Muzzy success on the Manti

Gorilla

Gorilla

Active Member
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My oldest boy took advantage of his last year to participate in the youth mentor program and was successful on a great bull elk. This is the first time I have hunted elk during the muzzleloader dates. Normally I have had good success calling but on this hunt the hoochi mama did me dirty. Everytime I hit the hoochi call, the cows immediately ran off with the bull following behind.

So I left the calls at camp and we went in stealth mode. We heard this bull at first light and snuck in close with the wind at our face. We got to within 30 yards in the thick timber just waiting for a shot window. My boy made a great shot and the rest is history.

Now if only his highschool football coach had some perspective in life. My boy missed one practice in 3 years to hunt opening day and he was benched for the senior night football game on Friday. First thing my boy said after seeing the bull on the ground. He would sit out 100 football games for this experience ;)

Screenshot_20221003-134220_Gallery.jpg
 
Wonder when your coach suited up the last time……….., if you never play another football game for as long as you live, you made the right decision.

57 years ago, I went to my high school coach and said, if you want me to play football this year, I want you to know, in August, I will be gone hunting November 12, 13, 14, and 15. He said, “You mean your going to let the whole team down?” I said, “No, that’s why I’m telling you right now, so you can tell me I’m not welcome to play or you can prepare right now with how you want to deal with it.” He told me not sign up to play……… but he changed his mind. I went hunting……… never killed a thing and never regretted it for a minute. Coach never got over it either. We all have unique priorities…….. we have ours, they have their’s…… as it should be.

When I grew a family and had higher priorities than hunting and the boss said, “work or find another job, to hell with your deer hunt, I worked”. Priorities matter!
 
I have a cousin who was given a full ride football scholarship at a very small college. A month in to the season he told his coach that he was going to be gone for a week in November for elk season. The coach said if he did that then he wouldn't play the rest of the year.
He quit on the spot.
 
Great bull..!! Was it your tag? Or who mentored him? Were there any difficulties or was he pretty spot on and ready for it.?
 
Mbogo said:
I have a cousin who was given a full ride football scholarship at a very small college. A month in to the season he told his coach that he was going to be gone for a week in November for elk season. The coach said if he did that then he wouldn't play the rest of the year.
He quit on the spot.
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A little different situation, in my opinion. Scholarships are contract wherein both make an agreement involving the exchange for monitory value. That choice should be considered and determined prior to signing, imo.
 
Congrats, that’s a great bull! Your son should show that bull to the coach, he might become interested in becoming a mentor!
 
Gorilla said:
My oldest boy took advantage of his last year to participate in the youth mentor program and was successful on a great bull elk. This is the first time I have hunted elk during the muzzleloader dates. Normally I have had good success calling but on this hunt the hoochi mama did me dirty. Everytime I hit the hoochi call, the cows immediately ran off with the bull following behind.

So I left the calls at camp and we went in stealth mode. We heard this bull at first light and snuck in close with the wind at our face. We got to within 30 yards in the thick timber just waiting for a shot window. My boy made a great shot and the rest is history.

Now if only his highschool football coach had some perspective in life. My boy missed one practice in 3 years to hunt opening day and he was benched for the senior night football game on Friday. First thing my boy said after seeing the bull on the ground. He would sit out 100 football games for this experience ;)

View attachment 88957
Click to expand...
That is truly an outstanding bull! Mass, tine length all the way up, spread. WOW! Who cares what the score is, that is what dreams are made of. Congratulations to you both.

Elkchaser
 
Most high school football players don’t play past high school or maybe college but your son can continue elk hunting for years. He made the right decision. The coach should just get over it!
 
Phantom Hunter said:
Most high school football players don’t play past high school or maybe college but your son can continue elk hunting for years. He made the right decision. The coach should just get over it!
Click to expand...
Right. My son is not playing football past highschool. In the end it was a good learning moment for my boy. We were honest with the coaching staff and said he was missing one practice to hunt elk with his family. He could have just said the day of that he was missing practice because he was not feeling well and being tested for covid. Then show up the next day and say the covid test was negative. Nobody would have cared.

My boy was honest and now he has a lifetime memory of a great experience with his mom, dad, brother and sister that he can lean on to know how much he is loved.
 
Congrats! I only played 1 year of high school football for this exact reason. Looks like you killed an average Manti bull.
 
Wow what a bull, congrats

football during hunting season is a big problem for us too. We pretty much shut down their out of state hunting season until December, which sucks (though there is still hunting to be done here in Texas throughout the winter). That said we’ve not been pulling Utah LE bull tags, either … :unsure:
 
Gorilla said:
My oldest boy took advantage of his last year to participate in the youth mentor program and was successful on a great bull elk. This is the first time I have hunted elk during the muzzleloader dates. Normally I have had good success calling but on this hunt the hoochi mama did me dirty. Everytime I hit the hoochi call, the cows immediately ran off with the bull following behind.

So I left the calls at camp and we went in stealth mode. We heard this bull at first light and snuck in close with the wind at our face. We got to within 30 yards in the thick timber just waiting for a shot window. My boy made a great shot and the rest is history.

Now if only his highschool football coach had some perspective in life. My boy missed one practice in 3 years to hunt opening day and he was benched for the senior night football game on Friday. First thing my boy said after seeing the bull on the ground. He would sit out 100 football games for this experience ;)

View attachment 88957
Click to expand...
Tell that coach happy Mother’s Day elk hunting is for men. Great bull congrats to your son. ??
 
Gorilla said:
Right. My son is not playing football past highschool. In the end it was a good learning moment for my boy. We were honest with the coaching staff and said he was missing one practice to hunt elk with his family. He could have just said the day of that he was missing practice because he was not feeling well and being tested for covid. Then show up the next day and say the covid test was negative. Nobody would have cared.

My boy was honest and now he has a lifetime memory of a great experience with his mom, dad, brother and sister that he can lean on to know how much he is loved.
Click to expand...
Yep, and he could have had a life time of good memories playing football under a great coach. I’m sure the coach felt it was a learning experience for your son and other young men on the team, but all it did was create unnecessary resentment and any ugly memory. There where dozens of other kinds of actions the coach could used rather than making him choose between his senior honor night home game, to make his point. The coach knew very well he was asking your son to give up a very possible once in a life time elk tag. All the previous loyalty and effort your son gave to his coach earn him nothing. High School sports are wonderful life learning experiences……… to bad this wasn’t one of them for your son. So disappointing and so unnecessary.
 
I’d call the coach and tell to to pound sand and piss on his football game, elk hunting takes precedence . Good for your son , those memories can’t be replaced
 
Nice bull.

Holy crap, id have given my left nut to grow a beard in HS.

And your correct, and as a dad I think I'd say it to the coach, "he could have claimed sick, instead he treated YOU with respect, and for that YOU disrespected him"

That coach won't last long, other players were watching. No one respects that kind of coach.
 
Awesome experience for you and your son.... except for the football thing.
I was let go from the football team because of a hunt with my dad (over 5 decades ago) but it's just as well since I was no good at football anyway.
I've never missed football and hunting has kept me in great shape and taken me to the far corners of the world and football couldn't do that for me!
At 69 years of age, it's ALL about family hunting and nothing about football. (actually always has been that way for me)
Huge congratulations to him!

Zeke
 
Great bull. Congrats. I’m glad you all have that memory.

Looks like I’m the only one that sees a commitment to a team as just that. Not saying that you made the wrong choice, but I’m not vilifying the coach either. I’m sure you all knew what the consequence was when you made the choice, and the coach followed through on that consequence. Nobody was necessarily wrong here, just choices made that everyone felt was best from their position. And the consequences rolled from that decision.

I may have done the exact same thing if I was both you and the coach. I may not have. But this is not a coach without perspective, either way.
 
Great job and congratulations to your son! I would not get mad at the coach one bit. One commits to something and does it. I think both sides were correct in this situation. If the coach did not do anything, he’d likely lose respect from many of his players.
With that said, my opinion is irrelevant and it sounds like your son had a great outcome!
 
Wow great Bull and congrats to both of you!

I struggle with how important some coaches and teachers feel they must be. Our children will not have stellar attendance, family vacations and hunting trips will not be dependent on School.
 
Nice elk!

You guys made the right decision. I would tell the football coach to pound sand. Coaches and many parents place way too much importance on a bunch of silly games that 99% of the players will never play competitively as an adult.

In high school they told my brother he couldn't miss a weekend to go turkey hunting and that he would be kicked off the team if he was gone. He went turkey hunting and the coach came crawling back the next week asking him to come and play in the next tournament.
 
Love the dark antlers! Nice work! You guys made the right choice on football practice. Too bad that coaches these days don’t have proper perspective especially for family times like these. These memories will last a lifetime!
 
2lumpy said:
Yep, and he could have had a life time of good memories playing football under a great coach. I’m sure the coach felt it was a learning experience for your son and other young men on the team, but all it did was create unnecessary resentment and any ugly memory. There where dozens of other kinds of actions the coach could used rather than making him choose between his senior honor night home game, to make his point. The coach knew very well he was asking your son to give up a very possible once in a life time elk tag. All the previous loyalty and effort your son gave to his coach earn him nothing. High School sports are wonderful life learning experiences……… to bad this wasn’t one of them for your son. So disappointing and so unnecessary.
Click to expand...

This was my thought, lot's of ways to go about this that wouldn't have hurt the boy or the team. Coach probably thought he was doing the right thing, but he missed his mark. Some volunteerism in the community would have been a great start. He could of sat him a series or a quarter, lot's of different options.

I'm not mad at the coach, the crime just didn't fit the punishment here in my opinion. He missed one practice... He's a senior so I'm assuming he's spent four years of dedication to that program, teammates, and coach. Not letting him play in the culmination game of his senior year is slightly petty. Especially considering the experience was likely a once in a lifetime opportunity. If it were a general OTC tag, i'd also view this differently.

Great bull!!
 
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