Well I put in a few days in area 8 and did see some nice buck but we never got in on them for a shot, and quite a few days in area 3-30 for Mule Deer, 2 weeks in Oct and 2 weeks in November and a week in Dec,
I seen a pile of smaller bucks spikes, 2 points and 3 points, and very few 4 points and the ones I did see were very small rack wise,
I was a little disappointed as my great Nephew came hunting with me in mid Oct and I figured it would be a shoe in for a small buck but I/we never even seen a legal buck with him in four days of hunting ? we did see a lot of does with two and sometimes 3 fawns which was great to see.
Any bucks we did see were behind fences or after shooting light
I hunted the first two weeks of November and did see lots of rut activity but again only small bucks chasing does, fast forward to early December and on the morning of Dec 4th driving into my parking spot I see a 4 pt with 3 does and he limping badly so I take a cpl pictures of him park and go off hunting for the morning, thinking that poor bugger isn't going to live the night !
soon as I started walking I was seeing deer, a few small bucks, lots of movement so I sit down with a great vantage point and sure enough small bucks walking every which way. things quiet down about 10am so I walk out to the truck and just as I get to the road I see a truck stopped so I unload my rifle and walk towards him.
Its a CO Bob Butcher from Lilooet, we bs for a bit he checks me for tags, hell of a nice guy and I tell him about the 4 pt with a limp and he raises an eyebrow at me and says why didn't you shoot it ?....it probably won't live the night he says, wasn't what Im looking for........but I start to think he's probably right maybe I should have shot it.....
Ok off to town for lunch this day...Chinese Food and fuel up and head back to my fav spot for the evening,
I get out of the truck and walk for a bit and come across 3 bedded does, they look familiar so I stand and watch as they slowly get up and start to walk away up a knoll.....they keep stopping and looking back so I chamber a shell and watch sure enough out stumbles the Gimpy 4 point from this morning, he has a terrible limp and start to hobble after the doe's and they stood waiting for him, he stands there looking up the hill at the doe's...............he's 130 yards away and one shot through the heart with the 160gr AB out of the new 280AI and it drops in his tracks.
I give him a cpl minutes and he doesn't move so I walk over to him and cut my tag and take a few pictures as he lays, the poor bugger is in terrible shape, his left front leg/shoulder bones are poking out through his hide, his right leg has been broken and healed straight and doesn't bend at the knee, I dress him and his heart is blown to pieces, the 160gr Accubond went in and out.
When I skin him out his left shoulder blade was broken and somewhat healed on top of itself, the whole left shoulder was green and pussy, he didn't have an ounce of fat on him,
Its amazing how tough these things are, Im surprised he lived as long as he did, it appears that he was hit by a car/truck as his front end was busted up really bad.
I had a cpl steaks the next day for lunch and he was pretty tangy !