Mountainman1
11-19-2016, 04:40 PM
I moved south with my family four years ago. While I loved to fish and hike where we previously lived in northwestern BC I was too young to hunt with my dad in the mountains. Dad seemed to bring home sheep, goats and bears since I can remember so I thought it would be no different with deer. We did get out often and saw lots of deer but was not able to get a shot off as they were either too far away or on the run. No shots were fired from our gun but two years ago in late November someone shot over our heads and took a nice four pointer bedded 100 yards below us! Scary experience - nice deer - just too bad it wasn’t heading for our freezer and wall. Each hunting season went by faster than I would have liked with the leather and soles on my boots starting to wear as we entered our fourth year of deer hunting.
It was the last weekend in October and as my alarm went off at 5:45 am I had a feeling that today was going to be the day. We got our stuff together and headed out to one of our favorite areas. We arrived at the spot as the sky was lighting up and we started hiking. Right off the get go we see six deer and at first glance one looked like a buck but with a better look they were all does and fawns. After a bit more hiking we stop to glass and see about 20 more deer but they are all does and fawns. We hike to the top of another small hill and see about 20 more deer feeding in a grassland area. They were a long ways off and with the binoculars it was tough to see if any bucks were there. With high hopes we hike a ways to a small hill to better glass the grassland. Right away Dad says “there’s a buck in the group”! We ranged him at 440 yards but we didn’t feel comfortable at that distance. Dad drops his big pack and I keep mine on in case we need a better rest. Conditions were almost perfect with no wind, overcast skies and a buck that seemed somewhat distracted. We scrambled down the exposed slope to close the distance but felt if we can make it down to the creek we will be out of the buck’s sight and able to get within a couple hundred yards. My heart was pounding as we successfully made it and began to sneak using the rolling hills to hide us. We could see does but no buck. “Oh crap he may have bolted!”. There he was feeding up against a fallen tree all alone at 240 yards! Dad confirmed that he was the buck while I got into position with the 270 Win. As I put the crosshairs on him I thought to myself “after four years it’s finally happening, I just hope the rifle is on”. Steady as I have ever been I squeezed the trigger. BOOM!!! It was a good hit. He struggled to walk no more than 20 feet and was down. After a hug and a high five weheaded up to see our prize. It was pretty overwhelming to have taken my first big game animal and I couldn’t have been more excited. After a couple of quick photos and a message sent to Mom to buy another freezer we go back to get Dad’s pack. It was 10:30 am and we only planned to be out for the morning but with the deer down we decided to enjoy the time with my first buck on what turned out to be a perfect day. We deboned the meat and made it back to the truck just before dark.
We barbequed the backstraps the other night and Dad asked me it's worth getting another deer next year. The meat disappeared fast so I think we all know the answer to his question.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2016_Buck_s3.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2016_Buck_s2.jpg
It was the last weekend in October and as my alarm went off at 5:45 am I had a feeling that today was going to be the day. We got our stuff together and headed out to one of our favorite areas. We arrived at the spot as the sky was lighting up and we started hiking. Right off the get go we see six deer and at first glance one looked like a buck but with a better look they were all does and fawns. After a bit more hiking we stop to glass and see about 20 more deer but they are all does and fawns. We hike to the top of another small hill and see about 20 more deer feeding in a grassland area. They were a long ways off and with the binoculars it was tough to see if any bucks were there. With high hopes we hike a ways to a small hill to better glass the grassland. Right away Dad says “there’s a buck in the group”! We ranged him at 440 yards but we didn’t feel comfortable at that distance. Dad drops his big pack and I keep mine on in case we need a better rest. Conditions were almost perfect with no wind, overcast skies and a buck that seemed somewhat distracted. We scrambled down the exposed slope to close the distance but felt if we can make it down to the creek we will be out of the buck’s sight and able to get within a couple hundred yards. My heart was pounding as we successfully made it and began to sneak using the rolling hills to hide us. We could see does but no buck. “Oh crap he may have bolted!”. There he was feeding up against a fallen tree all alone at 240 yards! Dad confirmed that he was the buck while I got into position with the 270 Win. As I put the crosshairs on him I thought to myself “after four years it’s finally happening, I just hope the rifle is on”. Steady as I have ever been I squeezed the trigger. BOOM!!! It was a good hit. He struggled to walk no more than 20 feet and was down. After a hug and a high five weheaded up to see our prize. It was pretty overwhelming to have taken my first big game animal and I couldn’t have been more excited. After a couple of quick photos and a message sent to Mom to buy another freezer we go back to get Dad’s pack. It was 10:30 am and we only planned to be out for the morning but with the deer down we decided to enjoy the time with my first buck on what turned out to be a perfect day. We deboned the meat and made it back to the truck just before dark.
We barbequed the backstraps the other night and Dad asked me it's worth getting another deer next year. The meat disappeared fast so I think we all know the answer to his question.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2016_Buck_s3.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/2016_Buck_s2.jpg