All tagged out for 2015

[smallfry14]

Went out in the first snow fall of the season yesterday and tagged my 3rd deer of the year. I'll post all of the stories/pictures from my 2015 season in this thread now that I'm all tagged out.
Started off the season in early September over in Region 7a, not much of a story for this one. Driving down an fsr and saw 5 deer about 60 yards up a cut block. One of them happened to be my first ever 4 point mulie !
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpst7fehbbs.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpst7fehbbs.jpeg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsvwfjcdot.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsvwfjcdot.jpeg.html)

A couple days later it was the same thing, out looking for whitetails this time though. It was getting hot, close to +20 degrees so we decided to start heading back to town. On our way out there stood 2 whitetail bucks on the middle of the road at 10:30. Took the bigger of the 2 and the other one was too fast to get a shot off.
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsticr6uzj.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsticr6uzj.jpeg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1ttfixwr.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1ttfixwr.jpeg.html)

If my face is edited out, it's because I'm looking a bit roughed up after dragging the deer around :D. I edited out my dad in all the photos because he doesn't want to be put on the internet.
Not sure if I'll have time to post the rest of the season up tonight or not, but it will be posted up in the next few days for sure.

[dougan]

Nice bucks good going

[Salty]

Good stuff 'fry lookin forward to the rest of the rest of the posts. Great year for ya contrats!

[tuner]

Well done, all nice bucks especially that whitetail, that's a great year by any hunters standards. Congratulations.

[kennyj]

Nice deer! And no packing involved.
kenny

[steepNdeep]

Nice work boys (& dad ;) - some great bucks!!

[smallfry14]

Thanks guys!

That was all she wrote for september, didn't get out much until October after that. Tried for most of October to find a bull moose for my brother's LEH but ended up chasing tracks the whole time, didn't even lay eyes on a cow or calf. The most exciting thing we found while moose hunting was a region 3 caribou shed. First sign of a caribou in region 3 I'd ever seen!
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps2yjhkpqx.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps2yjhkpqx.jpeg.html)

[smallfry14]

Spent the whole last week of October out looking for deer, saw does every single day but not a buck to be seen until the evening of the 31st. 40 yards off the road I saw a pile of birds flying around, but I figured it was just a gut pile since it's a heavily hunted area. Hunted on top of the mountain until the fog was so thick I could barely see 15 feet. Walked back to the vehicle and made my way down to check out what the birds were making such a fuss about. There layed a nice young 4x3 buck. I've got a feeling he would've turned out to be a dandy one day. Couldn't find an bullet holes in him, chalking this one up to wolves.
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4zd3bzvm.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps4zd3bzvm.jpeg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1u0gf7um.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps1u0gf7um.jpeg.html)

[smallfry14]

Hunted the same area religiously for the first week of November, seeing nothing but does and no rubs or any other signs of bucks being there. Decided to give it a bit of time for some snow to fall and the rut to get into the swing of things. It snowed all night before remembrance day which was exactly what I was waiting for. Went out early in the morning with my brother and friend in tow, getting to our spot exactly when we wanted to. As we drove into our parking spot we came across 3 different sets of big buck tracks right down the middle of the road, with huge wolf tracks right on top of them. Since we were already there we decided to keep going, not expecting much since there seemed to be wolves all over the damn place. We parked the vehicle and started still-hunting. We only went about 150 yards before we looked up and saw 2 big does giving us the stare down about 200 yards away up on a ridge. They didn't stick around long but they taught us a lesson: Slow the F down. If we were still-hunting properly we would've saw them well before they saw us. We kept on going, a little slower this time. After about another 300 yards I looked down to the treeline at the bottom of the block we were on, about 300 yards down and spotted a deer-like stump. I put up the binos and gave it a good look, but with the snow and fog it took about 3 tries to spot the ears coming up off the stump. Looked for another second and saw some antlers along with those ears. We sat down where we were and started looking, trying to count 4 points. It didn't take long to decide that I needed to get closer if I planned on counting tines on this guy. I moved to the right so that some trees, and a ridge was between me and the deer. Slid on my ass until I came to the base of a tree right on the ridge that kept the buck from seeing me, looked down to the bottom of the block and found the buck again. He was bedded down and staring right at me. He had decent mass, and his antlers were definitely out to his ears, but with him looking right at me there's no way I could count the tines. He could've just been a big 3 for all I knew. I sat at the base of the tree for a good 8 minutes before a doe came walking out. She walked a few circles around him, and gave him "the look" before making her way past treeline and into the bush. He wasn't far behind, and as soon as he stood up he turned his head and I counted 4. Put the crosshair on the boiler room and let him have it. He jumped and curled up, he was obviously hit real hard.

[325]

Beauty bucks!

[smallfry14]

When we got to where he had been laying, we found a tree all tore up about 10 yards from where he had been bedded.
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpskrhrlb75.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpskrhrlb75.jpeg.html)

We followed blood for about 20 yards and then it became quite easy to track, as he tore up dirt all the way down the hill for about 50 yards straight down, smashing through trees on his way. When we got to a gnarly, rocky and slippery slope here is what we found:
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsvp9dsmqq.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsvp9dsmqq.jpeg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsqz00kgrl.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsqz00kgrl.jpeg.html)

[smallfry14]

This was the first buck kill my brother had gotten in on, and the biggest buck our friend had been a part of. Not sure exactly where I shot from , but I measured on google earth and it was about 210-250 yards.
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbaptpkto.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbaptpkto.jpeg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpshxq6m0q1.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpshxq6m0q1.jpeg.html)

http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbv2nyybd.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsbv2nyybd.jpeg.html)

[Ourea]

Great work guys!!

Thanks for posting

[coach]

Outstanding!! Well done and thanks for posting.

[smallfry14]

The pack out was nothing short of brutal. The ground was very steep and the snow was melting and slippery. The shot was taken at around 9AM, and we were there until dark. I ended up having to go back the next day for one last trip. Here's a picture towards the end of the first day.
http://i1054.photobucket.com/albums/s483/smallfry14/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsxmjjuawf.jpeg (http://s1054.photobucket.com/user/smallfry14/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsxmjjuawf.jpeg.html)

[wideopenthrottle]

I would have thought you caught the shoulder and it would have been enough to drop him there... but I guess you just missed the shoulder and lunged him...very satisfying to work so hard and be rewarded

[smallfry14]

Thanks guys!! and nope, didn't catch the shoulder. It tucked in perfectly right behind both shoulders, no wasted meat on this one.

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Dude, I am so impressed that you are out there packing game. You are obviously quite young, and you're already at it. Lots of guys don't ever dawn a pack, but if they eventually do, it seems like something they do when they get road hunting out of their system. You're obviously off to a great start, as your successful season demonstrates. Congrats!

Don't take that as a slag on road-hunting. I still do it and think that at times, it is the most productive thing to do. They key is when to recognize that it is not the most productive tactic, and then to get in the bush, which you're obviously not afraid to do.

[avadad]

Good work on some quality bucks!

[Xenomorph]

Young kid, taking friend and brother along. Way to go! Best damn video game right there. Cheers!

[Crom]

Nice Bucks all around! Well done, smallfry, well done

[Rattler]

Congrats, sounds like a great season.

[HarryToolips]

Wow nice bucks congrats!