A Fall Elk Hunt is Planned

Planning started in January for another Elk hunt into the mountains.  I made two trips in the last two years to national forests without harvesting an elk. 

It is called hunting not shooting.  In each instance, I had a really great experience.  Excellent guides, outstanding food, and great accommodations were experienced.  Plus, on each trip the horses had a lot of trail experience. It was never a concern in handling one.

The first trip was two years ago with Wind River Outfitters in central Idaho.  This was a fully guided trip, on horseback in the Gospel Hump Wilderness.  If you want to camp out in big walled tents this is an excellent trip.  The weather was hot for October, and the elk were not very active.  This was some of the most magnificent country I had ever seen.  Mike Branson and his wife went the extra mile in making sure I had a great outdoor experience.  Unfortunately, I did not bag an elk. 

Sitting around the fire with Mike Branson, owner of Wind River Outfitters.

Heading out in the morning for a day of hunting. 

The country was beautiful.  We set up on the edge of a meadow that had a lot of elk signs.

My hunting partner got a shot in the meadow below.  Small bull came out of the timber, looked around and headed back into the cover. 

Last fall I went with Bob Barlow of Barlow Outfitting.  Bob really looks after his guests even to the point of taking them into his home if they have not shot anything.  He works with them to get results.  This was not a tent camp.  Instead, I stayed in a lodge in Tetonia Idaho and hunted the western side of the tetons in Wyoming.  I could look up and see the back side of the tetons.

Looking toward the western side of the tetons.  Jackson Hole is one the east side just beyond the peaks.

A great advantage with Bob is that you hunt elk in the morning.  Then late in the day after a nap, you head out and hunt black bear.  You get two opportunities for the price of one. I had a really great time.  The guides were excellent and worked really hard to put me on the animals. 

It is was warm again as evidenced by the guide.  I peeled off clothes later.

My good friend and long time duck hunting companion, Greg, was doing a lot of research on elk hunting and came up with an excellent suggestion.  "Quit going to the National Forests" was what he believed would help me gain an extra edge.  Hunting a high fence enclosure was not something I wanted to do, but it is out there if you go on the "net" and look.  A member of our duck club had been hunting private ranches that held resident elk.  Checking with Cabela's Outdoor Adventures provided some excellent trips with guarantees for 95% to 100%.   These are all fair chase and there are some really nice trips to New Mexico, but I wanted to get closer to home.

By searching the "net" a private ranch was found with a great price and excellent historical results.  Smith Rancho is located north of Hayden Colorado, and west of Steamboat Springs.  Hunting 50,000 acres of private ranch land with resident elk was the goal.  The ranch has an excellent track record of success and posts references on line.  The first thing I noticed was a reference from Cherokee, Iowa.  Immediately, the call was made and the reference was excellent, plus there was a high record of success. 

Guests stay right at the ranch and all meals are furnished.  The reservation was made for October 29th through the 31st.  This will work out perfectly for me since my wife and I will be getting back from a camera safari to Kenya and Tanzania.  (http://www.smithrancho.com/index.html) Click on the link to learn more about Smith Rancho.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank

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Get Out of Town When the Heat is On

Temps in southwest Iowa are running in the upper 90s and into 100+ on some days.  It is so hot the fire hydrants are chasing the dogs.  There was a picture in the local paper of a person cooking an egg on the pavement.  The humidity is absolutely oppressive.  My neighbor went outside and shot an arrow into the air.  It stuck.  The yards are all burning up and the Japanese beetles have appeared to eat all the yellow roses.  The corn in some parts of Iowa is showing signs of stress due to the heat.  Rain is needed.  This is July in Iowa.  This winter when the snow is flying, everyone will miss the hot days.

What is a person to do?  I checked the weather up at Webster, South Dakota.  The temps during the day were running in the mid 80s and at night in the low 60s.  Humidity? The people up there do not even discuss it.  It is so low. The thing to do is to get out of town and go fishing.  I headed north.  Fishing reports from Bitter Lake south of Waubay were outstanding with daily limits being reported.  Bitter produces really quality walleye.

The next morning with a south wind, I was on the lake and running a spinner.  Hitting a couple of spots initially produced nothing.  Then after I headed over to the dairy farm that is partially submerged by the lake, the walleye started to bite.  Not hard, but they showed some aggression.  The bite called for some patience.  The wind picked up straight out of the south. I moved the boat out from the tree line and allowed it to drift back.  The drift started in 20 feet of water, then ended at 10 feet.  The hits all took place in the 12 to 16 foot range.  The walleye were not big, but in the 15 to 16 inch range. 

This is the hat I wear on really sunny days.  It protects your face, ears, nose, and back of your neck from harmful UV rays.  Click on the picture to price and buy from Orvis. 

Wham, something hit the spinner, and off it went.  It had to be a northern and one of decent size.  I reeled him toward the boat.  I tried to lift it's head but the fish wanted no part of that and off it went peeling out line as it went under the boat.  Working to the opposite side of the boat, it went back under again and I tried to lift it up.  Off it went with line peeling out.  Fishing with an ultra-light was becoming a handful.  Slowly the fish was pulled to the surface, netted and landed.  At about 4-5 pounds, it was nice and plump and was really healthy.  It was not as long as expected or as big, but the thrill of it all was the best part of the catch.  When it comes to northern, the smaller fish provide the most fun.

Nice size northern.  They filet out really nice and make a great meal.  Notice the dairy farm in the background and the tree line to my left.  You want to move to about 10 to 12 feet of depth along the tree line and out to 20 feet. 

The boat was then steered over to the islands.  A roadbed runs north and south on the edge.  There are pieces of timber sticking up, and the area held eleven boats.  My arrival made 12, all within an area of about 200 yards.  Wherever you see a group of boats, that is where the fish are located.  It did not take long and a nice walleye was landed.  That filled my limit for the day.

Look how flat the lake became when the breeze went down.  I tried to get a picture of all the boats in the same area, but they are off at a distance. 

In the meantime, the wind went down and the lake went totally flat.  This was a new experience for me.  With a cloudless sky and no wind, it got hot on the lake. 



This was a good day.  I started at 6 AM and was off the lake by 3 PM with a daily limit of small walleye and one nice northern.  It was time to clean fish and head to the Purple Cow Ice Cream Parlor for some treats.

Tomorrow I am fishing Pickerel and Antelope lakes. 

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank



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The Beauty of Pickerel Lake

Of all the Glacial Lakes in eastern South Dakota, Pickerell Lake is one of the most beautiful of the group.  It just doesn't look like it belongs on the plains in the farming country of this intriguing state.  Surrounded by trees on all sides, there are beautiful homes, cabins, two resorts, and a bible camp located along it's shores.  With the moderate temps and low humidity, this is a great place to have a summer getaway. 

Boat Ramp at the south end of the lake.  It is really sheltered and there was no problem putting in and out.

For me, the getaway is the Circle Pines Motel located in Waubay.  Plus, right next door is the Purple Cow Ice Cream Parlor.  If a person is so inclined to frequent this type of establishment, you cannot do any better than the Purple Cow.

Spending a day on this lake was outstanding.  Catching fish and throwing them back went on constantly.  The people at Sportsman Cove said there was a lot of walleye and they were all small.  They were not wrong.  It took all day to get my four of the legal limit.  Walleye must be over 15 inches and a couple in the 16 to 17 inch range were put in the live well. 

Average smalley

The 18 incher.  The camera went off before I could get straightened up. 

Walleye wasn't the only fish caught.  Rock bass, small crappie and blue gills were abundant.  What was really exciting was the small mouth bass.  South Dakota has a slot on this specie and you can keep a fish over 18 inches or under 14 inches.  I caught several right in between, but the best part of the trip was the one over 18 inches.  What a battle the fish performed!  It leaped out of the water more than once and dove down deep running up against the drag. 

This island is the place to fish on each side sloping down to 20+ feet in depth.  It is on the south end of the lake.

Crawlers were used, but the hot items were leeches.  There were so many small fish smacking away at the leaches that by noon, none were left.  However, there was a treat for them.  Some time ago I had purchased some Gulp Alive Spray and artificial leeches.  Now this is a rubber looking product to which I sprayed on Gulp Alive Spray.  Click on the link below to price and buy from Bass Pro.

Berkley Gulp Alive Berkley Gulp! Alive Leech or Jumbo Leech in Pint Bucket - 5'' Black - Soft Plastics Branded




Berkley Gulp! Alive Freshwater Spray Attractant - Egg Roe - Scents/rattles

You will need the spray to go along with the leeches.  Check out the other products offered by Berkley at Bass Pro. 



It did not make any difference.  The fish just smacked away at the the fake leeches like they were the real thing.  The beauty of this product was once the leech was on the hook it was not pulled off.  However, the fish did chomp off an end and ate whatever the artificial was made of.  The nice part about this product was I did not have to keep baiting my hook after each strike.  With walleye, however, not all were aggressive feeders.  There was the feeling of not knowing whether to set a hook or just pull it away and lose a potential big fish. 

All in all, this was a great day. Since this was a three day license, I had one more day to go.

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.

Hank

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The Art of Noodlin

What is it? Well, if you are from the south you know immediately what it is.  However, the farther north you travel "noodlin" is done only by the really hearty and hard core outdoors person.  Joni is a good friend of ours, and she does it all; from fishing to hunting to noodlin.

Joni with her Grandson, the future master angler, hunter and all around sportsman.
The art of "noodlin"



The fish of choice is the catfish, and the process is a little more complicated than just sticking your arm in the water.  The choice of catfish is the flathead.  The fish lives in holes and under logs and overhangs close to the bank.  The process is to locate where the fish might be hiding and stick your hand down into the hole.  Sometimes this takes a little practice.  The fish will become startled and try to escape.  It does this by latching onto the person's hand in a defensive maneuver.  You have now caught a catfish and can pull it up and throw it on the bank.  Fresh catfish, skinned, filleted and deep fried is excellent.  Shown below is the choice of batter I use.

Uncle Bucks Fish Batter Mix - Original



The greatest threat to noodlers is from other creatures that might be living in the same spot as the noodler.  Snakes, beavers, muskrats, and snapping turtles are just to name a few.  In the deep southern states alligators can become a problem.  The primary problem though comes from minor cuts and scrapes.  Joni wears gloves and does not use her bare hands.  Also diving into deep holes ten to twenty feet deep can increase the risk of drowning.  Joni never goes above her knees and still gets her share of catfish. 

Catfish.  Skinned and filleted, provides excellent fare.



Southwest Iowa is blessed with a lot of small streams and rivers that drain the rolling hills of farm ground in the area.  There is a lot of opportunity to go "noodlin."

Good fishing, good huntin, and good noodlin.  Hank



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