Well after hunting big bull elk for 25 days with no luck finding the 7x7 i was after deer season finally came around.

i decided i had missed enough work so i didn't take opening day off work like i normally do.

on Monday we got snowed out of work and had to work Friday to get our hours in.

i work 4 10's so i have Friday's off most of the time.

the season opened on Thursday.

 Friday after work terry and i had time for a evening hunt, but not much.

first thing we found some guys trespassing on terry's ranch so we had to run them off.

this left us 45 minutes tell dark.

terry had been giving me a hard time all week saying there was no use going i can't shoot and hit anything. he rubbed it in all week about missing elk while bow hunting.

 we peaked into the first draw and i spotted a buck bedded.

terry started ribbing me saying"we can't stalk into 15 yards from here and you will never hit him from here.

i said "lets get the spotting scope and see how big he is"

i could see his back forks were webbed and way short but he was a good buck not as big as I'd have liked but good enough.

i told terry i can shoot him in the eye from here.

he told me "you couldn't hit the bluff he was laying on from here"

i ranged him repeatedly "349 yards"

300 win mag 180 gr, yes i can do this.

at the shot we heard WHACK and the buck fell off the bluff cartwheeling all the way to the bottom of the draw.

we then heard a loud trotting and looked up i said there is a horse? no a elk? after looking in my bino i said "no its a moose"

keep in mind we are outside chugwater Wyoming wheat fields and horse tanks.

nobody had ever seen a moose out here or heard of one.

we called his mom who is 85 yrs old and born on the ranch and never even heard of anyone ever seeing a moose there.

she came out with terry's sister and checked it out.

it was after dark when we got to my deer so no in field photos.

i'll never live it down i missed my mark

but he never heard the gun go off.

he is a good buck but not a great one

here is my ugly mug with him

i liked the webbed forks and just had to show terry i can shoot.

that deer should have had eyeballs in the back of his head though.

my excuse is the deer moved while the bullet was in flight {ha ha}

Terry will never let me live it down now i can't even hit a deer in the eye at a mere 349 yrds.

never take a head shot with a side view this buck was face on the bullet exited just behind the opposite ear

 I'm sorry everyone no matter how hard i tried i just couldn't come up with a big bull this year. between bow and rifle season i hunted 25 days

 i saw one big bull on opening day of bow season 340 to 350" range but he moved his cows threw the area and was never seen again.

 the next largest bull was about 310 again the first week of bow season.

 the rest of the season i saw small raghorn and spikes i shot at a 260" bull the third week because he had two third points on one side making him a 7x6

 i hit two twigs and a tree i shot more at a rag horn 5 but again it was intercepted by a tree.

during rifle season i saw one cow and calf in 6 days of hunting.

 i'm a failure at elk this year they never got in the grove to coming to calls just the little guys and they came silent. i guess its twig soup for me this year.

 it will open up for cows in December so i may not have to eat twig and tag soup quite yet.

 it was great hunting it was just poor killin.

i saw the prettiest cinniman/blond bear it looked like it just stepped out of the groomers not one hair out of place. it may be the prettiest animal i have ever seen even in pictures.

 her cub was in a tree 10 yards to my left and she was 20 yrds to my right huffing and popping her jaws.

 i wasn't afraid i was awe struck at how she looked.

i didn't know the cub was a cub it was as big as she was and i was taking pictures of it with my cell phone.

she came out three times would look at me and duck back in the under brush.

I'd liked to have taken pictures of her but i was busy holding the release on my bow.

 i backed out telling her "its alright ma ma i'm done taking pictures"

i tried to just keep going the way i was headed but she cut around me and backed me out the way i came in.

 the whole thing was so cool i knew she wouldn't attack by her mannerisms she was alot more afraid of me then i was of her.

i never saw hide or hair of Elvis the big 7x7 i wanted to get. he may have been killed by someone last year that didn't know or care about his score if they did we would have read about it.

 i think we may have some wolves up there i just can't figure why else the elk acted so strange this year. three years ago my dad and i heard one up there.

i had a great season lost 3"in the waistline and went from the we fit game saying i was 78 yrs old to it saying i'm 32 and the yoga master. i'm 47 i guess twig soup is a

health food.

if you look close you can see the cub in the tree what can i say its a cell phone pic.