caddisgirl bags a blacktail buck

[caddisguy]

Story and pics will come. I just wanted to share the brief version

It started on a bench up one mountain and finished across the valley at the base of another mountain with a lot of crazy terrain in between. Some slips and falls, getting soaking wet in raging creeks in freezing temps...

End result was a chunky old gnarly looking blacktail fork buck.

I'm not sure how she's all up and moving today, but I can barely move... getting up, sitting down, moving at all... nothing works and everything hurts lol

I could not be more proud of her. Not many people on this planet have ever worked as hard as she did. Full story and some pics, maybe a short video coming in the next couple days.

[dougan]

That’s awesome way to go!

[Redthies]

Congrats! Sleep well. It sounds like you guys deserve it!

[NChunter]

You guys are one fire this year!! Looking forward to the story!

[REMINGTON JIM]

Congrats ! Looking Forward to the whole storey and Pics ! RJ

[boilerroom]

well done to you both! After your epic tale of the whitetail on the bow, can't wait for the story and pics from this one. Rest well.

[HarryToolips]

Right on congrats, look forward to the pics.....

[45freezer]

Looking forward to the story/photos, sounds like the backpacks got a workout!

[caddisguy]

Part 1/3:

We headed out Friday, October 23rd destined for a Region 2 spot prepared to sleep in the Jeep for a couple nights during the cold snap. The forecast for Friday was in the minus, and Saturday night it was expected to dip to -14C (and we were going to be higher up, so minus another few degrees)


When we reached the spur road we planned to drive up, it was already dark and there was some snow, but it didn't look chain worthy. For the most part it wasn't. There was one corner section where the road is even and dips down and there are some obstacles. That corner was awkard and there was a bit of sliding, but we pushed on and arrived safely at camp. There was a bit of concern about how that corner will be after a couple nights of deep freeze and thaw cycles as we don't actually have chains, but rather a couple sets of "cables". We decided that was more of a "Sunday problem" so we opted to stay rather than head down and camp down low. As long as it doesn't snow too much more (I'll wake up and check perodically) everything will probably be workable. If it does start snowing a bunch, we'll just head down.


Soon after getting settled, we hear what sounds like an enormous tree crashing down followed by a huge thud. It sounded like it came from the "bad corner". That gave me a little dose of anxiety, as we don't have chainsaw. I wanted to go check if we were blocked in, but we heard a bear messing around our camp. So we decided the potential tree thing is not a "tonight problem". We tucked into our Jeep nest and fell asleep.


I started waking up off and on as it was getting light out. I would look around from the comfort of my sleeping bag to see if anything was moving and then continue the snooze cycle. caddisgirl started waking up around 8:30, so I figure it's time to get myself awake as well.


My plan for the day was to go for a sit in the bed that I shot the archery buck from. It's a nice flat part on a steep slope where you can see down into a fairly open section of timber. I can see why he liked that spot. I figured I would do a little light ratting and see what transpires. Then in the early afternoon I would hit 4 trailcams and possibly bump into something. Then the evening would be back in the archery buck bed.


caddisgirl is the first out of her sleeping bag. "Would you like a coffee" ... "Yes please!" as she is boiling up some water on the pocket rocket. I am just thinking about how great this warm coffee will be after I finish my red bull. By the time I have consumed both of these caffeinated beverages, I should be ready to get moving.


She hands me a tall mug of coffee and I have a few sips. I look over to my left and notice a doe outside about 80 yards away. I point it out to caddisgirl. While she is trying to locate the doe, I spot a buck with what seems like a big rack by the treeline just up top of the slope above the archery buck bed. Now I am looking at caddisgirl doing the "finger antler" signal. She is outside. I am still in my sleeping bag. She asks me to grab her rifle for her. I am still in the Jeep (in my sleeping bag) and she is outside with a couple sips of coffee in her. It didn't really register that she was asking me for her rifle until she asked a second or third time. Her rifle (like mine) is in the back of the Jeep, inside a soft case, with a trigger lock on. This is just one part of a series poorly planned decisions for which we knew better and will continue to be a theme. I reached back and pulled it out of the case and handed it to her. I did not have any hope this would turn into any real opportunity. I had lost sight of the buck and was just taking the opportunity to film the doe, which I now just noticed had a fawn in tow. Even if the buck is still around, it's just as likely to be another Region 2 whitetail buck like we are seeing everywhere and there is no season for them. So, I have the drivers side window down, trying to film this blacktail doe and fawn, having a tough time zooming in and figuring out whether or not they are in the view finder.


BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!! Her 30-06 barked like a 30-06 does. Surprising when you are not expecting it.


"Holy (expletive)" - I was not expecting that, at all. I get a kick out of that reaction when I watch it on the video. I see a buck (which was actually trailing the doe and fawn) flop down hard. He was about 40 yards from the tree line trailing about 30 yards behind the doe and fawn. I am not sure if it was the same buck I saw at the tree line a moment or two ago, but it is definitely a pure looking blacktail buck. It's possible it was the same, but had less wood up top than what I thought I saw with my naked eye at 80 yards. Who knows. The blacktail buck gets up and hobbles off to the tree line and falls down again. Then he gets back up again and enters the tree line. Should there have been follow-up shots? Maybe, but hindsight views are always 20-20.


I guess I should get out of my sleeping bag now. We repeatedly share the excitement of what just happened from each of our points of view while we sip down our coffee. We're giving this one a good hour or more since it entered the treeline. I figured it probably bed down as soon as it reached cover, but if we push it, it is going to head down that steep slope and create a ton of work for us.


After an hour went by, we put on our packs and extra layers. We both took our rifles just in case. We talked about what will happen if there needs to be a "put down shot". We talked about "first blood", hunter speak for whoever shoots the deer first owns the kill and cuts the tag, regardless of any "put down" shot (each hunting party might have differing opinions so it is important so this should be discussed in advance) For us, first blood owns it and whoever has a put down shot takes the shot. Off we go.

[caddisguy]

Part 3/3:

Time to go back and tell caddisgirl so she could recover her deer and that it isn't far off a road we can drive around to. I start working my way back to the sound of the creek. I arrive at the creek in a different place than I crossed. I am a bit disoriented at this point. I can see how hunters can get themselves lost really fast pursuing an animal in the heat of the moment. I am not lost by any means. I have the creek, slope, valley bottom and mountain across the way. It's would be pretty hard to be "lost". I just don't know my proximity to caddisgirl.


This leads us to the next mistake (once again we knew better) and that was not having a radio.. or so we might have thought (had we even thought about it) when separating. caddigirl actually did have both radios in her pack. We just didn't think about it. After all, I was just going to walk across the creek and check to see if there was any sign he had crossed to the other side. Who needs a radio for that, right?


I am calling out downstream and upstream but no answer. Either too far or the creek is too noisy, or both. So, I find a place to cross and my rifle straps snags on something and breaks as I flop down to my hands and knees in the creek getting even more wet that I want to be with the cold starting to come in.


I started heading down stream which I thought to be correct (and it was) and keep calling out. No response. At this point I am starting to get worried. What if she heard me calling on the other side of the creek and decided to cross looking for me and now she's not there? We'll be trying to track each other down in circles until dark. Or what if she had a run in with a cougar or bear? There were cat and bear tracks everywhere and with the noise of the creek who knows what could sneak up. Meanwhile she is having similar concerns. From her stand point I just disappeared into the bush and then maybe 20 minutes later hears a couple of shots. And she knows we are down far enough that we are not far off a road where there are road hunters driving by literally ever 2 minutes or so (it's a Region 2 main line after all) so she is worried about would could have happened to me, whether I might have had a run in with a cat or a bear or got tagged by a road hunter shooting at our limping deer. She told me after she never felt so low and felt like it was her fault.


Meanwhile I am hoping she is alright and not trying to find me, because if she is looking for me at this point she is going the wrong way. I needed her to stay at the creek bank and I will get back to her eventually. I decided to fire a shot into the ground at least make it clear that am not where she might think and bonus if she gives a reply shot. Neither was really the case... the creek, the echos around the mountains... it just wasn't helpful and could have added confusion. I am still pretty sure I need to go downstream but if I am wrong, it's a lot of work to back track with how thick it is an all the obstacles. I decided it's better just to burn the time and energy hiking back to the top of the slope to confirm where I need to go. So that is what I did while stopping to call every so often.


I got back up top and confirmed I was indeed up stream of where I needed to be and knew where I needed to go. I was about to start heading back down and hear caddisgirl calling. I am calling back but she just can't hear my reply because of the creek... "I am up TOP. Come back to CAMP. Come to the JEEP" ... nothing ... this went on for awhile, very frusterating for both of us. Eventually she moved away from the creek to hear better and she heard me call back. What a relief. She climbed back up with both of our packs and my pants, struggling up the steep slope with the earth eroding under her feet.


"Your deer is down the valley across the main road. Let's go get it"


It didn't register to her that her deer is actually dead and we just need to go get it. Too much exertion and too much stress. Went and packed the jeep in a hurry. She's thinking we heading down to continue the tracking. And I am thinking "gee I hope that tree we heard last night isn't laying across the spur road out of here" and somewhat worried one of those road hunters that drive by every 2 minutes might spot the dead deer the hill on the other side of the road (it was concealed by a log but was still partly visible) and throw it in the back of their truck.


We drove out of the spur just fine. There was no tree down and no icy hills or deep snow. Thank goodness. Drove around to where the deer was, pulled off and stopped. "He's up there behind the log" ... caddisgirl realizes it's finally over. Most of the time when you pull the trigger, the hard work is field dressing and the pack out. This case was not typical. Field dressing is nothing in comparrison to what we just went through, and the pack out here is only 40 or 50 yards and down hill.


At this point, both our spirits were lifted. It's over, and we're going home tonight before the temps drop even more... we will be sleeping in our own beds.


We walked up to her buck and took a few moments to admire it. It is a beautiful blacktail specimen. Little stubby black tail, no indication of any muley genetics. His fork antlers are a little thick for a "young" two point with fairly wide bases with a lot of bumps around the bases which were also on the thick side. His neck was also fairly swollen... no question bucks are starting to be in rut mode. His front shoulders are smaller than our archery buck which I believe was muley dominant, but his rear quarters and back muscles were built like a tank (backstraps and hinds were probably 2x the meat). He had a beautiful coat. We kept some sections of hide for fly tying over the winter. This deer is going to be catching is rainbow trout for decades to come.


After we processed the deer, we packed the game bags into the cooler and headed home, plopped the game bags into the fridge and went to bed. I believe the timeline was that the deer was shot at 9:30AM and we were finished at 4:30PM. It was a long hard day of walking, climbing and literally crawling around up and down the thickest nastiest stuff one could think up.


The next day, I was so sore I could hardly move. Even today I feel so beat up I texted my boss to see if he had enough manpower and could spare me for a day (made it clear I can work either way) and he said no problem. So today I was able to get some extra sleep and finish cutting, which in itself is no easy chore. We spend a lot of time (many hours) cutting and packing our own meat. Now we have the deer all vaccum packed and frozen.


A lot of things went wrong that we are not particularly proud of, so it is important to reflect on the lessons learned:


1) Anything less than a good heart shot, double lung or perfectly boiler room shot can lead to a rough day, for both you and the animal. Animals can be tough. For example, a deer with a broken shoulder and/or deflated lung can keep going a very long time.


2) Radios. Communication might not seem particularly important when you are just going to cross a creek to check for tracks. Not everything goes as planned so prepare for the unexpected.


3) Less significant to the overall story, rifles locked up in the back of a jeep are not particularly useful.


4) NEVER GIVE UP. If you take the shot, be prepared to spend at least a day looking for any sign you hit it. If you find sign the shot connected, be prepared to spend another day even if you have to call your boss, family or whatever, heck even cancel a flight if you have to. It's just the right thing to do. Even some of these popular hunting shows, you see a guy drop an elk in fairly open terrain, look around for an hour or so and say "hey nothing goes to waste, it just goes back to nature" and call it off. I strongly oppose that being the standard. One can comfort themselves with those thoughts after exhausting every possibility rather than using them as an excuse not to take the search up a notch further.

5) We should probably pack a chain saw


This will likely be our last big game story for the season. Both freezers are topped off. It has been a good year for us. A couple deer and a bear. If we go out again, it will just be for trailcams, camping, observing and learning about these amazing creatures called blacktail deer.


Good luck to all the rest of the season. We wish everyone a safe, enjoyable and hopefully successful hunting experience. And maybe, just maybe this story can help someone avoid the same mistakes, even if they "already know better" ..... "just like we did".

Take care!