Back from the Alpine

[MattB]

Kirby and I hit the alpine and glassed a ton. We were seeing lots and lots of deer including some legal bucks but nothing worth tagging.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/matthew_brown69/Matt2005Alpinehunt003.jpg
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As evening approached i managed to pick up a couple decent looking bucks in the spotter. We watched them and tried to determine how big they were. They were just too far away, 1.5-2km, and we couldnt get a good idea of what their size was so we decided to close the distance. We stood up and walked about 100 yards until i noticed that there was another big buck about 4-500 yards in front of us. I looked at him through the binos and he also looked pretty good so now the stalk was on. As we closed in to where the closer buck was we couldnt find him. He had totally disappeared and we had no idea of where :confused: . By that time it was starting to get late so I decided not to pursue the other 2 bucks and that i would look for them in the morning. Morning came quick and we hit our glassing spot early. I saw a few small 4 points and a few smaller bucks as well. Finally i spotted a decent buck bedded a ways off but before we could make a move a snowstorm moved in.

[MattB]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/matthew_brown69/Matt2005Alpinehunt009.jpg
We huddled behind some subalpine fir and they provided a little protection from the elements but we were still fairly cold and thought about hitting the timber. We stayed put and after 1.5 hours the storm quit and we were glassin' again. I finally spotted the 2 bigger bucks from the evening before and after an hour of watching them we determined that a big 5x5 with deep forks was the bigger of the 2. The other buck was a 4x4 that was fairly uneven but still not a bad buck, we nicknamed him golden boy as he had bright gold colored velvet when the suns rays hit it.
Golden Boy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/matthew_brown69/goldenboy.jpg
We decided that I would put a stalk on them and kirby would direct me right to them. Well, the bucks were so far off and the country looked so different that i was totally lost while stalking them. I would look back towards kirby for signals but he was too far off to see through the binos and i was too stubborn to take out the spotter.I kept heading where i thought the bucks were and actually stalked right past them. After i realized this the stalk was relatively easy. I spotted golden boy bedded about 200 yards from me and over the course of 2 hours i closed the distance to about 25. Once I was that close i was beginning to wonder where the bigger 5x5 was, so i went another foot farther then all i saw was antler tips.

The big 5x5 stood up no more than 15m in front of me. I had my camera so i snapped some pics while trying to decide whether to shoot or not. The buck was narrow, alot like golden boy, but he sure had nice deep forks. He turned to the side as if getting ready to bolt and by that time i had had enough so i grabbed the rifle and dropped him. Golden boy stood up and looked at me so i got a few good live pictures of him as well. After that i let out the victory yell and was pumped! I was looking for Kirby and couldnt see him....then i turned around and there he was behind me a few hundred yards. I guess he had enough watching me take pictures of the buck and came over to see what was going on. We quartered the buck and i loaded the meat in my pack and then I carried it to a glacier about 1 km away. The pack was heavy but it was worth it. Kirby and i hunted another day but the snow would not stop coming down. We headed to the glacier and grabbed the meat and rack and brought it back to camp. Camp was packed and we then headed about 2 kms to a cabin where we would spend the night. The next day we packed 12.5kms to my truck and by then we were both fairly tired but happy that we ended up with a good buck. It was definetely a good hunt spent with good company in some awesomely rugged country!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/matthew_brown69/Matt2005Alpinehunt031.jpg
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[MattB]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/matthew_brown69/Matt2005Alpinehunt039.jpg
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[mainland hunter]

thats awesome. congrats on a nice buck

[huntersdad]

awesome story

[mark]

looks like an awesome trip.

[Steeleco]

At my guess you packed that brute 15.5km, WOW you deserve it. Awsome trip, I'm thinking I'd be dead after all that work.

[rock]

Great job, to me thats a nice buck, some people hunt for years and never get anything close to that, well done by both of you, pics are awsome

[Tarp Man]

MAN WHAT A RACK! That gets me super pumped to go out again! And I just got back from FJS with my first moose! An impressive stalk to close the distance like that. And to pack it out that far? Well done..

-Tarp Man

[Freshtracks]

Well done Matt ... that's a sweet opening weekend buck in any books. I'm thinking Kirby was sneaking up on you and was going to stick one of them ... after waiting and watching you. :razz: Did you guys debone the buck for the final pack out?

[tomigunz]

Those are some real hat racks guys, congrates on the succesful trip. Where abouts were u hunting if i may ask?

[elkster]

Nice buck guys. out here on the rock a guy would give his left nut for a buck like that. i guess I'm going to have to do some deer hunting off the Island. I usually only travel for moose, but man that buck looks good. Lots of work. well done

[MattB]

Thanks for the comments guys. The hunt took place North of lillooet, tons of hunting pressure in there and thats why we packed in so far to get to the bigger bucks. After the buck was down we quartered him and left the meat in a glacier for a day. After that we deboned it and packed it all up and walked out the 18 or so Kms to my truck. We did the first 5.5 one evening and spent the night in a cabin. We did the last 12.5 yesterday. Our packs were jammed full of meat and camp gear...we had no room for another deer so it wouldve taken another trip if we had taken 2. I woke up this morning a little stiff and sore but nothing too major. Im sure Kirby woke up a little more sore than I, he can sure pack a ton of weight!

[ex bc guide]

Nice storey and pics, congrats
Mike

[goathead]

that is awesome. To get a good buck and those great pics hard work does pay.did you see any sheep in your travels:razz:

[Kirby]

Was definatly a great hunt. I was totally happy to see the big buck down, he was a hog, the pics don't do it justice. The hunt was a blast, definatly will be doing it again, hopefully with horses though, so we can pack out 2 deer.:grin: The country was amazing, the only thing I would change was the glacier fed river we had to cross, would be a bit smaller(just a BIT too deep for me:shock: ).

I had a great hunt with Mattb, I was amazed at how far he would spot deer, the first night he spotted the bucks, there were close to 2km away, and he managed to pick up their antlers sticking up over some brush, he would regularly be spotting deer 4km+ away with bino's. Definatly some amazing eyes on that guy.

I had been watching matt make the stalk for close to an hour, and from my vantage point, it looked like he was actually 20-30m away from the deer, when I saw him take out his camera and start taking pics:shock: , I was dumbfounded, I'm still supprised he took the pics, and not the deer, but really nice to have the pics of the deer live as well as on the ground. I finally started over for two reasons, one, if they were too small, and matt was passing, I knew I wanted the 5x5(that matt took), and because we were planning on hunting over that way, and glassing more.

Kirby

[Offroad]

Nice deer and great story. Sounds like a good time congrats.

[atri]

Congratulations guys! That was an awesome story. I am very impressed by the pictures. Way to keep your cool, Matt. Click. Click. BOOM! I love it!

Now you guys really have me stoked for my october hunt!

[Elkhound]

Matt you are one cool and collected guy. I don't think I would have the nerve to take pics before the shot. All I can think of is shoot that guy before he gets away8)

[MattB]

Thanks guys. His narrow spread really had me thinking if i should take him or not. But when i got an up close look at the tine length i had to drop him :smile:

[Farmer]

Nice buck and great story. The deer you work the hardest for are the most memorable ones.

Gord

[Thunderstix]

What a great adventure! I am not sure how I missed this thread until today, but I am glad I found it. It really spurs on my love for deer hunting.