Part 3 - The Hunt
The next weekend is close to rolling around, I have a look at the weather looks cold but seems ok and triple check the regulations and it looks like It is the last chance I can still go for Mules and Whites this will also help if I have difficulties ID them, I have been reviewing a lot of information so I'm pretty confident. I pick up a couple of tags and start packing and planning for the next day I have a couple of spots mind, but this is all new to me the hunting part anyway however my experience in adventure fishing and bird photography I think will help. I inform the wife I am heading out she ask me what will I do If I get one, where will we put it, I think to myself, what indeed chances are pretty low and stacked against me, I tell her I will buy another Freezer.
The alarm goes off a 4:30 I load up the truck grab a coffee and head out up into yonder hills on a solo trip. It was pretty cold thru the high pass got to -7c but I was excited and just looking forward to the day, yes only the day as it was Sunday and I had to work the next day. I had a plan to hunt to early afternoon, well I had thought it would end up being a just a scout trip. Got to my first area I was going to try the sun had just started to lighten the sky and I turned off the highway and headed a ways up the FSR. About ½ hour I stopped the truck go out and looked around a few tracks in the snow from what looked like a small deer. Got out my gun loaded in some shiny brand new Hunting bullets and went for a little hike to scout for any more tracks a few other tracks around, but nothing glassed, not to surprised as I was new to this. I got back to the truck and figured I would try to get higher up the mountain, put it in 4 wheel a continued up the road. Got up to almost the top of the one area and parked again I could see some clearing and new growth ahead so I decided to walk the rest of the way to get to a higher spot to Glass before the sun came over the top of the Hills. I get to the top of the clear cut it has a great view of the area below and beyond, still a little cool as I can feel it thru my gloves as I continue to glass. I put down my binos and look around gazing at all the stumps and tree edges, nothing. If I was fishing, I would say it looked fishy. I heard some coyotes in the distance and the occasional gun shot, hope someone got lucky. The sun had come over the top now for a while lighting everything up in a warm glow and I continued to glass the surrounding areas and hills spotted some other hunters on the next mountain ands as I scope further down spotted some movement in the sun. Re-focused on them a couple of Muley doe’s were slowly feeding across the valley on the side of a hill. Scoped them in at 700+ yards, waited for a while hoping for a buck to follow but nothing. So I decided to go for a hike down the road over the hill to try to get a bit closer to see what was around. I hike for a bit but wasn’t able to get another clear view, so I just kept walking found what looked like a game trail in the snow but no deer.
Got back to the truck to see if I could get access to another viewpoint lower down and found one, parked the truck and started hiking up to see if I could get a closer view from the edge of the valley. I hike in and get to a clearing and start re-glassing the hill over the valley and spot what I thought was a doe again but in a different area and I don’t see the other. I continue to stare thru my 10x binos it is just in front of a rock motionless and warming in the sun. I see what appears to be horns but cannot tell for sure. I look for a rest for my gun dial up my scope to 16X and scope the deer. He has horns ( edit-Antlers) I had to look at him for 5 minutes but he has horns and obscured by his huge ears which is why I thought it was a doe at first. I scope him at 326 yards right across the valley, I figure I have to aim 8 “ high, but as I go to take the shot he starts to move , I wait for a couple of seconds until he is back in the open and taking a couple of breaths to stop the jitters I aim and squeeze the trigger, the gun jumps on the fallen branch that I was using as a rest and I don’t see the shot. I rescope the area but I don’t see anything, so I grab my binos to double check the hill nothing I can’t see anything lying down, I guess I missed him, that was my chance.
I gather my thoughts and recall the shows I watched, yes I have to make sure I missed, what happens if I just wounded it? Without a spotter I have no way to confirm the miss or even if I grazed him, so I mark the spot on the GPS it’s a hundred yards down and back up as well as 326 yards flat, I still would have to hike back to the truck and get my pack and then re-hike up the hill back down and up again thru forest and all the way back again, I think for a while, not a spring chicken anymore but still doable otherwise I wouldn’t have taken the shot. I check the map again and the FSR road appears to continue around to the other side of the valley, and it looks like the same elevation and about the same distance, this could work, so I hike back to the truck.
I eventually get around to the other side of the valley and park the truck get the GPS I roughly know where it is now, unfortunately trying to find where I should go in seemed to be more difficult than it was, but I pick a spot and start in, following a cut line I progress pretty easily for a while after a while it seems to be angling me off a bit I keep going until I think I should have reached the area, but when I check the GPS, I’m way off about a 200 yards ugh. So I reorientate my self and head off again this time I make sure I’m checking the GPS every 25 yards or so. Eventually I get to area, and recognize the Rock where it was standing look over to see where I shot from put my pack down, and get ready to start looking don’t see any blood where I shot it which is where I put the pack down, and think well I guess I didn’t hit it. I turn around and not 10 yards away lay the deer on the side of the hill, don’t know how I couldn’t spot it from the shooting area, but I didn’t. I was ecstatic, WOW!! one shot and I got It., thank you I said outload. Now I had to field dress it, I had only watched a cleaning / dressing show a few times and how to quarter once, so put on my gloves rolled up my sleeves and begun. I muddled thru it 2 ½ hours later I was putting it all my backpack pack it up, didn’t look to much but it soon filled up my 75 liter pack. Probably the heaviest pack I have carried ever!! I was tired but figured I could do it and it would be easier than 2 trips ,well I was quicker than 2 trips but but not by much as it was slow and it wasn’t easy, the pack really weighed me down and with the snow on the ground covering branches and small trees made my footing unsure.
Got to my truck and headed home what a great day! When I got home the wife was OMG you got one, yes I say one shot and at this rate "MY BULLETS ARE GOING TO LAST FOREVER”, and that freezer I needed, I went to Walmart and got one that night.
Well that is was my journey and first hunt and SOLO, thanks for reading!
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Originally Posted by jlirot
Re: My Bullets will last for ever- A New Hunters Story-Part 3
