TheMadCatter
Well-Known Member
Everyone, it's 2021 and I'm still "enjoying it while it lasts" 
It's been a busy 2021 so far with planning my fall out and figuring out another job to extend into guide season. My outfitter in Colorado that I've worked with for two seasons wants me back again for 2021 to guide Bear, Elk, and Mule Deer hunters. I haven't accepted yet due to a possible job as a packer in ALASKA for Dall Sheep, Mountain Goat, Kodiak Bear, and Sitka Blacktail (Draw Results will be out Friday).
No matter what, I'll end up in Alaska this year because my Dad and I just booked a DIY Cast and Blast combo on Kodiak Island for November 2020. We will be based out of a lodge in Larsen Bay, Kodiak, Alaska, and will be hunting Sea Duck (Guided Harlequin, Old Squaw & Golden Eye), Sitka Blacktail Deer (Three Bucks each and it'll be the last Deer for my slam!), Fox, and fishing for Halibut/Salmon (Guided), and crabbing for Snow Crab (Guided). Even if we're not successful, I'm sure it'll be an amazing time just visiting Alaska for the first time.
I'll be hunting Blacktail Deer again with Roosevelt Elk in Oregon this November. If I don't draw my Bull tag this year I'll be hunting Cows instead. Another big thing happening this year is I'm applying in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon for Mountain Goat and Bighorn Sheep which takes A LOT of research, and I spent most of January focusing on Units, Draw Odds, and Harvest Stats. If everything goes according to plan I'll be booking a backcountry hunt in Greenland for Muskox/Caribou for this September or next. If anybody would like to come with feel free to message me (Not cheap, but, not as expensive as you'd think)! I'll be skipping any other hunting this year and plan to just save up for bigger hunts in the future. I'm still focusing on my slam and hoping to complete the Super Ten under 30 years old and that's why I'll be focusing on the bigger hunts like Mountain Lion, Mountain Goat, Dall Sheep, and Moose. I'm planning to hunt Shira's in BC instead of drawing the tag in the L48 due to the 15-20 year wait time for a tag. My other goal is to complete the entire Grand Slam by 55, which I believe is doable if I start buying points and putting in for hunting draws now. I'm hoping to draw Bighorn tags in 30 years of applying as long as we're still able to hunt them in 30 years.
Right now I'm stuck with a really boring "adult job" here in Illinois as a Wildlife Technician for Southern Illinois University. I'm tasked with capture, immobilization, and release of wild whitetail deer gathering biological data, and putting GPS transmitting collars onto them. You know this whole "entering the real world" stuff is hard work and super stressful, I have to catch and release deer for a paycheck and guide Deer, Elk, and Bear hunters during the fall. Figured you guys would get a kick out of the "crazy eyes" on the shed buck with the Stache! Don't worry, the move wasn't permanent.
I'll be shed hunting in Wyoming for at least a week this May and my goal is to find 100 Mule Deer sheds. I'll be focusing on Mule Deer instead of Elk because I wasted a bunch of time on Elk sheds in 2020 with little luck. It'll be a "slower" year for me, but, it's a year of BIG things to come.
Keep watching for more of my 2021 adventures to come and I'll continue to add to this post for the entire year!
One of the deer I've darted a (almost) 3-year-old shed buck
One of the Does I've darted...
It's been a busy 2021 so far with planning my fall out and figuring out another job to extend into guide season. My outfitter in Colorado that I've worked with for two seasons wants me back again for 2021 to guide Bear, Elk, and Mule Deer hunters. I haven't accepted yet due to a possible job as a packer in ALASKA for Dall Sheep, Mountain Goat, Kodiak Bear, and Sitka Blacktail (Draw Results will be out Friday).No matter what, I'll end up in Alaska this year because my Dad and I just booked a DIY Cast and Blast combo on Kodiak Island for November 2020. We will be based out of a lodge in Larsen Bay, Kodiak, Alaska, and will be hunting Sea Duck (Guided Harlequin, Old Squaw & Golden Eye), Sitka Blacktail Deer (Three Bucks each and it'll be the last Deer for my slam!), Fox, and fishing for Halibut/Salmon (Guided), and crabbing for Snow Crab (Guided). Even if we're not successful, I'm sure it'll be an amazing time just visiting Alaska for the first time.
I'll be hunting Blacktail Deer again with Roosevelt Elk in Oregon this November. If I don't draw my Bull tag this year I'll be hunting Cows instead. Another big thing happening this year is I'm applying in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon for Mountain Goat and Bighorn Sheep which takes A LOT of research, and I spent most of January focusing on Units, Draw Odds, and Harvest Stats. If everything goes according to plan I'll be booking a backcountry hunt in Greenland for Muskox/Caribou for this September or next. If anybody would like to come with feel free to message me (Not cheap, but, not as expensive as you'd think)! I'll be skipping any other hunting this year and plan to just save up for bigger hunts in the future. I'm still focusing on my slam and hoping to complete the Super Ten under 30 years old and that's why I'll be focusing on the bigger hunts like Mountain Lion, Mountain Goat, Dall Sheep, and Moose. I'm planning to hunt Shira's in BC instead of drawing the tag in the L48 due to the 15-20 year wait time for a tag. My other goal is to complete the entire Grand Slam by 55, which I believe is doable if I start buying points and putting in for hunting draws now. I'm hoping to draw Bighorn tags in 30 years of applying as long as we're still able to hunt them in 30 years.
Right now I'm stuck with a really boring "adult job" here in Illinois as a Wildlife Technician for Southern Illinois University. I'm tasked with capture, immobilization, and release of wild whitetail deer gathering biological data, and putting GPS transmitting collars onto them. You know this whole "entering the real world" stuff is hard work and super stressful, I have to catch and release deer for a paycheck and guide Deer, Elk, and Bear hunters during the fall.
Figured you guys would get a kick out of the "crazy eyes" on the shed buck with the Stache! Don't worry, the move wasn't permanent.I'll be shed hunting in Wyoming for at least a week this May and my goal is to find 100 Mule Deer sheds. I'll be focusing on Mule Deer instead of Elk because I wasted a bunch of time on Elk sheds in 2020 with little luck. It'll be a "slower" year for me, but, it's a year of BIG things to come.
Keep watching for more of my 2021 adventures to come and I'll continue to add to this post for the entire year!
One of the deer I've darted a (almost) 3-year-old shed buck
One of the Does I've darted...
