HUNT Stories

As a kid, it was the weekend I thought about for months. It was the couple days out of the year I got to spend doing what I love with the people I love. A week before that first weekend of December, I would lay out all of my clothing and gear. My parents definitely got annoyed that I crowded up the dining room table with hunting gear but I couldn’t help myself. From a 5-year-old that could barely see over the dash of a pickup to the man I am today, I will forever cherish those hunting memories and the ones that are to come.  Continue reading →

A BlackOvis Utah Archery Mountain Goat Hunt I believe chasing your dreams is worth every bit of the chase. In fact, when it comes right down to it, chasing your dreams is often more about the chase than the realization of the dream itself. Some dreams take years to obtain, others take a lifetime, while some remain forever just outside of our grasp. Continue reading →

About Me My interest in hunting began at the young age of seven years old when I would tag along my father during the Iowa whitetail gun season. It wasn’t long after that and I was eventually able to carry a gun. I remember counting down the days and laying out all of my gear weeks in advance. Once I got into high school I had decided to give bowhunting a try. I was mostly interested in it because I knew it would give me more than just one weekend a year of whitetail hunting.  Continue reading →

(Submitted from BlackOvis Customer Glen Gust) It all started late December 2017 when told my wife that September 2018 was going to be the year I wanted to go on my first elk hunting trip. I shared my thoughts with an older brother Rollin that had just started archery hunting after a number of years of being off. He was on board. At the time I was 55 and my brother was 64. Also by May Carrie my wife joined forces. Shortly after I had made my decision I became a member of Elk101 and was getting into the online course. The course is so well thought out and I really enjoyed getting into all the information. I loved all the planning and research that goes into a backcountry hunt. From learning to call, to what goes into a pack ready for the back country, clothing and footwear, what state to hunt?? Wow, I could tell I hadn’t started too early. The big thing about Elk101 that really helped me was all the really pertinent information all condensed in one place. It was so accessible. Another thing that was so helpful was all the other resources that Cory was linked up with. gohunt, OnX, EXO, Rocky Mountain calls BlackOvis, MTN OPS, all of them we subscribe to or have purchased from them. From diet changes to a major change in our exercise program it was charge time. A quote that OnX had on their cover page last summer and fall became our motto, “Success favors the prepared”. We did our best to leave no stone unturned. Along the way we always seemed to be enjoying our new adventure no matter what challenges we faced along the way. Continue reading →

In this day and age, in a world of self promotion and images that travel faster through social media than wildfire in a dry forest, how does a potential all time world record archery mule deer buck harvested in early September not be seen around the world until now? It starts and ends with a humble guy who is less interested in hype than he is in the hunt. Enter the bowhunter who harvested this once in a generation buck, Justin Gordon of Kamas, Utah. His drive and passion for pursuing mature mule deer in the high country has been his focus for nearly two decades. He's humbly gone about honing his craft and skill, all the while refining his equipment selection in order to spend time on public land, in true DIY (Do It Yourself) fashion pursuing his dream: to harvest a mature mule deer buck surpassing the magical 200" mark. ONCE IN A GENERATION Continue reading →

1st Time Archery Elk Hunt | The Growth of Unsuccess By: Chris Neff    A couple weeks back I had the chance to go on a fully guided archery elk hunt up in Colorado with our warehouse manager Jason Stein.  Jason actually had quite a bit of experience hunting elk and I was able to learn a lot by watching him on this hunt but the coolest part is that Jason is hearing impaired. Let me just start by saying that Jason is a hunting idol of mine now.  Picture hunting without being able to hear a single sound. How and where would you know where to hunt besides what you see?  Every year he gets it done and he can even bugle way better than I can.  Try making a sound that you have never heard before and can't even hear yourself producing... It's pretty insane.  At first I was a little worried about how we were going to communicate but luckily we had an eight and a half hour car ride and he was able to teach me a bit of ASL and let's face it, when you're hunting there is little talking anyways and a lot of hand signs.  I was taught countless tips and techniques for hunting elk from both Jason and our guide Kyle and quickly realized that it was a completely different ball park then hunting mule deer, which I knew but I decided to keep a journal and record the events every day to share that with all of you.  Pardon the novice writing skills but feel free to kill some time and dive into my experience and how our hunt unfolded in Taylor Park, Colorado!  **For the sake of the Outfitters Privacy and Respect, I have changed the names of all the areas that we hunted** Continue reading →