Wrayzer
11-23-2014, 05:09 PM
With the Okanagan forecast finally showing signs of some accumulative snow for the weekend as well as reading and following Oureas whitetail thread, I was eagerly awaiting Saturday mornings hunt after a long work week. I woke up to an inch of snow on the acreage and loaded up as quickly a I could to get up the hill.
Being the only tire tracks through the snow with countless deer tracks cutting all over made for high optimism for the day as the deer were definitely moving.
I got into my spot about half hour before sunrise, its a spot I've watched for the past few years, it is a natural funnel for the whitetail to travel from higher terrain to their winter range, with a mix of feed and regen growth for cover. Ive past up a few bucks in the spot over the past few seasons but never have pulled the trigger as I always waited for Mr.Big, last year was close as we rattled in a nice 5 point only to have him bust us before a shot presented itself.
I settled in, glassed the regen and deciduous pockets for movement but had nothing coming through. I brought out the antlers to do some rattling and calling (no Coach and OSW not that kind of calling) and worked the antlers for a minute, did some burps and sat quiet watching my wind, and all the entrances and areas a buck could come in.
About 15 minutes of waiting I spot movement in the draw infront of me. Buck. Decent buck, not a Mr Big, but decent. He came in through the draw and stopped 125 yards infront of me looking for the battling bucks he had heard. Safety off. He takes one more step broadside and I let him have it, dropping him in his tracks.
I was pretty excited to finally be able to cut my first whitetail tag, especially after many seasons rattling bucks in and either letting them walk or them being too sneaky.
Hes a 4x4 main frame but kickers at the base of each brow make him a 6x5.
http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz287/Wrayzer/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps074c6d13.jpg (http://s836.photobucket.com/user/Wrayzer/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps074c6d13.jpg.html)
http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz287/Wrayzer/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps05543400.jpg (http://s836.photobucket.com/user/Wrayzer/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps05543400.jpg.html)
Being the only tire tracks through the snow with countless deer tracks cutting all over made for high optimism for the day as the deer were definitely moving.
I got into my spot about half hour before sunrise, its a spot I've watched for the past few years, it is a natural funnel for the whitetail to travel from higher terrain to their winter range, with a mix of feed and regen growth for cover. Ive past up a few bucks in the spot over the past few seasons but never have pulled the trigger as I always waited for Mr.Big, last year was close as we rattled in a nice 5 point only to have him bust us before a shot presented itself.
I settled in, glassed the regen and deciduous pockets for movement but had nothing coming through. I brought out the antlers to do some rattling and calling (no Coach and OSW not that kind of calling) and worked the antlers for a minute, did some burps and sat quiet watching my wind, and all the entrances and areas a buck could come in.
About 15 minutes of waiting I spot movement in the draw infront of me. Buck. Decent buck, not a Mr Big, but decent. He came in through the draw and stopped 125 yards infront of me looking for the battling bucks he had heard. Safety off. He takes one more step broadside and I let him have it, dropping him in his tracks.
I was pretty excited to finally be able to cut my first whitetail tag, especially after many seasons rattling bucks in and either letting them walk or them being too sneaky.
Hes a 4x4 main frame but kickers at the base of each brow make him a 6x5.
http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz287/Wrayzer/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps074c6d13.jpg (http://s836.photobucket.com/user/Wrayzer/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps074c6d13.jpg.html)
http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz287/Wrayzer/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps05543400.jpg (http://s836.photobucket.com/user/Wrayzer/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps05543400.jpg.html)