bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
That is a true limb hanger. Sounds like it should be an amazing hunt. Better start lining up a taxidermist!
HuntingKeeper_425
New Member
Honestly, so much has been happening in my life that it is hard to write all the events down. Even then, I am determined to keep you guys up to date on everything from my point of view, and to fill in everything my dad missed, which isn't much. Evidently, the first thing I wanted to go back to was my javelina hunt, and everything else that has happened, from my point of view.
The first thing I remember wondering waking up that morning was how great it would be if I was snuggled up in my warm bed with my head on a nice fluffy pillow. Instead, I got my dad shaking me awake while the water was whistling over at the stove in the small, tiny, but luxurious camper we borrowed from our friend. I mean, really? If waking up at 5:00 in the morning is the worst thing about hunting, then i'm cool. Then, as we got out, met our friend, and assembled to our spot, I remembered... THE COLD!!! To be truthful, I didn't even want to get out of the truck. It was cold, extremely windy, and basically miserable. We decided to be smart, kind of lazy hunters and sit in the truck for a while.
After a while, the sun had come up, so we got out of the truck. It was still freezing cold, but still a bit warmer than before. Soon enough, we were glassing up the hillsides from the canyon that we were in. Sooner or later, I noticed the corner of an MRE instant coffee packet sticking out of my hunting pack, and suddenly something clicked in my head. I asked my dad if he could start up his jet boil stove while I dug through my pack. In there, I found two instant coffee packets, and one powdered creamer. Soon enough, we were sipping coffee and enjoying the view of glassing the hillside, but we couldn't find any darn javelina. Around 10:00, we concluded that we should hit another spot. After about an hour or so, it started to warm up. I was hungry, bored, and getting kind of antsy. We got the water boiling, and my dad went to check on the hillside. Right before I was about to pour the water into my freeze dried spaghetti, I heard my dad call, "Oh crap Syd, javelina!" "Ha Ha, very funny!" I said. I legitimately thought he was joking. He does that so much I have lost count. "I'm not kidding." He said. "Go get your gun, and lets roll!" I decided to look through the scope first, just to see where they were at. There were three javelina, just chilling out on the hillside. Luckily, they didn't know where we were.
As we were walking up the hillside, I happened to look over to our left and saw was what I thought a deer. Instead, it was a cow, perfectly colored to look like a deer. Well then, that will be our landmark. Getting closer, we chose to start jumping from patch of brush to patch of brush. When we finally got close enough, we started setting up. Even still, the pigs weren't noticing us! Finally ready, I waited for one of them to turn broad side. BANG! I missed! It took one second for one of them to stop. BANG! Second shot. I look through my rifle scope. As they started to run away, I saw one teeter behind and fall. YES! I hit it! We waited a few minuets, to let me catch my breath, celebrate, and use the restroom. Like my dad says, the fun part of javelina hunting is that it's not really a trophy hunt, just as long as you put meat in the freezer. Honestly, I agree. It was a really great experience for me and I hope next time I get one with my bow!
Now Nashville was something different...
Normally, people get tired of waking up at 3:00 in the morning to catch flights, but I was too excited. Our first flight was from Phoenix to Charlotte, NC, and it was horrific. I was tired, rundown, and listless, and the plane was extremely crowded. I couldn't wait until we touched the ground in North Carolina. From NC to Nashville, the flight was more exciting. Of course, I had coffee, so I was awake the whole time. And, our flight attendant was super nice! When we got to the hotel, I didn't think it even counted as a "hotel." It was more like a city about the size of flagstaff. Upon getting there, we met Janet Post, the director for the Kansas Governor's One Shot Turkey Hunt, and went straight to the breakfast rehearsal. The room was huge! But, looking at the room, I started to freak out. In a room this big, filled all the way with people, I will be up front, on the stage, getting recognized. It was a scary thought. Again tired, rundown, and listless, we decided to check in to our room, and get to registration. Registration first! We hopped in line, and told the lady our name. She went to look for it, and couldn't find it. Oh no. But soon, we got all the complications figured out and I got my registration passes. Time for the room! When we again gave the lady our name, the registration wasn't there! Later, this wonderful and nice lady got everything figured out for us. We got to rest, get dressed up, and go to the welcome party.
After a few hours into the welcome party, my eyes started to droop. The food was absolutely amazing, and so were the presentations, but I was exhausted. My dad and I were finally able to go back to the room, and go to sleep. The breakfast party was very exciting. I went up on stage received my award, and stayed after to meet some important people. I met the CEO of NWTF, George Thornton, and Hunting reality TV star, Michael Waddell. I also met hunting inspiration Brenda Valentine. Whats funny though, is that I didn't even know who they were at the time.It was a really amazing experience, and I can't wait for Kansas, which is only 3 weeks away!
The first thing I remember wondering waking up that morning was how great it would be if I was snuggled up in my warm bed with my head on a nice fluffy pillow. Instead, I got my dad shaking me awake while the water was whistling over at the stove in the small, tiny, but luxurious camper we borrowed from our friend. I mean, really? If waking up at 5:00 in the morning is the worst thing about hunting, then i'm cool. Then, as we got out, met our friend, and assembled to our spot, I remembered... THE COLD!!! To be truthful, I didn't even want to get out of the truck. It was cold, extremely windy, and basically miserable. We decided to be smart, kind of lazy hunters and sit in the truck for a while.
After a while, the sun had come up, so we got out of the truck. It was still freezing cold, but still a bit warmer than before. Soon enough, we were glassing up the hillsides from the canyon that we were in. Sooner or later, I noticed the corner of an MRE instant coffee packet sticking out of my hunting pack, and suddenly something clicked in my head. I asked my dad if he could start up his jet boil stove while I dug through my pack. In there, I found two instant coffee packets, and one powdered creamer. Soon enough, we were sipping coffee and enjoying the view of glassing the hillside, but we couldn't find any darn javelina. Around 10:00, we concluded that we should hit another spot. After about an hour or so, it started to warm up. I was hungry, bored, and getting kind of antsy. We got the water boiling, and my dad went to check on the hillside. Right before I was about to pour the water into my freeze dried spaghetti, I heard my dad call, "Oh crap Syd, javelina!" "Ha Ha, very funny!" I said. I legitimately thought he was joking. He does that so much I have lost count. "I'm not kidding." He said. "Go get your gun, and lets roll!" I decided to look through the scope first, just to see where they were at. There were three javelina, just chilling out on the hillside. Luckily, they didn't know where we were.
As we were walking up the hillside, I happened to look over to our left and saw was what I thought a deer. Instead, it was a cow, perfectly colored to look like a deer. Well then, that will be our landmark. Getting closer, we chose to start jumping from patch of brush to patch of brush. When we finally got close enough, we started setting up. Even still, the pigs weren't noticing us! Finally ready, I waited for one of them to turn broad side. BANG! I missed! It took one second for one of them to stop. BANG! Second shot. I look through my rifle scope. As they started to run away, I saw one teeter behind and fall. YES! I hit it! We waited a few minuets, to let me catch my breath, celebrate, and use the restroom. Like my dad says, the fun part of javelina hunting is that it's not really a trophy hunt, just as long as you put meat in the freezer. Honestly, I agree. It was a really great experience for me and I hope next time I get one with my bow!
Now Nashville was something different...
Normally, people get tired of waking up at 3:00 in the morning to catch flights, but I was too excited. Our first flight was from Phoenix to Charlotte, NC, and it was horrific. I was tired, rundown, and listless, and the plane was extremely crowded. I couldn't wait until we touched the ground in North Carolina. From NC to Nashville, the flight was more exciting. Of course, I had coffee, so I was awake the whole time. And, our flight attendant was super nice! When we got to the hotel, I didn't think it even counted as a "hotel." It was more like a city about the size of flagstaff. Upon getting there, we met Janet Post, the director for the Kansas Governor's One Shot Turkey Hunt, and went straight to the breakfast rehearsal. The room was huge! But, looking at the room, I started to freak out. In a room this big, filled all the way with people, I will be up front, on the stage, getting recognized. It was a scary thought. Again tired, rundown, and listless, we decided to check in to our room, and get to registration. Registration first! We hopped in line, and told the lady our name. She went to look for it, and couldn't find it. Oh no. But soon, we got all the complications figured out and I got my registration passes. Time for the room! When we again gave the lady our name, the registration wasn't there! Later, this wonderful and nice lady got everything figured out for us. We got to rest, get dressed up, and go to the welcome party.
After a few hours into the welcome party, my eyes started to droop. The food was absolutely amazing, and so were the presentations, but I was exhausted. My dad and I were finally able to go back to the room, and go to sleep. The breakfast party was very exciting. I went up on stage received my award, and stayed after to meet some important people. I met the CEO of NWTF, George Thornton, and Hunting reality TV star, Michael Waddell. I also met hunting inspiration Brenda Valentine. Whats funny though, is that I didn't even know who they were at the time.It was a really amazing experience, and I can't wait for Kansas, which is only 3 weeks away!
Daver
PMA Member
Exactly! ^^ You are living the dream young lady, it's very entertaining to read about your many achievements and adventures. Keep up the great work and thank your parents every day for the excellent job they are doing in raising such a fine young lady. I am especially jealous that you got your picture taken with T-Bone, he's the best hunting celeb out there IMO.
Save all of your write-ups, you may need them to write a book some day!
AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
We've had all kinds of excitement and craziness lately. We're mostly packed and ready for our trip to Kansas and I've been getting almost daily updates of the 18+ mature toms hanging out on the land Syd will be hunting. Most of them are strutting in front of one of the blinds we'll be in. Two more days and we're on a plane. I've been bugging Syd to give one last update and close this journal out. We knew about a month ago that Sydney was going to have an elk tag, but we weren't sure which tag (wife's to sign over or her own) she would have. We found out two weeks ago today, but I think its a story for Sydney to tell. I'll try to get her moving to post it up and close this journal out. Then she and I will talk about whether or not we'll do a journal next season. I'm excited all around the board for this year, though!
HuntingKeeper_425
New Member
To be honest, I think my dad tells the story better
About two weeks or so ago, we got notified that I got drawn for an elk tag. I was either going to be the tags I put in for; late 6b,6a, and 7. On the other hand, it was going to be the early rifle Unit 1 tag, which my mom put in for. My dad kept calling and calling, wanting to know which tag it was, but we couldn't find out. A few days later, we got word that a good friend of ours, who owned Flagstaff's Bull Basin Archery shop, was hospitalized and in a very bad state from his battle with Melanoma. After hearing this, life got stressful, painful, and hard. We got a call later that he had peacefully passed away in his sleep, losing the battle. We had a very difficult time for a few days. One morning, we got a call of what my unit was. Crazy as it seems, my mother got drawn for the Unit 1 early rifle bull tag! I was thrilled, and still am. I keep thinking back to the reason I might have gotten the tag; our friend was watching over us in the stars! I know that this hunting season is going to be amazing, and I cant wait!
About two weeks or so ago, we got notified that I got drawn for an elk tag. I was either going to be the tags I put in for; late 6b,6a, and 7. On the other hand, it was going to be the early rifle Unit 1 tag, which my mom put in for. My dad kept calling and calling, wanting to know which tag it was, but we couldn't find out. A few days later, we got word that a good friend of ours, who owned Flagstaff's Bull Basin Archery shop, was hospitalized and in a very bad state from his battle with Melanoma. After hearing this, life got stressful, painful, and hard. We got a call later that he had peacefully passed away in his sleep, losing the battle. We had a very difficult time for a few days. One morning, we got a call of what my unit was. Crazy as it seems, my mother got drawn for the Unit 1 early rifle bull tag! I was thrilled, and still am. I keep thinking back to the reason I might have gotten the tag; our friend was watching over us in the stars! I know that this hunting season is going to be amazing, and I cant wait!
AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
Its true. Two weeks ago yesterday, I logged into my wife's AGFD account and found out that she has been drawn for the Unit 1 early rifle bull tag. She'll sign that tag over to Sydney as soon as it arrives in the mail. Sydney will get to hunt bull elk in the rut with her rifle in one of the best elk units in the country. Its arguably the best unit in the state. There are hunters who wait 15-20 years for this tag! A couple of friends have told Sydney that she'll never want to hunt elk again after this hunt! She'll be spoiled! The best part is that a friend of mine, who loves Sydney, knows the unit very well and has offered to help us out and take Sydney into his favorite spots. Some of these areas have trail cam pics of 410"-415" bulls that survived last season! Right now, though, we're setting a goal of 300" or bigger. That shouldn't be a problem, considering the average bull in this area is around 350". We have to get back to working on new hand loads for her rifle and we've ordered a new stock for it to improve its overall accuracy. We have tons of practicing to do this summer, that's for sure!
We'll talk this summer if we're going to start a new journal for next season or just post up pics and stories after the hunt. Thanks to everyone for following along on this season and for all of the support! We leave tomorrow for Syd's Kansas turkey hunt and we're excited!
We'll talk this summer if we're going to start a new journal for next season or just post up pics and stories after the hunt. Thanks to everyone for following along on this season and for all of the support! We leave tomorrow for Syd's Kansas turkey hunt and we're excited!
bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
Good luck on the turkey hunt. And a big congrats on the elk tag
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
Shoot em in the beak Syd! Good luck! Congrats on the elk tag!
