Dirty
11-03-2008, 11:14 PM
My brother and I both received Region 3 Trophy Flat Top LEH’s this year. The same draw I had last year when I ended up shooting a meat deer. He wasn’t very excited, but I was very excited. I knew that the area was likely to hold some flat tops with 20” spreads.
I wanted to be successful this year, so I went to the range and tried some new loads. I sighted in my gun the day before we left for our hunt. 165 grain Barnes TSX’s over 74.7 grains of Reloader 22 with CCI Magnum Rifle primers. I chronographed them at around 3100 feet per second, surely fast enough to kill a trophy flat top. I was excited to try my new Browning X-Bolt 300 Winchester Magnum Stainless Stalker. Everybody knows that magnums kill better. With barely a box of shells down the barrel I knew I was well prepared for the hunt.
We departed at 7:30AM on November 1st and arrived at about 11:00AM. It was a little late, but late is better than never. We headed for the hills in search of the elusive big dry dough.
I had my new Eberlestock J107 Dragonfly pack loaded with all the goodies. 2 Garmin Rino 530’s, 2 headlamps, a flashlight, a lighter, bandaids, advil, tylenol, asswipe, 2 Buck knives, a Buck Saw, Wetones, and extra ammunition. I was very prepared. I also used my Browning Hells Canyon Camo outfit and Muck boots (which are very impressive).
We checked out a few areas and seen lots of hunters and very little fresh sign or deer. The deer in this area were proving to be more elusive than the rest of the elusive deer. We knew this area had good potential because of the previous trip from the year before. We continued to check out some areas and saw a lot of grouse. It would have been nice to have a shotgun or 22, but we did not have this luxury. We returned to camp frustrated, but having an idea where we might see some deer the next day. The day had ended with us seeing a couple of mature does hightailing it for the timber. We also saw a nice black bear that would have made a perfect sausage bear.
The next morning we were up early and went out into the hills. The hunting was tough because of the dense fog and wretched curry farts of my Dad. If there is such thing as a Sasquatch I am sure they smell like that. We ended up seeing one deer in the fog, but it walked away as thick fog faded in and out. I was not sure what sex the deer was so I did not want to shoot. Shooting into the fog didn’t seem like a logical idea either. We were dejected so we hit the roads with the 20 Gauge in search of some grouse from the day before. I shot 2 in the head and my Dad missed out on 2 because he was too slow (definitely not because the grouse were too smart).
We decided to head into an area to walk but were let down after we saw another hunter walking out of the area. We knew this hunter and knew that the oaf would have scared every living creature within the management area. It was my younger brother. That being said, it started to absolutely poor rain. I was not prepared to get soaked to the skin in this area. I was really pissed off right now, about not seeing any deer, our plans getting ruined, and the rain coming down. I was frustrated.
We boogied over to another area and set up to glass the spot. This is where things got exciting. Immediately I spotted a deer hiding in the timber. It looked like a doe so I decided to make a play on it. It was 1000 yards away and I knew my 300 Winchester Magnum could take it, but my dad talked me out of it. So I made a stalk. I got within 250 yards and glassed it, revealing a healthy 2 point buck. I decide to play a game with him. I let out 2 bleats, which caused the now agitated deer to walk back towards me. I let him walk away again and then let out another bleat. He came walking back further again. I let him walk some more and then let out a grunt. He stopped and surveyed the landscape before walking into the dense timber.
I hiked back to the ridge we were glassing from and started to discuss the game plan for the evening with my Dad. We hashed over the idea of heading out to another area, but hung around for a couple of more minutes. Suddenly, my Dad exclaimed that he could see deer moving. We glassed and revealed a doe and another deer that appeared to be bedded down. They were 1000 yards out. Before I left to stalk the deer I grabbed my cell phone and my dads cell phone so we could communicate. I didn’t want to use the Rino 530s as they are rather noisy when talking back and forth.
The rain from early had dampened the ground and made it more quiet. In addition, it was probably knocking down a lot of scent. I circled around and the wind was blowing my scent away from where the deer were. I hiked down a little draw where I knew the deer would not be able to see me. As I got closer to where I thought I would be able to see them I still could not see them. I decided to phone my dad and ask where they were. I talked quietly over the phone to him and he told me they were moving towards the thick timber just over the hill from where I was. I wanted to ask him how much further, but my phoned beeped and died. I was now on my own, so I moved ahead to where I could see over the ridge. However, a shot rang out from a ways away, but still very loud. I blew on my bleat call twice and carried on. I saw an old log pile with a large stump. I figured it would be a good place to hide out and survey the surroundings.
I sat down on the old trees and rest my gun on the stump. Just as I prepared to glass the tree line I saw the distinctive face of a deer looking straight at me. It was a buck. I knew it was a buck that I had seen before. It was not Lil’ Bugger he was surely cat scat by now. However it looked like a buck I had seen for the past two years. The first year I called him the spoon buck. The second year I called him the fork buck. This year I decided to call him the spork buck. He didn’t have mass or any trash but he was a decent buck.
He remained focused in my direction and I hoped he could not see my red hooded sweatshirt poking out from beneath my camo jacket. He was growing antsy and looked like he was going to run. I still had not confirmed whether or not he was a 4 point this year. He then turned to look behind him and I saw that he was a 4 point. I placed my crosshairs on his neck and let fly. After the smoke cleared I could see nothing but emptiness. I knew I had shot because my safety did not stick, but I didn’t know if I had hit him.
Then I saw movement to my left. I drew up and realized that this was a different buck. He had 3 points with a crab clawed front. I decided to call him Crabby. I messed around with him and bleated to him. He stopped and looked around. However, it seemed like he was looking for something he lost. I let out a grunt and he looked around nervously and ran off. So I proceeded to hike down to where I thought the deer was. I could then see light brown legs sticking out of a little indentation.
I walked up and the deer was already expired. I poked it and it was not breathing or moving. It was a healthy 4 x4 with a brow on one side and a small nub on the other side between the G3 and G4. I took off my jacket and removed my red sweatshirt and placed it on the deer so I could know where it was.
I proceeded to hike back up to my dad and tell him the news. When I got up there I told him the good news. We called my brother and Grandpa to come help us haul the deer out. We waited awhile and the skies started to dim. By the time they arrived and we hiked back down to where the deer was it was dark. We scoured the area and could not find my red sweatshirt or deer. I hiked back up to where I shot from and started directing the flashlights that I could see to where I shot at.
I heard my dad yell that he had found him, so I rushed back down to my deer. We gutted him out and split him in half, but not before some flashlight lighted photos. I cinched the whole back half of the deer on my Eberlestock J107 pack and hiked back out. My brother and dad packed out the front half. When we got back to the trucks my legs were extremely tired. However, I was happy to have put down my first deer with my own handloads. I cracked a Diet Root Beer ( I am diabetic) and I sipped it back.
We got the deer back to camp and skinned it out and wiped down the meat. The deer was my largest buck to date and most memorable hunt. I would like to thank Shoot to Kill for being subservient and packing half of the deer out for me. We will hopefully be going back looking for the elusive doe with 20” spread. Photos to come when I feel like getting around to it. I will make sure to put them in the photography forum when I do get around to it.
I wanted to be successful this year, so I went to the range and tried some new loads. I sighted in my gun the day before we left for our hunt. 165 grain Barnes TSX’s over 74.7 grains of Reloader 22 with CCI Magnum Rifle primers. I chronographed them at around 3100 feet per second, surely fast enough to kill a trophy flat top. I was excited to try my new Browning X-Bolt 300 Winchester Magnum Stainless Stalker. Everybody knows that magnums kill better. With barely a box of shells down the barrel I knew I was well prepared for the hunt.
We departed at 7:30AM on November 1st and arrived at about 11:00AM. It was a little late, but late is better than never. We headed for the hills in search of the elusive big dry dough.
I had my new Eberlestock J107 Dragonfly pack loaded with all the goodies. 2 Garmin Rino 530’s, 2 headlamps, a flashlight, a lighter, bandaids, advil, tylenol, asswipe, 2 Buck knives, a Buck Saw, Wetones, and extra ammunition. I was very prepared. I also used my Browning Hells Canyon Camo outfit and Muck boots (which are very impressive).
We checked out a few areas and seen lots of hunters and very little fresh sign or deer. The deer in this area were proving to be more elusive than the rest of the elusive deer. We knew this area had good potential because of the previous trip from the year before. We continued to check out some areas and saw a lot of grouse. It would have been nice to have a shotgun or 22, but we did not have this luxury. We returned to camp frustrated, but having an idea where we might see some deer the next day. The day had ended with us seeing a couple of mature does hightailing it for the timber. We also saw a nice black bear that would have made a perfect sausage bear.
The next morning we were up early and went out into the hills. The hunting was tough because of the dense fog and wretched curry farts of my Dad. If there is such thing as a Sasquatch I am sure they smell like that. We ended up seeing one deer in the fog, but it walked away as thick fog faded in and out. I was not sure what sex the deer was so I did not want to shoot. Shooting into the fog didn’t seem like a logical idea either. We were dejected so we hit the roads with the 20 Gauge in search of some grouse from the day before. I shot 2 in the head and my Dad missed out on 2 because he was too slow (definitely not because the grouse were too smart).
We decided to head into an area to walk but were let down after we saw another hunter walking out of the area. We knew this hunter and knew that the oaf would have scared every living creature within the management area. It was my younger brother. That being said, it started to absolutely poor rain. I was not prepared to get soaked to the skin in this area. I was really pissed off right now, about not seeing any deer, our plans getting ruined, and the rain coming down. I was frustrated.
We boogied over to another area and set up to glass the spot. This is where things got exciting. Immediately I spotted a deer hiding in the timber. It looked like a doe so I decided to make a play on it. It was 1000 yards away and I knew my 300 Winchester Magnum could take it, but my dad talked me out of it. So I made a stalk. I got within 250 yards and glassed it, revealing a healthy 2 point buck. I decide to play a game with him. I let out 2 bleats, which caused the now agitated deer to walk back towards me. I let him walk away again and then let out another bleat. He came walking back further again. I let him walk some more and then let out a grunt. He stopped and surveyed the landscape before walking into the dense timber.
I hiked back to the ridge we were glassing from and started to discuss the game plan for the evening with my Dad. We hashed over the idea of heading out to another area, but hung around for a couple of more minutes. Suddenly, my Dad exclaimed that he could see deer moving. We glassed and revealed a doe and another deer that appeared to be bedded down. They were 1000 yards out. Before I left to stalk the deer I grabbed my cell phone and my dads cell phone so we could communicate. I didn’t want to use the Rino 530s as they are rather noisy when talking back and forth.
The rain from early had dampened the ground and made it more quiet. In addition, it was probably knocking down a lot of scent. I circled around and the wind was blowing my scent away from where the deer were. I hiked down a little draw where I knew the deer would not be able to see me. As I got closer to where I thought I would be able to see them I still could not see them. I decided to phone my dad and ask where they were. I talked quietly over the phone to him and he told me they were moving towards the thick timber just over the hill from where I was. I wanted to ask him how much further, but my phoned beeped and died. I was now on my own, so I moved ahead to where I could see over the ridge. However, a shot rang out from a ways away, but still very loud. I blew on my bleat call twice and carried on. I saw an old log pile with a large stump. I figured it would be a good place to hide out and survey the surroundings.
I sat down on the old trees and rest my gun on the stump. Just as I prepared to glass the tree line I saw the distinctive face of a deer looking straight at me. It was a buck. I knew it was a buck that I had seen before. It was not Lil’ Bugger he was surely cat scat by now. However it looked like a buck I had seen for the past two years. The first year I called him the spoon buck. The second year I called him the fork buck. This year I decided to call him the spork buck. He didn’t have mass or any trash but he was a decent buck.
He remained focused in my direction and I hoped he could not see my red hooded sweatshirt poking out from beneath my camo jacket. He was growing antsy and looked like he was going to run. I still had not confirmed whether or not he was a 4 point this year. He then turned to look behind him and I saw that he was a 4 point. I placed my crosshairs on his neck and let fly. After the smoke cleared I could see nothing but emptiness. I knew I had shot because my safety did not stick, but I didn’t know if I had hit him.
Then I saw movement to my left. I drew up and realized that this was a different buck. He had 3 points with a crab clawed front. I decided to call him Crabby. I messed around with him and bleated to him. He stopped and looked around. However, it seemed like he was looking for something he lost. I let out a grunt and he looked around nervously and ran off. So I proceeded to hike down to where I thought the deer was. I could then see light brown legs sticking out of a little indentation.
I walked up and the deer was already expired. I poked it and it was not breathing or moving. It was a healthy 4 x4 with a brow on one side and a small nub on the other side between the G3 and G4. I took off my jacket and removed my red sweatshirt and placed it on the deer so I could know where it was.
I proceeded to hike back up to my dad and tell him the news. When I got up there I told him the good news. We called my brother and Grandpa to come help us haul the deer out. We waited awhile and the skies started to dim. By the time they arrived and we hiked back down to where the deer was it was dark. We scoured the area and could not find my red sweatshirt or deer. I hiked back up to where I shot from and started directing the flashlights that I could see to where I shot at.
I heard my dad yell that he had found him, so I rushed back down to my deer. We gutted him out and split him in half, but not before some flashlight lighted photos. I cinched the whole back half of the deer on my Eberlestock J107 pack and hiked back out. My brother and dad packed out the front half. When we got back to the trucks my legs were extremely tired. However, I was happy to have put down my first deer with my own handloads. I cracked a Diet Root Beer ( I am diabetic) and I sipped it back.
We got the deer back to camp and skinned it out and wiped down the meat. The deer was my largest buck to date and most memorable hunt. I would like to thank Shoot to Kill for being subservient and packing half of the deer out for me. We will hopefully be going back looking for the elusive doe with 20” spread. Photos to come when I feel like getting around to it. I will make sure to put them in the photography forum when I do get around to it.