2010 Big Game Hunts

I just finished my 2010 big game hunts last week. On our elk, antelope, and sheep hunts we were 100% success again this year. Our rifle mule deer success rate was down to 76% (13 out of 17) which is the second lowest success rate we've ever had. Everyone had an opportunity to take a deer but some of the hunters passed looking for a bigger buck and two of the four unsuccessful hunters had to leave early. Here are some photos from this year's hunts.

Kevin Klumper

Kevin Klumper from Washington purchased the Grizzly Island auction Tule elk tag and took this bull in August with us. Kevin shot the bull at 8 yards after I called it in. The bull gross scores 330 and nets 323. Congratulations to Kevin on a great Tule elk.

One of the Big Ones That Got Away

This is one of the big ones that got away. We were doing a late archery hunt in unit 081 and had a client miss this buck three times. Two days later we went back to try to find his arrows and it turns out his range finder was reading incorrectly. The buck was not nearly as far as he thought and his arrows were going three feet or so over his back. There's always next year.

2010 Fall Hunting Season

The 2010 hunting season is now in full swing. I've spent the summer scouting for antelope, deer and sheep in Nevada, as well as for tule elk at Grizzly Island and Roosevelt elk on the north coast of California.

The Grizzly Island elk hunt was 3 weeks ago and it went very well. My client got an elk that will probably be in the top 15 B&C. The elk green scored at 329 gross and 323 net.

2009 Hunt Wrap Up

Here is a wrap up of 2009’s hunts.
I had seven elk hunters in California (two Tule elk hunts and five Roosevelt elk hunts). We took six Boone and Crockett bulls and everyone was successful.
In Nevada I had nine mule deer hunters; seven were successful and everyone had opportunities. The biggest buck we took was a 29 inch 4x4 that was just short of 180 inches taken by Mario Pereira on the first day of his hunt. Here's a photo of Mario's buck.


 

Recommended Nevada Hunting Units

Now is the time to apply for all of the big game hunts in Nevada. Nevada has 6 different big game species you can apply for as a non resident and 7 as a resident. We are having a very bad die off of Rocky Mountain sheep because of pneumonia and as a result there will not be a non resident tag this year. This does not affect the California or Desert sheep. If you buy the license ($142 for a non resident) you can get bonus points for every species you would like to someday hunt. Nevada has very good hunting for everything with their strict management policies. You can either apply for a tag and if you don't draw you get the point, or you can apply specifically for a point. I am already totally booked up for the early season deer hunts through the non resident guide drawing that took place this week so I will only have late deer hunts listed here.
To apply go to www.huntnevada.com and for those of you that have applied before, you will be in the system and can go ahead and apply. For those of you that have not applied before, if you were born before 1960 you can enter all your personal information into the computer and then apply. If you have not applied before and were born in 1960 or later you will need to have a hunter safety certificate and call 1-800-576-1020. They will walk you through what you need to do to get into the computer so you can apply.

2009 California Elk Hunts

I just finished my most successful elk season ever in California. I guided 7 hunters on 4 different hunts and all of them took bulls with 6 of them scoring high enough to make the Boone and Crockett record book. Here's a quick run down of all the hunts. My first hunt was an archery hunt at Grizzly Island and my hunter took a Tule elk bull that is probably going to be the new SCI archery world record for Tule elk and either first or second in Pope and Young. The New York Times did an article on this hunt and you can read it if you go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/sports/13elk.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Jellison&st=cse Here's a photo of Walt Palmer's bull: 

Elk and Antelope Hunting Season

It's now elk and antelope hunting season. I just got back from Grizzly Island where we took a nice tule bull with a bow. It gross scored 320 and net was 312 5/8. It could come in first with Pope and Young, depending on what it scores after it dries and it will be number one with SCI archery.
I am off scouting for deer and guiding antelope hunters in Nevada. Then it's back to California to guide 4 elk hunts: 2 Northwestern hunts and the Del Norte hunt for Roosevelt bulls and East Park Reservoir for tule elk.

Hope everyone has a successful hunting season.