Fall 2021 has been full of fun adventures for my family and I. Here are a few of our trips from the past few months. Enjoy.
August:
Spent some time at the range with the boys to get our bows, rifles, and their brand new Savage Rascal dialled in.
September:
Began with a hunting/camping/fishing trip with the cousin. Had fun chasing squirrels and grouse. No animals ended up being harmed, other than maybe my ego. A squirrel kept on relieving himself at the steps of our camper, and we couldn't hit him with the slingshot.
Later in the month, some scouting for my moose hunt and a few calling sessions with my boys. Highlight for my boys was sawing down a dead tree and pushing it over, lol.
October:
Highlight was my mountain moose hunt. What an incredible hunt with good friends. Here is the link for that hunt story:
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=404326
Later in October:
Hike for grouse/deer with the kids. Not much sighted, but built snowmen and started a fire to roast hot dogs.
Early November:
Deer trip to eastern Alberta. This is a trip that I look forward to more than most others! 3 days of hiking and spotting in the beautiful rolling hills. The weather was amazing, and the typically omnipresent winds were low.
While I had general whitetail, I didn't see a single good buck while hunting. My real goal for this 3-day hunt with the kids and some family members was to have the kids experience a stalk and (hopefully) successful harvest.
On day 2, I spotted a few young bucks as they settled down in their daytime beds in a patch of bush about 700yds from us. We (my boys, cousin, and FIL) decided that we would try the stalk.
Splitting up into 2 groups, the "shooter group" of the FIL and cousin worked the wind and topography to close the distance undetected. Meanwhile, the "decoy group" of myself and my boys intentionally made ourselves visible to the bedded and hidden deer and slowly angled our way towards the deer from a different angle.
The plan worked to perfection: The deer were so focused on the decoy group (it's hard to stalk quietly with a 5 and 6 year-old, so why not use this to our advantage) that they completely missed the shooter group that snuck into 50 yds and dropped one of the young bucks.
At the yell of deer down from the cousin, the kids sprinted off to great cheers from the entire group!
Not a big deer, but the experience and memories were huge!
After tagging and pictures, the kids helped drag the deer out.
The eastern AB sunsets are amazing for a guy who lives in the mountains, where we just don't get these colours!
Later in November:
At peak rut I had a day to check out one of my favourite nearby spots for deer. A grown over cut line. The plan to hike in and every few hundred yards stop and do some grunting, scraping, and rattling. Heavy snow falling all day, with an approaching cold front.
The first stand yielded no movement or sightings. At the second stand, a good buck charged into the open about 180yds away, looking for a fight. One look at him and I knew he was a shooter. When he stopped and rubbed a bush, a shot dropped him after a short blood trail. Can't believe how fast it all happened!
Fall Fun 2021
Linear Mode
