humble hunter
12-08-2008, 09:41 PM
After one of my toughest seasons of hunting thus far I finally got a decent buck. I have been into big bucks all year but everytime something happened, either me screwing up, or my gun being off and missing and other things out of my control that I have posted previously.
I will start with the story of last week, we went up to our area in region 3 to hunt. The area is behind my in laws ranch. We are not allowed to shoot anything out of the fields but above it is fair game. There are no roads in this area so it is hiking only. We put the pack frames on and head out for the day back at dark. Last week my buddy (elkmaster C) and I really busted our butts hiking long days, we were seeing a ton of sign but all a couple of days old we were pretty frustrated. On the last day of a 3 day hunt I had to leave by noon and he could stay for the day and since we were in seperate trucks we decided to go into different areas. I left the ranch house a little before light while elkmaster c was still finishing breakfast and I started up the hill after about 20 minutes i saw a deer, it was a small 4 pt and I decided the only reason I would shoot him would be to spite Chris as he would still have been at the table. (I must be growing up)I let him go and continued up the hill to where I had shot a nice buck a few years prior. I got up to the ridge after about 1 1/2 hours of straight up hiking and right away saw a doe so I just sat down and watched her, suddenly a big 3 pt came out and I watched him for about 10 minutes. I finally stood up and walked another 50 feet up and there came a really high and wide buck probably 180 class. I raised the gun but the 3pt stepped in front of him and stayed right in front of him as they walked sideways across the hill after the doe. No shot available, I followed them for a bit but the wind changed on me and they all headed staright up the hill. I had to go and I did not want to spook them out of the country so I headed down the mountain back to the ranch and headed home.
All week I had been thinking of that buck and decided (after bartering with my wife) that I could go up for 2 more days. I left saturday night, got in late after a nasty drive in the fog. I was a little slow getting going on sunday morning and headed out of the house at about 8:30 . I walked for about a 1/2 hour to where I had seen the small 4 pt the previous weekend and started to see alot of fresh tracks. I slowed up a little and spotted a doe, then out from behind a tree came this guy. They saw me and started to book it. I led the buck to a small opening in the trees and when he entered I fired, he hunched up and continued on. A whole load of does took off from the trees around after I shot. I knew I had hit him and walked up to where I had shot as the fog was rolling in. 1 small blotch of blood in the snow and the area was scattered with tracks. I started to follow the tracks and the patch of fog blew through, I looked up the hill on the power line about 100 yards above me and there he was standing there looking at me. I put the crosshairs on his neck and squeezed off. His legs folded and he rolled down the hill towards me. When I got to him I still had thought he was the big buck from the weekend before but it was not. I was little dissapointed but after the brutal season I was having I just sat down, smiled and thought about how easy of a drag I was going to have and how elkmaster c (who could not get off work) was going to crap himself. I started to field dressed him and noticed all of the gore marks in his side, he had 3 large puncture wounds and I might have an idea who did them: my next years buck! I then dragged him down the hill and then walked back to the ranch house. The owners and I had a good laugh as I had only been gone for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Anyways here he is, not huge but a nice buck. He was actually on his way out as his teeth are worn right down. Pics are posted below
I will start with the story of last week, we went up to our area in region 3 to hunt. The area is behind my in laws ranch. We are not allowed to shoot anything out of the fields but above it is fair game. There are no roads in this area so it is hiking only. We put the pack frames on and head out for the day back at dark. Last week my buddy (elkmaster C) and I really busted our butts hiking long days, we were seeing a ton of sign but all a couple of days old we were pretty frustrated. On the last day of a 3 day hunt I had to leave by noon and he could stay for the day and since we were in seperate trucks we decided to go into different areas. I left the ranch house a little before light while elkmaster c was still finishing breakfast and I started up the hill after about 20 minutes i saw a deer, it was a small 4 pt and I decided the only reason I would shoot him would be to spite Chris as he would still have been at the table. (I must be growing up)I let him go and continued up the hill to where I had shot a nice buck a few years prior. I got up to the ridge after about 1 1/2 hours of straight up hiking and right away saw a doe so I just sat down and watched her, suddenly a big 3 pt came out and I watched him for about 10 minutes. I finally stood up and walked another 50 feet up and there came a really high and wide buck probably 180 class. I raised the gun but the 3pt stepped in front of him and stayed right in front of him as they walked sideways across the hill after the doe. No shot available, I followed them for a bit but the wind changed on me and they all headed staright up the hill. I had to go and I did not want to spook them out of the country so I headed down the mountain back to the ranch and headed home.
All week I had been thinking of that buck and decided (after bartering with my wife) that I could go up for 2 more days. I left saturday night, got in late after a nasty drive in the fog. I was a little slow getting going on sunday morning and headed out of the house at about 8:30 . I walked for about a 1/2 hour to where I had seen the small 4 pt the previous weekend and started to see alot of fresh tracks. I slowed up a little and spotted a doe, then out from behind a tree came this guy. They saw me and started to book it. I led the buck to a small opening in the trees and when he entered I fired, he hunched up and continued on. A whole load of does took off from the trees around after I shot. I knew I had hit him and walked up to where I had shot as the fog was rolling in. 1 small blotch of blood in the snow and the area was scattered with tracks. I started to follow the tracks and the patch of fog blew through, I looked up the hill on the power line about 100 yards above me and there he was standing there looking at me. I put the crosshairs on his neck and squeezed off. His legs folded and he rolled down the hill towards me. When I got to him I still had thought he was the big buck from the weekend before but it was not. I was little dissapointed but after the brutal season I was having I just sat down, smiled and thought about how easy of a drag I was going to have and how elkmaster c (who could not get off work) was going to crap himself. I started to field dressed him and noticed all of the gore marks in his side, he had 3 large puncture wounds and I might have an idea who did them: my next years buck! I then dragged him down the hill and then walked back to the ranch house. The owners and I had a good laugh as I had only been gone for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Anyways here he is, not huge but a nice buck. He was actually on his way out as his teeth are worn right down. Pics are posted below