Tag Soup & buck pics...

[steepNdeep]

Well, work got in the way of my hunt AGAIN! :mad: Only had 2 mornings to try and put a stud on the ground. Thought it might be possible with the brownie points of years of pounding hard for many miles... The mild weather also meant I might make it into my fav. spot...

Chained up and crawled into the foot of melting slop and made it to camp (almost didn't make it out, though :shock: ) After 4 hours humping around in the slush and sideways rain I never saw sign of 1 deer in all the usual spots and the fog made it ~impossible to glass into the canyons. The deer had already moved down into the timber...

I retreated to the valley for the next morning, hiked into a canyon and found the deer ~50 muleys and 5 bucks. One decent buck camped out on his does. I've watched him grow for the last 3 years... He's getting thicker, with 160 class backs but weak fronts... I watched him for ~20 mins and decided to order the muley TAG SOUP & let him grow for another year.

Here are some sh!tty pics of the stud camped out on his does - he was ~100 yards away and I only had my little digital... he had no idea how close he was to his last piece of tail... ;)
http://www.secretcreeksupplies.com/m8-stud.jpg

Hit the last morning of the season on a local ridge with a buddy. Again humpin' in the sideways rain and melting slop with ~40 yards of visibility. We grunted in a funky looking buck (~20" high but narrow) to ~10 yards, but disappeared into the fog under the cliff I was standing on. Another buck was raking the brush ~40 yards down in the timber, but the TopHat buck got downwind and blew outta there before we got a look at the raker...

It was great to get out for even a couple of days!! I've got a treestand set up near my property on a swamp crossing where my son & I cut some tunnels in the bush... Might have to wack a lil’ whitey for sausages but the freezer is still full of elk steaks. Some nice bucks have hit the ground this year and I'm lookin' forward to the Chilcotin boys bucks! :cool:

Same buck gettin' a whiff...
http://www.secretcreeksupplies.com/m8-lipcurl.jpg

[doubled]

I think you may need a new camera. At least you have the elk steaks.

[sawmill]

Kaboom!!!!!!!

[TIKA 300]

Kaboom!!!!!!!

What he said x 2

[blackbart]

Great story. Nice to set standards and stick to them. Getting out and finding the game is the name of the game. Deciding whether to shoot or not is the sole choice of the person packing the heat.

Shooting either an LEH flat top or a booner buck are both feats of achievement if that is what one was targetting when starting out.

I too look forward to hearing how the rest of the hunters make out as November continues.

Tag soup is not as bad as some make it out to be. Lots of spices and some (copious amounts) of liquids (you can use many different varities: beer, wine, whiskey etc.) make things taste better. Tag soup tends to keep for a whole lot longer than meat in the freezer. Heck, I have some that is still good from 1984. Just be sure to store in a dry place and it should last longer than you.

[sneg]

good story.thanks for sharing... i like your attitude.some can learn from it

[born2hunt]

Bang!!!!! He Wouldn't Of Had Another Sniff

[kennyj]

Good for you for holding off ! Maybe next year his fronts will match up with his backs.
kenny

[Bow Walker]

Tag Soup? Little salt, little pepper, little ketchup - it ain't so bad......

[steepNdeep]

Doubled - That's a nice buck in your avatar - how old was you kid when he shot it?

Bart - yeah, the tag soup goes down a bit better with a brew or six... :D

If the freezer is full, I enjoy just being out there and the challenge of trying to put the moves on a wise old buck. >>> Repeat 10 times and you just might believe it... <<< :rolleyes:

[Brambles]

Its good to stockpile a few deer to watch from year to year, good on you for letting him live another season.

Still got lots of time for whitey's:smile:

[BlacktailStalker]

Yup very cool to watch and let grow another year.
definitely a success no matter how you look at it, right on.

[Rattler]

Good on you for holding out...he will be bigger next year, no doubt. Sounds like you had a successful last 2 days to me...

[hunter1947]

SND that is a very nice deer from what I can make out of it in the pic.

Good for you on letting this deer get through a nother year of living ,if you find him next year he might be well worth all in what you did this year letting him walk.

[steepNdeep]

Thanks boys.

Brambles - Yeah, sounds like you've got a couple stockpiled yourself for next year! Got a pic of your Vadar buck?

I been waiting to hunt the Louisville Buck (as in baseball) a THICK 190+ typical up top that I had in my scope 3 years ago @ 400+ yards, but I've been in there too late the last 3 years... I've shot 2 of his ~offspring (including the buck in my avatar). Hopefully he ain't cat scat yet... Makes for good offseason dreams though... :cool:

Here's a couple of rubs in his domain just below my glassing cliff...
http://www.secretcreeksupplies.com/m07-rub-bench.jpg

http://www.secretcreeksupplies.com/s-m4-rubs.jpg

Waiting for light...
http://www.secretcreeksupplies.com/s-dawn.jpg

Guess it's time to chase some bush commandos... :roll:

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Yep! Chase some bush rats until bow season starts...then head back and rattle in some mulies!!
No....wait....that doesn't work for mulies:wink:

Cool pics, Dean!
Now go cut a tag! That freezer will be empty before the winter is gone.

You can buy more tags next year!!

SSS

[Brambles]

Thanks boys.

Brambles - Yeah, sounds like you've got a couple stockpiled yourself for next year! Got a pic of your Vadar buck?



NO, Damn, the first time I seen him he didn't give me much time before he headed into the timber but I had enough time to see he was a hog, actually it was never a ooohh ummmm welllll maybe he's big. It was a HOLY F*&K and then the shakes started:lol:.

Second time I seen him the shakes started all over again:roll: my partner would probably agree that I was pretty jacked up on horn when I seen him the second time. Plus him looking at the buck and instantly saying HOLY F*$K THAT IS A GOOOOOOD BUCK didn't help matters much. We had time to either do a stalk or hang around and do pictures so we tryed to make a play on him but he again went into the timber, he did so when we were enroute so we never got to see which timber patch he went into and with no snow we just sat and hoped he would come out and feed later, which he never did. The next day I sat in that spot for 8 hours and he didn't come out. I hunted many more days but the snow came and the deer moved down. I relocated the deer with a few more days in the season but the buck I shot tempted me and I cut my tag.

Of course he's only one of a number of bucks I'll be looking for and watching next year but he's the biggest by far.

I'm already getting excited for next season:biggrin:

[steepNdeep]

maybe he's big. It was a HOLY F*&K and then the shakes started:lol:. Second time I seen him the shakes started all over again:roll:

I hear ya on that... I found Louis' in my scope down in the canyon below me while his rack was in a overhanging branch rubbing it... when he stopped and I saw those bats, I nearly fell off the cliff and then there was NO way I could take any shot. He started to move out and I grunted and he stopped, turned broadside and stared for ~40 seconds. I couldn't settle those crosshairs... :eek:

Brent - I haven't seen your buck... Did you even buy a tag yet??? Oh, I forgot that you hammered a great bull already! :cool:

[boxhitch]

I hunted many more days but the snow came and the deer moved down.
Bram, how much snow have you got there ? Only 6-8 inches here, a week old, and deer are still hanging high.

[Brambles]

Bram, how much snow have you got there ? Only 6-8 inches here, a week old, and deer are still hanging high.


I haven't been up in the same spot I shot my buck to get an accurate guage of how much snow is at that level. It rained a few days in town and I'm not sure if it snowed up high or rained.

We had about 5-6 inches on the 7th when I shot my buck.

We did get a fresh snowfall in another spot I was whitetail hunting on Tuesday and possibly this morning, looked like fresh snow from town. I have to work a few days so It won't be for a few days that I get out again.

[boxhitch]

I was surprised you figured the deer had moved down already. Local trait?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I hear ya on that... I found Louis' in my scope down in the canyon below me while his rack was in a overhanging branch rubbing it... when he stopped and I saw those bats, I nearly fell off the cliff and then there was NO way I could take any shot. He started to move out and I grunted and he stopped, turned broadside and stared for ~40 seconds. I couldn't settle those crosshairs... :eek:

Brent - I haven't seen your buck... Did you even buy a tag yet??? Oh, I forgot that you hammered a great bull already! :cool:

Better get a set of traning wheels for your rifle(bipod):razz:.

No buck for me this year....only hunted one full day so far this year(last Sunday) so it would have been fair to put one down with so little effort:roll:.

SSS

[Brambles]

I was surprised you figured the deer had moved down already. Local trait?


All the track seemed to be headed down, the majority of the deer sign was lower as well. After the snowfall all the track up higher ceased. We made the decision to hunt where the sign IS and not where I "thought" the deer should be. Some of those tracks lower down were MASSIVE as well.

[steepNdeep]

I was surprised you figured the deer had moved down already. Local trait?

Deer had moved down where I was too. Zero tracks in a weeks worth of snow... it had melted down to only a few inches. I found herds down lower though.

[boxhitch]

I heard similar comments here, but I guess I found the pocket deer that don't follow the masses.



We made the decision to hunt where the sign IS and not where I "thought" the deer should be.
Can never argue with that.

[Brambles]

I heard similar comments here, but I guess I found the pocket deer that don't follow the masses.

Can never argue with that.

There was still the odd roaming track up high but I made the decision to hunt the larger groups lower down. Just seemed like better odds of seeing a good animal.

[steepNdeep]

Damn, I just realized it sounds like I've become a preservationist like Goat Guy! Did he ever find WD40 strong enough to unseize his rusty trigger??? Or is he too busy talkin' the talk... :biggrin:

[GoatGuy]

Damn, I just realized it sounds like I've become a preservationist like Goat Guy! Did he ever find WD40 strong enough to unseize his rusty trigger??? Or is he too busy talkin' the talk... :biggrin:

Used a bit of wd40 at the start of the season but with the price of oil I haven't been able to convince myself to use it again. Deep down I'm really just another preservationist.

Did manage to run into another g bear up close 2 days ago - luckily I think we scared each other each enough to decide that heading in opposite directions was a good idea.

MD were pretty spread out last week where we were hunting. Followed some tracks in the alpine at around 6000' in knee deep snow; also a pile of deer right down low. The high elevation deer were spotty and tough to find. Didn't find a pile of them until yesterday.


Looks like you had a good trip. Hoping to see some pics of a whopper!

[BCrams]

There was still the odd roaming track up high but I made the decision to hunt the larger groups lower down. Just seemed like better odds of seeing a good animal.

True! Better odds of seeing a good animal!

But hunting those odd tracks up high - (in my opinion) may give you better odds at that boone and crockett once in a lifetime buck!!

[hunter1947]

The big mule deer will come down to lower elevations to where the does are ,lets face it if you are a buck and the time has come to breed where would you go ,I know where I would be headed ,down to the does.

Lets face it the bucks have been waiting for this time for a year.

[steepNdeep]

Did manage to run into another g bear up close 2 days ago - luckily I think we scared each other each enough to decide that heading in opposite directions was a good idea.

MD were pretty spread out last week where we were hunting. Followed some tracks in the alpine at around 6000' in knee deep snow; also a pile of deer right down low. The high elevation deer were spotty and tough to find. Didn't find a pile of them until yesterday.

Looks like you had a good trip. Hoping to see some pics of a whopper!


Hey man, Good to see you're still gettin' out on the mountain... school was the goold ole days, huh... You should change your handle to Grizz-Magnet (I don't think I'd want you in my spike camp sleepin' in the bear burritos... ;) )

2' @ 6k... You huntin' our hood - the 'stoke or what? I was in your hood in the 4" of snot...

BCRams- Is that a new buck in your avatar? Nice lookin' forks! You been out much or just getting started? :cool:

[Brambles]

True! Better odds of seeing a good animal!

But hunting those odd tracks up high - (in my opinion) may give you better odds at that boone and crockett once in a lifetime buck!!

No doubt Ram's, that was the thoughts that were going through my head. But I always said that I just want to improve on the bucks each year and not necessarily go out and focus on a booner or nothing, Not yet anyways. If a biggun falls into my scope while hunting then so be it, but I found a buck that made me happy and it was a great season that ended with a great hunt with a good friend. Can't ask for anything better than that IMO8-)

[Shooter]

hunt where the sign IS and not where I "thought" the deer should be.


Words of wisdom there