Rocky Tschappat and Gary Broughton Celebrate a Good Day With the Snagging Hooks.
Read More About Kokanee Salmon Here
A Hefty Stringer of Smoke (ed) – Fish, That Is…
Category Archives: Trophy Gallery
Small or Large, Exceptional By Records or Trophy Standards, or Not – Any Animal or Fish Ethically Taken Can Be a Prize to Be Proud Of…
Records of North American Big Game: A Book of The Boone and Crockett Club Compiled by The Committee On Records of North American Big Game, 1964.
“The best thing about hunting and fishing,’ the Old Man said, ‘is that you don’t have to actually do it to enjoy it. You can go to bed every night thinking about how much fun you had twenty years ago, and it all comes back clear as moonlight.” – Robert Ruark
I would also add, that pictures taken in the field can sure go a long way in that regard…
Enjoy!
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Sometimes It’s Grand To Be A Colorado Goose Hunter
Mountains Are For Rabbits Too!
What do you do when January seems more dark and blue than usual, and cabin fever threatens to ruin the day?
Well, grab some friends (or be grabbed) and get out there and do some small game hunting, of course.
I took this brace of mountain cottontails, and others, with a tack-driving .22 rifle in a heavy, knee-deep snow in northwestern Colorado.
It was a whole bunch of fun, and a fine meal of rabbit is just around the corner.
And remember, Spring will come…
A Pronghorn for the Books
It’s official.
My 2015 archery pronghorn antelope has officially scored 73 Pope and Young inches.
I took this great buck with a Samick recurve bow and a Fred Bear razorhead on a self guided hunt in Moffat County Colorado.
It’s not always about the trophy, but, then again, sometimes it is.
Pronghorns Rock!
How many more months to antelope season?
Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty
You can see the story of my hunt HERE.
There’s a Lot of Desert in This Sheep
Obtaining a Desert Bighorn Sheep permit from almost anywhere in North America generally requires a towering casino jackpot of luck, and that may be the easy part of any sheep hunt. However, it takes much more than wishful thinking and a lucky roll of the dice to harvest a really large trophy ram.
Don Waechtler took this stunning specimen in the Sheep Range near Las Vegas, Nevada in November of 2015, while hunting with Jim Puryear of Nevada Guide Service & World Safaris.
This is not just your average Desert Bighorn ram either. With a green score of 169 inches, it just may meet the Boone & Crockett minimum score of 168 inches when officially measured early next year. No doubt there may be some finger crossing here and there while Don waits for the end of the required 60 day drying period. But hey, what’s an extra month or two to matter when you have already waited thirty years for a tag?
Either way, it is a big game trophy of a lifetime, and proof positive that not all things that happen around Las Vegas stay in Vegas. Sometimes, you get to bring your winnings home.
Congratulations Don!
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*We have some copies of “The Desert Bighorn” in stock, as well as other sheep and sheep hunting titles for sale. Please email for quotes and availability.
You Might Also Like To See Some Interesting Colorado Bighorn Sheep Pictures HERE
*Don Waechtler, aka Slim, is a master taxidermist from Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He has been in business for over 35 years, and I highly recommend his work.
**Don is now retired, but I understand that he may do some work on a limited basis. Congratulations, Slim!
You Can find More Information on Nevada Guide Service HERE
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A Brace of Bobcats
Bobcats have always been hard game to come by, but it can be done.
They are rarely seen by the average person in their day to day activities, even though they are all around us. If you don’t believe that, just ask a bobcat hunter.
Here are a couple of cats taken while predator calling in northwestern Colorado.
The first cat responded to a mouth call at a first light morning in 1984; the second cat was taken with an electronic caller on a cold winter night a couple of years ago.
I would say that the weapon du jour has changed just a little bit over time, though perhaps the tactics are roughly the same.
Bobcats always make me wonder just what else lurks out there in the middle of the dark…watching…
Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty
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Some Young Hunter’s Luck!
Some call it luck. Some call it skill.
I know Mackenzie, so no doubt there was quite a bit of skill involved on this hunt.
Those young guys can sure throw the hindquarters around too!
Congratulations on a fine Mule Deer trophy.
Until next year! See you on the mountain.
Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty
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It’s Rainbow Trout For Dinner(s)
You have a clue that it’s a big one when you can’t fit it into a selfie.
I don’t know about you, but this is the biggest trout fillet that I have ever seen. No doubt there is a bit of an optical illusion going on here, but then again, maybe not…
There will be more than a few meals out of this fish, either way. It was caught in Colorado, but I’m afraid that I would not have a friend for very long if I told you exactly where.
This one is heading for the smoker after a proper brine and soak. I can almost smell the swirling woodsmoke now, teasing the recesses of my epicurean memory. I remember too, just how much I love a fresh trout dinner.
Perhaps it’s time to grab a fishing pole…
A SIMPLE BRINE RECIPE WITH MAPLE AND GINGER
- 8 cups water
- 2 cups soy sauce
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ginger
- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
Mix well, and brine fish for 6-10 hours. This should be enough liquid to cover 8-10 pounds of fillets.
Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty
You Know It’s Big When They Call It “The Spider Bull”
BOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB CONFIRMS NEW WORLD’S RECORD ELK
FRIDAY, JANUARY 02, 2009
MISSOULA, Mont. (By The Boone and Crockett Club)
Perhaps the largest elk ever produced in the wild—a Utah bull taken in 2008 by a hunter on public land—has been confirmed as a new World’s Record. The official declaration was made today by the Boone and Crockett Club.
A Special Judges Panel determined a final score of 478-5/8 Boone and Crockett non-typical points, an incredible 93 inches above the B&C minimum score of 385 for non-typical American elk and 13-plus inches larger than the previous World’s Record.
With official data dating back to 1830, at 499-3/8 inches it is the only elk on record with a gross score approaching the 500-inch mark.
The giant bull has 9 points on the left antler and 14 points on the right. The larger antler has a base circumference over nine inches.
The Boone and Crockett scoring system, long used to measure the success of wildlife conservation and management programs across North America, rewards antler size and symmetry, but also recognizes Nature’s imperfections with non-typical categories for most antlered game. The bull’s final score of 478-5/8 inches included an incredible 140 inches of abnormal points.
“Along with measurements that honor the quality of the animal, Boone and Crockett Club records also honor fair-chase hunting,” said Eldon Buckner, chairman of the Club’s Records of North American Big Game committee. “Through our entry process, signed affidavits and follow-up interviews with the hunter, his guides, and state and federal officials, we were satisfied that this bull was indeed a wild, free-ranging trophy and that the tenets of fair chase were used in the harvest.”
Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty
You Might Like Our Post About The John Plute Bull HERE
The Bowhunting Looks To Be Good In Virginia
Congratulations to the Virginia bowhunting contingent. We can’t wait to see what you turn up next.
-Cay McManus is a World Class Archer (literally). She has won the Indoor World Championship one time, and the World Outdoor Championship 5 times.
She has also won The National Field Archery Championship in various categories a total of 33 times, a record for any woman archer. As she said to me recently, would you like to help me dust some championship bowls?
It is an amazing accomplishment in any sport. As you can see, she knows her way around the deer woods too!
Rock On!
Posted by Michael Patrick McCarty