fozzy
11-08-2007, 12:34 PM
Well we went off for a week of Mulie hunting in region 8, five of us in total. The first morning Doc who lives out there, came out and the two of us spent most of the day hunting in the timber. We spotted some Doe's and an unknown that slipped away. Rob and Jared went off on the quads to explore and get a feel for the area.
The second day Jared and I planned on hunting the top of the ridge in the timber and make our way over to the cut block Rob was hunting where he had seen a fork the evening before. The timber was real nice walking, grass cover and a few spots of old snow at an elevation of 6500 to 7000 feet. We were seeing lots of rubs and sign but had seen no animals when Rob radio's us. The radio transmissions were spotty and hard to make out. After a few tries we were able to make out that he had shot one 4x4 and there was another one hanging around still as well as a couple smaller bucks and some does. After a short discussion we decide to go help Rob load his deer up and see if we could get a chance on the other 4x4. We made our way out of the timber and to the quad and headed Rob's way.
We stashed the quad well before the cut block opened up and walked in. Rob tells us where he last saw the three does and the buck go out of sight. Sure enough they are feeding below the road along the timber edge. The does busted us and they took off down through a draw then up and over the next ridge and out of sight. Oh well we tried. :) We headed up to where Rob was and helped him deal with his buck, took some pictures and drag it to his machine and send him on his merry way back to camp.
When the buck and his Doe's took off they were not really in a hurry so we figured that they wouldn't go too far so we went to see if we could pick them up again.
There was a road that went around the hill so with the quad stashed we made our stalk. We spotted two Does down below along the timber but no buck with them. Now this cut block was for the most part very bald, hardly any cover at all. As we made our way around the hill and then up to where we figured they might be I spotted in a small bit of cover a glimps of a body. We glassed the spot for quite a while and with my 8x bino's I could make out the shape of what looked like ears. I had my target scope on my rifle so laying prone and turned up to 25x I had a better look, it sure looked like two ears and I could also see a nose of another and one ear. They never twitched or moved at all..
They were bedded above us so approaching unseen was impossible. After watching for a while I see through the scope the three Doe's stand up and trot out of sight. Jared watched the buck follow so we knew he was still around.
With them out of sight we continued our stalk and soon had the three Doe's in sight. They were watching the timber edge down below them as well as us. The buck had gone down into the timber and picked up three more girlfriends. With the wind in our favour we very slowly approached using a couple small trees between us to break up our outline. Once again they slowly moved just out of sight. Now this is Jareds first Buck and he has never seen one this big on the Island so he's getting pretty excited.
We sneak to the top of a rise and Jared it trying to get into position for a shot but there are some 2 feet tall Xmas trees blocking his view. He makes an off hand shot and misses. The buck is sticking around still.:shock:
So I calm Jared down and say to him to crawl over to where I am and take a rest on the little tree. The second shot was a dandy and did the job.
What an exciting stalk and great to see a new hunter cut a tag on a nice 4x4 Mulie. Two more weeks and we'll be chasing Whitetails.:mrgreen:http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/2_nice_bucks.jpg
The second day Jared and I planned on hunting the top of the ridge in the timber and make our way over to the cut block Rob was hunting where he had seen a fork the evening before. The timber was real nice walking, grass cover and a few spots of old snow at an elevation of 6500 to 7000 feet. We were seeing lots of rubs and sign but had seen no animals when Rob radio's us. The radio transmissions were spotty and hard to make out. After a few tries we were able to make out that he had shot one 4x4 and there was another one hanging around still as well as a couple smaller bucks and some does. After a short discussion we decide to go help Rob load his deer up and see if we could get a chance on the other 4x4. We made our way out of the timber and to the quad and headed Rob's way.
We stashed the quad well before the cut block opened up and walked in. Rob tells us where he last saw the three does and the buck go out of sight. Sure enough they are feeding below the road along the timber edge. The does busted us and they took off down through a draw then up and over the next ridge and out of sight. Oh well we tried. :) We headed up to where Rob was and helped him deal with his buck, took some pictures and drag it to his machine and send him on his merry way back to camp.
When the buck and his Doe's took off they were not really in a hurry so we figured that they wouldn't go too far so we went to see if we could pick them up again.
There was a road that went around the hill so with the quad stashed we made our stalk. We spotted two Does down below along the timber but no buck with them. Now this cut block was for the most part very bald, hardly any cover at all. As we made our way around the hill and then up to where we figured they might be I spotted in a small bit of cover a glimps of a body. We glassed the spot for quite a while and with my 8x bino's I could make out the shape of what looked like ears. I had my target scope on my rifle so laying prone and turned up to 25x I had a better look, it sure looked like two ears and I could also see a nose of another and one ear. They never twitched or moved at all..
They were bedded above us so approaching unseen was impossible. After watching for a while I see through the scope the three Doe's stand up and trot out of sight. Jared watched the buck follow so we knew he was still around.
With them out of sight we continued our stalk and soon had the three Doe's in sight. They were watching the timber edge down below them as well as us. The buck had gone down into the timber and picked up three more girlfriends. With the wind in our favour we very slowly approached using a couple small trees between us to break up our outline. Once again they slowly moved just out of sight. Now this is Jareds first Buck and he has never seen one this big on the Island so he's getting pretty excited.
We sneak to the top of a rise and Jared it trying to get into position for a shot but there are some 2 feet tall Xmas trees blocking his view. He makes an off hand shot and misses. The buck is sticking around still.:shock:
So I calm Jared down and say to him to crawl over to where I am and take a rest on the little tree. The second shot was a dandy and did the job.
What an exciting stalk and great to see a new hunter cut a tag on a nice 4x4 Mulie. Two more weeks and we'll be chasing Whitetails.:mrgreen:http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/2_nice_bucks.jpg