Don't get much time to hunt these days, but I had fun trying to make the most of it this year...
Had a blast chasin' coastal blacktails in September. I had a couple days to learn some new country & try to fill the freezer. An old friend pointed me to this spot & I got into deer the first night as I still hunted along the edge of a nice flat cut. The wind was still & the deer were just starting to creep out of the thick timber. I saw glimpses of 5 of them, but they were so small they disappeared quickly in the fireweed... The next morning I watched a few does in the cut. No bucks... That afternoon I climbed a tree in the same spot thinking it was a gimme, but the wind swirled & I didn't see a single deer. I forgot how wiley these little jungle dwellers can be, since bow hunting them when I first started hunting..
Decided to find some new country the next morning & drove ~40km to a spot I google-scouted. I met a retired C.O. from AB camping, we bs'd hunting & he confirmed that the area looked good. I road hunted some cuts learning the area & saw quite a few does, but no bucks. Late in the morning, last chance of the trip, I decided to go for a little hike up a steep open draw & found a nice secluded little bowl. I sat & glassed. As the sun was just hitting the spot, a nice buck finally stepped out of the thick brush where I'd been hearing movement. I tried to line him up at 80m, but the sun filled my scope. He had me pegged, disappeared & started climbing. I tried to cover the sun with one hand & missed a shot as he topped out over the hill...
Just as I was getting mad, out popped his little buddy, who had no idea what happened. Same problem & he disappeared as I tried to find him in the glowing scope. I got a couple glimpses of him as he followed his buddy's trail through the bush. He stopped to rub a big bush & I could see the top of it moving in my scope. If he kept going, there was a good opening for a shot... I got the sun sorted & after ~5 min. he stepped out & I dropped him. Stoked to get one down! He's my first blacktail, cool little buck, prob. 4 or 5 yrs. old (based on his teeth & antler mass). His buddy looked a couple years older & bigger (same 2pt frame). Next year... )