Greeting from Virginia (U.S.) - NEW here..just joined

[HankBuck]

Looking forward to learning from other hunters and hearing about their experiences - happy to share mine as well. I started hunting in NJ at 14 - rabbits/quail/pheasant and later got a boat for Duck hunting. Around age 20 I added deer (with no success) but things started to improved when I added Bow Hunting - learned more, got better, made fewer mistakes. Added hunting dogs and that helped me learn even more and added another component and made me want to get out more often “for the dog”....got me to travel to other States too. Once I had some extra $$ - booked guided hunts for bear/Maine, Deer/Alabama, WY, IL, NY then Elk/MT, NM, and one trip for Griz/Alaska, one more to Tanzania Buff & Plains game. Travel less now and enjoy Do-it-myself. Still have a lot to learn but enjoy the process and have Never had a bad day in the woods !

 

[Mekaniks]

Looks like you will fit right in around here

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Welcome to AH.

 

[nztimb]

Giday Hank and welcome to the A H forums.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Hello Hank, welcome to AH. Sounds like you have lived big. When did you do yougo to Tanzania?

 

[Velo Dog]

Greetings HankBuck,

Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris of Namibia, welcomes you to the greatest forum on earth.

I for one am hopeful that you will post some hunting reports, especially the Alaska grizzly one and the Tanzania buffalo / plains game one.

Best Regards,
Velo Dog.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Welcome to AH!

 

[MATTANJA HUNTING SAFARIS]

Welcome to AH!!

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Welcome to AH HankBuck! You'll fit right in.

 

[tws503]

Welcome to AH. Enjoy the forum, it's very addicting.

 

[cpr0312]

Hello and welcome!

 

[HankBuck]

Hello Hank, welcome to AH. Sounds like you have lived big. When did you do yougo to Tanzania?

Well I don’t know that I’ve “lived big” (wish I did) as my summary of hunting covered 40+ years, but I tried to do some different things and travel to places time off from work and money allowed. Africa/Tanzania was in 2006 and I’d thought I’d be able to go back several time but that hasn’t happened. Took my Son and enjoyed everything about the trip - it was a very different part of the World, poverty was severe and you saw it everywhere you went - except in the bush...made me appreciate living in the U.S.
Prepared for the trip for months and bought double rifle (Chapuis .470NE) just for that hunt - Wife was very supportive so upgraded the stock to nicer wood, left handed cheek piece etc.. Loved shooting it, surprised at the accuracy, recoil was also impressive but manageable. Staying in tented camp for 11 days was by far the “most pampered” I’ve ever been. I thought the trip was expensive then but it was a bargain compared to today - trophy fees alone doubled or tripled since then. Would still like to go back but doubtful and my .470NE is a bit large for Virginia deer (although I did use on a Maine bear hunt).

 

[kdenn]

Welcome.

 

[HankBuck]

Greetings HankBuck,

Khomas Highland Hunting Safaris of Namibia, welcomes you to the greatest forum on earth.

I for one am hopeful that you will post some hunting reports, especially the Alaska grizzly one and the Tanzania buffalo / plains game one.

Best Regards,
Velo Dog.

Happy to give feedback on my hunts but Tanzania was 2006/17 years ago and Alaska 2009 - not sure how relevant or helpful my info would be? For the $$ - Africa yielded more action, saw game multiple times everyday, we were always “on” something. Buffalo were plentiful and we saw herds daily, trophy quality was ok but certainly not if you wanted over 38”...still numerous old heavy bossed bulls. Plains game quality was less, only saw Zebra once, Wildebeest once, waterbucks once, no kudu, but since I never took any African game - it was not a disappointment for me...Alaska was a One & Done - Spring Griz hunt, 5’ of snow on the ground, never left camp for first 6 days then had one bear spotted, snow mobile 10 miles, sit-wait-spot-stalk-shoot=Done! The Outfitter delivered, scenery was spectacular, tented accommodations were comfortable especially for the temp ranges -5 F at night up to 70 one day. I got a good bear 8’5” - but it was Not exciting, at least Not for me, the end was “too easy” - like a shooting a 500lb. Hamster....odd to complain about a successful hunt and I’m happy I tagged out. I’d go again but to either Kodiak or the Peninsula and would never do a Spring hunt again —- Fall Hunts allow more bear to be seen and other game as well.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

On these tented hunts where does the energy come from to heat the living space and generate hot water to wash?

 

[AimSmall]

A great place to hang out with like-minded people. Welcome!

 

[Hunt anything]

Welcome, what part of Virginia?

 

[HankBuck]

On these tented hunts where does the energy come from to heat the living space and generate hot water to wash?

There was No heat in the tents - although we had a small 1lb. portable Propane heater that we turned on only in the morning before getting out of our sleeping bags to dress. My sleeping bag (down/rated to -40F) was the most important piece of equipment I had. Then there was a large “Cook tent” that had a wood stove for heat, also a very small primitive log cabin with wood stove & propane fueled cook grill. There was No washing of anything. We ate meals in the small cabin, and hung out all day in the Cook Tent... Scouting for Bear was done only by the guides - they flew Cessna planes daily - 40 miles in every direction looking for signs of a bear coming out of den (visible due to snow covered ground) or cutting fresh tracks (also visible from air if sunlight was bright and tracks in snow clearly visible). You can Not hunt anything in Alaska the day you fly in or the day spotted from the air - must pursue on foot or snowmobile the following day. With hundreds of square miles between bears - the waiting in Camp was the “boring” part and reason I’d opt for a Fall hunt if I go again. On Day 6 guide finally located a single boar that just came out of his den - about 15 miles from camp. The next day my guide and I set out on snowmobiles to locate that bear. Set up on a hill top in the “general area” and glassed for 4 hours and finally spotted him one mile away - stalked on snow mobile to within 1/2 mile then snow shoes to get the remaining 1/2 mile. It worked out. That was the only bear spotted in 11 days - I was lucky to get the chance and it was a decent bear. The only other hunter in camp never got a chance. He was too out of shape to have made the snow mobile trek and snow shoe hike that I did. That hike & stalk was the only real challenge of the hunt, once in position the actual shot was nothing and why it lacked the excitement I wanted. For me, the “hunt & chase” is much more important then just getting the trophy.

 

[HankBuck]

Welcome, what part of Virginia?

Fredericksburg....the hottest most humid place on Earth (North of the Amazon)

 

[Nyati]