sapper
10-13-2009, 07:13 PM
Well, we (newbie hunting partner and I) left Friday around noon for 8-15. Arrived at around 8pm after stopping for dinner in Osoyoos. The next morning we headed out to what has been a really good spot. After spending a few hours there and seeing nothing headed off to try another spot that had been recommended. Nothing there either. We both still really enjoyed just walking around and enjoying the stillness. We headed back to the cabin we were renting and decided we'd leave the .22's there. Headed out again and tried some new logging roads. Wouldn't you know it we came across a number of grouse now that we didn't have our .22's.
We went back to our old reliable spot. Walked around again for about an hour. Nothing. Buddy say, "Let's head down closer to the river." As we're driving the truck down I say, "You know what would be great is if we came across 2 or 3 does together and we could both fill our tags at once." I'd no sooner said this than he yells out, "Deer,one, two, three. Stop the truck!" I stop and he's yelling, "Are they whiteys?" I grab the binos as he's grabbing his 30/30 and as I lift the binos up see the customary white-tails waving, "See you later!"
We hiked into the trees where they had run but they were nowhere to be found. About 45 minutes later as we drive by the same field on the way back from the river we come out of the trees and there they are again. I stop the truck and my buddy manages to squeeze off three shots. However, the excitement, his first shot at a deer, the fact that he only has open sights and the fact that the light was just going down made for unhappy results. There were no injuries to the deer either as it went bounding off and I saw the three of them teasing me on the other side of the trees 5 minutes later but by that time the light was such that there was no way I was going to try for a shot.
We decided to come back the next morning but wouldn't you know it the alarm didn't go off and next thing we know it is 7:15 am with us a 45minute drive away from the spot.
We tried a few other spots that had been recommended only to see a few mulies (our tags of course are for whitetails). We went back to the sweet area. As we're walking through the field we spooked a doe out of the grass ahead of us. Of course my hunting partner was walking ahead of me at this moment and looking down. I didn't think he'd appreciate a shot by his head so just watched it run into the trees.
We saw on other doe about an hour later making a beeline for the trees. The next morning we headed off early and tried some new roads closer to the cabin. We saw some amazing country and a beautiful country as we walked some promising cut-blocks. We came across 4 or 5 muleys but still the wrong species.
All this to say that in the end we had some great walks in the woods and saw some fantastic scenery but I didn't even fire a single shot the whole weekend.
I was disappointed that my buddy didn't get his new hunter doe though. It was his birthday weekend and his wife just left him this summer. I was hoping to be able to provide a new good memory. We did have some great times together just not the full meal deal we were hoping for.
One of the other new hunters who was not able to make it out on the trip is keen to try and get out to cut his LEH tag. The only problem is 8-15 is a 5+ hour drive from the LM and my job is such that 2 day weekends are my only chance at getting away.
Hey, at least I have a job, right?:grin:
PS: Imagine how long this would have been if we'd connected with something. ;-)
We went back to our old reliable spot. Walked around again for about an hour. Nothing. Buddy say, "Let's head down closer to the river." As we're driving the truck down I say, "You know what would be great is if we came across 2 or 3 does together and we could both fill our tags at once." I'd no sooner said this than he yells out, "Deer,one, two, three. Stop the truck!" I stop and he's yelling, "Are they whiteys?" I grab the binos as he's grabbing his 30/30 and as I lift the binos up see the customary white-tails waving, "See you later!"
We hiked into the trees where they had run but they were nowhere to be found. About 45 minutes later as we drive by the same field on the way back from the river we come out of the trees and there they are again. I stop the truck and my buddy manages to squeeze off three shots. However, the excitement, his first shot at a deer, the fact that he only has open sights and the fact that the light was just going down made for unhappy results. There were no injuries to the deer either as it went bounding off and I saw the three of them teasing me on the other side of the trees 5 minutes later but by that time the light was such that there was no way I was going to try for a shot.
We decided to come back the next morning but wouldn't you know it the alarm didn't go off and next thing we know it is 7:15 am with us a 45minute drive away from the spot.
We tried a few other spots that had been recommended only to see a few mulies (our tags of course are for whitetails). We went back to the sweet area. As we're walking through the field we spooked a doe out of the grass ahead of us. Of course my hunting partner was walking ahead of me at this moment and looking down. I didn't think he'd appreciate a shot by his head so just watched it run into the trees.
We saw on other doe about an hour later making a beeline for the trees. The next morning we headed off early and tried some new roads closer to the cabin. We saw some amazing country and a beautiful country as we walked some promising cut-blocks. We came across 4 or 5 muleys but still the wrong species.
All this to say that in the end we had some great walks in the woods and saw some fantastic scenery but I didn't even fire a single shot the whole weekend.
I was disappointed that my buddy didn't get his new hunter doe though. It was his birthday weekend and his wife just left him this summer. I was hoping to be able to provide a new good memory. We did have some great times together just not the full meal deal we were hoping for.
One of the other new hunters who was not able to make it out on the trip is keen to try and get out to cut his LEH tag. The only problem is 8-15 is a 5+ hour drive from the LM and my job is such that 2 day weekends are my only chance at getting away.
Hey, at least I have a job, right?:grin:
PS: Imagine how long this would have been if we'd connected with something. ;-)