Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: PAHunter on February 08, 2014, 09:45:43 pm
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Is there an ultimate animal you dream of hunting?
Crouched behind some trees I hear the unmistakable splash of a large animal cross the stream 40 yards in front of me. As I stare across the small grassy meadow the source of those sounds has not yet emerged from the thick brush. My heart races in excitement and anxiety preparing my body for the confrontation that is about to occur. The feelings are familiar but far more intense than ever before because this time there is uncertainty over who will be the victor in this confrontation. My ears are now super human and hone in on the location of the steps. My eyes confirm as great brown bear steps out to survey the field with head held high. My left hand adjusts into an all too familiar position on my bow grip as my right hand grasps the string. Other than that there is no movement in my body or mind. As I focus the world fades into nonexistence and all I see is my prey, no, I see one out of place hair on my prey that sits just behind its front shoulder. The great beast slowly walks through the meadow. 20 yards, 15 yards, I slowly raise my bow, 10 yard, I slowly draw, 8 yards, I exhale, 6 yards, my grip relaxes as the string slides forward and my arrow takes flight propelled by my handmade bow and dream…
Well that’s how my dream hunt may go. Hopefully it ends with the great brown bear lying on the ground instead of me becoming his lunch. Haha I took my wife and daughter to the museum today and they had to pull me along as I stared at each exhibit in the North American game section, as my mind ran through endless fantasies of possible encounters with the amazing animals I saw. This brown bear was my favorite as hunting one is my ultimate dream hunt. Though being close to this guy almost made me reconsider this goal and my sanity.
My ultimate goal with hunting is to create great adventures and memories for me and my family. But dreams of encounters with the great game species of North America sure gets my blood pumping! So what animal is at the top of your bucket list?
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Last time that question was asked here on PA got me two trips to the San Juan Mountains of Colorado on elk hunts with Little John(Kenneth) and an open invitation to come back. Unfortunately no one told the elk about the hunts. Maybe my next trip will be the one. ;)
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@Pat: Nice! As an old elk hunting friend of mine said when I questioned where all the elk were, "oh the elk are out there, they are there". That trip I saw 3 elk in the distance, 10 muel deer, and 5 moose. I'm still drooling to get back out there. I fired no shots but it was a perfect hunt all the same. Good luck next time, hopefully the elk will be there for us!
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For me it will be hog huntin, followed close by a monster alligator gar hunt... Brian
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i want to hunt BIG muleys, where i live a big muley is 25"-28" wide 150"-165" b&c score, and it takes alot of work to get one, especialy with a bow, i want to hunt those 30"+ monsters
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It is hot. A kind of hot I thought I knew. But I didn't. It was the kind of heat that saps the strength from your body. It's about 40 minutes to sunset and the heat is like wool muffling your whole body. I'm sitting in a makeshift hide along a waterhole, the hide is woven from thornbushes and dry reeds. It provides some shade, and I am thankful for any of it.
The last water bottle was gone long ago and I am looking down at this muddy waterhole like it is a '97 Perrier-Jouet in a chilled champagne flute. There is no sound but the tiny gasps of sweat hitting the sand at my feet and insects whining and buzzing around me. It has been silent like this for a good 20 minutes since the leopard cleared his throat somewhere behind me in the bush.
And then a sound so quiet that it instantly has me doubting I really heard it...and another, just maybe a bit louder. I am now hyper alert. Nothing, absolutely nothing. Not a sound, not bit of change in the scenery. And then I see it, a small jet black object that was not in the brush to my right just a moment ago. It's a large, wet eyeball. My eyes sharpen their focus and now I can pick out alternating black and white marks on that amazing face, but I cannot see the sweep of the twin javelin horns.
And just like that, the animal takes a single step forward and I see her completely. A young female gemsbok, the oryx of legend. Twin, slender, 26" horns adorn her beautiful head. I don't move, I concentrate on the feel of the arrow nocked on the string, the feel of the grip in my left hand. She moves forward fluidly, followed by another eight or ten cows from this herd. The last out of the bush is the herd matriarch, the one the guides told you about. You know her immediately from the scars on her withers where she fought free of the young male lion years back.
She pauses behind the others as they drink. She is not easily fooled as her head slowly turns back and forth scanning the thin brush around the waterhole. It is almost as if she is flaunting those long, narrow horns of hers, the lovely pale tips at the very ends almost 38 inches from the bases. The bulls that seek her out have much thicker bases, much more mass to the horns, but they are often shorter from being worn down. At last, she decides it is time to get her share of the dwindling resource this waterhole offers. She walks right in front of the hide, pauses a moment before her head drops to drink. She is quartered slightly away from me and for a moment I almost lift the bow arm, but something holds me.
Her head snaps back up to alert a half inch before her lovely muzzle touchs the water. I realize I have been holding my breath for longer than I would have thought humanly possible, but I can't exhale now. The rest of the herd raise their heads as their thirst is quenched and the matriarch takes this as her opportunity to drink. I exhale very slowly as her head slowly lowers to the water. Her muzzle touches the water and concentric rings ripple from the contact. Her throat pumps once, twice, and I slowly raise the bow and inhale. My lungs are full as I hit full draw and the point of aim settles behind her near shoulder. Softly the air seeps from my lungs and the string has slipped off my fingertips, almost of it's own accord....
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Those all would be great trophies.
@JW: it sounds like you have considered that one or twice before. ;) Thanks for the story, I felt a bead of sweat drip from my nose a second before that arrow took flight. ;D
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There she is, 400 lbs of grace and beauty. All that and two perfect horns for making a bow! Hence wanting to take the cow and not the bull.
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I have always wanted to hunt cape buffalo. Based on my recent arrow shooting, I would much prefer to do that with a rifle though. I'd have a much better chance of living through it to post pictures. If I was going to pick an animal to go after with a bow, it would probably be a roe deer. I have a skull mount of one my great grandfather shot in Germany in 1921 and I've always thought it was really cool.
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Rob, I did have a wolf cross about 25 yards below my ground stand one day while out there. That was a very special moment for me.
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@JW: I like the way you think! ;)
@Adam: cape buffalo wow. Hard to imagine that even being possible with a selfbow but I'm sure it's been done.
@Pat: a wolf would be something else. Those types of amazing moments are why I started to film my hunts recently. It's nice to relive them and share with family.
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I was lucky to get my 6x6 elk, so it is a moose that is on the list. I have an addiction to game that responds to calls. The interaction between hunter and hunted using vocal sounds is what I love. Turkeys, elk and moose.
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Elk.
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my dream hunts include moose and grizzly.
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Elk are hard to beat, especially for an affordable and doable hunt. Every year I just hope and pray for one more season to hunt these magnificent animals. But any game animal I get to hunt is my favorite at the time. Kenneth
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I would really love to do an African plains game hunt. I'm not really that interested in a Big-5 hunt, but I'd love to go after all those different antelope and deer species they have running around.
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Dream hunt... Caribou.. Fills my dreams... Hunted elk, moose, mulies, whitetails,bears and antelope... It's nice to have good freinds... It's all been good memories...
Thanks Leroy
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You sound like a very fortunate man Leroy. Hopefully I have those memories of my own some day.
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Moose and any bear.
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A mountain hunt of any style is my dream. Elk, muley, goats, birds, I don't care! Just get me to the mountains before my old butt cant anymore.
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It's a warm spring day. The kind everyone longs for after a hard winter.
I'm dressed in summer Commando gear, black face and all.
I am crawling one inch at a time with frequent pause so that I can blend into the new growth.
I have previously installed a remote control whistle 150 yards to the south I am approaching from the north.
This keeps my shadow from advancing in front of me. The wind is in my face. It must be,
I do not let myself become distracted by the flakes and pre forms in the loose soft dirt I am now dragging myself through. My quarry is mere feet away but unseen. My hart is pounding so much I stop to incorporate some deep breathing so I will not alert the nasty creature just feet before me. I can tell the filthy animal is active by the flies that are buzzing at the mouth of it's lair.
I activate the whistle and spring into action. I am lurching forward with both hands in choke mode as the
creature's ears and the back of it's neck are exposed above the surface of the lair.
In a millisecond I am locked in battle with one of the most despised creatures on the planet.
It's claws take every advantage, trying to sever the arteries of my wrists. If my grasp loosens, just a bit, I could become a victim of it's buzz saw teeth. It's fur is new and sleek from the winter molt, making purchase
difficult as it struggles for air. I know I am destine to be front page news every February 2 from now on.
Look for me with Phil on a hide stretcher.
Zuma
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Thanks for the great laugh Zuma. Ed
PS: My dream isn't a new animal but one's taken with my self bow. Black Tail and the good old PNW Rosevelt (elk).
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A mountain hunt of any style is my dream. Elk, muley, goats, birds, I don't care! Just get me to the mountains before my old butt cant anymore.
Come over to my neck of the woods anytime!
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You sound like a very fortunate man Leroy. Hopefully I have those memories of my own some day.
Lucky to live in Alberta.. Where these critters are accessible with a little help of your friends... You have moose and bears I have antelope and mulies..
Pearl drums- There is nothing like sitting above the tree line on the border of B.C. and Alberta having lunch and looking East... Feels like you can see forever...
Fortunate yes.. Good freinds beautiful scenery wonderful memories... And once in a while we get something...
Thanks Leroy
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Oh, my wife is from Punxy Zuma, I better make sure she doesn't see that. They take groundhog threats seriously up there. ;D
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Killing a big mature whitetail on my property. I'll probably never be able to go on a big adventure hunt like elk or moose. I'm happy with whats in my back yard :)
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Oh, my wife is from Punxy Zuma, I better make sure she doesn't see that. They take groundhog threats seriously up there. ;D
Lol tell Mrs. PA hunter it's just a dream and Bill Murry put me up to it.
I keep having it over and over.
Actually my real dream hunt wouuld be, to take a full grown male African lion with thrusting spears.
I need fifteen able members to help. PM me before the season opens.
Massive Russian boar in ten inches of snow the same way.
Zuma
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At this point a White Tail Doe would Trip My Ticker...
Beyond that, in order:
Elk
Moose
Muley
Yellow Fin Tuna...
Big Gar
-gus
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Well if anybody wants to hunt muleys, elk, antelope or coyotes I've got over 75 sections that we can hunt on, all you gotta do is show up, oh ya and you have to draw a tag. ;) I can probably even find some wolves to shoot at too,and if you just call em big coyotes you don't even need a tag >:D
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Where you located duck?
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southeast montana, little tiny town called ekalaka. between my place, the naighbors places, tons of block management, BLM land and forest service i've got lot's of ground and lot's of animals that don't get hunted much.
p.s. just kidding about the wolves, there are some around but i have actually never seen anything but tracks and kills, but i have a buddy that got a picture of one just 15 mile from my house.
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Only North American Game I have not taken with a Bow(Traditional only!!!) are Big Horn Sheep and Mountain Goat......Some day
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bison
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Only North American Game I have not taken with a Bow(Traditional only!!!) are Big Horn Sheep and Mountain Goat......Some day
They would be a true challenge. Just to get close to them would be incredibly difficult. On the hunting channel you typically see people taking shots at them from 300 yards plus with tricked out rifles. I don't think I've ever seen anyone hunt one with a bow of any kind on TV.
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I think Tred Barta got within 20 of a goat on one of his episodes. Went home empty handed though.
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My dream hunt involves cloning extinct mega fauna. Who else could say they have a Mastodon head hanging on their wall?
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Hey Steve, I took a picture of this guy at the museum this week. What do you think he scores? :o
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bison
Ditto on this one.
If anyone was serious in wanting to take one with a rifle, there is a ranch I've run into near Rocky Mountain National Park where you can hike in guide-style to take one of their herd. I think it is around $2000, you keep the meat and any parts. Shoot me a PM if anyone is interested and I'll get off my lazy butt and re-find their website. :)
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I am a simple man. More deer in new places with good friends.
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Hey Steve, I took a picture of this guy at the museum this week. What do you think he scores? :o
Not to much more than this guy. :) Maybe double. (https://www.boone-crockett.org/Images/FS_dennyaustad.jpg)
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feral cat >:D
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bison
Ditto on this one.
If anyone was serious in wanting to take one with a rifle, there is a ranch I've run into near Rocky Mountain National Park where you can hike in guide-style to take one of their herd. I think it is around $2000, you keep the meat and any parts. Shoot me a PM if anyone is interested and I'll get off my lazy butt and re-find their website. :)
Skip finding the website. Send me the $2000 and I will find them myself!
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They would be a true challenge. Just to get close to them would be incredibly difficult. On the hunting channel you typically see people taking shots at them from 300 yards plus with tricked out rifles. I don't think I've ever seen anyone hunt one with a bow of any kind on TV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaQ7ajWanFg min 2:50 ;)
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still on the lookout for one of these elusive beauties!!!! :o
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Heck, I have shot dozens of them jackalopes. Easy peasy.
Mind you, all of mine were does.
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JW: That was a good one. I did not realize how many does I had shot. Would like to shoot a Mt. Lion which is very possible, a Mt. Sheep which is impossible get a permit for here where I live, and a Hartman's Zebra which are one of the most difficult plains game animals to get close to!
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JW: That was a good one. I did not realize how many does I had shot. Would like to shoot a Mt. Lion which is very possible, a Mt. Sheep which is impossible get a permit for here where I live, and a Hartman's Zebra which are one of the most difficult plains game animals to get close to!
Did you finally get yourself an antelope? When we talked at the Classic last year that's what you were wanting to hunt w/ primitive gear.
dp
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There are so few antelope tags in areas with any public land that I have passed on applying.
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Caribou and moose for me! I Dream of catching an awesome caribou migration with a group of buddies and two tags im my pocket. Lots of game birds and target shooting around camp and lots of stories around the campfire each night of my two week long hunt! :)
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hey Lee,,, ill join that hunt !! you buy....i'll fly!! >:D
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I'm crouched in the thick underbrush waiting for him to come closer. I've been waiting for this day my whole life, and at this moment my success rests on which direction the big brown bear decides to move. Slowly he begins walking in my direction. I know this is the day it could all come together, but I have been close many, many times before. The bear is thirty yards out, and coming closer. I am shaking with adrenaline. And as the bear closes the distance, I raise my bow, and slowly begin to draw. At twelve yards he stops and looks right at me. If I am detected at this range the outcome could be ugly. I am holding at full draw now, as his eyes burn through me. There is a sapling in front of his ribcage, and he needs to take one more step. Finally he lowers his head and moves forward, and simultaneously I loose my stone tipped arrow....
But for now it's just a dream.
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Anything in my country that ive hunted,but to do it with the old ones.
Untill then,i always thought huntin Javies down south would be a hoot.
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The hunt of my dreams is chasing down a bull moose with a lance through the deep snow of January, the cold searing my lungs as, flying over the crusted drifts I run it down until it can't run anymore.
It could happen...
More realistically, Spot and stalk woodland caribou.
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The hunt of my dreams is chasing down a bull moose with a lance through the deep snow of January, the cold searing my lungs as, flying over the crusted drifts I run it down until it can't run anymore.
It could happen...
Nice! Maybe if it was a really old moose with a dwindling interest in life, I'd have a chance. ;)
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(https://www.boone-crockett.org/Images/FS_dennyaustad.jpg)
Is this a Maral??
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Just had this talk with a couple buddies over the weekend. My bucket list, top 5 in order.
1. Caribou
2. Mule Deer
3. Bison
4. Elk
5. Moose
Gotta make at least a couple of those happen.
Tattoo Dave
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Oddly enough mine has always been a plain Ole'Big stinkin wild boar...
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^^^^^ this oughtta be kinda easy for someone to make happen!! wish i could do it for ya brother.
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The 3 _________________ that mugged me at knife-point on the subway in NYC when I was 18.
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I guess I should branch out more and try something different, but all I can think of is whitetails and wild hogs right here at home. That does it for me. Spot and stalk hog hunting is as much fun as you can have with your pants on.
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Pronghorn around a waterhole.
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How bout some ducks? I'd like to be in a big fly way with a black sky full of ducks coming into my decoys and a quiver full of arrows that soon will be empty. Geese would work too. Shoot, I'm still tryin to kill a deer w/ a stone point. ;D ;) dp
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Now this has got me thinking... ducks or geese from a canoe. With arrows that skip across the surface of the water.... That would definitely be a dream hunt!
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How bout some ducks? I'd like to be in a big fly way with a black sky full of ducks coming into my decoys and a quiver full of arrows that soon will be empty. Geese would work too. Shoot, I'm still tryin to kill a deer w/ a stone point. ;D ;) dp
You know I'm all over that! Just gotta get the right spot that the birds like and others that are patient enough to let you take first shots.
Tracy
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My dream hunt is more about the place than the critter. I love the high coastal bluffs on the CA, So Oregon Coast. The mixed conifer/oak woodland environment interspersed with grassy meadows and rocky monoliths overlooking the pacific. The way the fog moves in those steep canyons, with brushy, small coastal streams at their bottoms... There's black tail deer, hogs, bears, squirrel and all kinds of critters, and they all have a place in that ecosystem. And I'm sitting on a rocky outcropping, invisible, hidden in the roots of a gnarly bay laurel, watching the edges a sloping meadow, with the sun setting over the pacific. The smell of the wet dirt, and the voice of a raven somewhere. Bow in my hand and a quiver full of arrows. That's my dream. And I get to live it, every once in a while. I'm a happy man.
Gabe
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I just signed up for the drawing of the sambar deer hunt on St. Vincent Island. Not really sure what I'm gonna do if I actually get it. lol That would be a dream hunt for me but I've always wanted to camp on the island anyway and you can only do that during a hunt so who knows if I'll even hunt. We'll call it exploring with a bow and arrow. lol
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Black panther.
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I've put in for the Sambar hunt for three years running, Tim. That hunt is on my bucket list while I still can. St. Vincent Island has more snake species then any other place in Florida, over a hundred. And that is where the Red Wolf family's are released to assimilate and bond before being reintroduced to SC.
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Combo hunt for moose and caribou. I 'd just love to see them and the country where they live.
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Combo hunt for moose and caribou. I 'd just love to see them and the country where they live.
I have some friends that do this in newfoundland. You can use bow or gun and it's somewhat reasonably priced.