Phil
10-02-2007, 05:39 PM
Myself, Direct Hit and my brother Paul had planned a hunt about two weeks ago. We decided to head North to a familiar area where I had done some summer scouting and had already taken some friends to where myself and a hunting partner and his son had each taken a deer this season.
My original intension on this trip were to point Direct Hit and my brother in the right direction of the honey hole and head off bear hunting on my own. As the excitement grew I found it impossible to pull myself away from the deer hunt and ended up helping Direct Hit and Paul in any way I could to get their deer.
On Saturday morning Direct Hit woke us all up with his pocket calendar alarm clock and his musical flatulence a few hours before sunrise. After a quick breakfast and loading of the ATVs we headed out to get in position for the morning hunt. We arrived at the bottom of an extensive cut with the wind gently blowing down hill. Paul and I followed a skid trail uphill all the while glassing extensively. The trail ended and we continued on through the Christmas trees still hunting until we came to another trail which we followed to a clear cut. Within a half minute of glassing I spotted a nice two point laying at the edge of the tree line a hundred and ten yards away showing only its head and neck. Paul was on it in a flash and had his gun perched on a few piled logs. I observed with my binos while he set up. There was an eternal twenty second pause while Paul set up and had to make the decision to take the shot or not. KABOOM, my binos jumped off the target and resettled in time to see the effect of Paul's shot. The buck was down with one shot using a 150 grain Winchester. High fives and hand shakes all around. We gutted the buck and took a few pics and set off to retrieve the ATVs and Direct hit.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0501.jpg?t=1191370581
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0508.jpg?t=1191370625
Back at the ATVs we had a drink and a snack while we waited for Direct Hit to show up. When he heard the news he was beaming with anticipation to see the Buck. While we were gone our separate ways DH was busy doing his own glassing and stalking but only turned up a few does. A group effort was now put in to place to land a beauty for Direct Hit. From this point on we did some of the most intense hunting ever. We all covered ourselved in buck scent and scoured the landscape using every method of legal hunting known to man. Paul spent time practicing his calling and managed to bring in some does hoping a buck might follow. Direct Hit and I worked over every corner of this cut glassing and waiting. We attempted to drive the deer out of the Christmas trees at the edges of cuts but only bumped does. At one point we separated so DH could walk a game trail while I would take a more direct root back to the ATVs and then go and pick him up further down the trail. As luck would have it I jumped A nice two point on my way back. We kicked ourselves later for not sticking together but we now new where to find him. When we rejoined we made an effort to push the buck back out for DH but had no luck. By the evening of the following day we decided to go for broke and split up completely to cover more ground. We inadvertently circled a large area including a ridge and a large stand of trees. DH and I later learned that we nearly crossed paths at one point missing each other by ten minutes. I heard a bang off in the distance and assumed DH had ended the hunt. I high tailed it back to the meeting place only to discover that the shot was further off in the distance as heard by Paul. Paul and I made one last attempt to creep through the cut to find DH. Fifty yards in we heard an unmistakable blast that could be none other than DH's Remington 700 300win. We both breathed a sigh of relief and....... Kaboom, another rapport. Now we knew for sure that DH had his deer down. Dark was upon us so we hustled to where we thought DH would be. He must have spotted us coming over the ridge so he let out a whistle to point us in the right direction. Arms waving we all gestured our excitement. DH had taken the very buck I seen the evening before from 150 yards away. He punched a 180 grain Winchester straight through both lungs from a free hand position while the deer was on the move.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0517.jpg?t=1191370770
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0519.jpg?t=1191370835
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0522.jpg?t=1191370886
It was a fantastic hunt that was well earned. It forced all of us to be persistent and to be on top of our game. We discovered a few hidden secrets within the honey hole that will make it worth going back for our upcoming moose hunt. It was a real pleasure hunting with such skilled hunters, marksmen and great companions.
My original intension on this trip were to point Direct Hit and my brother in the right direction of the honey hole and head off bear hunting on my own. As the excitement grew I found it impossible to pull myself away from the deer hunt and ended up helping Direct Hit and Paul in any way I could to get their deer.
On Saturday morning Direct Hit woke us all up with his pocket calendar alarm clock and his musical flatulence a few hours before sunrise. After a quick breakfast and loading of the ATVs we headed out to get in position for the morning hunt. We arrived at the bottom of an extensive cut with the wind gently blowing down hill. Paul and I followed a skid trail uphill all the while glassing extensively. The trail ended and we continued on through the Christmas trees still hunting until we came to another trail which we followed to a clear cut. Within a half minute of glassing I spotted a nice two point laying at the edge of the tree line a hundred and ten yards away showing only its head and neck. Paul was on it in a flash and had his gun perched on a few piled logs. I observed with my binos while he set up. There was an eternal twenty second pause while Paul set up and had to make the decision to take the shot or not. KABOOM, my binos jumped off the target and resettled in time to see the effect of Paul's shot. The buck was down with one shot using a 150 grain Winchester. High fives and hand shakes all around. We gutted the buck and took a few pics and set off to retrieve the ATVs and Direct hit.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0501.jpg?t=1191370581
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0508.jpg?t=1191370625
Back at the ATVs we had a drink and a snack while we waited for Direct Hit to show up. When he heard the news he was beaming with anticipation to see the Buck. While we were gone our separate ways DH was busy doing his own glassing and stalking but only turned up a few does. A group effort was now put in to place to land a beauty for Direct Hit. From this point on we did some of the most intense hunting ever. We all covered ourselved in buck scent and scoured the landscape using every method of legal hunting known to man. Paul spent time practicing his calling and managed to bring in some does hoping a buck might follow. Direct Hit and I worked over every corner of this cut glassing and waiting. We attempted to drive the deer out of the Christmas trees at the edges of cuts but only bumped does. At one point we separated so DH could walk a game trail while I would take a more direct root back to the ATVs and then go and pick him up further down the trail. As luck would have it I jumped A nice two point on my way back. We kicked ourselves later for not sticking together but we now new where to find him. When we rejoined we made an effort to push the buck back out for DH but had no luck. By the evening of the following day we decided to go for broke and split up completely to cover more ground. We inadvertently circled a large area including a ridge and a large stand of trees. DH and I later learned that we nearly crossed paths at one point missing each other by ten minutes. I heard a bang off in the distance and assumed DH had ended the hunt. I high tailed it back to the meeting place only to discover that the shot was further off in the distance as heard by Paul. Paul and I made one last attempt to creep through the cut to find DH. Fifty yards in we heard an unmistakable blast that could be none other than DH's Remington 700 300win. We both breathed a sigh of relief and....... Kaboom, another rapport. Now we knew for sure that DH had his deer down. Dark was upon us so we hustled to where we thought DH would be. He must have spotted us coming over the ridge so he let out a whistle to point us in the right direction. Arms waving we all gestured our excitement. DH had taken the very buck I seen the evening before from 150 yards away. He punched a 180 grain Winchester straight through both lungs from a free hand position while the deer was on the move.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0517.jpg?t=1191370770
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0519.jpg?t=1191370835
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t169/mbspr/IMG_0522.jpg?t=1191370886
It was a fantastic hunt that was well earned. It forced all of us to be persistent and to be on top of our game. We discovered a few hidden secrets within the honey hole that will make it worth going back for our upcoming moose hunt. It was a real pleasure hunting with such skilled hunters, marksmen and great companions.