jml11
11-10-2008, 10:40 PM
Well my Chilcotin 2008 Muley hunt was the disappointment as it was cut short by a knee injury. I spent all day Saturday hiking up and down steep breaks and ridges looking for a trophy buck. I did come across one decent buck and learned a valuable lesson while doing so. As I crested a small grassy knob and into a clearing I noticed a very fresh rub on a young fir. Distracted by the rub I walked right up to it not looking around. Once I got right up to it I noticed that it was smoking fresh maybe a day old. This is when I look to my left and see a mature buck standing about 40 yards to my left. He begins to stot away as I bring up the gun. I can see bone but it doesn’t stand out so my gut tells me he is not the buck I am looking for. I figure he was a small 4 point ~140-145 class but I was looking for a 160+ deer so I didn’t chase him down. Lesson...look around before approaching rub...
Hiking out was a chore, I took what I thought was a good route back, which ended up costing me two extra hours (in the dark) up and down ravines. Unfortunately, this wore on my knee which was pretty sore by the time I reached the truck. Usually when my knee feels like this it just a result of fatigue and is gone in the morning, however the next day it was worse and when I tried to hike, pain every step…now I’m thinking I could probably just tough it out, but then I thought if I blow out my knee I could ruin my hunting future forever so I decided to call it a trip. If I had planned for a longer hunt I would have stayed and waited the healing process out, but I was planning on coming home the next day anyways. I was pretty bummed regardless…
When I got home I figured I would try a road hunt for a mulie or whitey the next day as I still had the day off work and wanted to hunt. In region 7 around PG, a new antlerless season was opening (Nov 10 – 20) on private land or within 2000m, and with any buck being open as well I could shoot any deer I saw. So, I did the wife a favour, grabbed the kid (19 months) and headed out for a couple hour road hunt on some crown land near private land no too far from the house. It was snowing like mad so I figured I would see lots of sign on the roads, but wasn’t seeing much. Not many people either which was surprising as the area is extremely popular. Finally I hit a nice cutblock, and I see a deer running slowly through the block towards the road. Check the GPS, still within 2000m of private land, good to go…any deer is game…I bail out, load up, extend the bipod legs, sit down, deer stops…broadside @ 250…I look through the scope, BONE… thick bone….BOOM…deer goes down. Hit him high in the spine so I needed a follow up shot for the kill, but as I walk up to him I was surprised….this is a white-tailed buck and more headgear than I first thought (5x4) …I actually didn’t know white-tails where in this particular area…I let out a little cheer as I really wanted a white tail buck but just haven’t gone after them yet. And for PG this is surely a respectful one at that. So although my mulie hunt was a bit of a downer, I was quickly gratified by being lucky enough to get this guy on the same weekend. This was the first hunt with my son and certainly will not be the last as he is obviously a good luck charm! Never tasted white-tailed yet, he was rutting so hopefully he’s not too bad eats!
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/jflex48/PB100022.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/jflex48/PB100026.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/jflex48/PB100027.jpg
Hiking out was a chore, I took what I thought was a good route back, which ended up costing me two extra hours (in the dark) up and down ravines. Unfortunately, this wore on my knee which was pretty sore by the time I reached the truck. Usually when my knee feels like this it just a result of fatigue and is gone in the morning, however the next day it was worse and when I tried to hike, pain every step…now I’m thinking I could probably just tough it out, but then I thought if I blow out my knee I could ruin my hunting future forever so I decided to call it a trip. If I had planned for a longer hunt I would have stayed and waited the healing process out, but I was planning on coming home the next day anyways. I was pretty bummed regardless…
When I got home I figured I would try a road hunt for a mulie or whitey the next day as I still had the day off work and wanted to hunt. In region 7 around PG, a new antlerless season was opening (Nov 10 – 20) on private land or within 2000m, and with any buck being open as well I could shoot any deer I saw. So, I did the wife a favour, grabbed the kid (19 months) and headed out for a couple hour road hunt on some crown land near private land no too far from the house. It was snowing like mad so I figured I would see lots of sign on the roads, but wasn’t seeing much. Not many people either which was surprising as the area is extremely popular. Finally I hit a nice cutblock, and I see a deer running slowly through the block towards the road. Check the GPS, still within 2000m of private land, good to go…any deer is game…I bail out, load up, extend the bipod legs, sit down, deer stops…broadside @ 250…I look through the scope, BONE… thick bone….BOOM…deer goes down. Hit him high in the spine so I needed a follow up shot for the kill, but as I walk up to him I was surprised….this is a white-tailed buck and more headgear than I first thought (5x4) …I actually didn’t know white-tails where in this particular area…I let out a little cheer as I really wanted a white tail buck but just haven’t gone after them yet. And for PG this is surely a respectful one at that. So although my mulie hunt was a bit of a downer, I was quickly gratified by being lucky enough to get this guy on the same weekend. This was the first hunt with my son and certainly will not be the last as he is obviously a good luck charm! Never tasted white-tailed yet, he was rutting so hopefully he’s not too bad eats!
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/jflex48/PB100022.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/jflex48/PB100026.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/jflex48/PB100027.jpg