish

Ifish disclaimer: No animals were hurt in the filming of this story.

OUCH!!! That hurts

[the preditor]

i just got done hunting my muzzeloader today hunted elk all week had a couple run ins but no luck passed on a couple deer figured i could get a deer over the weekend but no luck. heres a pic of my buddies 5x5. he got it thursday when we went out

[Don Becker]

Originally Posted by the preditor

i just got done hunting my muzzeloader today hunted elk all week had a couple run ins but no luck passed on a couple deer figured i could get a deer over the weekend but no luck. heres a pic of my buddies 5x5. he got it thursday when we went out

That's one dandy buck. Is that from somewhere around here? Don

[baltz526]

your mistery is bear scat

[Jennie@ifish]

I'm sorry! I spose that's not funny, is it?
Not being an animal hunter myself, I giggled at it, but I promise to never post anything like that, again!
Here is my promise to be more sensitive, next time around!
Jen

[Don Becker]

Actually, no. 'Just funnin' with ya, Jennie. It actually is just as funny as you thought it was. Don

[No Fences]

Bear scat for sure.

Also think that birds devoured the gut pile in place. We had one dissapear in less than 24 hours last year from a cow elk.

[huntercgr]

Don, glad to hear the trip was fun. Great pictures of the rock formations, one of my favs too. Next year buddy.

[Don Becker]

Originally Posted by baltz526

your mistery is bear scat

Originally Posted by Rob Kaiser

Bear scat for sure.

Also think that birds devoured the gut pile in place. We had one dissapear in less than 24 hours last year from a cow elk.

We are willing to be wrong and to learn. But, Jon and I think it's a very large cougar. We came to that conclusion for several reasons. Jon came across a very large cougar track ('gotta get that brother of mine to carry his camera) within about a 50 yard radius of this scat. 'Best one could tell, they were likely about the same timeframe/age. The picture below is very typical of the bear scat we routinely run-into in that area and we have no reason to think the diet where we found this would be any different. And, finally, (based on our "real life" versus "photo" assessment) we think it is segmented cat scat that was of such a consistency that many of the segments became separated upon expulsion.



Rob, very, very interesting re birds. Wow, that could be and we never once thought about birds. That pretty-much explains-away all of my observations. To me, it's almost beyond imagination and something I would almost have to witness. This was not any yearling gut pile. It was a fully grown blacktail with liver (and, probably - though we didn't investigate - heart) attached. WOW! So, that 1/2 cup of gut matter left behind was an offering to the gods or a donation to the less fortunate or they were just too stuffed. Still, I think you probably have it.

Don

[Rank Amateur]

That looks like "old style" tag soup. Where did you find those tags. "New tag soup" is better, all the ink goes away as soon as you heat it up!!

[Don Becker]

Dale, I should have guessed you would be the one to call me on that. Hey, I just used an old picture I already had here in the gallery. Now, the truth is out. It's happened before. Don

[Rank Amateur]

Originally Posted by Don Becker

Dale, I should have guessed you would be the one to call me on that. Hey, I just used an old picture I already had here in the gallery. Now, the truth is out. It's happened before. Don

To us all my friend, to us all.

[CombinationLicense]

Hang in there Don and try to remember that unless you're a cougar, it's about the hunt and not the kill...

Sorry, I just couldn't resist a bit of sarcasm for ODFW's benefit...

"CL"

BTW - I ate tag soup this year too

[Incredible_Bulk]

This is the first year in 6 that I haven't eaten Tag Soup.