Hello,

I hope you're all having a good summer...fall hunting season is just around the corner.  I'm looking forward to guiding several moose hunts this fall.  It should be a great whitetail season as well since the easy winters have just kept on coming and deer numbers/age structure is in great shape.  There are still thousands of nonresident deer tags available and I have a few openings for rut hunts still open.  I have an opening for one hunter during Thanksgiving week (arrival 11/18, departure 11/25).  The only problem is that I'm out of beds in the bunkhouse that week so I'd set you up with a comfortable motel room about 10 miles away.

This year is unusual in that there is a full week of deer hunting available after Thanksgiving week.  I started out not selling hunts for that week because I normally need to be in Montana for lion season November 30th, but then the Montana Dept. of Fish, Wildlife and Parks shot all the outfitters in the foot by eliminating the quota system and initiating a drawing system in which nonresidents have a very slim chance of getting a tag.  Consequently I will be able to have whitetail hunters here in Idaho for the last week of deer season and I will be able to book lion hunters for the opening of the Idaho lion season for the first time in quite a few years.  I can still take 2 deer hunters for that week (arrival 11/25, departure 12/2).  Since lion season begins the day after deer season ends it would be possible to book a combo hunt with your lion hunt beginning immediately after your deer hunt.  Or if you're just interested in lions that opening week of the season is still available since I had been holding it open for the Montana hunt that turned out to be nonexistent! 

I have a variety of dates available throughout the winter for bobcat/lion hunts and I'm looking forward to getting some good use out of the additional territory I purchased last year.  Much of it is in low-snow/winter-range type country which resulted in it being mostly unhuntable last winter.  I've placed my order for a good winter this year though so I'm expecting great things!  Some locals have been telling me about recent lion sightings which is also encouraging.

The bear hunts for next spring are nearly booked but I do still have a few openings for baited or spot and stalk style hunts.

I've been keeping busy and mostly out of trouble this summer by cruising timber in eastern Washington and right around home here in north Idaho.  Inbetween crusing I've been stretching my limited carpentry skills to the max by rebuilding the deck, log stairs and log railing on the house as well as trying to lay up a pile of firewood for this good winter I've got ordered!  Hope you're all doing well and if you have any questions or if you'd rather not be receiving this newsletter just drop me a line.

Clint Gray
Buckshot Outfitting
208-267-3885
www.buckshotoutfitting.com

Howdy,

I've been waiting to send out this update until I learned the results of a critical decision by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks game commission with regards to the proposed mountain lion regulations for next season.  They've made their decision so now I'll pass that along to you.  As you may or may not know, Montana's lion season has been on a quota system which results in a bit of a rat-race and a short 1-2 week season in the better areas.  But because they do manage for a relatively high lion population we were always able to maintain high success.  But now in all of northwestern Montana they've eliminated the quota and gone to a drawing for tags, which will eliminate the rat-race and make for a long 3+ month long season.  Furthermore, they've restricted nonresidents to no more than 10% of the lion tags for any one district.  That's going to make it very difficult for a nonresident to get a lion tag in northwestern Montana.  But if a person can get a tag it will make for a fantastic hunt.  What I intend to do is create an e-mail list of interested applicants and I'll e-mail details on when, where and how to apply for the tags to anyone interested.  This is a very unpopular decision in Montana as it devastates the lion hunting portion of the outfitters' businesses and the vast majority of local houndsmen were opposed to it as well.  For these reasons I think it's fairly likely that the decision will be reversed in a year or two.  So I would strongly recommend anyone interested in a mountain lion hunt to apply for these tags while it's an option, because it may be a very limited opportunity for the highest quality lion hunt you'd ever be able to find anywhere.  Just drop me an e-mail if you'd like me to add you to the lion list and I'll be in touch with more details.

The lion hunt in Idaho this year was abysmal.  There seemed to be fewer lions and we were fighting poor snow conditions throughout almost the entire winter.  Plentiful bobcats were our consolation and we did well on them despite the poor snow.  There are large portions of my territory that are lake aspect and consequently get much less snow, The last 2 years have been such light winters that I've basically been unable to hunt them and they've gone untouched.  I'm looking forward to getting a half-way normal winter again so that I can utilize those areas!

This winter we had a photographic mountain lion hunter from Sweden that my dad guided on a 4-day trip in Montana.  He got some excellent photos and I've added a few of them to the photographic lion hunts page of my website.  I also updated the main photo gallery of the website with photos from this year's lion and bobcat hunts.  The new pictures are all on pages 9 and 10 of the photo gallery.

The light winter we received was a curse for the lion hunting but it was a blessing for the deer.  Winter mortality should have been virtually nil and I'm looking forward to seeing some big bucks on the game pole this fall.  I still have some openings there for 2006.

Spring bear season is right around the corner and I still have a week available for a baited hunt and a week available for a spot and stalk hunt. 

For those of you on my moose applicant list, I'll be in touch in about a month with the details for applying for a moose tag.  If you're not on the list and you want to be just drop me a line and I'll take care of it.

The family is all doing well and I hope the same is true for you and yours.  Thanks for reading, and as always, just let me know if you'd prefer not to receive this newsletter and I'll remove your name from the list.  Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Clint Gray
Buckshot Outfitting
208-267-3885
www.buckshotoutfitting.com

Hello Everybody!

As the subject line suggests, it is time to apply for a moose tag.  The month of April is the application period so if it's something you want to do it would probably be smart to get going on it now.  I put together a table showing the hunts that take place on my outfitting territory and what the drawing success has been for those hunts the last 2 years.  Hopefully the table e-mails ok, I did a test to myself and it seemed to work.  But if it doesn't come through to you just let me know and I can send it a different way.  All of this information is available on the Idaho Fish and Game website as well.

If you're interested in applying for a bull tag you have 5 choices in 3 different moose areas.  The regular hunts have long seasons, 8/30-11/23, but beginning in 2005 they began offering some additional tags for a 7-day hunt, 9/24-9/30. 

The new short hunts are 3002 and 3008.  You can see that there were some very high drawing odds for these hunts in 2005.  I think that's because many people were unaware of them and the people who were aware were nervous about having only a 7-day window to hunt.  For 2006 I expect to see considerably more applicants because the word is out on these hunts now, but I would still expect draw odds to remain better than they are for the regular hunts due to people's continued reluctance to have only a 7-day hunt.  I prefer to hunt moose later in the fall when the leaves have fallen and there's the likelihood of snow, but this hunt is during the rut and I'm confident we could find a quality bull during this time period as well.  If this hunt appeals to you and the time period works with your schedule it may be a good one to apply for.  I'd suggest hunt 3002 in unit 1-1.  "The Huntin' Fool," Garth Carter's publication, drew attention to this hunt for its high draw odds and high success in 2005 which will undoubtedly result in a surge in applicants. 

The general season bull hunts available are 3001, 3003, and 3007.  Out of these three I would suggest 3003 in area 1-2.  It's essentially our back yard, has bulls every bit as good as any unit in the state, and typically has slightly better drawing odds.  We let 2 absolute monster bulls slip through our fingers while moose hunting this unit in 2005 and I'd like to get another crack at them!

My second choice would be 3001 in 1-1.  It's an excellent area as well but due to promotion received from Garth Carter it has been a more popular choice, especially among nonresidents.  As you may know, nonresidents are limited to no more than 10% of the tags in any one unit.  As long as nonresidents compose less than 10% of the applicants it really makes no difference and a nonresident has exactly the same odds as a resident, which has always been the situation in past years.  However, in 2005 nonresidents made up almost exactly 10% of the applicants for the 3001 hunt and if the trend continues in 2006 then nonresidents will be more than 10% and their odds of successfully drawing a tag will be reduced.

I'd generally avoid all of the hunts offered in Unit 2.  There is some good moose hunting there but it's better in Unit 1.  Drawing odds are also generally lower in Unit 2 due to a higher population of people applying for tags there.

If you're interested in an antlerless moose I'd suggest hunt 3103 in 1-1.  Killing a moose used to be a once in a lifetime opportunity in Idaho but last year they changed the law to allow a person to kill one bull and one cow in a lifetime and you can see a big drop in the draw odds as a result of this in 2005.  If you can pull one of these tags it will be a fun hunt and we'll definitely be sending you home with some meat.

As far as the mechanics of applying for a tag go, you must first purchase an Idaho hunting license and then you can apply for the tag.  The following link will take you to a page with the application worksheet as well as links to purchase the hunting license: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/ch/apply.cfm  Results of the draw will be out by at least June 10th, and usually it's considerably earlier than that.

If you have questions about any of this just let me know.  Good Luck!

Clint Gray
Buckshot Outfitting
208-267-3885
www.buckshotoutfitting.com 

Howdy Everybody,

I figured it was about time for an update.  Perhaps the most amazing news is that I finally got around to updating the photo gallery of the website.  I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd last done that.  It's really kind of a pain for someone as lazy as me...since I don't use a digital camera I have to scan the pictures, then photoshop them to the right size and resolution, then upload them to my website with my archaic dial-up connection, and then I can finally get them laid out on the website.  I'm also running out of clever little captions (all right, maybe they never were all that clever, but I tried!), for each photo so please cut me some slack in that department!  I would just quit the photo gallery thing completely except that I get so many positive comments from people that seem to enjoy them.  I include photos of nearly every animal we take, be it miniscule, middlin', or monstrous whereas many other outfitters' websites will include only pictures of the 5 or 10 biggest critters they've bagged in 15 years or however long they've been doing it.  That might cost me some hunt sales but at least the folks that do choose to hunt with me have realistic ideas about what to expect.  Anyway, the most recent pictures I've added are at the end of page 8 and all of page 9 of the photo gallery.  The gallery is now up to date with the exception of the Montana lion hunt from last week since I haven't developed those pictures yet. 

The first moose hunter of the year drew a tag for the new 7 day season.  He started out hunting on his own and when he contacted me we had only 2 days left to hunt.  There are a lot of moose up here but to try and be selective with only 2 days to hunt is pushing it a bit.  We saw several bulls the first day but either passed on them or were unable to make a shot opportunity.  Early on the morning of the second day we took an average bull about 37" wide and Bob had a freezer full of great meat.  The hunt was at the end of September and although the leaves were still thick the bulls were rutting like mad.  With a few more days to hunt I think we could have pulled out a monster but given what we had to work with I think we did alright.

The next moose hunter had a 7-day hunt planned for the beginning of November.  I was really looking forward to this one because all the leaves would be off and there would be a good chance of snow on the ground to improve visibility even more.  As it turned out we did have great snow but a mix-up on the tag cost us 2 1/2 days of our hunt while we waited for the Fish and Game office to open on Monday morning so the hunter could get a duplicate tag.  Despite that we had a great hunt and saw a total of at least 42 moose in about 3 1/2 days of hunting.  On the first day out, the first moose we saw turned out to be an absolute monster...one of the biggest I've ever seen and clearly 50" plus.  I guess it caught us both a little flat-footed though and despite a couple shooting opportunities no lead was flung in his direction.  Over the next 2 days we passed on some bulls, one of which looked to be around 45".  Thursday morning we ran into a group of 3 bulls, one of which was tremendous.  This time powder was burned, lead was flung, but all we had to show for our effort was a small clump of cut hair.  Shortly after that we encountered another bull which we initially rejected because he wasn't as wide as we were hoping for.  But after watching him a bit more and noticing the great depth of his palms we decided maybe he was a shooter after all.  By the time we decided this it was a little tougher shot...and another bull escaped our clutches.  Friday morning was the last day of the hunt and we essentially went out with the intention of making meat...which we did pretty quickly with an average bull.  Overall, the moose hunting was a blast this year and I'm looking forward to some of you pulling tags in years to come.

The whitetail hunt this year was pretty fair, although we didn't knock down any monsters.  We took a total of 4 bucks, one 3x4, two 4x4s and a 5x5.  Three of the four bucks taken this year were the hunters' first whitetails and one of the four was the hunter's first deer of any kind.  It was a lot of fun to see these guys connect.  There was a very nasty case of stomach flu that came through camp this year and cost people some valuable hunting time.  I also lost two hunters due to the fact that they didn't purchase their tags in advance and the nonresident deer tag quota was filled for the first time in many years.  I was monitoring the quota closely online and there appeared to be plenty of tags as usual but apparently the Fish and Game had a backlog of purchased tags that they had not updated on their website so the tags remaining in the quota went from around 750 to zero in about 1 day.  Definitely a lesson to be learned there...as soon as you know for certain that you'll be deer hunting in Idaho you should buy your tags to avoid disappointment!  The locals knocked down some great whitetails this year and a neighbor kid connected with an incredible 32" muley.  The deer hunting keeps getting better every year and I don't think next year will be an exception due to the fact that we've made it to mid-December now and the snow is still relatively shallow.  The killer winters are always the ones that start early and stay late so even if winter really turns it on now I believe we'd have only minor mortality.

The final bit of news I have is on our Montana lion hunt from last week.  I had 3 hunters booked for the first week but one guy had a complication with Montana's online licensing system and consequently missed the 8/31 deadline for purchasing a mountain lion tag.  He still came along with his father-in-law to enjoy the hunt, but not as a shooter.  So we had 2 lion hunters for the first week and one got his cat on the first day and the other got his on the second.  Both hunters were subscribers to the one lion in the tree is better than two in the bush school of thought and both lions happened to be females.  So we didn't account for any monster toms in Montana this year but both cats will make awesome life-size mounts.

I haven't started with the Idaho lion hunts yet this winter but am looking forward to what should be a good year, especially with the additional guiding territory I purchased from the adjoining outfitter.  This winter is booked for lion but there may be some possible windows for bobcats remaining.  I'm also working on getting next winter booked now.

The spring bear season is getting close to being booked but I still have the first week of May open for a spot and stalk or baited hunt, and an opening for a single hunter during the 4th week of May for spot and stalk.

Well, I think that about does it...as well it should since I've written a goldang book here!  Hope you all had a great fall and I wish you a Merry Christmas! 

Clint Gray
Buckshot Outfitting
208-267-3885
www.buckshotoutfitting.com

If you'd prefer not to receive this newsletter just let me know and I'll remove your name from the list.  If your name was somehow duplicated on my list and you receive more than one copy of the same newsletter let me know and I'll try to take care of that too.  Thanks.