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Years ago while in our teens, my brother and I stood in front of our home and made a solemn pact to hunt whitetails together over Thanksgiving for the years to come. Our father Bruce had brought us boys up in the wilds of Idaho sharing many hours with us in the outdoors, but dad would no longer join us on hunts; Dad had passed away in a tragic logging accident. No more would our mentor be with us. Rob and I recognized the positive impact that hunting had on our family and we sincerely wanted to keep that family hunting tradition strong. We agreed to pledge the third Thursday of November from that time forward to hunting together in pursuit of the whitetail deer. Thanksgiving week and often the week thereafter served as the genesis of a Pottenger brother hunting tradition.
Last week wrapped up our 19th year of keeping the tradition alive. In the early years we shared it only with our mother and an occasional friend now and then. We didn't take any pictures in those early years, I wish now that we would have. Today we share it with our children, wives, friends and family and we make sure to get lots of photos.
My brother in the 90's with a gorgeous 5x5 he took on a Thanksgiving hunt.
With a chill in the air, December has greeted my Northern Idaho home with near zero temperatures accompanied by plenty of fresh snow. This past Thanksgiving vacation was again a memorable one. Not only did we as a family enjoy camaraderie, a plethora of superbly prepared meals and plenty of college and pro football, we managed to get a lot of hunting in as well. My brother in law Matt and good friend Dustin joined my brother and I over the break. I also owe a big thanks to my wife whom works from daylight till after dark making our guests feel right at home. The cooking and cleaning never seems to end with a house full, but she never complains while the rest of us get out and hunt.
My boys and their uncle enjoy yet another Thankgiving whitetail. Matt grunted in this whitetail buck, his first and made good on a 20 yard shot.
Matt, being from Southern Idaho spent his life growing up bird, mule deer and elk hunting, He started whitetail hunting 3 seasons ago, after several close encouters up here he stayed dedicated, it finally paid off.
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Rob and Dustin enjoy a moment behind the camera after teaming up to locate this Northern Idaho whitetail.
My brother's good friend Dustin is a very accomplished mule deer and elk hunter. He traveled through a virtual blizzard for eight hours from his Southern Idaho home to get a crack at two days of whitetail hunting, He made the most of it. Rob took him into our old stomping grounds and look what they found out cruising behind a doe in the middle of the day! One shot from Dustins 7mm mag did the job.
Rob and I had a lot to be thankful for on this "double' taken over the 2003 Thankgiving break.
Another Thankgiving day buck, Rob's largest bodied whitetail at 240 lbs dressed, he came into a grunt call in which Rob busted him at less than 12 yards.
The snowy season usually falls around Thankgiving as do often the big bucks. I felled this nice turn of the century 4x4 while he was tending a doe in the knee deep powder.
After tagging out early in Idaho in 2002, I was able to harvest another 4x4 over Thanksgiving break, thanks to my friend Rocky from Alberta and the hunters host program.
As for me this season, I still have my whitetail deer tag. I am bowhunting a buck I have been after for a couple years now. He and I have had two close encounters this season, one at full draw at 20 yards in which I inevitably had to let him walk due to low light conditions. I saw him once over Thanksgiving break chasing a doe about 200 yards out while I was bowhunting. Lord willing he and I will meet again before late archery season closes. I have had the pleasure of watching several bucks and does walk by my stands this season and quite honestly I enjoy watching them as much as shooting them. As I bowhunt deep into the whitetail's archery season, pursuing an old monarch of the mountains, I look forward to hunting him up until the last day, last second, if need be. |