The Alpine Rules

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 8/19/2019 | J Lund

[w1n1]

FOUR POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND BEFORE HEADING UP FOR BLACKTAIL DEER - I'm not one of those dudes who have been hunting for 30 years. I don’t have a ring of racks in my garage or an elegant mount in my living room. I don’t have epic stories of 400-yard shots. My hunting career is littered with chaos.
I shot my first deer in the leg. I was with my high school basketball coach and his daughter. She put one through the neck of a fork-in-horn at 150, and then dropped a 4-point at 250 to set up my beauty of a shot just above the knee.

My next shot dropped it but it was still pretty embarrassing. Anyway, there are a bunch of "duh" things you have to consider when hunting, such as don’t shoot it in the leg, bring water and take responsible shots, but there are plenty of other things I’ve learned while hunting with some excellent experienced hunters in Southeast Alaska. Here are four hunting tips, one for each of the four points on the buck you'll shoot:

PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER - Incredibly obvious, but it cannot be overstated. Check the forecast, but remember that the town in which you are staying is not the mountain on which you are hunting. Upon arrival, ask about the higher-elevation conditions. It might be sunny and clear all week according to your phone app, but the fog might never leave the mountains right behind town. Also ask about the latest weather patterns. Sometimes that fog will lift in the early afternoon rather than mid-morning, and sometimes the wind turns off right after dinnertime.

ASK QUESTIONS AND BE OBSERVANT - If you're from out of state and have a hunting guide, listen to the hunting guide. If you’re going to act like you know more than the local, or otherwise do it your own way, why even bother to get a guide? (Note that big game hunting requires one for nonresidents.)
It baffles me how often my guide buddies report that the biggest issue they have with clients are the ones who say things like, “Well, in [insert state here] we…” This isn’t California, or Delaware, or last year. If you want to tell a neat little anecdote, cool, but listen to the people you hired. Also, be mindful of the little nuance that the guide, your buddy or a local might show you, but not tell you. Read the rest of hunting rules.

[real saxophonist]

[mabarker1]

Gonna take A LOT of Weed to fill all them bowls.

[Chode]

they’ll all cough up a lung

[mabarker1]

LOL !!!