twoSevenO
12-16-2017, 09:08 PM
Buck 1/3 - 4x4 mule deer - October 27
Bucks 2 and 3 here for those that are interested:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?141571-Buck-3-3-Blacktail-2-December
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?141676-Buck-2-3-Blacktail-1-November
I promised to post all 3 bucks from this year, so here's the last one (first one killed). I got invited by a member on this site (who wishes to remain anonymous) to come join them for a hunt in October. He's an accomplished hunter whom i'm trying to convince to accompany me for the Sept 2018 alpine opener, so off I went for a meet and greet and some mulie chasin'.
When i got there mid-week the boys had already found their meat bucks and would be heading home early due to the hot weather, but I was told Russ was on his way in to camp. He pulled in around midnight and still managed to wake up before I did. I used to get to the river and sit in my car and wait for it to be light enough so i can start fishing, when i was younger. Now, its a real struggle to get myself out of that warm, cozy sleeping bag in the morning, every time. Sleeping in late means no real breakfast. We got on the road and I had to settle for granola bars and extra spicy pepperoni sticks i bought by accident. I hate granola, and I hate spicy food. But, when you're a lazy ba$t@rd who can't get up early enough you've got to get those calories in you somehow :)
We hiked that morning but came up completely empty. Couldn't even find a doe. My spot was a bust and it was Russ's turn. We drove a ways and began another nice hike. Crested some hills, bumped some cattle then finally spotted some game. A bedded buck. Looked like a decent 3 point, but definitely needed a closer look. I set up the spotting scope on him, but with the distance and heat waves, we just couldn't tell. We had to get closer. We got down on our hands and knees and began a crawl from one tree to another. By the time we crossed the open and were in a position to glass from behind a tree, he had gotten up and moved beds. Neither of us saw which way he went. We pressed on a little ways more and realized that we could not cross the creek between us and him anyways. Wasn't going to happen without a significant hike upstream or downstream from where we were. As we sat debating our next move a group of deer started to funnel out of a small gulley below us. Alarmed by the tumbling pebbles and rocks dislodged by our side-hilling they began to climb out. Doe. Buck. Doe. Doe. Buck. Doe. Doe. There must have been 7-8 deer that appeared out of nowhere. A gully small enough that one could easily dismiss it as void of game. We watched the does and young bucks run out and disappear over the ridge we had just climbed. Working our way back we called it a day headed back to base camp for some real food and drinks.
The next morning started in similar fashion with Russ shaking my tent to see if i'm up. "Crap, slept in again. Ughh" .... Got dressed in about 30 seconds and was eating the same crappy breakfast a minute later on our drive to a new spot. This was going to be a big hike in to a new area a ways away from day 1. We didn't like what we were seeing on day 1, so we had to change things around. Parked before it was light out and we hustled to put as much distance between ourselves and the vehicle as we could. As the sun began to illuminate the country in front of us we began to spot game. One doe over here, couple of does over there ... things were already looking better than day 1. Few minutes later i spotted a buck. Skylined and about a mile away stood a decent buck. Set up the spotting scope again and saw he was a pretty heavy 3 point. A nice buck. I decided I was going to pursue him for now but keep our options open. He was a mile away as the crow flies, but much futher for us bipedals. As we neared the ridge Russ decided he wanted to cover some of the timbered patches. I pressed on over the easier, more open terrain to make better time.
I set up on the top of a cliff overlooking the ridge where the 3 point stood, but he was long gone. He disappeared over the other side and was no longer visible from the cliff. However, a smaller 3 point was bedded below me. He stood up and kept his eyes glued on the timber. He stood long enough for me to set up the spotter and photograph him through it. By now Russ had caught up to me. Turns out he had bumped a couple of does in the timber and the buck spooked when he saw them running. "Are you going to take him?" Russ asked. "Nope. I don't think so". "I wouldn't mind". "He's all yours, bud" ... As Russ moved a few feet to my right to look for a better spot he spotted another buck down below, even closer to the base of the cliff. A bigger buck! He dismissed him and went back to my left setting up for the 4 point. "Are you sure you don't want the bigger one?", I asked. "No, i want this one". Shooting the bigger buck was perfectly fine by me! Russ let one fly. Too high. I saw the dirt fly behind he buck. The range finder showed 370 yards. "it's very steep Russ, aim low!". Another round goes off, and buck is hit. He staggers, but doesn't go down. Russ takes a couple more shots to bring this guy down and I watch as the bigger buck steps out, spooked by gun fire. I set up on a branch, aiming steeply down and put the cross hairs on the base of his brisket. Fire and miss. Too high. At this point i'm extremely confused how our shooting can be so dismal. The buck trots a few steps away and stops again. Put another one in and let a hail mary go. The slight change in angle had me shooting off a very unstable rest the second round. The buck disappears. Can't tell if down in the grass, or gone.
We pack up quickly and circle around to get off this cliff. It takes us close to 20 minutes to get down. Russ heads toward his deer and I straight to where my buck had stood. No deer. No blood. Scour the spot thoroughly, but nothing. Nothing but faint tracks in the grass. I get down low, confirm their direction and begin to follow, quietly. Couple of steps and glass. Couple of steps and glass. Keep at it for a while and think to myself this is the only logical escape route for him. It's got to be this way. I poke my head over a slight bump slowly and there he is! Not 80 yards away. Stopped and looking at me. I didn't give it a second though. Shouldered the rifle and let one fly. Perfect shot. His back legs buckle and he drops begins to slide down the hill. We were off the cliffs, but the terrain was still extremely steep around us. He disappeared out of view. His body tumbling over the rocks got more and more faint as kept going down. Am i going to be able to find him? How will i get him back up? Will his rack even be intact? How could i miss so badly the first chance i had? There were a ton of things going through my head in the moment.
I made my way to where he stood and unloaded all of my gear. Emptied my pack and took only my kill kit and binoculars with me. I hiked down, and down and down some more. Followed the faint blood trail in the dust and the dirt and the rocks and began to wonder how this is going to work on the way up. It wasn't looking good. Took me long enough to finally find him that Russ had already finished deboning and packing his deer down to where we parted ways. But i found him. He was dirty and dusty, but his rack was intact. There 1/8" deep gouges on every beam from all the rocks he rolled down through, but nothing broken. Completely intact.
As i was wrapping up the deboning on him, Russ made the sketchy hike down to help me haul him up. We took a bag each, strapped it on our backs and climbed back up to the rest of our gear using our hands on the entire climb. At the top Russ took out his GPS and informed me that the buck had tumbled 120 vertical yards!
We loaded our packs full, took out the headlamps and began to retrace our steps. Into the woods at dark, and out well after dark. A 14 hour day for the two of us.
Russ posts on here on occasion and he's one of the nicest guys i've met. Very good hunter and very selfless and a great guy to share camp with as well.
Rifle: Remington 700 CDL - with Leupold FX-3 6x42mm scope
Bullet: 270Win - handloaded 130 grain Ballistic Tip
I decided to do a Euro mount on this buck. Turned out well, even though the process itself was a pain in the azz. Boiling, pressure washing, whitening (also gluing after it tumbles off the work bench and breaks the nose bone off ....). It turned out well, but i think i'll stick to either cutting the skull plates off or maybe a mount if large enough.
Unfortunately, i upped the ISO on my point and shoot camera in order to get some faster shutter speed when photographing through the spotter and forgot to change it later. So my shot with this buck is unnecessarily grainy and pixelated. Lesson learned for next time. But it's not easy setting up the camera in that kind of terrain and making it back to the deer before the 10 second timer goes off. In all of that, i forgot to re check my camera settings.
https://i.imgur.com/mD4QcBq.png
https://i.imgur.com/OFRXGII.jpg
I used the "paste" method to whiten that was suggested by a member on here a few months ago. (Sorry, don't remember your name, or i would give you credit for the idea). It turned out very well. I mixed hydrogen peroxide with baby powder to create a paste. Then i applied that with an old toothbrush. It turned out very white, and kept the base of the antlers from whitening as tends to happen with the boil method.
https://i.imgur.com/XP3bcIf.jpg
Here's what it looks like with the paste applied. Here, you can see the broken nose bone that i later had to epoxy in place.
https://i.imgur.com/9lfOodR.jpg
Bucks 2 and 3 here for those that are interested:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?141571-Buck-3-3-Blacktail-2-December
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?141676-Buck-2-3-Blacktail-1-November
I promised to post all 3 bucks from this year, so here's the last one (first one killed). I got invited by a member on this site (who wishes to remain anonymous) to come join them for a hunt in October. He's an accomplished hunter whom i'm trying to convince to accompany me for the Sept 2018 alpine opener, so off I went for a meet and greet and some mulie chasin'.
When i got there mid-week the boys had already found their meat bucks and would be heading home early due to the hot weather, but I was told Russ was on his way in to camp. He pulled in around midnight and still managed to wake up before I did. I used to get to the river and sit in my car and wait for it to be light enough so i can start fishing, when i was younger. Now, its a real struggle to get myself out of that warm, cozy sleeping bag in the morning, every time. Sleeping in late means no real breakfast. We got on the road and I had to settle for granola bars and extra spicy pepperoni sticks i bought by accident. I hate granola, and I hate spicy food. But, when you're a lazy ba$t@rd who can't get up early enough you've got to get those calories in you somehow :)
We hiked that morning but came up completely empty. Couldn't even find a doe. My spot was a bust and it was Russ's turn. We drove a ways and began another nice hike. Crested some hills, bumped some cattle then finally spotted some game. A bedded buck. Looked like a decent 3 point, but definitely needed a closer look. I set up the spotting scope on him, but with the distance and heat waves, we just couldn't tell. We had to get closer. We got down on our hands and knees and began a crawl from one tree to another. By the time we crossed the open and were in a position to glass from behind a tree, he had gotten up and moved beds. Neither of us saw which way he went. We pressed on a little ways more and realized that we could not cross the creek between us and him anyways. Wasn't going to happen without a significant hike upstream or downstream from where we were. As we sat debating our next move a group of deer started to funnel out of a small gulley below us. Alarmed by the tumbling pebbles and rocks dislodged by our side-hilling they began to climb out. Doe. Buck. Doe. Doe. Buck. Doe. Doe. There must have been 7-8 deer that appeared out of nowhere. A gully small enough that one could easily dismiss it as void of game. We watched the does and young bucks run out and disappear over the ridge we had just climbed. Working our way back we called it a day headed back to base camp for some real food and drinks.
The next morning started in similar fashion with Russ shaking my tent to see if i'm up. "Crap, slept in again. Ughh" .... Got dressed in about 30 seconds and was eating the same crappy breakfast a minute later on our drive to a new spot. This was going to be a big hike in to a new area a ways away from day 1. We didn't like what we were seeing on day 1, so we had to change things around. Parked before it was light out and we hustled to put as much distance between ourselves and the vehicle as we could. As the sun began to illuminate the country in front of us we began to spot game. One doe over here, couple of does over there ... things were already looking better than day 1. Few minutes later i spotted a buck. Skylined and about a mile away stood a decent buck. Set up the spotting scope again and saw he was a pretty heavy 3 point. A nice buck. I decided I was going to pursue him for now but keep our options open. He was a mile away as the crow flies, but much futher for us bipedals. As we neared the ridge Russ decided he wanted to cover some of the timbered patches. I pressed on over the easier, more open terrain to make better time.
I set up on the top of a cliff overlooking the ridge where the 3 point stood, but he was long gone. He disappeared over the other side and was no longer visible from the cliff. However, a smaller 3 point was bedded below me. He stood up and kept his eyes glued on the timber. He stood long enough for me to set up the spotter and photograph him through it. By now Russ had caught up to me. Turns out he had bumped a couple of does in the timber and the buck spooked when he saw them running. "Are you going to take him?" Russ asked. "Nope. I don't think so". "I wouldn't mind". "He's all yours, bud" ... As Russ moved a few feet to my right to look for a better spot he spotted another buck down below, even closer to the base of the cliff. A bigger buck! He dismissed him and went back to my left setting up for the 4 point. "Are you sure you don't want the bigger one?", I asked. "No, i want this one". Shooting the bigger buck was perfectly fine by me! Russ let one fly. Too high. I saw the dirt fly behind he buck. The range finder showed 370 yards. "it's very steep Russ, aim low!". Another round goes off, and buck is hit. He staggers, but doesn't go down. Russ takes a couple more shots to bring this guy down and I watch as the bigger buck steps out, spooked by gun fire. I set up on a branch, aiming steeply down and put the cross hairs on the base of his brisket. Fire and miss. Too high. At this point i'm extremely confused how our shooting can be so dismal. The buck trots a few steps away and stops again. Put another one in and let a hail mary go. The slight change in angle had me shooting off a very unstable rest the second round. The buck disappears. Can't tell if down in the grass, or gone.
We pack up quickly and circle around to get off this cliff. It takes us close to 20 minutes to get down. Russ heads toward his deer and I straight to where my buck had stood. No deer. No blood. Scour the spot thoroughly, but nothing. Nothing but faint tracks in the grass. I get down low, confirm their direction and begin to follow, quietly. Couple of steps and glass. Couple of steps and glass. Keep at it for a while and think to myself this is the only logical escape route for him. It's got to be this way. I poke my head over a slight bump slowly and there he is! Not 80 yards away. Stopped and looking at me. I didn't give it a second though. Shouldered the rifle and let one fly. Perfect shot. His back legs buckle and he drops begins to slide down the hill. We were off the cliffs, but the terrain was still extremely steep around us. He disappeared out of view. His body tumbling over the rocks got more and more faint as kept going down. Am i going to be able to find him? How will i get him back up? Will his rack even be intact? How could i miss so badly the first chance i had? There were a ton of things going through my head in the moment.
I made my way to where he stood and unloaded all of my gear. Emptied my pack and took only my kill kit and binoculars with me. I hiked down, and down and down some more. Followed the faint blood trail in the dust and the dirt and the rocks and began to wonder how this is going to work on the way up. It wasn't looking good. Took me long enough to finally find him that Russ had already finished deboning and packing his deer down to where we parted ways. But i found him. He was dirty and dusty, but his rack was intact. There 1/8" deep gouges on every beam from all the rocks he rolled down through, but nothing broken. Completely intact.
As i was wrapping up the deboning on him, Russ made the sketchy hike down to help me haul him up. We took a bag each, strapped it on our backs and climbed back up to the rest of our gear using our hands on the entire climb. At the top Russ took out his GPS and informed me that the buck had tumbled 120 vertical yards!
We loaded our packs full, took out the headlamps and began to retrace our steps. Into the woods at dark, and out well after dark. A 14 hour day for the two of us.
Russ posts on here on occasion and he's one of the nicest guys i've met. Very good hunter and very selfless and a great guy to share camp with as well.
Rifle: Remington 700 CDL - with Leupold FX-3 6x42mm scope
Bullet: 270Win - handloaded 130 grain Ballistic Tip
I decided to do a Euro mount on this buck. Turned out well, even though the process itself was a pain in the azz. Boiling, pressure washing, whitening (also gluing after it tumbles off the work bench and breaks the nose bone off ....). It turned out well, but i think i'll stick to either cutting the skull plates off or maybe a mount if large enough.
Unfortunately, i upped the ISO on my point and shoot camera in order to get some faster shutter speed when photographing through the spotter and forgot to change it later. So my shot with this buck is unnecessarily grainy and pixelated. Lesson learned for next time. But it's not easy setting up the camera in that kind of terrain and making it back to the deer before the 10 second timer goes off. In all of that, i forgot to re check my camera settings.
https://i.imgur.com/mD4QcBq.png
https://i.imgur.com/OFRXGII.jpg
I used the "paste" method to whiten that was suggested by a member on here a few months ago. (Sorry, don't remember your name, or i would give you credit for the idea). It turned out very well. I mixed hydrogen peroxide with baby powder to create a paste. Then i applied that with an old toothbrush. It turned out very white, and kept the base of the antlers from whitening as tends to happen with the boil method.
https://i.imgur.com/XP3bcIf.jpg
Here's what it looks like with the paste applied. Here, you can see the broken nose bone that i later had to epoxy in place.
https://i.imgur.com/9lfOodR.jpg