Greg '07

Epek is my all-time hunting buddy. Ever since I switched to archery I have spent many days in the hills equipped with archery equipment, actively engaged in the pursuit of big game. Out of all those days, only a few have been in the absence of Greg. We have been in my opinion a hunting match made in heaven. Our first trip together on the front yielded nearly 30 mature bucks, a herd of elk, three shots and 0 hits. Every time up since has been equally as eventful and has given us our needed "fix". He is always in the hills and kind of the inspiration for the year long theme of this blog.

I could devote this blog to glossing Greg and what he's done for me as a hunter, but I will highlight his amazing year.
Greggish Canyon: aka Greg's second home

He spent plenty of time in this wonderful piece of real estate (the majority of my bowhunting career has happened here) If you are lucky enough to know where it is, put it in your mouth, chew on it, go there, enjoy it. If you can't make it, I will post many photos of this place in the year to come.

Greg found the bucks. Scouted like crazy. Put up a murder stand and arrowed this hefty buck with his beat up trykon. An entire story in itself. Read about that here. http://www.hoyttoughbows.com/

This buck and the harvest story earned Greg legendary status on the discussion forums, and the rest of the hunting community.

It's hard to give this story the justice it deserves, but if Greg's hunt ended in late October it would have been a banner year. Didn't end though. He still had an elk tag and filled it like the coolest guy on the planet would fill his archery elk tag...in the middle of a rifle hunt while wearing orange, just in time for christmas. Check out this bull.


Good job big brother.

Scott and Greg, they're on the runn...

Mark Robbins might be the only person in the world that will laugh at the title of this post.

Anyways, I'm not too sure how much time I want to spend on trying to go back to the 2007 season. Hopefully there will be enough happening in the present to give me enough to write about. Also, it would be difficult to bring back to memory a lot of what happened. However, '07 had a few very significant things occur that are more than worthy to post. Two guys I know had, arguably, their best hunting seasons of their illustrious careers.

Scott "freaking" Mackintosh

When you talk about an average Joe having the best hunting season ever, Scott's "07 has to be in the conversation. Although I've never seen him do it, Scott does flatwork for a living. In other words he is not a professional hunter.... However he found time to hunt and harvest in multiple hemespheres this year. He possibly rewrote the record books with his season.

Africa was the first stop of the season. Somewhere I have pictures of the 75 animals that "Mack" put on the ground on the dark continent. They will be posted, so help me. Scott says it was truly a once in a lifetime hunt. Zebra, blesbuck, impalas, gemsbok, eland, kudu maybe? I lost track. He cut a lot of tags on that trip.

Mule deer will have to remember Scotty's scent this next season. Mack took part in the demise of at least 5 mature mulie bucks. One he shot with his bow on the opener of the rifle season. Some folks reffered to him as a rock star for that accomplishment. Another was a 200" + monster that he guided his friend in on the Henry's muzzie hunt. Two of his spoiled children tagged out on respectable bucks, both being guided by Scott. Tosh with a bow, Kelsie with a gun. I'll get to the other.

Here is Scott's "rifle" buck.

The only other picture I have of Scott's buckies. Kelsie shot this with her rifle. I think after school one day.

Pictures of that Henry Buck would be nice. I will try to get those and Africa. Sorry.

What sounded like the highlight of Scott's season was another late season trip to the Henry's. This time for buffalo, with his daughter Sara holdong the tag. You have to know that Sara never really sounded too excited about being a buffalo killer, and I would give her a hard time about it. She came through big. This was no easy hunt. Just ask Scott.

Shortly after this photo was taken, Sara left for Paris or somewhere to be a model or something. Nice work buddy. (Understatement of the year)

On to Greg. On a seperate post:

Year End Inventory

Not a lot gets me more excited than laying out all of my gear. What sucks is when I look at the pile of supplies and think of about a million other things I want/need for the upcoming year.

As you can see I have more camo clothes than regular clothes. I'm a "drug store" hunter. Not really sure what that means, but Greg said it once and from what I gather it means that all of your camo matches. Not such a bad label. One of the highlights from this year was when Greg couldn't pick me up on the hill because I blended so well. In order to guide me in he had to have me put my orange flap up on my pack. I have videos and pictures from that day on the way. Will post them later.....

In the mean time, here is all my gear laid out prior to being put away.

Pretty lame post I know. Just lets me know I need to get after it with my new camera and get more stories to tell.

2007 Highlights

My third official bow season complete, and not a single tag cut...

As most bow hunters will tell you, that's not the point. That's because most bow hunters didn't fill their tags. Not to say that there isn't any truth to that. 2007 provided me with some close calls, some almosts, and the standard amazing experiences that only bow hunting in the Wasatch Mountains can bring. But alas, no meat.

2007 Summary

Shots taken at big game animals: One, about an 80 yard effort, wide right (wind!). Target: A respectable 3x4 still in the velvet. My older brother Greg put me into this bedded buck via radio. What seemed like a 2 hour stalk, I rewarded myself with a questionable shot. Good hold, bad wind, oh well.

Days afield: ? Not sure, would take to long to figure out. From August to Decmber I was in the hills at least once a week, save a couple weeks here and there. Honestly not one of my best efforts, but probably because I compare myself to Greg. What is wrong with that guy?

Hunting areas: Almost all of my bow hunting took place on the extended. Opening weekend was a fruitless trip up to Tabiona. BCC took up about 80% of my hunt.

Tags in hand: deer and elk archery tags, what else do you need? I did put in for the Wasatch LE elk tag (unsuccesful) as well as the once in a lifetime bull moose tag (unsuccesful). As long as I get the season I currently have, and can cotinue to hunt in my own back yard, I don't care if I ever draw a premium tag.

Weapon: The beloved Hoyt Ultra Tec. What a bow. It's not her fault that in 3 years of bowhunting there was only one animal tagged with it (last years monster wasatch extended cow). She was being dragged around by an idiot, an idiot with a bow. Not a lot of things have had as much sentimental value to me as the Ultra Tec. My late wife Meagan gave it to me for our first anniversary. Yesterday was my last hunt with my first hoyt. Recently I was able to upgrade to the new Katera. Shoots great.

Huntin' buddies: Varied this year. Opening morning was spent with one of my best friends and business partner Jason Earl. His first year. The kids schedule alloted him only a few hours of hunting. Lorin Lewis, my other work buddy and best friend tagged along for a late season Wasatch afternoon. I watched Mark my brother, nearly arrow a nice three point on opening day. Later in the season we shared a remarkable morning high up one of our favorite canyons. The biggest bucks I saw all year were that day. Tim Gillingham allowed me to grace his presence in the field a couple of times. Tim is one of the top archers in the nation. He makes his living shooting his bow if you need him. But, most of the time you could find me with or near Greg. He leads the league in guiding me into bucks with his radio. What a dream season he had! Cool enough that eventually he will get his own post.

I'm in a great hunting situation. You could easily mistake my house as a base camp. 2007 is in the books, and there is great anticipation for '08.

Welcome to the Jungle

Is anyone reading this? Are you related to me? Well, whoever takes the time to peruse this "blog" is in for a real treat. I fancy myself as quite the writer, and the subject matter is one of my favorite things on the planet..... da' bow hunt! I will pour my heart into this betty. Hopefully it will not take me too long to learn the tricks and make this thing as user friendly as my sister Suzy's masterpiece. Check it out at www.thegladfamily.blogspot.com. In the mean time, bear with me. What I lack in fancy shiz, I will make up for in good story telling and lots of pictures and videos.
Even though the DWR says I can't aim my bow at deer and elk anymore this year (2007 archery hunting season officially ended yesterday) that doesn't mean that the archery season is over. That is the theme of this blog. When one season ends preparation for the next season begins immediately. In the coming months I will do a lot to prepare for the 2008 bow hunt (shoot my bow, shoot my bow competitavely, buy stuff for my bow, tune my bow, buy stuff for hunting/camping, camp, hike, scout, hunt, etc...). All of this will be chronicled.

Enjoy,
Brian Robbins