Rifle Bullet Selection for 2018...

A couple years ago a friend and I decided to buy a couple budget rifles. My intent was to have a short action rifle that would be suitable for my young sons to begin hunting with. We ended up purchasing matching Mossberg Patriot rifles in 7mm-08.

I had tinkered with a handful of different handloaded rounds but haven't found any one particular load yet that has really performed the way that I had hoped. I decided to try out a couple different factory loads to hunt with this fall and ended up getting a box of Hornady Superperformance GMX in 139gr and a box of Hornady American Whitetail Interlock SP also in 139gr from Widener's Reloading and Shooting Supply online store. I was intrigued by the GMX bullets, they are a solid metal lead-free bullet and having my 11 year old son use a lead-free bullet seems like something that could give a guy a little extra peace of mind that if/when an inexperienced young hunter makes a bad shot that we won't be finding lead fragments all over in the meat. I was also intrigued by the Interlock SPs, I have shot Interlock SPs exclusively out of my .30-06 over the last couple years and they shoot extremely well and have performed well terminally on a couple of cow elk in the last couple years.

139gr GMX - 200 Yards

I snuck away from work one morning earlier this week and headed over to the range before lunch. I was hoping to be early enough to beat the heat but all it took was one 200 yard walk to hang my targets to realize that there would be no beating the heat today. I set up to shoot the GMXs first and in short order had my first three shot group on paper. What I ended up with on paper wasn't exactly impressive, about a 7" group at 200 yards. I was hoping for a little bit better to be honest, so I quick shuffled out to switch the target out and give the Interlocks a try.

What I found on paper for the Interlocks was even less impressive than the GMXs... a group that appears to exceed 11" at 200 yards. That definitely would not do so I decided to put the Interlocks away and take another look at the GMXs.

139gr Interlock SP - 200 Yards

From the first target of GMXs I calculated the center of the group and adjusted my scope accordingly then walked a brand new target downrange and shot another group of GMXs at both 200 and 300 yards. Admittedly, I was surprised to see that the 200 yard group tightened up a bit from 7" to 5" and the 300 yard group showed real promise with the difference in windage being less than 1"... the elevation has a pretty good spread still but I really think I can attribute that to shooter error. I know I got a bit sloppy at 300 yards because I wasn't particularly confident that the ammo would perform well for me. But all in all I think I'm ok with giving these GMXs a try this year and hopefully with one or two more trips to the range I'll be able to get a really good feel for what these bullets are truly capable of.

139gr GMX - 200 Yard Group (red) and 300 Yard Group (blue)

I've ordered another box of the GMXs to use on a doe/fawn pronghorn hunt in Wyoming in October and for my son to use in November on an Idaho general and doe whitetail hunt.

Follow or subscribe (top of right sidebar) to follow me and my son this fall on our hunts, we've got a full fall with 7 tags between us along with some upland game and some epic fall fly fishing... we'll be posting full recaps when we get back from each adventure.

Antlerless spreadsheet updated.

The antlerless spreadsheet has been updated with the 2018 report data and is free to download. Click the image on the left, if you'd like to save a copy for your personal use just log in to your Google account and the download option will be available. If you don't have a Google account but would still like a copy of the file just send an email to utahbiggameodds@gmail.com and I'll respond with an attachment.

Thanks for following along and if you'd like to stay updated on everything that we have going on this fall just click that "Follow" button or enter your email to subscribe.

Cameras are up and taking pictures!

I was finally able to find some time on July 16th to break away from all of my real world responsibilities and go on a hike to get all of my trail cameras up for the summer. I'm a couple weeks later than I would have liked to be, but life is busy and mid-July will have to do for this year. I arrived at the cabin about 5:30pm, jumped on an ATV and by 6pm I was beginning my ascent into an area that I had never been. I decided to gain all my elevation as quickly as possible and it was a decision that had me second guessing whether that was in intelligent move or not after just a few minutes. The south facing slope was long, steep, and hot! When you can feel your heartbeat in your ears you start to wonder if it's worth it or not...

As I reached the ridgeline and continued west up the canyon I soon crossed the first major game trail that I had identified on Google Earth. I turned and followed the trail to the north onto a small bench and into a cluster of trees. I affixed one of my cameras onto a tree pointed squarely down the trail. I prefer to have my cameras pointing north, and this cameras was placed perfectly for my taste. Sadly, knowing I was long on hiking and short on daylight I hurried along without taking any pictures of each of the individual camera placements.

I backtracked to where I first intersected the trail and turned west, after another couple hundred yards I came to the next trail that I had identified on Google Earth. I turned and followed the trail north into the trees. Not far in the trees I noticed a trail cameras already perched on a tree along the trail. I waved as I faintly heard the shutter clicking. I was bummed that somebody had also identified this spot and had beaten me to it, but I also felt a measure of pride as I walked past the camera on the trail thinking to myself that this guy should have some great images of the critters that use this trail. Several yards further into the trees the canopy opened into a small clearing and I placed my second camera there. Several trails intersected in the middle of the clearing and I was able to locate a good tree for a north facing camera.

Again backtracking out to the open I turned and headed west further up the canyon. At this point I had hit both of the game trails I had identified on Google Earth so from here on out I would just be exploring this canyon. I picked out a patch of quaking aspen near the top of the canyon and worked my way to it. I found a very good game trail leading into it that hadn't been clearly visible on Google Earth and found a great spot to put another camera.

My next destination was a bowl with several ponds in it two canyons south of my current location so I started working my way that direction. I didn't realize how much elevation I had gained and was a little surprised to see the bowl open up below me after several minutes of hiking. I ended up circling all the way around the top and coming down to the ponds from the south so that I could work my way through the thick cover of the north facing slope looking for heavily used trails or bedding areas. I found one such area right in the middle of a clump of pines... the trail was well worn and the dirt was a fine powder that was several inches deep and along this trail were a number of bedding areas tucked up underneath the pine boughs that were so heavily used that the dirt was a fine powder here too devoid of the pine needles and other forest debris. I placed a camera where the trail passed through several individual bedding areas. Any pictures from this camera will be up close and personal... we'll see how they turn out.

I continued my way down to the pond that I usually sit over when I'm hunting and as I popped out of the pines I found myself in a small clearing with a number of trails merging and then heading east towards water. I found a tree here and placed my fourth camera.

Following the trail to the east I came to the location where I shot my buck last year, several small bones still littered the trail where I skinned and quartered him. I soon came to the pond that was the last place that I absolutely knew I wanted to put a camera. The problem with the area is the pond is out in the open with very few options for placing a camera anywhere close to the water. The only option I had was a small, half-dead pine tree that was the only piece of vegetation even remotely capable of holding up a trail camera. I snapped off a couple of the branches with brown needles and cleared a spot big enough for the camera. I'm not exactly sure how any of these pictures are going to look because the camera is nestled up underneath some branches.

It was getting late and the sun had set so I knew I had only a short period of time to hike out to the ATV then drive back to the cabin. I had placed six cameras in about a 3 mile area and I still had one left in my backpack. I figured that I'd take my last camera and put it on a tree overlooking the water trough out the back door of my grandparents cabin. They have always been excited to see my trail cam pictures over the years and they seem to always enjoy pictures of the deer that frequent the back steps of the cabin.

New trail cameras this year

Since my buddy Cody drew the single non-resident late muzzleloader deer tag for the area that we hunt, we decided that we needed to expand our trail camera capabilities. When it comes to trail cameras I'm a cheapskate and refuse to spend much more than about $50 for a camera that has a high likelihood of getting vandalized or stolen at some point, so I spent a good bit of time scouring Amazon for a decent budget trail camera. In the end I ended up purchasing three Primos Bulletproof 2 cameras.

I set them up in the backyard and let the camera do it's thing one evening as the kids ran around and played in the yard. Honestly, the pictures exceeded my expectations.

On Amazon, there was a review of these cameras that described how to make your own security boxes from an air conditioner fuse box. I've liked the CamLock boxes that I use with my older Primos TruthCam 35 cameras... not because it keeps the humans out, but rather keeps the cameras protected from those pesky cow elk that seem to get especially curious and have a tendency to get physical with trail cameras. So I bought three of the air conditioner fuse boxes that the Amazon reviewer recommended and went to work.

I used a 1" hole saw bit to cut the smaller bottom hole then a 2 1/2" hole saw bit for the large hole. With an oscillating hand tool I squared up the bottom hole... and viola!!! Three custom trail camera boxes!!!

After picking up a package of padlocks I was ready to hike them into the spots that I had selected while E-scouting on Google Earth.

Early summer fishing with the kids

Before the summer got too crazy with Scout Camps, soccer tournaments, and family reunions I made a promise to myself and my kids that we'd go fishing a couple times. I made good on my promise and for three weeks in a row I loaded up the family Suburban and headed to the lake near the family cabin to fish for the evening.

The first night was May 30th... it was a cloudy evening and when we got to the lake the clouds were low and ominous. All six of the kids came with me, leaving Mom home alone to get some sewing done. We passed a couple other fishermen on our way to the dam and they chatted with the kids as they ran past... a couple nice old guys. I rigged up half the poles with the classic red & white bobbers and some salmon eggs, then the other half of the poles with the new fangled yellow & orange bobbers with rainbow glitter PowerBait pearls. It didn't take long to figure out that the PowerBait was performing better so the salmon eggs were switched out for the PowerBait. I didn't get a line in the water at all that night, I spent nearly the entire time running from child to child to help untangle or help the youngest ones cast. In the end though we caught a handful of nice fish and the kids had fun. We ended up with 4 trout on the stringer & I couldn't have asked for much more than that. On the drive home my little brood of children turned into real fishermen!!! Stories were told in the backseat as we drove of the big ones that got away and by the time we arrived back home late that night all were sound asleep and I carried them in to their beds.

After the first trip the kids were anxious to go again so I made a deal with them that if they helped Mom out and went above and beyond with helping out with house chores that I'd take them again. On June 5th I got a text from my wife letting me know that the kitchen had been cleaned, the laundry folded and put away, and bedrooms had been cleaned... the kids wanted to go fishing again. Well twist arm!!! I hurried home that afternoon and again loaded up the Suburban. This time my two year old decided to stay home with Mom and watch a movie and eat popcorn. So I loaded up the other 5 kids and headed for the lake. The sun was out and the weather was perfect. We started with the same PowerBait rig as the week before and for the first 20 minutes we didn't get a single bite. I grabbed one of the poles and quickly switched the red & white bobber out for a clear "bubble" and tied on a black leech pattern about four feet behind the bobber. I figured it had always worked well up there before so it was worth a try. I filled the bobber completely full, heaved it out into the lake and after a "10 Mississippi" count began a steady retrieve.

It didn't take long to feel that first unmistakable strike and in short order a smallish rainbow made it's way into my net. It was a mad scramble to switch all the poles over to the fly & bubble rig, but once I did it was fast and furious for the next hour and in total we landed 9 trout that evening. I had so much fun that night... I made one cast (and caught that one fish) but spent the rest of the evening responding to the shouts of "Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad... I got one!!!" and looking down the bank to see one of the kids with the rod doubled over. With each shout there was a second scramble for the net, there were fights over who got to net the next one. Just before dark we decided to call it a night and we made out way home with more stories being told of the big ones that got away in the backseat of the suburban.

On June 12th I got another text from my wife... the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms were clean and the kids had only one expectation... for Dad to take them fishing! This time my 4 year old decided to stay home with Mom and 2 year old brother so I had my oldest 4 kids this trip. There was no hesitation this time, we began with the fly & bubble rig and never looked back. Fishing was a good bit slower this trip but my 6 year old had the magic touch and he landed 2 of the 4 that night.

His second fish was a beautiful 16 inch plus rainbow that he put the squeeze on and had to show to the old guy fishing just down the bank from us. He was so proud of that. This trip was absolutely relaxing for me... I didn't even rig up my own pole and I just watched and coached... I focused mainly on my 6 year old as the older three had figured how to cast and didn't want my help anymore. This would be the last time for a little while that we would be able to go fishing... my oldest would have a soccer tournament the next weekend (which his team ended up winning, playing 5 games in less than 48 hours... four of them in less than 24 hours... scoring 30 goals and only conceding 1).

My second son requested that we cook the fish for his birthday dinner so my wife got half of the fillets out of the freezer and began to work her magic. We have a fantastic homemade chicken nugget breading recipe that the kids just love so we breaded and fried them... trout nuggets. They were amazing.