Category Archives: Backpack Hunting
2010 – A Year For Me to Remember
As my 2010 hunting year comes to a close, I know I have been blessed with many opportunities and more than my share of success. In visiting with Mark Seacat, he asked if I wanted to write a short blog about my hunts. I’m certainly not much of a writer but I have a lot of respect for Mark and the products that he represents so I’ll make a stab at it.
I had several very memorable hunts this year but probably the highlight was my trip to the NWT to hunt with Ram Head Outfitters. My goal was to take a sheep, caribou and moose with my bow. On the third day of the hunt while stalking a nice 140 class ram, we ran into a real monster of a ram. With the conditions not being the best for stalking into bow range, I made the decision to take the ram with the guide’s rifle at 265 yards. He was a beautiful 10 1/2 year old ram with horns that stretched the tape to 41″ in length and 14″ bases. After drying, he officially netted 167 5/8″ B&C.
My Mystery Ranch 6500 really served me well for multiple uses.
Posted in Backpack Hunting, Uncategorized
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My Rifle Gives Me Little Advantage
The elk have moved out of the high country and into the thick and dense low lands. The bulls are grouping up and have quit bugling. My sight and sound advantage has been taken away. A positive attitude and the liklihood of snow are all I’ve got now.
This year I’ve been blessed with drawing a limited entry elk permit in a unit with high potential for big bulls. I am able to archery hunt AND rifle hunt. Previous years I’ve only been allowed to archery hunt. Last September, I was fortunate enough to take a beautiful six point bull the third week of the bow season, in this unit. My success left me optimistic about this fall’s opportunities. So far, that opportunity has been just out of reach.
Elk season started off with me walking up on another archer’s kill that was never recovered. The meat was too far gone by the time I found him. I left the bull hoping that the hunter would eventually find him and punch out their tag.
I hunted the low country the first two weeks of the season with a few chances on smaller bulls. The rut was slow to start so … READ MORE >
Preston Edwards. A Hunting Industry Insider’s view on the Crew Cab
I’ll admit, I had my doubts when Mark Seacat of Mystery Ranch Packs started his sales pitch about how great his packs are. I have tried a lot of packs and liked very few of them over the years, and I didn’t expect much different out of these ones. Mark wouldn’t back down though, and I did know from previous conversations with him that he was not just another salesman pitching a product. He is a hard core hunter that, unlike many sales guys, actually really uses the products he sells, and he takes it to extremes when he does. A quick glance at the photos on his iPhone had proven that.
I kept listening. Before I knew it he had me fitted, had a Crew Cab pack loaded with 80 pounds worth of sandbags, and made me pack the thing around the floor of the Western Hunting Expo where he was giving me this rundown. After carrying this huge pack around for awhile with relative ease and comfort Mark had my attention for sure, but carrying a pack around indoors on nice carpeted floors is hardly a test to write home about. I was still skeptical, but I liked … READ MORE >
Posted in Backpack Hunting, Mountains & Trails, Trip Reports
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2010 Montana Archery Antelope Hunt – VIDEO
The learning curve in hunting as an archer is steep. Many seasons of spot and stalk techniques have left me close but empty handed. After years of hard work and persistence, I was fortunate enough to harvest my first Pronghorn Antelope with archery equipment. This short video documents my first two weeks of the season – from stalk to harvest. Enjoy!… READ MORE >
Bears Bows and Backpacks
I started the spring season with two goals, one: see more bears than I had ever seen in a spring season, and two: kill a spring bear with my bow. Goal one would be easy. I had been working hard to get ready for the spring season. Talking with good friends about how they bear hunt and how to find more bears along the way. I had also been working hard making sure my new Hoyt bow was up to the task at hand.
The season got off to a bang when good friend Brain Barney and I spotted a huge boar five minutes into our first glassing session. The hunt was on! I bailed off 1500 vertical feet of steep hill crossed the river and made my way up the other side. After a very steep climb my stock was cut short by some very fickle wind, my first hard learned lesson of bear hunting. Bears have a nose that makes an elk look like he has no sense of smell at all! If you don’t have the wind right you might as well not even try it. You will be done before you even get started.
The next … READ MORE >
Only in Montana
Featuring: Big HornContour Pocketed WaistbeltNICE CrewcabNICE Daypack LidNICE FrameSaddle PeakSweetpeaTrucker Hat
As March came to a close, one of my favorite past times came into full swing – shed hunting! This was the year of the deer antler. Between my dad and I, we found fifteen deer sheds and two elk sheds.
Come April 10th, shed hunting turned into turkey hunting. Archery hunting for spring gobblers proved to be just as difficult as last year. I inadvertently found myself in bow range of far more elk than gobblers.
After four weeks of turkey hunting, winter came back with vengeance! The mountains around Bozeman got nearly fifty inches of snow in three days. I quickly steered some of my study time for college finals to the mountains. You can ask anyone who skied that storm and they’ll agree that it was the best snow of the year. As for finals – I passed.
Spring Black Bear hunting was next on the list. As a relatively novice bear hunter, the only sightings I’ve ever had were flukes. This spring, with the help of a friend, I turned my occasional bear sightings into multiples. Every day for about two weeks, I left work right at five o’clock to archery hunt a nearby mountain range … READ MORE >
Why Aren’t I Smarter?
Featuring: NICE 6500
What can I say about backpack hunting that would fully describe it to the uninitiated? Nothing, it is one of those gloriously miserable experiences that requires boots on the ground and gear on the back. There is something very rewarding and fulfilling, in retrospect of course, about carrying everything you need to not only survive but to insistently make you body do task it is not accustomed to. Since at the time I am asking myself why do I torture my middle aged body so? The answer to that is I am sort of a masochist I guess. In continual need to push and test myself, do I know why, heck no. My wife and family think I am crazy and I really can’t argue. Sure upon initially meeting me you would think I am just like most guys in my mid 30’s, family, career and just trying to find my way in general. Now I am very fortunate to have an amazing wife and kids, good job and generally a fantastic life. But there is always this little voice, no not literally a voice I am not that crazy, time to go and stretch your legs a little.
When … READ MORE >
