25.06girl
11-13-2016, 07:07 PM
Well as this is my first post on, here's a lame joke for you all... A man walks into a butcher's shop and asks "sir are you a gambling man?" The butcher responds "Yes, as a matter of fact I am." "Then I'll bet you $25 you can't reach up and touch that meat hanging above your head." The butcher thinks for a moment and responds "I'm sorry, I won't take that bet." The man says "but I thought you said you were a gambling man?" "I am but the steaks are too high".
I am a new hunter, did my PAL about 3 years ago and my CORE about 2 years ago. I was instantly hooked on hunting after going out and getting a few grouse last season. My cousin has become my hunting buddy and I was with him last year to help him harvest his first deer in October, a big bodied 2 point. It was so much fun and a story neither of us will forget. I was not able to connect with my first last year so I was bound and determined this November to make it count. I was working out of town earlier this fall and was only able to get out once in October. I spent this last week or so studying google earth to try and find what I thought would be a good spot. I finally decided on one and determined I would head up to Merritt and get a hotel for the nov long weekend. After telling my cousin my plan for the weekend he decided he wanted to and was able to join! I was glad, as I was not entirely comfortable hiking around by myself and didn't have much interest in road hunting this weekend.
We got to the hotel Thursday night and entered the coordinates into our gps and set our alarms for dark and early. Set off that morning in the dark following the gps to the location. Unfortunately we ended up taking a wrong turn and once we figured it out it was plenty light out. So we found a game trail and went for a hike anyway. Saw tons of sign in this area, bear, moose and deer but no animals. So we headed back to the truck and went to find the spot in the afternoon. We parked my truck on the road and geared up with packs, guns and scent killer. It was only about a half hour - 45min hike through the bush to the coordinates. Every 5 steps we were stepping in a pile of deer droppings, it was looking great! We slowly crept to the edge of this nice 100yard wide drainage spotted with birch trees. My cousin sat down to change the batteries in the gps and as he did that I spotted a doe on the other side. We decided this would be a good spot to sit and wait. We got comfortable with our guns and a good back drop behind us.
Not 20mins later we hear branches breaking and look in the direction of the sound. I look through my binos and say "it's a buck!" In a whispered excited voice. We spent what felt like an eternity watching him through the birch trees trying to determine if he was a 4point, and legal to shoot. I whisper to my cousin, "I think he's a four" right before the buck disappears behind a large bush near the edge of the opening. At that point we both figured he was gone and had disappeared back into the forest. Suddenly he appeared again, and was headed right for us at about 60 yards now! I grabbed my rifle and looked through the scope as my cousin said "he's a four! Load a round in!" He was about 50 yards when I saw him through my scope a determined for myself that he was indeed a four point! He was still headed straight for us a large birch tree was blocking the view when I tried to quietly load my .25-06. He heard the click and knew something was up. As he came out from behind the tree into my line of sight he turned broadside and I let a shot ring out as he was now within 40 yards! He jumped straight up and bolted down the hill! I thought s#!t I missed so I racked another in and shot him in the front shoulder on the run and watched him tumble head over heels down the hill. Yes he's down!
My cousin and I grab our packs and guns and make our way down the hill to find a piled up buck. Thank goodness! Turns out I got him through the lungs on the first shot and the second just put him on the ground a little sooner I guess with a broken shoulder.
I owe a huge thanks to my cousin for packing out the majority of this big guy so I could pack the cape out.
I just want to show my appreciation to this site and its members. I have spent a lot of time reading through many posts on here to try and become a successful hunter. You guys are great!
http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p465/emcphrsn/deer_zpsdjpsp3gv.jpg
I am a new hunter, did my PAL about 3 years ago and my CORE about 2 years ago. I was instantly hooked on hunting after going out and getting a few grouse last season. My cousin has become my hunting buddy and I was with him last year to help him harvest his first deer in October, a big bodied 2 point. It was so much fun and a story neither of us will forget. I was not able to connect with my first last year so I was bound and determined this November to make it count. I was working out of town earlier this fall and was only able to get out once in October. I spent this last week or so studying google earth to try and find what I thought would be a good spot. I finally decided on one and determined I would head up to Merritt and get a hotel for the nov long weekend. After telling my cousin my plan for the weekend he decided he wanted to and was able to join! I was glad, as I was not entirely comfortable hiking around by myself and didn't have much interest in road hunting this weekend.
We got to the hotel Thursday night and entered the coordinates into our gps and set our alarms for dark and early. Set off that morning in the dark following the gps to the location. Unfortunately we ended up taking a wrong turn and once we figured it out it was plenty light out. So we found a game trail and went for a hike anyway. Saw tons of sign in this area, bear, moose and deer but no animals. So we headed back to the truck and went to find the spot in the afternoon. We parked my truck on the road and geared up with packs, guns and scent killer. It was only about a half hour - 45min hike through the bush to the coordinates. Every 5 steps we were stepping in a pile of deer droppings, it was looking great! We slowly crept to the edge of this nice 100yard wide drainage spotted with birch trees. My cousin sat down to change the batteries in the gps and as he did that I spotted a doe on the other side. We decided this would be a good spot to sit and wait. We got comfortable with our guns and a good back drop behind us.
Not 20mins later we hear branches breaking and look in the direction of the sound. I look through my binos and say "it's a buck!" In a whispered excited voice. We spent what felt like an eternity watching him through the birch trees trying to determine if he was a 4point, and legal to shoot. I whisper to my cousin, "I think he's a four" right before the buck disappears behind a large bush near the edge of the opening. At that point we both figured he was gone and had disappeared back into the forest. Suddenly he appeared again, and was headed right for us at about 60 yards now! I grabbed my rifle and looked through the scope as my cousin said "he's a four! Load a round in!" He was about 50 yards when I saw him through my scope a determined for myself that he was indeed a four point! He was still headed straight for us a large birch tree was blocking the view when I tried to quietly load my .25-06. He heard the click and knew something was up. As he came out from behind the tree into my line of sight he turned broadside and I let a shot ring out as he was now within 40 yards! He jumped straight up and bolted down the hill! I thought s#!t I missed so I racked another in and shot him in the front shoulder on the run and watched him tumble head over heels down the hill. Yes he's down!
My cousin and I grab our packs and guns and make our way down the hill to find a piled up buck. Thank goodness! Turns out I got him through the lungs on the first shot and the second just put him on the ground a little sooner I guess with a broken shoulder.
I owe a huge thanks to my cousin for packing out the majority of this big guy so I could pack the cape out.
I just want to show my appreciation to this site and its members. I have spent a lot of time reading through many posts on here to try and become a successful hunter. You guys are great!
http://i347.photobucket.com/albums/p465/emcphrsn/deer_zpsdjpsp3gv.jpg