Westwold Buck and Doe Hunt

[pmj]

November 2-4 / 07.
1st afternoon: My wife Marianne, I and our friends James and Bodana went for our 2 doe draws to Westwold which is a small town on Hwy 97 between Kamloops and Vernon. We unloaded some gear at Bodanas moms place where we would be staying. We went up no name valley past the farmers fields. There were dozens if not hundreds of does in the fields:eek:. We drove around getting familiar with the hills above the farms. Not 20 minutes up the first logging road we came upon 3 does. I bailed out of the back seat of the crew cab. I held one of the does in the open with my fawn bleat. There was just a little bit of willow infront of the doe so I held off shooting since we were just starting8-). We did not see any more game that afternoon.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Modified_Westwold_2007_001.jpg
Photo of me by my wife Marianne.

[pmj]

We went back to the farm we were staying at in time to call in a couple of coyotes before last light to help the farmers out. It was my first time shooting coyotes. It was amazing to see them come to the electronic call so quick. I would highly recommend yote hunting to give the farmers a hand controlling these nasty predators:cool:.
We visited the Falkland pub that night:D and had lots of fun so needless to say we were late getting out the next morning.
Day 2. We passed the farmers fields again loaded with does as we headed up the the hills. It was a very windy day and we did not see any deer as we road hunted and walked or still hunted some clear cuts and hill sides. On the way down in the late afternoon we rounded a corner and a large doe was standing on the shoulder at 30 m. I bailed out this time from the front seat, loaded and fired at the doe. I was certain I made a good hit. I did not know it but there was one, maybe two other does with it just below the road shoulder, out of sight. I lost sight of the deer as my rifle recoiled and I thought the one bouncing on the road was the one I shot at so when it ran off it looked like it had not been hit that hard. We parked and decided to wait for a half hour before tracking. We were looking for blood on the road when my wife came over to take pictures and she looked over the bank and saw the doe piled up below the shoulder of the road.
I cancelled my tag, Marianne took some pictures and we gutted the doe right on the tail gate of the truck. No sore back from bending over. It weighed 160 lbs hanging in the garage. The wind had blown some trees over the roads so we had to cut some wood on the way out.

[pmj]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Modified_Westwold_2007_003.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6836&size=big&cat=500)
My 160 lb doe. I was very pleased with it.

[pmj]

Day 3: We were out early. Drove past the does in the farmers fields. We had permission to hunt one of the local farms but we would try the hills in the morning first. When we came around the corner at the clear cut where we had seen the does the first afternoon, there was a 4 point buck on the left side having his way with a doe. It was as if we had caught him with his pants down:oops:. He was beside the truck 35 m away and slowly started to walk away from us parallel to the road. James bailed out from the drivers side and loaded his 7mm. I was out of the back seat on the passanger side ready to back him up. James took his shot and I followed the buck in my scope as he trotted away. He angled towards the road and as the road curved to the left the buck turned to the right crossed the ditch to climb onto the road. As the buck crossed the ditch he dropped on the edge of the road 75 m away from us:D. High fives all around. More picures by Marianne. We struggled to get the buck onto the tail gate and gutted it there. No sore back this time either. Jamse's shot was perfect, it took out the heart and lungs.
James has it at the taxidermist to get mounted. I threw the tape on it to get some really rough numbers. 4x4. It is 24 1/2'' outside. 15 1/2 inside. The tines range from about 8 1/2 to about 10 1/2. They are fairly even so I see only a few deductions. No extra tines. Not very thick bone. Experienced guesses on the score would be appreciated. I will repost with the picture when I get a score from the taxi.
We brought home some locally grown potatoes that were really good with the back straps:-). http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Modified_Westwold_2007_buck_in_truck.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6838&size=big&cat=500)
Me with my wife Marianne, one of the few times she is not behind the camera. Buck shot by James.

[pmj]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Modified_Westwold_2007_004.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=6837&size=big&cat=500)
James's 4x4 buck. Westwold November 2007.

[Freshtracks]

Nice buck .... looks bigger than a 15 1/2" inside spread ... probably go around 160 ish gross. Congrats on your hunt.

[pmj]

Thanks FT you are probably right, I did say it was a very rough measuer and add to that my bad memory:rolleyes:.

[knighthunter]

That is a real dandy buck.

[hunter1947]

Nice deer you got ,everything works into place at times when you want it to ,congrats.

[bruin]

I would have said more like 175"-178", Nice buck!!

[WoodOx]

I agree bruin, 175 sounds close. those are deep forks, and although its not ultra heavy it is heavier than the average buck. Unbelievable kill for being new to that area!

[tufferthandug]

Great buck. Not that score matters, but I would guess a gross of 170-175. Only having one brow won't do the "net" any favours.

[bruin]

Actually, if you Check the B&C wesite you don't include brows on a mulie's score.

[WoodOx]

the G1, on a mule deer, is the first scorable point Mike. Its part of the score - if you can find a muley with 4+ inch brows hes got a huge advantage when it comes to score

[beeker]

that is a sweet buck, way to go!

[pmj]

My friend James who shot the buck has hunted the area before. It is a new area to me.