My season thus far

[DHR]

Hey all, deer season is wrapped up for the year here, and my wife and I have a baby due about any day, so I figure the major portion of my bow hunting is behind me until the winter (then there's lots planned    ).  Any way for having pretty limited time I got out a fair bit, had some great experiences, and took some game, so I wanted to share a few pics.

The early deer season was really hot and I was getting frustrated with not seeing many deer, so I spent a couple days in the nearby North Cascades doing this, looking for bears.


It was fun, I would leave the house at three, then hike a couple hours in the dark to get up high before first light.  With Eve due anytime I had a pretty short leash, and that ended up biting me when I finally spotted a bear coming up out of this lake, exactly 8 minutes after our pre-arranged turn around time.  


Logistics swirling through my head I gave myself another hour and planned out a stalk.

[jcar315]

[DHR]

The stalk took me down through this dry streambed, which gave me relatively quick and quiet access to the bear, who was feeding on mountain ash berries on the lower portion of the slope.




with a steady wind blowing up in my face I was able to make good time, and about 15 minutes after the extra hour I had granted myself elapsed I found myself low on the slope 30 yards from the bear.  There was no turning back now, so I crawled to 25 yards at which point things got too thick to proceed undetected.  I put an arrow on the string and got ready for the shot, now it was all up to the bear.  He was feeding slowly toward me, no shot there.  Meanwhile the wind , which had been so steady, showed signs of growing fickle, and the bear picked up my scent. Curious now he closed another few steps, but was now partially alert and angling down wind.  Things were falling apart fast.  At probably 20 yards or a tad more he got a solid noseful, whirled around, and headed off uphill.  For a brief instant he'd opened up at a reasonable angle and distance, but something just told me not to take the shot, I just knew it wasn't a can't miss situation, and I guess I was probably slightly distracted by the fact that for all I knew my wife was going into labor at that very moment.  

I'm still haunted by the encounter, and even though I very much wanted to bring that bear off the mountain, I'm still glad I passed on the shot.

(sorry about the sideways pic,it's right side up on photo bucket, can't figure out how to turn it around here)

[kennym]

Good call Bro!  Some of my best hunts didn't bring game home.....

[DHR]

Well I couldn't really stay away so A couple days later I was back looking for the bear again.  I found him on the same slope, but the conditions just didn't set up and I never got close that day.  Had fun though, shot this grouse, and saw some great bear sign.

[rastaman]

Beautiful country!  Congratulations on your new "little one to be"!

[DHR]

Thanks Rastaman!

Well early archery deer season was almost over, and while there is a late season in some parts of the state, the area I live in isn't one of them.  This wasn't going to be my season to travel, so even though I was having great fun looking for bears I figured I better turn my attention back to deer.  In the process I managed to shoot this ruffed grouse, Yum.



And then when this muley doe came slipping past on her way to dinner I decided she'd look great wearing my tag.



And there it is.  I haven't given up on the bears yet, and hope to get another opportunity to get up high before the snow settles in.  Thanks for looking , and good luck to everyone with your own seasons.

[Ybuck]

Well congratulations on the baby.
Congratulations on the deer, love the pics!

[glass76]

Congrats on the addition to the family.         Great pics, thanks for sharing.

[customcrester]

Congrats on a nice doe and the pics are cool!

[ron w]

For limited time you had a fantastic early season.....  

[Jerry Jeffer]

Great early season. Your pics of the Cascades reminds me of younger days when I lived out that way. Good luck with the new baby.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

Way to go dan! Great pics!

[T Lail]

great pics and way to go.......

[tradtusker]

Great stuff Dan
Good to see your keeping busy
Iv been out in the bush up here, will give you an update after the season.
Congrats on the Beautiful muley
Shooting a longbow now    very nice

[DTD]

Congrats DHR! Are you shooting a Centaur? What are the specs?

[Izzy]

Nice stuff.You sure take some good pics.

[DHR]

Thanks fellas I sure appreciate the comments.

DTD- yup that's a centaur.  It's a 60" takedown glass bow, Bocote limbs with charcoal diamondwood riser, 57@28, and just as smooth as can be.

Andy good to see you back on here, hope you're having a good time and I will be looking forward to hearing some tales!  

[Warberg]

Love reading you topics and most of all congrats to your new addition..Waiting for the next adventure you share thanks again DHR. Best wishes

[Molson]

Great pics.  That is some amazing country.