mwj
12-26-2009, 11:54 AM
on day 3 of this year's hunt i was out of the truck and into the forest before daylight. there was just a hint of dawn in the sky, the air was crisp and, of course, yesterdays snow was crunchy. it didn't matter i had a destination in mind and i slowly worked my way into the woods.
by the time it was daylight i was on the same little ridge where i shot last years buck. i found a good vantage point and sat down to wait. 30 minutes later i heard bucks fighting below me. it didn't last long, maybe 10 seconds. i decided to stay put but nothing came my way and after a while i got up and moved on. i still hunted through a gully and over a ridge until i found another good spot to sit. by now it's about 10 am and the wind is starting to swirl around a bit and a off to my left a deer starts to blow. it seems to take forever but finally it moves on and alls quiet again. later on i look to my right and see a deer, its head is behind a tree and i can't get a good look at it. i can tell it's a buck but it moves away somehow keeping his head down and never giving me a good look at his antlers. i stayed there for a long time but nothing else moves.
i still hunt again for a while and at 1pm i break out into a clearing, it's quite steep here and i can see downhill a long way. i glance downhill and instantly see a deer. i put my bino's up and say to myself "doe" and then i see movement behind her and i'm talking to myself again"oh big buck big buck!". i quickly look for a rest and get the scope on him. i don't count points, he's about 400 yards, and he's got a big rack!!!!! i put the crosshairs on the top of his back but he won't stop moving and i watch that buck walk away.......so hearts pumping pretty good now and i hustle downhill about 300 yds and then start to angle my way into the timber trying to calculate where that bigboy might be. the snow here is really noisy and all i can do is keep my footsteps irregular, crunch......crunch crunch...............crunch pause. i continue like this for a while and then i hear something. i stop and listen, it's a deer blowing but way off to my left and downhill. after a few minutes i grunt and almost instantly i hear footsteps to my right. it's pretty thick and i don't see the deer until he's only 20 yards away. a 5-point with long brows but young and not the big boy i last saw. i stay frozen, he does'nt "make me" and soon he moves back the way he came. i ease forward, i get a glimpse of the 5-point and another deer through the bush but they don't seem alarmed so i continue on toward an opening i can see. just before i can get to the edge another buck jumps through the brush on my right. i see his rack but no chance to get a good look or a shot off. again i freeze and wait. i'm almost to the clearing and i can tell that it's really a blow-down patch. i take a couple more steps so i can see into the blow-downs. i see the last buck again for a second as he moves to off to the left. after a minute i grunt and i see deer legs moving on the far side of the clearing. this is a different buck. he just comes into view and goes back! i grunt again, i can only see his legs but he turns around and runs right into the clearing and stops where i can't get a shot off. i did get a good look at his antlers though and after a few minutes or so he steps out and i let fly. i see him hump-up and run for about 50 yds before he piles up. i have no idea if he's the "big boy" i saw at 1pm but it's now 2pm and i've seen at least 4 different bucks and shot one in the past hour. what a rush!!!!!!!!:mrgreen:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/081.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=17013&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)
by the time it was daylight i was on the same little ridge where i shot last years buck. i found a good vantage point and sat down to wait. 30 minutes later i heard bucks fighting below me. it didn't last long, maybe 10 seconds. i decided to stay put but nothing came my way and after a while i got up and moved on. i still hunted through a gully and over a ridge until i found another good spot to sit. by now it's about 10 am and the wind is starting to swirl around a bit and a off to my left a deer starts to blow. it seems to take forever but finally it moves on and alls quiet again. later on i look to my right and see a deer, its head is behind a tree and i can't get a good look at it. i can tell it's a buck but it moves away somehow keeping his head down and never giving me a good look at his antlers. i stayed there for a long time but nothing else moves.
i still hunt again for a while and at 1pm i break out into a clearing, it's quite steep here and i can see downhill a long way. i glance downhill and instantly see a deer. i put my bino's up and say to myself "doe" and then i see movement behind her and i'm talking to myself again"oh big buck big buck!". i quickly look for a rest and get the scope on him. i don't count points, he's about 400 yards, and he's got a big rack!!!!! i put the crosshairs on the top of his back but he won't stop moving and i watch that buck walk away.......so hearts pumping pretty good now and i hustle downhill about 300 yds and then start to angle my way into the timber trying to calculate where that bigboy might be. the snow here is really noisy and all i can do is keep my footsteps irregular, crunch......crunch crunch...............crunch pause. i continue like this for a while and then i hear something. i stop and listen, it's a deer blowing but way off to my left and downhill. after a few minutes i grunt and almost instantly i hear footsteps to my right. it's pretty thick and i don't see the deer until he's only 20 yards away. a 5-point with long brows but young and not the big boy i last saw. i stay frozen, he does'nt "make me" and soon he moves back the way he came. i ease forward, i get a glimpse of the 5-point and another deer through the bush but they don't seem alarmed so i continue on toward an opening i can see. just before i can get to the edge another buck jumps through the brush on my right. i see his rack but no chance to get a good look or a shot off. again i freeze and wait. i'm almost to the clearing and i can tell that it's really a blow-down patch. i take a couple more steps so i can see into the blow-downs. i see the last buck again for a second as he moves to off to the left. after a minute i grunt and i see deer legs moving on the far side of the clearing. this is a different buck. he just comes into view and goes back! i grunt again, i can only see his legs but he turns around and runs right into the clearing and stops where i can't get a shot off. i did get a good look at his antlers though and after a few minutes or so he steps out and i let fly. i see him hump-up and run for about 50 yds before he piles up. i have no idea if he's the "big boy" i saw at 1pm but it's now 2pm and i've seen at least 4 different bucks and shot one in the past hour. what a rush!!!!!!!!:mrgreen:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/081.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=17013&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)