it was the early morning hours of dec 3rd when i started to load my hunting gear into the back of my brothers truck. the plan was to meet up with our youngest brother, convoy out to a local ranch, and hunt the fields and steep slopes in search of a mule deer buck. it was late bow season and i had yet to put one the ground. it was any buck and i planned on taking the first buck i saw, boney pimples or not i was gong to harvest him!
carey and i arrive at our brothers place only to find all the lights off with no signs of activity! now i assume we weren't the first hunting partners to face this dilima. do we wake him, his wife and three kids up??? yupwe knocked quietly at first slowly building the volume up until it was a full out pounding! still no signs of conciousness. next we fired up the cell phones and began a relentless barage of calling that any telemarketer would have been proud of. finally succes, he emerges from his bedroom, unarmed, and lets us in.
finally after a quick cup of joe we were all ready to head out, only an hour late too. we drove out to the ranch where the plan was to drop one truck off in the fields, all pile in the second truck and drive to the top of the mountain where we would deploy on various ridge lines and walk them down the steep slopes to the truck below. on our way up to the deployment site we were kicking up all sorts of does and fawns, deer tracks crissed crossed the road continuesly which raised our hopes. about half way to our jump off site i look over to my left and what do i see staring me down but a hugenormus buck, points everywhere. i quickly get my brother to stop the truck and i begin to get out and get my bow togther. now this truck is only a regular sized cab so the three of us fully grown men in hunting garb completely fill the cab which is why i wasn't ready. i get my bow ready, arrow knocked and begin my pursuit. now if you've ever tried stalking in december you know that it is pretty much impossible, needless to say the cagey buck heard me and wasted no time in leaving the area with his doe. first attempt failed.
for the remainder of the journey we were all on high alert, seeing does, fawns, tracks and a big buck all had us on a high. but most of the comments centered around my "pitifull hunting skills" for letting the big guy get away. we reached our deployment site, made an agreement of when we'd meet at the lower truck and set out in our different directions. the weather was mild, around -2, but the ground conditions were less than idle. snow depth ranged from ankle to just about knee deep. the plants and shrubs were all very dry and crunchy and the slope averaged around 50% to 80%! this made for less than idle stalking conditions. but everything concidered we all did ok. all of us saw deer and carey even got a shot off at a decent 2 point, missed 50 yds uphill. everyone met at the truck at the prescribed time and we headed up the hill again.
on the second trip up the mountain we were trying to figure out what to do with the afternoon when my brother daniel abruptly hit the brakes, reached over for his bow and said with eyes as big as dinner plates "now thats a big f***ing buck" he jumps out of the truck and begins his pursuit of the wall hanger. but he too is hampered by the ground conditions and the big ol cagey buck eludes him to. second attempt failed.
we reach careys truck on a bit of a low. everyone alittle down after twice failing to harvest the truly impressive animal. we eat some lunch, drink some water and coffee and try to come up with a new strategy for the afternoon. we all agree that going after the big fella is probably our best option. after all he is exactly what we've been trying for all season. we eat our fill, police up the area for garbage and gear and set out in hopes of catching up with him for the third time. we find a nice spot to park, about a kilometer away from where we spotted him, discuss the directions we would take and rendevous time. we wish each other luck and head out.
as fate would have it the direction i was given was the main road heading in where we had spotted him twice earlier that day. i walked into the area as quietly as i could, following the truck tracks. i snuck into the area and looked for a good ambush site that over looked both spots where we spotted him. i didn't feel to positive about the area i was hunting in. i mean after all what are the chances of seeing the same buck in the same spot three times in one day? i found a comfortable spot under a big fir tree and hunkered down.
i was in position for maybe about 15-20 minutes when i spotted a doe. could this be the same doe he was with all day? i saw another deer through the trees. i couldn't make it out but when it turned its head i could see that there was a very nice rack on his head. my heart instantly leaped into my throat and thought for sure that the sound of my pounding heart would give my position away. i had to tell myself to calm down. i watched with great interest as the buck was trying to convince the doe to mate. he would let out long grunts (longer than what i thought) and bounce on his front legs as if trying to get her attention. the doe just ignored him and slowly fed towards me. she was coming in quartering towards me. the buck was following in her foot steps about 20 yds behind her. i watched the doe working her way towards me and picked two shooting lanes i would try if the buck followed her, one at about 50-60 yds and the other much closer about 40yds. now the position i was sitting comfortably in and the position i needed to be in to shoot are two completely different positions. the transition from one to the other took forever as i was not only trying to move unnoticed by the buck but also the doe. finally after about 15min the buck moves into the first shooting lane, just at the outer limits of my comfort range. i was waiting for him to get alittle closer but the doe had started to fade away from me and the buck was starting to adjust his course. it was now or never. i drew my bow and got into position on my knees, the buck turned its head at either the slight motion i made or he heard me draw my bow. i rested the 60 yd pin just behind his shoulder and touched it off. i saw the arrow take flight and heard a loud "thwap" as it struck a tree. the buck lifted its tail and trotted off as if startled by the noise. i thought for sure i had missed high. well might as well go collect my busted arrow i thought. i got up and started making my way to the area where the buck was when i heard some loud crashing and a very very long grunt. it kinda reminded me of a bears death moan but i thought "deer don't do that" and concluded that he was just calling for his doe. i found the spot where he was standing and sure enough no blood. i thought for sure i had just chocked on the largest deer of my life. i started looking for the arrow when out of the corner of my eye i see what looks like a red haze on the snow. it was late evening with a red sky so i thought it was just the lighting but as i got closer i could see that it was definately blood. i followed it only for about 20yds when i saw him all piled up in some fir regen. third attempt success!!!
what a rush, i couldn't believe this whole thing just played out. i started doing my happy dance and commenced a hooting and a hollaring. my brother daniel heard all the commotion and came over to investigate. i am so pleased i could share this moment with one of my brothers. as it turned out this was my best hunting day ever! was in deer all day long, harvested the biggest deer of my life. and what made this day truly perfect was the fact that both my brothers were there to share my moment of victory. they are truly my best friends and my best hunting partners. even if they sleep in from time to time
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Their steaks, roasts and burger to me! Tom 
