Category: Stories

Mistakes to Avoid When Calling Elk

This past season I didn’t hear a bull bugle until the 16th of September. On that day two bulls responded, but I botched both opportunities. In one case I setup too slowly and in the other I proceeded too quickly. While every hunt is unique, there are a few variables that you should keep in mind whenever you get a response. The following blog explains why the approaches I chose failed to produce a shot and what would have been a better option. Continue reading “Mistakes to Avoid When Calling Elk” →

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Finding a Spot to Camp without any Headaches

To those of you that have $100K RVs, this blog probably won’t provide many useful insights. But, if you’re like me, and your outdoor trips are run on a tight (borderline nonexistent) budget, then this blog will help you out. I have spent six months living in my car traveling around the west. I have found certain strategies work well to avoid having to pay camp fees every night. Here are a few tips for camping out in your car without any headaches. Continue reading “Finding a Spot to Camp without any Headaches” →

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A Green River Experience

Why do I do this to myself? I’ve been casting on the Green River for eight hours and haven’t caught a thing. Feelings of frustration, impatience and inadequacy have crept in to my mind and are gnawing away. Nali, my two year old lab who can find endless satisfaction with almost any stick, sits on the bank behind me, bored out of her gourd. I think of other fisherman who would have caught their limit hours ago, and I consider the number of times I have struggled to effectively fish for trout. The day started off with thoughts of grandeur then slowly my brain wandered towards life’s other elements, at first glossing over the negatives then returning to them and eventually honing in on the decisions that led to this point and why I continue to find myself beating my head against a wall while trying to discover the keys to successful trout fishing. Continue reading “A Green River Experience” →

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Who’s Training Who? Reflections after a year and a half of dog training

I find myself congratulating my dog on the smallest victories, a command understood correctly for the first time or a sequence repeated without a flaw for a few days in a row. But, this morning my temper flares up and Nali’s ears fall back. She stares timidly at me waiting for the next command. I spend the rest of the morning kicking myself for my lapse in patience as I try to focus on my work. Continue reading “Who’s Training Who? Reflections after a year and a half of dog training” →

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Transient Hunter: Stuart heads to Utah to hunt coyotes

As harvest wound down, I hunted daily for deer. I focused on completing one good hunt per day while getting a few hours of work in for my dad where I could. My plan was to leave Iowa Dec. 1 and head west. My brother Max told me the state of Utah pays for the removal of coyotes in order to protect their mule deer populations. I decided on Utah. Continue reading “Transient Hunter: Stuart heads to Utah to hunt coyotes” →

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Stuart’s 2017 Buck

I hear sticks cracking and the grunting sound of a buck that always reminds me of a pig waiting to be fed. I have been “resting my eyes,” as my grandma calls it. It is still only 3:30 in the afternoon, and I didn’t expect to see any deer for at least another hour. I reach over and turn on my camera, which sits atop a bipod several feet to my right. I think the sounds are coming from behind me, across a fence and an impenetrable downed tree. Instead, I see a doe streaking across the top of the ridge, her focus entirely on finding a hiding spot somewhere in the sparse timber. Thirty yards behind her follows a buck focused entirely on not letting that happen. The doe disappears into the cover a hundred yards away and I soon lose sight of the buck as well. Continue reading “Stuart’s 2017 Buck” →

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Hell of a Season: Max tells the story of his whitetail success

On the 13th hunt of my whitetail season, I finally saw a buck worth shooting. It was October 20th and I was now on a steady streak of two a day hunts. I was leaving for New Zealand on the 23rd, so hell or high water I was hunting. It wasn’t by my choice…Harrison and Stuart were making me. Earlier that afternoon I had told Stuart that we shouldn’t hunt considering it was a gale outside. He said, “Nope we’re still hunting.” Continue reading “Hell of a Season: Max tells the story of his whitetail success” →

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Iowa Slam Goes West: Wyoming Antelope

Driving down the canyon leading into town I stared anxiously at the clock. I had to get to the hardware store before six to pick up my habitat stamp. It was August 14th, the day before the antelope opener. With five minutes to spare I pulled into the parking lot where Alec was waiting on a bench in front of his motorcycle. An hour later Harrison and Jared met up with us, and we tore out of town towards our campground 20 minutes away. Continue reading “Iowa Slam Goes West: Wyoming Antelope” →

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