Archery Elk Hunt 2009

Mathews Reisen Bow with all the bells and whistles: $1,299

(1) dozen broken practice Gold Tip aarows: $105

Laying the wood to two elk within 30 seconds: PRICELESS

What can we say, the archery elk hunt this year was long anticipated!! We practiced long hours with our bows, spent far too much money on gear, and scouted the high mountains of southern Utah with hopes of connecting with a couple of elk. Before we knew it the hunt was upon us. Ryan and I packed up and headed for the beautiful Fish Lake National Forest for a whole week. We hunted hard covering a lot of ground and putting in our time on the mountain. Finally, after almost a week we dialed in on a very large herd of elk containing cows, spikes and a few bulls. We found a heavily used water hole to sit on for the evening. It was a very uneventful afternoon until about an hour before dark. We had not seen or heard anything, so we decided to let loose a few cow calls to see what happened. That's when things got pretty nutty! Almost immediately we had a group of elk responding back to us, and moving into the waterhole. Before you know it, both Ryan and I were at full draw side by side. The first elk to come through presented me a 60 yard shot. Connection. The next spike in line stepped out giving Ryan a shot. Connection. We could not believe what just happened! All we can say is we then had a lot of work ahead of us to get all the meat back to camp. What a great hunt! Many awesome memories will be remembered for a very long time from this trip.

Ryan packing out the head of his beast

This cow had a HUGE body on her

We passed the long afternoon painting our faces waiting for the magical moment

Pre-season scouting

Provo River

Well the team was at it again. This time we decided to hit the Provo. We started off underneath, and once we figured things out started slaying em as usual. All dinks though. Still it was alot of fun catching fish and missing more. The day was going great till Jay reached down to grab his net and it was gone. The river Gods took it and never looked back. Just his luck the river was runnin' high and by the time he realized it was gone, it was probably all the way to Deer Creek. After spending a couple of hours there in hopes of some dry fly action that never came we went to Master White's secret spot (not really) where he guaranteed us the biggest fish of the season so far. He did not disappoint.
Jay had the hot hand, catching some piggy browns, and then Rick got into the action as well. All Ryan wanted to do was take a nap! Poor guy was all pooped out. All in all it was another great adventure in this great state we call home.

Daniels Res.

Rick with a well earned bow
Is that necessary?

Another silver bullet



The HOG of the day.


The cast n blast boys decided to head to Idaho this weekend. Heard the ice was off and we were excited. Maybe a little too excited. The ice was off that was for sure but so was the fishing. We fished hard all day and only managed 5 fish between the three of us. Poor Ryan got the old skunk! The wind was blowing like the dickens and the water was murky. Still a ways to go before ole Daniels gets good, but you can bet when it does we will be there for revenge. Couldnt have asked for a better day with the pals on the water though.

Dry Flying the Weber

My biggest Cutt from the Weber.

Cutt on the dry!

First Brown of the day. 

Get It While It's Hot!

This time of the year is a wonderful time to be out fishing! Warmer weather means increased insect activity and more importantly hot fishing activity. This weekend found members of the Team fishing both the Provo and the Weber. Although the rainbows are not yet spawning, we managed to tie into plenty of fish both above and below surface. The Provo provided for exciting dry fly action most of the day. Ryan and Rick tried a couple different sections of river that all provided fish. As for the Weber, we headed to the "usual spots" and without fail landed our share of fish. Jay managed to have the hot hand for the browns.

Provo River Brown on Ryan's custom fly.

Provo Rainbow

Ryan finds a hoagie sandwich to be lucky bringing in the fish.

Jay hooked into this great Brown.

Ryan backs up a nice one of his own.

The Weber Is On Fire

Ryan's ol man Bill pulling in a hard fighting Brown.

There are days where everything seems to come together. This was one of those days. It was another beautiful day on the river.

Rick put a hurt on the Tiger's. 

Ryan and Rick doubling it up in the honey hole.

Jay found this bad boy down deep!

Rick had the lucky pole today. He couldn't keep the Brown's and Tiger's like this one off his fly.

Rick got this with his secret hand tied dry fly.

Jay holding up a good Brown. Jay had his wisdom teeth taken out the day before. He is a hardcore! That is a true fly fisherman

Another nice Brown from our honey hole!

Rick with another perfect cast.