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2021 TeenageHunter's Adventure Log

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
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One of the Does I've darted...
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Yesterday was an eventful day! We ended up catching a button buck in a "Clover" trap which is used in the wildlife industry to capture deer and sometimes elk. Put a GPS collar unit on him, gave him an ear tag, gathered hair for genetic testing, and an "Ear punch" which is a small skin sample taken from their ear right where we put the ear tag in. Our buck collars are different than our doe collars, they're meant to stretch that way we can put them on younger bucks and button bucks and when bucks get their rutted out necks they expand.

The doe we darted yesterday we were able to judge her age at over 6 years old via teeth examination. When we darted her we assumed she was a yearling (2-year-old this May/June), not a 6-year-old doe. We ended up putting a VIT (Vaginal Implant Transmitter) that way we're able to tell when she has a fawn(s) and can easily get to the birth site. We gathered the other biological samples as listed above and did everything else.



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After careful consideration, I've taken a job with Alaska Trophy Adventures and will be packing for them this spring/fall and guiding again in Colorado after. I'll be packing for Brown Bear/Grizzly and Black Bear this spring (baiting) and then this fall I'll start in August packing for Dall Sheep hunts and then move to Mountain Goat, Grizzly, and Moose. Once I'm finished I'll head back to Colorado to guide for Black Bear, Elk, and Mule Deer.

I decided to grab my backpack and head out for my first shed hunt this afternoon. I ended up walking 6.4 Miles and finding a single here on public land in Illinois. I was looking through pictures and noticed I ended up getting this buck on camera about a half-mile from where I found the shed! I'll be going back out again tomorrow, glad I was able to pick up at least one with all the boot tracks around.

Total Miles: 6.4
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Work was eventful too, we now have deer underneath our drop net. We'll use this to capture multiple deer at once and hope to finish our quota of deer soon. Once this is finished I might end up heading to Oregon to hunt Elk before the season closes and or shed hunt back home for a few weeks before heading to Wyoming to shed hunt.
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Another 2.6 Miles with another 4pt side found!

Total Miles: 19
Sheds: 3 (200 Shed Antler Goal)
Dead Heads: 1
 

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7.3 Miles today! Found lots of dead deer, but, no sheds! The Conservation Officer gave me a permit for the dead head I found.

Total Miles: 26.3 (Hey! A little over a Marathon!)
Sheds: 3/200 Goal
Dead Heads: 2

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Didn’t walk today, had a busy day working trying to get everything set for tonight.

However, I did get applied for most of the states I’m wanting to try to get Primo tags in. Ended up applying for...

Oregon -
Roosevelt Elk (Bull), Columbian Blacktail Deer (Buck/Doe), Mountain Goat, and Bighorn Sheep.

Colorado -
Elk (Preference Point), Deer (Preference Point), Bighorn Sheep

Montana -
Bighorn Sheep

Wyoming -
Mountain Goat and Bighorn Sheep

I’ll be applying to Nevada and Idaho for Bighorn sheep as well. Crossing my fingers, but, not hard.
 
3-12-21
Ended up walking 7.3 Miles and found a single old forky here in Iowa.

Miles: 43.3
Sheds 4/200
Dead Heads: 2

3-13-21
After a slump I was able to pick up 6 more sheds today after 9.1 miles of walking.

Miles: 52.4
Sheds 10/200
Dead Heads: 2



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