What an incredible 2023 hunting season for Ash. Since she would never brag about herself, I (her husband) will! We kicked off the year by going to Canada to hunt spring black bears. Ash ended up killing a giant black bear that went Boone and Crockett. It was an absolute hammer and was our last day of hunting.
The fall kicked off with her drawing a limited-entry muzzy elk tag in Utah. We hunted hard for seven days and finally killed an awesome 5x6 on the morning of day seven. It was a real grinder of a hunt all while four months pregnant.
Next was Colorado for second season deer. We had hunted the unit before and knew there would be a lot of pressure from elk hunters. With negative temps in the morning and a nasty storm during the first few days of the hunt, it was on! The deer started popping up out of nowhere. We glassed up a good buck across a canyon and began the stalk. (Ash was now five months pregnant.) The buck had moved from where we had last seen him and bedded down in the pine trees. We eventually saw just his antler and head sleeping in the snow. When he picked his head up, Ash felt confident in herself to make the shot. She had a small window and made it count. She pounded this buck at 350 yards.
A bear, bull, and buck for the 2023 season. Pretty fun stuff!