Cameron Krug is the son of my bowhunting friends Cindy and Rich Krug, who have made frequent appearances here with their archery successes. Cam turned 12 in time to get in his first bear hunt this December.

Cam relates the story:

My parents got me out of bed at 5:00 in the morning and we headed up to the mountains. It was so cold that there was ice on the ground and I had to wear gloves. Our friend, Gerry, had his dogs on the dog box in the back of his truck. We drove around and tried to find a bear. Finally, around 10:00, the dogs got a bear’s scent and started the chase. They treed the bear after about 45 minutes. We got under the tree and I put the cross hairs of my .243 on it and I pulled the trigger. I hit it in the right shoulder and it fell out of the tree. I was really excited and my mom was video taping the whole thing. The dogs were going crazy. The bear fell down out of the tree and rolled down the hill. Then Gerry let the dogs have a go at the dead bear as their reward for a good job. After that we took pictures and then skinned it. I was really happy to fill my first bear tag.

Well done Cameron! This is the first of many I can tell!

Bret was one of two of my fellow California bowhunters who drew a once in a life time Desert Bighorn tag this June. Early on he committed to doing this hunt with archery gear, with his friend and hunting partner Jack Hankins. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Bret while hunting at Tejon Ranch as well as the California Bowmen Hunters Broadhead Shoot last May. On December 20th on the fourth day of his hunt he successfully arrowed a ram that was measured by the biologist at 180 7/8″. The current Pope and Young record is held by a New Mexico Ram killed by Jim Hens in 2007 that panel measured at 178 6/8″.

Bret shared his story, which undoubtedly will make it into Relentless 365, the California hunting magazine. It truly is a story of perseverance.

My hands have finally quit shaking enough that I can type! (this is no joke, after I shot it, I borrowed Jack’s cell phone but couldn’t type in the numbers as I was shaking so bad) Started out Saturday with Bill, Dave, Doug and Myself, the wind was about 40-50 mph with rain but we still saw sheep. Bill and Dave saw 7 ewes and 1 small ram and Doug and I saw a group of 3 med rams then 5 rams with a shooter. We were about 800yds away and we snuck up when they went behind the ridge but blew it when we came out of the first gulley the same time the sheep were coming out of the second gully, Busted! (more…)

“Jase” as he is known to friends and family is a lifelong outdoorsman who works in the seismic exploration field.  Since he is in the outdoors nearly every day, he was physically ready for the demands of a backcountry elk hunt.  He was the youngest member of our hunting party in Wyoming this Fall.   He was right there when his brother Matt Morris, killed his bull elk the day before.

Jase was accompanied by his father DeWitt (on left), and Matt (middlle) on their 2011 Wyoming elk hunt.

Hunting Elk on foot was no problem for Jase.

Tony is nearly dwarfed by his 2011 California black bear.

This is a special SWH edition because I was there when it happened!  Tony was introduced to me by our common friend Kirk Edgerton.  When Kirk and I planned a weekend bear hunt in the Sierras, he mentioned that Tony was coming along.  It was the second to last weekend of deer season, they both had deer and bear tags for the area, and I had a bear tag.

We split up in the morning at daylight and met up later at around noon.  Tony and Kirk had seen numerous deer but no legal bucks.  They also had spotted 3 bears across the canyon.  We decided that finding a vantage point to watch for the rest of the day was a good idea.  Tony and I went to the cliff over the canyon while Kirk went to find a buck napping along the ridge crest.

As the sun dropped and the shadows grew long, we heard, then saw a doe eighty yards below us on a trail.  We knew the critters would be moving more as the hot day cooled.  Soon Tony spotted three bears across the canyon.  600 yards straight line, but probably a mile through the canyon.  They were moving through brush and trees and the day was getting late, so we simply watched them disappear in the trees.

Shortly after we heard movement below us.  It sounded like a buck raking brush, but then changed to a steady walking gait of something BIG going through the manzanita.   We watched the mountainside below us for what seemed like hours when a black spot moved 150 yards below.

“Get above  it there so you can get a shot. ” whispered Tony

As I turned to get up, rocks rolled under my feet and I looked back to see Tony with his rifle at his shoulder and knew the bear was alerted.  I watched him fire and knew he had made a killing shot.  One more shot for insurance and the dust began to settle.  He apologized profusely but I was happy for my friend who was successful.  Now we had to get the sucker skinned and quartered and up out of the canyon, with less than an hour of daylight left.  It was fixing to be a late night.

From Left to Right, Tony Elwell, John C. Martin, and Kirk Edgerton. You can see the cliff above where Tony shot from.

When we got down to the bear, close inspection revealed a big, fat, old, sow with discolored and broken teeth, a jet black coat with two white chest patches , and probably a 300# carcass with a 4-6 inch layer of fat over her entire body.  Kirk arrived within minutes and we had a photo session after struggling to position the rolling body on the steep brushy hillside.  Between the three of us we had the bear skinned and  quartered in short time, with the meat and skull packed in our three backpacks. We hiked up out of the canyon and back the three miles to the pickup as darkness fell.

Headed back to the truck with packs full of bear meat

The third University of Idaho Farmhouse fraternity brother of mine to have success in the field this Fall, is Nathan Fullner.   As a partner in the family contracting business in Western Washington, he makes the annual hunting trip in Washington a family affair as well.  While Washington is not known as a Mule Deer Mecca, it is apparent that the Fullner clan has it dialed when it comes to filling deer tags.  There were three generations represented including his son Scout.

Nathan writes:

 I picked up Scout from the Homecoming dance at 11:30. It was worth waiting as he ended winning Homecoming for the Sophomore Class. Leigh and I were very proud. Proceeded to drive all night and arrived at the hunting grounds at 6:00, just in time get changed and ready to start hunting. We were very fortunate and were all tagged out by 11:00 . Great times spent with my Dad, Uncle, Brother, Nephew, Son and Jimbo, who wasn’t hunting. Awesome hunt and great memories. God is Good…

Dad, Me, Austin, Scout, Uncle Mel and Mark

Nathan and Son Scout

Nathans smoker buck

The University of Idaho Farmhouse Fraternity chapter was recommended to me as a young incoming freshman in 1992.  I had heard it was the place that always  “had somethin’ dead hanging out back”  in the Fall.  I found many kindred spirits who enjoyed spending time in the outdoors in pursuit of game large and small.

One of these characters was Eric Eidam.  This native of Pendleton Oregon is now a firefighter on the West side of the state.  In his time off he is an avid hunter, and shared this photo of his 2011 archery elk from Oregon.

Eric just returned from British Columbia with a  Canada moose with a 48 inch wide antler spread.  At a glance I’m guessing that this bull may be close to book.  If that wasn’t exciting enough, he averted a disaster when his group was charged by a mean tempered grizzly.

Thanks to the wonder of Facebook, I was able to reconnect with my college roommate Jeff Hepton of Asotin, Washington. He and his brother’s in-laws went to Alaska for caribou.  Jeff is one of my fellow University of Idaho Farmhouse Fraternity brothers.

Matt Morris and his father DeWitt pose with Matt's 5x6 bull elk from Wyoming.

Matt was the first hunter in our camp to fill his tag during the General Wyoming Elk Season. On opening day evening, I heard the first shot, and a second later I heard a second shot. Even as far away as I was it sounded like a solid hit, with a finisher. The bull fell in his tracks and never knew what hit him. The 30-06 that Matt used was also used when his younger brother killed his first elk.

While this is Matt’s first elk, he is an accomplished bowhunter as well and has harvested numerous whitetails, turkeys and waterfowl in his lifetime. He is raising his son to appreciate the outdoors as well.

Young Meg Groverman connected on this mature Blacktail buck on the final evening of the 2011 California A zone season.  Her father was proud of her marksmanship as he puts it, she “Made a nice shot in the noggin.“

Rich and Cindy headed to British Columbia with tags for Canadian moose, and elk.
When you shoot something that big with a low poundage/short draw length bow, like Cindy shoots…It takes a few arrows. (As we can all see from the empty quiver.)

Rich got a nice elk as well. I’m sure we will hear the full story in a hunting magazine somewhere in the future!