# Dang it’s slow - let’s hear some stories



## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

This time of the year is always slow, except for the occasional squabble between forum members.

How about some big buck and/or big bull stories from the good old days??


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Wouldn't we have to define the "good old days" first?


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I hear there aren't any more elk on the Wasatch due to the mountain lions drinking up all the selenium after the power company sprayed glyphosphate weed killer everywhere


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

Until 2018, there was at least 2 Sasquatch living on the Nebo unit. I have had 4 encounters with them, 3 in the same area, 1 in another part of the unit. Every time there was an encounter, I had at least 1 other eyewitness with me that experienced the same thing. The actual sighting, I had 4 others with me. Since the whole thing burned down, I haven’t had anything happen out of the norm.

i wasn’t a believer, in fact the exact opposite, I was sure they weren’t real. I laughed at everyone who even took the subject remotely seriously. Well, seeing is believing in my case. After talking with some others who have hunted the area a lot for many years, turns out I wasn’t the only one.

as far as big bucks and bulls go, I haven’t killed any. No stories there.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

johnnycake said:


> I hear there aren't any more elk on the Wasatch due to the mountain lions drinking up all the selenium after the power company sprayed glyphosphate weed killer everywhere


lol I used to love the lone tree vs johnnycake battles of old. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I don't have any stories of mythical creatures or much to add to the mineral deficiency hypothesis of why the deer herd is in decline, but I was going through some old pictures recently and found one of the first deer camp I ever got to go on. 










Bonus point if someone knows where it was/is. 


Here is another view from the campsite.


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

Looks like south manti or fish lake country. Probably wrong though.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

MooseMeat said:


> Looks like south manti or fish lake country. Probably wrong though.


Fish Lake country is getting warm. Good guess!


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

Boulder?


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Monroe?


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## ns450f (Aug 28, 2018)

MooseMeat said:


> Until 2018, there was at least 2 Sasquatch living on the Nebo unit.


What happened in 2018? Did you and WLH track them down?


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

ns450f said:


> What happened in 2018? Did you and WLH track them down?


Burned to the ground. They either left or got bbq’d. They could still be around, but they aren’t where they once were if so


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

MooseMeat said:


> Boulder?


Yep, Boulder. There are some folks here that can probably narrow it down even further.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Moose and backcountry had a little "excitement" going. That is, until you and critter barked at them.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Cath, is that a Toyota FJ-40 sitting next to the Bronco? What I'd give to have all three of those AWSOME hunting rigs today! Great pics.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Moose, where did you see or have the "encounter" with the Big Man? Curious, I've been on dang near every trail on horseback for 30+ years. I had an exciting night packing a elk out of the bottom of the monument. I swore something was watching/following me. It was about 1:30am in late August. And it wasn't cows! I had spent the last two days moving them out of the area to another pasture.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

taxidermist said:


> Cath, is that a Toyota FJ-40 sitting next to the Bronco? What I'd give to have all three of those AWSOME hunting rigs today! Great pics.



I'm not an expert on the numbers that go along with the makes, but it was an old model Toyota Land Cruiser. The owner and his brother both had one that they drove for many years afterwards in our deer camps. Not much for comfort but you could take them anywhere. If I remember the story, they put in a different motor into it after a few years. 

Agreed on those old time rigs. I bet a lot of us have a few stories to tell.


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

taxidermist said:


> Moose, where did you see or have the "encounter" with the Big Man? Curious, I've been on dang near every trail on horseback for 30+ years. I had an exciting night packing a elk out of the bottom of the monument. I swore something was watching/following me. It was about 1:30am in late August. And it wasn't cows! I had spent the last two days moving them out of the area to another pasture.


The actual sighting took place south and east of the lakes down above the Fords property/Bennie creek, packing out a bull one night. Late august as well. It was paralleling us and when I came to a snag we couldn’t get through, I glanced left, uphill and my headlamp beam caught one mid stride while moving between big trees, 60 feet away. It was windy and raining, so you couldn’t hear anything moving. Dark red color. It got behind a big tree and stopped. We all got the hell out of there in a hurry. Only one I’ve seen and I sure don’t want to see another. Me and my wife were screamed at late one night hiking out bottom of sawmill by 2 of them. No it wasn’t a lion, bear or elk. These things were other worldly. one of them was just up the hill from us, 20 yards or so, the other was on the opposite hillside, a little farther away. They went back and forth for probably 10 minutes. I never could see one, but the closer one we could hear, walking on 2 legs, pacing us. We felt like were “escorted” almost back to the trail head, then it was gone. A year later we had several large rocks thrown at us from quite a distance away in the same area. Not just little rocks, 5-8# coming over trees and landing at our feet. The first one hit right infront of us, so we stopped. Then another hit the same spot 20 seconds later. Once we figured out the direction it was coming from, we watched a 3rd come over the pines and land even closer. We all turned a left immediately. Never did go back down there. The fire took out my cam and stand that fall. A human couldn’t throw a rock that big from that distance. I had a couple more interesting things happen in the area prior to this, but didn’t think much of it other than it was just ‘weird’. Now it makes me wonder…. Tree knocks, feel like you’re being watched, etc. i even have a trail cam picture sequence that everyone I’ve shown can’t come up with an explanation. Anyways, since the fire, I haven’t had anything happen out of the norm.

i talked to an old cattle pusher in holemans one afternoon hunting elk. The subject came up and I asked him if he ever had anything weird happen in all his years up there. He said he won’t ever go alone and in that country, un armed, without a dog or stay in there after dark. He had a bad night with his father many years ago in there. Wouldn’t give me details other than they aren’t something you want to mess with and if they make their presence known, you’d better be leaving. According to him every time he’s got a dog with him he hasn’t ever had an issue. His theory is they don’t care for dogs much. He did say “whatever it is, I’m pretty sure I know where their home is, and you couldn’t pay me to go walk through there”.

im sure there’s many who will read this and roll their eyes. Believe me or dont, I don’t care. I was the biggest skeptic out there on the subject until we all saw one that night. I turned into a believer immediately after that.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

I know exactly where your talking about. I was once one of those "riders" that you spoke with in Holman's back in the 80's. 90's and early 2000's. Interesting now you mention the Bennie Creek area. There were about 10 of us pushing cows from their, to Holman's around the campground one day. After we had all the cows moved a couple of the guys said they had seen something and had an interaction with something. It wasn't until years later one of them (Wyatt) told me the story. What's weird is he had a young border collie that just came up missing on that drive and never did find it.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Not a hunting story, but we spent the past week in San Diego and went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and it reminded me of this. "WISH I HAD A GUN WITH A SCOPE ON IT"


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## bthewilde (Feb 8, 2018)

I really got into big game hunting after marrying my first wife. The only other hunt I had ever been on was a deer hunt when I was 14 that I begged my dad to take me on. We were successful and I had the itch after that! But my Dad (who had grown up in Wanship doing it) didn't want to scratch, he'd been bit by the Ocean bug and since we lived in Las Vegas, we were close enough that that became our go-to getaway. 

Flash-forward to 22, I got married in the Spring and was so excited for Fall and my first hunt with my now Ex-Fatherinlaw (Ex-FIL). He was a lean guy, someone who hiked daily and had an affinity for Upland, but he loved his Spike Hunts. He had been hunting in the Manta-la-Sal area since his youth in the 70's. He knew every spot, trail, range, hill, etc. it was incredible. He was a fount of knowledge, and I learned more from him in 1 year than boyscouts or my own Dad had ever taught me. We were met with success the first 3 seasons (10-13), but I can distinctly remember 2014 because it was the year he got lost.

I know my way around woods well, I can orient myself and always pay attention. But in 2014 as I reached a ridge with Ex-FIL, he paused and said "I am not sure where we're going.." I wasn't sure either at that point, I was just trudging along hoping for a sighting, but Ex-FIL stopped dead and couldn't make sense of anything. This was the first time that I had had to take charge in the back-country, and got us safely back to the Vehicle. We were at the tail end of the season, and weekend we'd set aside, so we drove home and I didn't make much of it. He didn't have any sort of concerning behavior on the way home. It was also the first year we hadn't punched out tickets, so that was hard. Winter came and went, I relocated to Vegas to be by my folks and backed off Big Game a little. 

Since we were a bit farther away now, we only heard mentions of differing behavior. We'd come up and go out for a weekend at a time in the Fall, and throughout the year. I remember him being a little more absent minded, sometimes having to go walk over to him in a Dove field and prod him along. But nothing prepared us for the Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2016. Nothing can and will gents, my Ex and I separated later that year and finalized things in 2017 so I haven't been privy to information since then. And no man would willingly go into the Woods with his now Ex-FIl with a gun...just saying. 

But I see my Ex-FIL from time to time swapping kids, it is an ugly disease. It robs him of his activities, it robs my kids of quality Gpa time with a man who was CHALKED full of wisdom and knowledge. I don't have the same taste for Big Game anymore. I keep trying, and keep talking myself into going on trips with friends, but it's just not the same as it used to was in all aspects. Cherish the time you have with your hunting buddies! I can't think of anything else to say to wrap this up.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

My best friend and I hunted with his ex father in law a bunch. He was a great guy to hang with. If he missed you when stopping by camp, you could always tell he had been there by the apple peels and peanut shells. He was the one who got us hunting the Manti back in the day.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Catherder said:


> I don't have any stories of mythical creatures or much to add to the mineral deficiency hypothesis of why the deer herd is in decline, but I was going through some old pictures recently and found one of the first deer camp I ever got to go on.
> 
> View attachment 151793
> 
> ...


Is that up above box creek reservoir on the manti


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

So, talking about "X" folks in your life, and what you had or do with them, here's one for ya....How many readers could work in the same building and see your x-wife every day? Well, I'm one of those people. It's weird for other co-workers and they've how can you do it? In all honesty.....we get along better now than we did when paper said we were together.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

taxidermist said:


> So, talking about "X" folks in your life, and what you had or do with them, here's one for ya....How many readers could work in the same building and see your x-wife every day? Well, I'm one of those people. It's weird for other co-workers and they've how can you do it? In all honesty.....we get along better now than we did when paper said we were together.


Myself and ex worked for Mountain Bell. Well one day I was in Green River and she was working up in SLC. I was in the office and the person who took care of it was gone. 

Well the phone was ringing off the hook so I answered it, it was my ex and she promptly hung up on me. I called her back and told her that we were going to have to work together every now and then, she quickly got a different job. 

Then around 18 years ago her daughter wanted me to walk her down the aisle when she got married, I politely declined in order to keep her and her mother on speaking terms.

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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Been dealing with the ex wife for 30+ years now. It only takes a short time to remember why she is my ex. Lucky for me the kids put up with us both.


=


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## MrShane (Jul 21, 2019)

A couple years ago my buddy and I fished the Flaming Gorge Tournament.
We like the Kokes but one day wind was blowing so hard we hid in a little cove to take a lunch break tied up to a beach.
We both threw out Powerbait while we ate.
My buddy catches a decent Rainbow but I tell him let’s let it go.
He agrees.
I take it out of the net, cradle/rock it forwards and backwards, and it takes off a foot or two and sinks to bottom.
Since we are on a beach I easily scoop it off bottom of lake.
I repeat the process to try to revive it, it takes off, and sinks to bottom again.
I scoop it up, tell him this fish just became tonights dinner, and put it in cooler.
That day at end of tourney we are taking out at Manilla and we get asked if we have any fish to enter.
I tell them no, but I do have a fish if they would please weigh it so I can check my personal scale.
They weigh it and record my boat number.
We eat the fish for dinner.
The next day at the awards ceremony I get handed a check for $500 for second largest Rainbow….
for a fish I tried to let go not once but twice!


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Dang Shane....That's a story hard to beat. I have to put that at the top of "fish stories"


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

You guys and your ex wife stories are cracking me up.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

colorcountrygunner said:


> Is that up above box creek reservoir on the manti



It is east of Antimony on the Plateau Boulder unit.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

colorcountrygunner said:


> You guys and your ex wife stories are cracking me up.


Everyone should experience a ex-wife 

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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

Critter said:


> Everyone should experience a ex-wife
> 
> Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk


No Thanks !!
Being with the first one for 45 years is more than enough “fun”.


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

Critter said:


> Everyone should experience a ex-wife
> 
> Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk


Hahaha.. Yeah I'd rather not!


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

Last Saturday my 10-year old son and I sat and watched from probably a mile away from 13 bull elk as they meandered around. Was really cool to watch the elk in their own element without being pressured. Watched them for 90-minutes or more. All had shed and were already in the process of re-growing except two. There was one 5-point and a spike. Sat and watched them all. The spike and 5-point seemingly tried to get rid of their antlers as they were raking their antlers hard on willows, brush, etc. My 10-year old was hoping intently they'd pop off! They never did! But it was so much fun and a cool experience to watch the ins and outs of how that herd worked. Some of the younger looking bulls played around just like a bunch of puppies.

So nice being out right now!

Not necessarily the "good old days," however maybe it'll be a good memory of the "good old days" in the future to my son.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Critter said:


> Everyone should experience a ex-wife
> 
> Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk


I've got two of them....LOL The first one, is like I'm oil and she's water. If I said what I REALY think of her, I'd be banned for life on the forum. The second, is the one I work with and she's awesome. She's actually come over to my office and asked for advice before.  I think other co-workers are more uncomfortable with our relationship than we are. My current wife is the best thing to happen to me! She still talks to her Ex hubby and MIL. In fact she's flying out to see her in a couple weeks.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

taxidermist said:


> I've got two of them....LOL


Slow learner, huh?


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## bthewilde (Feb 8, 2018)

colorcountrygunner said:


> You guys and your ex wife stories are cracking me up.


There should be a whole separate section on here about Ex-wives and Hunting. I promise it'd be a top hit! Sometimes the training wheels need to come off lol


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

CPAjeff said:


> Slow learner, huh?


You wanna talk about a slow learner? I have a work friend who got a divorce but started getting along with her a lot better after the fact like Taxidermist. In fact he got along with her so well that they got married again. Then something funny happened.... once they were remarried they started not getting along again and divorce number 2 happened. Another coworker of ours always tells him that he's the only guy he knows that's dumb enough that he has to put his hand on a hot stove twice.


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## MrShane (Jul 21, 2019)

Critter said:


> Everyone should experience a ex-wife
> 
> Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk


My neighbor lady is an ex-wife.
I’d like to experience her but my wife says no.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

MrShane said:


> My neighbor lady is an ex-wife.
> I’d like to experience her but my wife says no.


Wear a shirt with a 🍍 on it and make sure the neighbor lady sees it while you are mowing your lawn. She will catch the hint.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

CPAjeff said:


> Slow learner, huh?


Not slow learning, just poor decisions. You cant hit a homerun every time at bat. Eventually you'll swing and miss, or, just watch the third strike blow past ya.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

colorcountrygunner said:


> You wanna talk about a slow learner? I have a work friend who got a divorce but started getting along with her a lot better after the fact like Taxidermist. In fact he got along with her so well that they got married again. Then something funny happened.... once they were remarried they started not getting along again and divorce number 2 happened. Another coworker of ours always tells him that he's the only guy he knows that's dumb enough that he has to put his hand on a hot stove twice.


I know two guys I've worked with that married the same gal twice, and divorced them. They said because it was the same gal, it only counted as one marriage. One of the guys is on his 6th wife.


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## lucky duck (Dec 17, 2008)

I learned from a family member that married the same woman twice, "you never put bad milk back in the refrigerator". Having said that, I have two ex-wives myself. I wouldn't recommend it, but it sure beats the *H3LL* out of being miserable for the rest of your life ha ha.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I was on I80 yesterday when the semi truck tipped over east of Kimball Junction. The tanker spilled peroxide all over the place and the wreck caused a brush fire. The traffic was stopped both directions on I80. We were about 20 cars behind the accident. We sat there for over an hour until the HPD turned us around to get the heck outta there. There were all kinds of Utah DOT, Hazwop trucks, fire trucks, and all manner of LEO sirens a blazin.

It looked like southwest Wyoming on the opening day of the rifle antelope hunt.

Above it all, not 150 yards away, were 15 elk and 12 deer grazing on the hillside below the Promontory Resort. Gotta love it.


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## ShedyGaGa (Oct 12, 2019)

Was on a solo hunting trip in N Utah mountains muzzy deer hunting. Hunted all day and got back to camp after dark. Was cooking dinner by head lamp….when I heard an out of this world sound behind me in the pines. It was the weirdest/loudest scream-like sound I had ever heard. I ain’t a believer of bigfoot or any other creature that hasn’t been fully identified scientifically but that night, something made the hair on my neck stand straight up!

I instantly turned around to catch a view of what was about to take me out and saw nothing. But in the same 5 second time frame it screamed again just out of my view in the darkness. This time probably 30-40 yards to my left. I tried to yell at this thing but was so startled that nothing would come out of my mouth. (I don’t scare easy either. Spent many a nights alone in the back country without a problem). I quickly threw some gas on my fire pit and lit it. Never heard the noise again after that.

I finished cooking dinner, a little cautious of my surroundings all the while trying to figure out what made the noise. No animal I know could have made a screaming sound like that and moved that quickly through the timber before making the noise again. Reminded me of a scream from a horror show or something similar. Since I could not identify what it was, and being a non-believer of all supernatural imaginatory things, I stayed the night, not to let “the unknown” ruin my hunting trip. That night I was woke up at a little after 2:00am to the sound of my pots hitting the ground. I unzipped tent and looked but there was nothing there. Next morning I peeled out of camp before light, killed my buck and packed him back to truck same day just so I wouldn’t have to see what the next night had in store for me. To this day I have no idea what it was or what it wanted. Since then I have resumed my normal solo behavior….time dulls feelings and emotion. The experience is still very vivid but I don’t lose sleep over it and it has become a great story to tell around the camp fire.


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## DreadedBowHunter (Sep 22, 2021)

Since enough comments have been about X’s. I’ve been with my wife since we were 16 and now we’ll be 40 so I don’t want to be like my dad that’s on his 4th wife 🤣


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## Hunter-wildbill (Nov 23, 2021)

CPAjeff said:


> This time of the year is always slow, except for the occasional squabble between forum members.
> 
> How about some big buck and/or big bull stories from the good old days??



Walked into a sporting goods store in southern Utah today they had 6.5 PRC on the shelf.
I've heard people have been hunting for the elusive cartridge and felt a sense of awe seeing 
them in such an unnatural place ! Tomorrow i will go look for Desert Bighorns.🤪


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Hunter-wildbill said:


> Walked into a sporting goods store in southern Utah today they had 6.5 PRC on the shelf.
> I've heard people have been hunting for the elusive cartridge and felt a sense of awe seeing
> them in such an unnatural place ! Tomorrow i will go look for Desert Bighorns.🤪


I must say, I have a harder time believing you found ammo, than Big Foot stories. (I DO believe in big foot by the way.) I could tell you a story of an experience that happened to my brother in the Uinta's that would put shivers up your spine.


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

taxidermist said:


> I must say, I have a harder time believing you found ammo, than Big Foot stories. (I DO believe in big foot by the way.) I could tell you a story of an experience that happened to my brother in the Uinta's that would put shivers up your spine.


Let’s hear it! Lots of strange things happen on that range


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

taxidermist said:


> I must say, I have a harder time believing you found ammo, than Big Foot stories. (I DO believe in big foot by the way.) I could tell you a story of an experience that happened to my brother in the Uinta's that would put shivers up your spine.


Lets hear it!


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

*Let’s hear it! Lots of strange things happen on that range
Lets hear it!

"WARNING" *This may be a looooong read.

Okay, here is the story he told me. 
First....My brother was one of the most honest, no BS, strait up guys I've ever known. He passed away at the young age of 45 after struggling with cancer in Florence, Or. at his home. "God I miss him dearly!!". 😢 (just got a little emotional) 

I drove out to Florence to see him and met him in Eugene at the hospital. Sat with him for his chemo drip and experienced what I had very little knowledge of. (I pray every day that this terrible disease can be cured) After the chemo, we drove to his house and he and I settled in for the day. The next day I took him to the local care facility where he received his shot to begin the recovery from chemo. I don't know if folks reading this understand what chemo does to your body and energy, but I know from seeing it first had that it drains you of everything you have. I did some carpentry work around the place tended to his beloved Bonsai nursery, yard and garden work. After a couple days of rest for him to gain some energy, we headed to the woods close by to gather black berries, thimble berries and blueberries. 

The evening before I was heading back to Utah, we sat and chatted about all kinds of stuff. Mostly listening to his stories of his life. (He was 13 years older than I) Looking back, I believe he was downloading his life to me. I asked him about the experience he told me he had in 1978. He worked for a company called Rocky Mountain Geophysical. (Goob may have heard of them??) It was a oil exploration company that were involved with the oil boom in Evanston at the time. He was the "Senior Observer" for the crew, and his job was making sure everything was a GO for the Dynamite charges they'd set off after drilling holes in the ground to send shockwaves down that would be printed out on a graph, showing possible areas to drill.

He looked at me with a scared look in his face, and said he has tried to forget about that day and the week following. As he began the story, his first words were..."I'm soon going to see Dad, Grandpa Rich, and others that have passed on before me" We had a good cry and I wanted so much not to believe he was going to die. Then he began... The crew was camped along the Bear River near Christmas Meadows. Rocky Mountain Helicopter Company had choppers in the meadows, and the pilots would fly the crew to the mountain location where the work was taking place. After the crew was safe on the ground, my brother (Jim) would drive the truck to an area he could overlook the work being readied for the dynamite and shot crew to be flown in to set the charges. 

That morning, he drove to the "lookout" parked the truck and began his short hike to a rock cliff area he could observe. Something had gone wrong that morning, (cant remember what it was) and he was 15 minutes behind. He *ALWAYS* had a 35mm camera in a case attached to his belt. He was in a hurry and jumped out of the truck and marched to the rock cliff. As he was sitting and watching the choppers fly in the doghouses, cables, and lines through binos, he saw motion to his left side in the trees 30 yards away, in his peripheral vision, and smelt a strong odor he's never smelled before. (nobody was to be within a mile of the shot line) He looked over and saw what he said, was a huge hairy man standing next to a tree. He reached for the camera he always had at his side to find it not there. Being in a hurry, he had left it in the truck. This "hairy man" let out an ear piercing scream and began to run down the mountain away from him and the crew below. He was shaken, got on the radio to the chopper pilot and asked him to investigate for possible human activity where the beast had ran. The pilot flew the area what Jim said was 30' above the tree line. As he was watching the chopper, he said it hovered over an area and the pilot told him he has something below him. As my brother was watching through the binos, he saw projectiles being launched at the chopper. The pilot took evasive action and flew off downslope, gained altitude and went back this time higher than 30'. Nothing more happened to the chopper.

After the days work was completed, the chopper pilots (three of them) and the crew gathered for a debrief of the days work. The pilot that had the "issues" asked my brother for some time alone with him. They went to his truck, closed the doors and the pilots first words were...."what the hell was that and what's going on??" Jim asked the pilot what did you see. The pilot said, I flew hundreds of missions in Vietnam, been shot at, ground to air chit sent at me and nothing has scared me as bad as what I saw today. Jim chuckled and said, so...what did you see? The pilot told Jim he didn't want to say the words, he'd think he was even more crazy. Jim said..."was it a Big Foot"? The pilot said thank god you don't think I'm crazy!

The next morning the same routine commenced. My Brother drove to the lookout, parked and hiked to the cliff to observe the dynamite being flown in and the charges set for the shot. He went back to the truck to grab his lunch and there was a boulder next to the rear bumper of the truck. There wasn't anywhere in close proximity that a boulder could have rolled to the truck. The truck was facing uphill. As he was eating his lunch and listening to the work radio, he smelled that smell again. This time, he had his camera. As he went to open the door and investigate, that "scream" sounded and the passenger side of the truck lifted off the ground and dropped. Shaken, he looked over to see the cause of the commotion looking strait at him and then it ran off. He called for another truck with a winch to come and help move the boulder. When the help truck got there, the driver asked, how the hell did this get here??? Jim took him to the passenger side of the truck and said..."you tell me" pointing to footprints next to the truck. He did take pictures of the footprints but I don't know where they are. 

There were other "confrontations" that week, but I've dragged this out waaaaay to long as it is. 

Please....I beg of you! Don't make light of the story I just wrote. These are the words of my brother abridged. It's very personal to me, and my relationship with one of the greatest men I was blessed to know. Thank You.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

That's kind of you to share.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

backcountry said:


> That's kind of you to share.


Thanks! I had reservations in posting the story. I guess I could have left the "personal" items out, but I felt in needed to be stated in order to paint a picture of the man it happened to.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Back when I was in my teens my dad worked construction and we were living in Port Townsend Washington right on the water. We would watch the orcas swimming out in the bay every couple of days. I would also go swimming every chance that I could without worrying about the orcas or the cold water.

One day I was a couple hundred yards off of the shore and was just tredding water relaxing a bit when something cold and slimy wrapped around my lower leg. I kicked and it was gone but all of a sudden I felt that cold and slimy thing around both legs.

Well, I quickly became a Olympic champion swimmer for that 200 yards to get away from whatever was after me. I didn't tell my parents because I wanted to keep swimming in the bay.

Well, a few days later I found what was after me. It had washed up on the shore and was just laying there lifeles. 

It was some kelp. Some of the leafs has wrapped around my legs as I was tredding water but all I could picture was a giant sea monster that planned on dragging me down to Davy Jones locker to feed on me at will


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

I'm gonna be doing some solo spike camping in the mountains of Idaho here in a couple weeks. You guys are giving me reservations. Can a 45 lb recurve take down a bigfoot?


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

colorcountrygunner said:


> I'm gonna be doing some solo spike camping in the mountains of Idaho here in a couple weeks. You guys are giving me reservations. Can a 45 lb recurve take down a bigfoot?


Only if you use the good lube first


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

colorcountrygunner said:


> I'm gonna be doing some solo spike camping in the mountains of Idaho here in a couple weeks. You guys are giving me reservations. Can a 45 lb recurve take down a bigfoot?


I dunno, but I’d love to hear about it if you get the opportunity to test it!


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## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

colorcountrygunner said:


> I'm gonna be doing some solo spike camping in the mountains of Idaho here in a couple weeks. You guys are giving me reservations. Can a 45 lb recurve take down a bigfoot?


Sure hope so lol


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## bthewilde (Feb 8, 2018)

taxidermist said:


> *Let’s hear it! Lots of strange things happen on that range
> Lets hear it!*
> 
> 
> Please....I beg of you! Don't make light of the story I just wrote. These are the words of my brother abridged. It's very personal to me, and my relationship with one of the greatest men I was blessed to know. Thank You.


This is an amazing story! What a weird world we live in. Quality time is invaluable, glad you got some with your brother.


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## Bucksnbulls08 (Sep 18, 2008)

Catherder said:


> I don't have any stories of mythical creatures or much to add to the mineral deficiency hypothesis of why the deer herd is in decline, but I was going through some old pictures recently and found one of the first deer camp I ever got to go on.
> 
> View attachment 151793
> 
> ...


Nice Bronco in the background.


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Alright, I'll bite.

When I was in fifth grade my Grandpa and Dad had elk tags on a CWMU ranch here in Utah. At the time we kind of had free reign on the ranch. The operators were close friends and didn't require staying in a lodge, having a guide, or any of that stuff they all require now. Our plan was to hunt from Monday-Saturday. My mom, sisters, and grandma went up to Henry's Lake, Idaho for the week. Monday morning came and we got on the mountain and were just surrounded in elk. My dad shot a 300"-ish 6 point and my grandpa shot a small 6-point at first shooting light. This was before we knew about quartering an animal, so we'd just gut them and take them whole to a meat processor. We used ropes and some limbs to hoist up the animal, backed in "the silver bullet" (an early 80's Suburban with the rear 2-doors that swung open), and would pendulum swing the elk into the suburban whole. Not the prettiest method, but hey, it worked. We had both animals loaded in the suburban and were at the processors by 11 AM or so.

At that point, we realized we could go fish at Henry's Lake all week. The fall bite had been hot for the big brookies and hybrids, so we quickly packed, and boogeyed up to the lake. We got there for the last hour or so of light and just slammed the fish. I was only 10 or so at the time and just learning to fly fish, so I had a parachute adams and a little nymph 3' or so under it. The parachute adams was more of a strike indicator than anything. I forget the exact count, but I landed something in the realm of 45 fish that night and really hadmy first experience of consistently figuring out the fish on the fly, and on Henry's. We stayed until Saturday, much to the women's despise, and had lights out fishing all week.

Fast forward to the next week at school and we had a writing assignment about what we did over UEA/Fall Break/Labor Day, I forget what holiday it actually was. So I re-iterated the story above, and my teacher scheduled a meeting with the principal and my parents a few days later. I wasn't really sure what about, but she brought out my assignment and proceeded to rip me to shreds about being dishonest, embellishing the truth, etc. My dad has been an educator all his life and let her lecture me pretty thoroughly, then asked me to read the paper out loud. I did, and he got a huge grin on his face as he told my teacher there was no dishonesty or embellishing the truth and that it was all accurate. I wish I had a picture of her face at that moment!

I have those two elk mounts in my office. One of these days I'll do a mount from a big fish at Henry's to really complete the trifecta.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Here is a funny story. Well, it wasn't funny at the time and I'm certain the other tool bags involved didn't think it was funny ever, but it's funny to me now. Many, many moons ago, I was duck hunting with my older brother and my friend. It was Thanksgiving Day, and we had gone out for a morning shoot before the day's festivities of football, family, and food commenced. I had my old yellow lab Dallas with us. After we had set up we had a group of guys go set up not far away from us. (Shocker, I know...heaven forbid you walk a quarter of a mile down the shoreline so we are not on top of each other, but oh well...) 

The flights were slow that morning, and a single came barreling through pretty fast, pretty clearly headed for the other party and their spread. It wasn't real close but my buddy decided he was going to shoot at it anyway. Totally sky busted this duck and sent it off into the marsh well away from this other group. About 20 seconds later we hear them take a shot and coming down from straight above we got peppered. That bugged me, but I figured while not the smartest or safest thing in the world, they gave us a little "warning" to not sky bust again and I got over it. Well, right then my dog started having a seizure. She ended up having lots of those later in life, but this was the first one and it scared the crap out of me. I was holding her up out of the vegetation while this was going on another shot rings out, and this time we're not getting peppered from above, but this shot comes in almost directly at us, hitting our makeshift blinds and us pretty good. I yell out that I'll be on my way over soon to gently rearrange their noses on their faces, but am still dealing with my dog. I was HOT and ready to roll in the marsh that day. 

My dog gets her senses back and seems to be all recovered and I am ready to go over and have a little "chat" with these tools. (I was not planning on chatting at all, actually...) My brother, being the wise old man of the group (in his mid/late 20s at the time) said that it probably isn't the best idea to go get in a fight with some dudes holding guns in the marsh. I told him I have a gun too, so no big deal! (I wasn't thinking clearly at all!) So my buddy proposed that instead of going and fighting them, we head back out to the parking lot and let the air out of their tires on our way out. For some reason this seemed like a more rational response to the situation, and we packed up and hit the trail back out to the parking area. We knew there were only two groups out where we were, and there was only one way in by foot, and one way out, so when we got out we readily identified their truck. As I'm putting the dog up and getting decoys put away I look over and my buddy has his Leatherman tool out and he was not just deflating the tires, but he popped all 4 valve stems out and chucked them into the bushes. 

I did not have a paper or pencil with me or I may have written a "Happy Thanksgiving" note to them. I would handle that situation a lot different these days. I'd just call the police and let them deal with the charges associated with their actions that day. But at the time, in my teenage brain, having 4 flat tires that are not fixable pretty far from the beaten path where you will see others in a day and age before cell phones felt like justice was served that day. 

I miss Thanksgiving morning duck hunts! That was a fun tradition for multiple decades in my life.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Duck hunting stories are the best! Back when I was in high school, there was a reservoir about 1 hour from my home, and the river below was excellent hunting if things froze up. The river wasn't especially wide and generally under 5' deep and wasn't a fast flower. The river ran generally north south and east side had a high bank while the west side was low and flat as part of the flood plain. We would hunt on the east bank and sometimes the ducks would be flying below us on the river. I didn't see it, but my dad said he shot a drake mallard one day that was flying low on the river. He said his pattern just plastered the duck which then totally submerged under the water. To his dismay, a moment later, the same duck came rocketing out of the water and flew off! Damned-most thing he ever saw he told me. I wish I could have seen it.

Anyway, a different day, me and a couple friends were hunting on the east bank. It had already been a good day with a good number of ducks down. By this time it was probably somewhere after 10am and before noon (can't remember anymore). It had become a gorgeous blue bird day with absolutely no wind. Of course, we all know what that does to the ducks. Anything that now flew by was a mile high. Anyway, things were really slowing down, then we hear the unmistakeable call of a drake mallard somewhere up above us in the blue sky. It took a moment to finally figure out where he was, but he was coming our way...only he was probably 80 yards up. Usually way to far but on this day, with not much else going on and no one around to gripe. At the time I was shooting a Remington 870 (I believe) with a 30" barrel and a poly choke on the end. My friends thought I was crazy, but I said " watch this" and cranked the old poly choke to extra full (this was back in the lead days still). When that drake flew over, I raised up and shot, and that thing just folded up and crashed into the river brush after a LONG fall. Both my buddies just looked at me dumbfounded. Of course, I jist played along like it was nothing, but inside my mind, I was screaming " holy shizz, did you see that?? You"!!? One of my most memorable shots and hunts. Who doesn't love dropping a fat, late season mallard from the stratosphere on a calm bluebird day?


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

i could write pages of duck hunting fights I’ve witnessed or been part of, but I’ll go with a happy story. Although, the fist fight over a banded hen gadwall on center dike was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.

I walked the 1A dike for a swan one year when everything was locked up too tight for a boat to get out. This particular afternoon was pretty slow as far as hunter numbers go. Around 2ish, a grandpa and a grandson came by us and asked if we’d be fine if they set up about 50 yards away and waited for the afternoon flight. We invited them to just sit with us if they wanted, since we were as far north as possible with the buffer zone and they’d be back shooting us and shooting at flaring birds. They happily accepted and set up. 20 minutes later a mallard starts heading for us probably 50 yards high, and the grandpa tells the kid he’s too far for him to shoot. Me and my buddy let him have it and knocked him down. The kid was pretty disappointed he didn’t get to shoot. After that they kept getting higher, but we’d still shoot anyways since we were more than 50’ from the center of the dike, we had plenty of shells for such an occasion. We had knocked down 5 or 6 and the kid still hadn’t fired a shot. The grandpa kept telling him shooting his 20 gauge with 2.75” #4 at that distance was a waste of shells since they had only brought a hand full. About 20 minutes before closing, a lone drake starts heading our way. He had to have been 75 or more. High enough we didn’t even touch our guns, but the grandpa said he could shoot one time at it. The kid pulls up and I say get out in front of him about 10 feet before you shoot. The kid pulls the trigger and that bird folded up as beautiful as you can imagine, D.E.A.D…. A single pellet hit him right under his head just behind the beak. What few hunters there were on the dike that day started cheering and clapping. He was pretty proud of himself and went and retrieved his bird. According to them it was his first green head and they were going to have it mounted. He was a hero until about 10 minutes later when he ran his gun and his grandpas gun dry on a string of swans at about 30’. 😂 then he was all but ready to cry. He was the only one that didn’t kill a swan on the dike that had a tag that night, but he had the true trophy of the day.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

I don't have near the duck hunting experience some of you guys do growing up in southern Utah away from the good duck areas of the state, though I do thoroughly enjoy it. These sky busting stories reminded me of a time a couple buddies and I were jump shooting the Sevier north of Panguitch and got into some great shooting. Great for us anyway. It must have been better than my buddies anticipated because they ran out of shells and we still had ducks to kill. I came prepared though and we divided up the remainder of my shells among the 3 of us. Not long after that a solo duck flies over us about a mile high and I see my buddy shoulder his gun and I start thinking, "dude, we have limited shells, don't be stup..." BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Didn't even touch that duck. I was irritated with my buddy over that one.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Here's a redeeming story from the same friend. We were dove hunting one day when 3 low flying doves come right over him while he's taking a wizz. With Junior still hanging out he shoulders his 870 and starts shooting and cycling that action like a mad man and puts all 3 doves down. He's actually a fantastic wing shot when he's not sky busting like a tard.

Dove story of my own. I had 5 fence sitters in range and I was at an angle between 45 and 90 degrees to them. I aimed kind of in then middle and pulled the trigger and watched 1 of the 5 fly off. The other 4 piled up at the bottom of the fence.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

In my grandpa's autobiography he wrote about a time he was out duck hunting as a young boy in Sevier County probably in the late 20s or early 30s. It was a cold stormy day and all his usual spots weren't producing. He had one more spot to check before he was going to go home empty handed. He snuck over the bank of a pond and was astounded to see it covered with ducks as thick as hair on a dogs back. He put his bead in the middle of the big mass of ducks and fired one shot which claimed 11 ducks which he claims was exactly the limit in those days. He also writes of a pheasant season one year where he fired 25 shots and bagged 24 pheasants.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I once dropped 13 coots with one shot. My buddy dropped 11 with his one shot. 

Then neither of us dared pull a trigger again as it would have been a guaranteed +50 bird shot.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Another freeze up duck story...different place this time, and everything was froze up solid...except for a small little slough off the river that was maybe 10 yards wide and 50-75 yards long. It had a slightly oily sheen which must have kept it open (alot of oil derricks in the vicinity). We had never found this out of the way gem before and it was PACKED with mallards! You couldn't hardly see the water it was so loaded with birds. We thought that we had died and literally gome to heaven!

My dad was training a new hunting dog at the time and there was my dad, my brother and I and a friend, John Parsons. John was an Air Force fighter pilot roatating as an instructor pilot at the local base. Great guy and friend to my dad and absolutely loved to hunt. Well, my dad talks to all of us and says "now when we sneak up on these birds, I just want one bird shot. If we shoot more it's going to confuse the dog". We all agree...my brother and I intending to keep that promise, but John wasn't having any of it but played along. Well, we sneak up and bust over the berm of this slough, and the entire thing just exploded with birds getting airborne! It was absolutely crazy and no way you could pick out a single bird. After a scond or two of this, it was too much for John...he throws his gun up to his shoulder while yelling "Eat Lead Daffy!!" Of course, my brother and I couldn't resist and start blazing away too. Ducks are raining down everywhere, and not be outdone, my dad starts yelling at us to stop but only increases the pandemonium. The poor dog was utterly confused, my dad was livid and the other three of us had sheepish smiles on our faces while getting dressed down by my dad. I don't remember how many birds we dropped in that volley by the 3 of us , but it was north of 15. 

Ahh, the good 'ol days. If we'd only knew how good we had it back then!!


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Your dad was asking an awful lot of you guys. I don't blame you one bit for caving!🤣

Your story reminds me of this quote: "The obedient always think of themselves as virtuous, rather than cowardly." - Robert Anton Wilson

You would have been cowards to not commence with the massacre that day.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

My dad was my favorite hunting buddy, but he got a bit crazy when he was training a new dog! 😆


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