Pangaea
10-05-2014, 07:19 AM
I've come to hunting a bit late - I'm in my early 50's- and have spent the past 6 months learning and practicing and practicing and scouting to the degree that I think some of my friends think I've joined some sort of cult. I've really got to thank all the kind folks on this board who have offered help, inspiration and insight. I know that for some, many of the posts are re-hashes of old topics, but they can be incredibly useful for many of us. None of my family hunted and a huge amount of my knowledge has come from all of you...
But to my story... I have spent the last month in Region 3 trying to get to get to know the area to the east of the Coq south of Merritt and although I had great success with grouse, had seen very few deer - and mostly does. What really bugged me is that in all these really deer-y looking areas there was almost no sign. Last weekend, a friend and I decided to branch out a bit farther north. We started the day near Logan Lake and pretty much immediately saw some pretty good sign. Tracks, poop everywhere. We were scouting and trying to get a broad picture of a new area and both really had our eyes on the Copper Creek area rather than Logan Lake, but that is where sunrise caught us, so we scouted this area. We drove to the end of this one road and while my friend stayed nearer the truck, I decided to go for a stroll down an ATV trail at the end which looked like it might lead to a decent cut block. Sign everywhere. Fresh. As I approached the end of the track, I turned to look up the block and there 60 yard away were a 2pt and a 3pt. But of course it was 4pt still... But they were THERE! They stood for so long that I decided to take out my bipod, get into position, and draw a bead on them for practice and could easily have taken either.
We spent the rest of the day driving past the Tunkwa area and through the beautiful open country around Copper Creek. Again, great habitat, no deer... Over and over, on this site I keep reading that when you find the deer, hunt THAT area, not the one that looks the best. So back at the motel in Kamloops, I asked my buddy whether we should just go back to where we were at the beginning of the previous day. He agreed, so we headed back first thin the next day.
At first light we both walked up that ATV trail, turned the corner and there in the middle of the block was a MONSTER 4pt. and two (at least) does - though I couldn't take my eyes off his massive shaggy shoulders - he looked like an elk! Problem: he had spotted us and was at least 450 yards away. Though he presented a huge and clear target, neither of us could take an ethical shot. He eventually turned and sauntered into the trees. We repositioned and sat and watched the block for a few hours, but nothing... Still, the adrenalin was flowing!
Nothing more that day, and we needed to get back home at a reasonable hour for work...
All week, I obsessed... I HAD to return; especially since it was now any buck. I had Saturday dinner plans I'd promised my wife I'd attend and other commitments on Sunday... Bless her enabling heart, but she didn't flinch when I told her my plan: Leave Friday afternoon, hunt until I got something or Sunday morning, then head down for our Sunday afternoon/evening events. I knew there would be 'consequences' if I missed Saturday though. :(
On Friday I scrambled to get done work by 2, got my co-workers to cover for me, and hightailled it to the secret spot. I arrived at 5:15, but it was pretty overcast, so light was falling fast. I saw four trucks road-hunting the lower part of my road! Not a good sign. I got into a good position up the block with the wind in my favour, but nothing... Set up camp in the dark, cooked dinner and chatted around the campfire of a neighbour who had been hunting all day. A local, he was concerned about the pressure in our area and was going to try a more remote area the next morning, even giving me general details about how to find it. I was firm in my commitment to the secret spot, though. Yesterday morning, I was up at 5 and on the slope at 6. The wind was perfect. I hiked up to where a little spit of trees projected out into the cutblock affording an almost 270 degree view. I sat and waited until I could make out something. A beautiful coloured sunrise began to unfold... Still nothing...
It was 7:00. I scanned the block over and over with by binos. Nothing... All of a sudden, in the middle of the block about 160 yards out, a 2pt buck appears slowly walking up a small draw. I get the crosshairs on him, but he's just a little too obscured for a shot. He goes behind a small bush and I move the crosshairs to the other side of the bush and wait. A 1-2 spiker appears on the other side - no sign of the 2pt - and I figure, well, you came for a deer, so... He walked up a rise and broadsided but just as I was about to pull the trigger - in fact as I was pulling the trigger- he quartered towards me. I made the slightest unconscious adjustment and fired. In the split second between the gun firing and the bullet hitting, I wondered whether I'd screwed it up by adjusting, but he stumbled. He did that odd jumpy dance for about 50 yards towards me, gave a final leap into the air and went down. What a rush!
He's no trophy, but he's my first:
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af274/mrobertsfish/photo-11.jpg (http://s1015.photobucket.com/user/mrobertsfish/media/photo-11.jpg.html)
Gutted and dragged him the 1.5 km out to the vehicle, packed up camp and packed him with ice and made it back to town in time for a nap before our Saturday dinner party... :-D
But to my story... I have spent the last month in Region 3 trying to get to get to know the area to the east of the Coq south of Merritt and although I had great success with grouse, had seen very few deer - and mostly does. What really bugged me is that in all these really deer-y looking areas there was almost no sign. Last weekend, a friend and I decided to branch out a bit farther north. We started the day near Logan Lake and pretty much immediately saw some pretty good sign. Tracks, poop everywhere. We were scouting and trying to get a broad picture of a new area and both really had our eyes on the Copper Creek area rather than Logan Lake, but that is where sunrise caught us, so we scouted this area. We drove to the end of this one road and while my friend stayed nearer the truck, I decided to go for a stroll down an ATV trail at the end which looked like it might lead to a decent cut block. Sign everywhere. Fresh. As I approached the end of the track, I turned to look up the block and there 60 yard away were a 2pt and a 3pt. But of course it was 4pt still... But they were THERE! They stood for so long that I decided to take out my bipod, get into position, and draw a bead on them for practice and could easily have taken either.
We spent the rest of the day driving past the Tunkwa area and through the beautiful open country around Copper Creek. Again, great habitat, no deer... Over and over, on this site I keep reading that when you find the deer, hunt THAT area, not the one that looks the best. So back at the motel in Kamloops, I asked my buddy whether we should just go back to where we were at the beginning of the previous day. He agreed, so we headed back first thin the next day.
At first light we both walked up that ATV trail, turned the corner and there in the middle of the block was a MONSTER 4pt. and two (at least) does - though I couldn't take my eyes off his massive shaggy shoulders - he looked like an elk! Problem: he had spotted us and was at least 450 yards away. Though he presented a huge and clear target, neither of us could take an ethical shot. He eventually turned and sauntered into the trees. We repositioned and sat and watched the block for a few hours, but nothing... Still, the adrenalin was flowing!
Nothing more that day, and we needed to get back home at a reasonable hour for work...
All week, I obsessed... I HAD to return; especially since it was now any buck. I had Saturday dinner plans I'd promised my wife I'd attend and other commitments on Sunday... Bless her enabling heart, but she didn't flinch when I told her my plan: Leave Friday afternoon, hunt until I got something or Sunday morning, then head down for our Sunday afternoon/evening events. I knew there would be 'consequences' if I missed Saturday though. :(
On Friday I scrambled to get done work by 2, got my co-workers to cover for me, and hightailled it to the secret spot. I arrived at 5:15, but it was pretty overcast, so light was falling fast. I saw four trucks road-hunting the lower part of my road! Not a good sign. I got into a good position up the block with the wind in my favour, but nothing... Set up camp in the dark, cooked dinner and chatted around the campfire of a neighbour who had been hunting all day. A local, he was concerned about the pressure in our area and was going to try a more remote area the next morning, even giving me general details about how to find it. I was firm in my commitment to the secret spot, though. Yesterday morning, I was up at 5 and on the slope at 6. The wind was perfect. I hiked up to where a little spit of trees projected out into the cutblock affording an almost 270 degree view. I sat and waited until I could make out something. A beautiful coloured sunrise began to unfold... Still nothing...
It was 7:00. I scanned the block over and over with by binos. Nothing... All of a sudden, in the middle of the block about 160 yards out, a 2pt buck appears slowly walking up a small draw. I get the crosshairs on him, but he's just a little too obscured for a shot. He goes behind a small bush and I move the crosshairs to the other side of the bush and wait. A 1-2 spiker appears on the other side - no sign of the 2pt - and I figure, well, you came for a deer, so... He walked up a rise and broadsided but just as I was about to pull the trigger - in fact as I was pulling the trigger- he quartered towards me. I made the slightest unconscious adjustment and fired. In the split second between the gun firing and the bullet hitting, I wondered whether I'd screwed it up by adjusting, but he stumbled. He did that odd jumpy dance for about 50 yards towards me, gave a final leap into the air and went down. What a rush!
He's no trophy, but he's my first:
http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af274/mrobertsfish/photo-11.jpg (http://s1015.photobucket.com/user/mrobertsfish/media/photo-11.jpg.html)
Gutted and dragged him the 1.5 km out to the vehicle, packed up camp and packed him with ice and made it back to town in time for a nap before our Saturday dinner party... :-D