Wyoming Honks

We made the trip up north so that we could kick off the waterfowl season a week early and target some geese.  We had scouted this area many times in the past and finally were able to put the hunt together.  Blake, Tyler, Brandon, and Tyson headed up to see what we could make happen with the honks.  A couple weeks ago Blake got pictures of this and some adjacent fields where we hunted where there were 8 bands in a group of 12 birds hanging together.  So we were filled with anticipation with what we might be able to pick off.  We ended up filling our limit in about 2 hours.  It was an awesome hunt, even with the tree huggers that heard the gun shots and then spotted us when we sat up to shoot out of our ground blinds.  They sat on the road a few hundred yards away and honked their horns and yelled to try and flare birds every time they came in to the deeks.  Too bad they were out of range!  (just kidding.......kind of)  

Team Lock Em and Rock Em hard at it this weekend going after some pretty crafty honks.  Had to show off our better sides here.  (Really, they are our best sides, but it was more for the logo!) 

Our few couple pictures of our final take with some of the deeks and a couple blinds in the background.  If you look, you may see a prize.  Had to get a few different shots as it's been too long of an off-season and we were pretty excited to finally get out again this year.

Even though we had high hopes of getting the flock of 8 bands in to take home some serious jewelry, we were only able to pull down one band.  Since Tyler didn't shoot any geese today we decided that we'd let him claim the band and take the picture with the bird.

But, we couldn't go without putting the rightful owner of the band on here just to make sure we are giving full disclosure of all things.

Blake and Brandon have rightful ownership claims to that band as well.  We really didn't know who shot it since we all spotted it and all shot at it.  (Yeah right guys, you know I was the only one shooting at that bird!)  Either way, we all took part in one way putting that bird on the ground.  

It was a great hunt, thanks for letting me be a part of it boys.

Chasing Elk

The trip was a goose hunting trip, but ended up with a bit of extra time on our hands.  We figured there wasn't any better way than to go out and find some elk to chase, even if it was only with a camera....this time!  Over the weekend we found at least six or seven different really nice bulls with sets of cows.  We have some awesome video footage of elk roaming, bugling, and a little bit of fighting with a couple of nice 6-points that crossed paths with their cows.  We have some video footage of a really good whitetail as well if we can figure how to get them up on the blog, we'll get them up.  We saw one very nice 6x7 that was significantly bigger than all these pictured, but could only get him good through the spotting scope, so no pictures turned out.  Blake was able to call a couple bulls after dark to within about 15-20 yards.  It was something else to have that many elk responding all at the same time.  

A few nice shots of this decent 6-point.  This guy was very active in trying to protect his cows from invaders.  There were a ton of elk in the area and he was cruising back and forth to the east and to the west where he had other bulls trying to come in from both sides to get a shot at his cows.  

We really didn't have to go far to find this bull.  Got him right at the right time to see his breath during a bugle.  Elk were screaming all around the valley from dusk, all through the night, and most of the morning each day there.

Watched this guy fight with another really nice 6-point that was a little bigger than this one for a minute.  He was chasing some cows that were straying a little bit later and a small 5-point came in on his cows.  He came back about 5-10 minutes later and ran that smaller bull off very quickly.  We didn't get any footage during the action, we weren't in position to see it with anything but our eyes.  But it was quite the show.  

Gettin' Ready!

With waterfowl season right around the corner we're getting pumped for what promises to be one of the best seasons ever.  Early season goose hunts didn't produce anything for Blake in Wyoming but we're hoping that the upcoming season brings many of our friends from Canada into our sets and we can knock a few of them down.  

This is a small portion of a very large group of honks in a field Blake has been watching this year.  

Notice anything about these honks?
What about these ones?

Or how about these?  We've really got our eye on this early group.  They are packing some serious hardware!

Thought about posting up the zoomed in images of the banded swan, but we don't want anyone calling it in before its time!  ;)  

We had to give a little love to the elk-holics.  Some nice shots of some decent bulls.  Nothing for the record book, but some nice bulls.  

A couple of bulls are getting some practice for future bouts when it really counts.  

We've had an awesome summer and have fished a ton of different places and had some great days.  But fall is in the air and we're pumped to get at it.  Blake and Tyler have had some days logged in the hills already looking for deer and elk but we're ready to turn up the heat on some birds!  

Uintas

I took a Labor Day weekend camping trip with the family to the Uintas.  Although fishing was not the purpose of the trip, I knew that with as much water as there is around, there was no way that I could go without wetting a line.  We were up there for Saturday through Monday.  I grew up fishing many of the small streams and lakes in the Uintas on family camping trips and trips to a close friend's cabin.  It had been some time since I had been back and seeing many of these places brought back many good memories.  There was a pull between fishing many of the places that I grew up fishing and knew well, and the places that have been calling my name that I have never taken the opportunity to fish.  I decided to fish in new places with the limited time available.  The first round of fishing took place on the Bear near our camp spot.  Small cutts and a small rainbow continued to rise to what we threw at them.  It was fun to fish there, but I really wanted to hit another stream.  The lure of a new area was enough to take me to a small stream that is not far off the beaten path, but seems to be overlooked by many fisherman.  I expected to see many fisherman on this stream, but to my welcome surprise, there was nobody else there.  We only fished for an hour or so, but it was well worth our time.  We didn't catch anything large, but were able to have some classic small stream action.  A rubber-leg stimulator was the ticket for me.  A tan para-hopper worked for my brother-in-law who we were camping with.  Tried to get a couple of shots of the colorful fish we were catching.  I love catching small stream cutts.  

Kind of fuzzy, but had to show the trophy of the day.  

Pulled out a couple of brookies that are starting to show their color some.
The stream is home to some excellent water.  Wish we would have had more time to explore it further.
More fishing was planned for Monday when we broke camp.  But we woke up to this.  The storm that brought torrential rain storms in the lower elevations of the Uintas turned the higher elevations into a winter wonderland over night.  Having the wives and kids with us we felt it prudent to call it a day and let the fish off the hook for another time.

Despite the rain and the lack of time fishing, the weekend was a success.  

-Tyson