weatherby_man
11-30-2010, 07:57 PM
I arrived at Tunkwa Resort in the early afternoon of Friday Nov 26 2010. Warmly greeted by Al, Rich, Joe and the dogs, my good friend and I checked into our accommodations and our home for the next 4 nights. We planned to spend the next 3 days hunting the area for Mule deer. Reports were good that the rut was in its final stages and that some decent bucks had been taken in the last week. We unpacked and headed out for a quick tour of the area just to see what things looked like.
We had been here exactly one month prior in the any-buck season to try and ensure some meat in the freezer this year. My friend took a very nice 2 point the second day and I missed a beauty on the last day. We had stumbled upon some very nice areas that week while exploring, this was our first year to the area and we spent many hours hiking into the bush away from the other hunters.
We decided that first night that we would return the next morning to a particularly excellent spot that we found previously. It was a cold morning, Saturday the 27th. We ventured out at first light, drove to the “spot” and began our hike at around 7:30.
The snow was very loud that morning being as cold as it was but it was otherwise perfect with about 3-4” of fresh stuff that had accumulated recently. After about half an hour I ran into a ton of good tracks that had been laid down the past couple of days. I found a fresh bed and some big tracks with fresh urine drops in them. For some reason I didn’t find any really good rubs and decided to continue to an excellent meadow area I had been to previously. I sat and watched this area while the sun rose and warmed me. I had a feeling I cannot explain that told me to double back and head to another meadow area above my current position on the next bench up. I headed there as quietly as possible, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
As I approached the area, there was no wind and the forest was completely silent. It was picture perfect and surreal somehow. I stopped just before and to the side of the meadow behind 3 young fir trees. At the other end of the meadow was a hill with thick bush but three perfect lanes running up the side of that hill. Old skidder lanes I assumed.
I waited there 20 minutes or so. I caught a glimpse of movement about 3 quarters up the hill to my right. What was that? I waited, scanning as intensely as possible into the thick bush, my heart beating loudly in my ears. Again the silence was unreal. I waited for what seemed an eternity but was likely a minute or 2, up the first lane to my left a good size doe came out. My first instinct in my mind was "oh geez only a doe", but then I waited for the “follower”. Another few seconds passed and then he appeared! 1, 2, 3, 4 points, he was a beauty too! I took aim and 1 shot from my Weatherby crumpled him and he slid down the opening about 50 yards. There was no movement after he came to a stop. A perfect heart shot.
I was stunned but ready with another shell chambered. I walked a few steps and scoped the motionless body. I called my friend on the radio and screamed, “I got one”! Later my friend was to tell me that after he heard the shot he was reaching for his radio at the same moment I screamed thinking someone else was in the area and that we should be careful. He said he would make his way to me congratulating me. Then I ran! I ran as fast as my stubby 46 year old legs would take me. As I hit the bottom of the hill his smell hit me, whoa! I ran up the hill trying to keep good footing without slipping, zig-zag, zig-zag I went. As I came over the little rise where he laid my eyes must have enlarged to many times their normal size. He was BIG, and he had a beautiful large spread rack. I knelt at his face and picked him up by his antlers and stared into his eyes.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/IMG_0770.jpg
I must admit to getting a little emotional at this point while at the same time laughing out loud. I said to him, I got you, I got you! This was my best ever deer by a far margin. I thanked him for being there for me and told him that he would take a place on my wall and fill my freezer. I looked around me. The sun was blasting through the trees shining on both him and me. I cannot explain this story well enough for you to know what it was like for me or how I felt, words are just not enough.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/IMG_0767.jpg
The shot was measured at just over 125 yards uphill through a small window of opportunity. It was truly my honor to take this deer, I will always remember him and the moment we connected. It was as if time stood still and there was only me and him on this planet and that during those first few minutes with him I had no worries, no thought of anything else, only that he was perfect and that he was the perfect ending to the 2010 hunting season.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/IMG_0775.jpg
Cheers to a great season, and cheers to this tremendous buck. Now to get the cape and antlers to the taxi.
Grant
We had been here exactly one month prior in the any-buck season to try and ensure some meat in the freezer this year. My friend took a very nice 2 point the second day and I missed a beauty on the last day. We had stumbled upon some very nice areas that week while exploring, this was our first year to the area and we spent many hours hiking into the bush away from the other hunters.
We decided that first night that we would return the next morning to a particularly excellent spot that we found previously. It was a cold morning, Saturday the 27th. We ventured out at first light, drove to the “spot” and began our hike at around 7:30.
The snow was very loud that morning being as cold as it was but it was otherwise perfect with about 3-4” of fresh stuff that had accumulated recently. After about half an hour I ran into a ton of good tracks that had been laid down the past couple of days. I found a fresh bed and some big tracks with fresh urine drops in them. For some reason I didn’t find any really good rubs and decided to continue to an excellent meadow area I had been to previously. I sat and watched this area while the sun rose and warmed me. I had a feeling I cannot explain that told me to double back and head to another meadow area above my current position on the next bench up. I headed there as quietly as possible, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
As I approached the area, there was no wind and the forest was completely silent. It was picture perfect and surreal somehow. I stopped just before and to the side of the meadow behind 3 young fir trees. At the other end of the meadow was a hill with thick bush but three perfect lanes running up the side of that hill. Old skidder lanes I assumed.
I waited there 20 minutes or so. I caught a glimpse of movement about 3 quarters up the hill to my right. What was that? I waited, scanning as intensely as possible into the thick bush, my heart beating loudly in my ears. Again the silence was unreal. I waited for what seemed an eternity but was likely a minute or 2, up the first lane to my left a good size doe came out. My first instinct in my mind was "oh geez only a doe", but then I waited for the “follower”. Another few seconds passed and then he appeared! 1, 2, 3, 4 points, he was a beauty too! I took aim and 1 shot from my Weatherby crumpled him and he slid down the opening about 50 yards. There was no movement after he came to a stop. A perfect heart shot.
I was stunned but ready with another shell chambered. I walked a few steps and scoped the motionless body. I called my friend on the radio and screamed, “I got one”! Later my friend was to tell me that after he heard the shot he was reaching for his radio at the same moment I screamed thinking someone else was in the area and that we should be careful. He said he would make his way to me congratulating me. Then I ran! I ran as fast as my stubby 46 year old legs would take me. As I hit the bottom of the hill his smell hit me, whoa! I ran up the hill trying to keep good footing without slipping, zig-zag, zig-zag I went. As I came over the little rise where he laid my eyes must have enlarged to many times their normal size. He was BIG, and he had a beautiful large spread rack. I knelt at his face and picked him up by his antlers and stared into his eyes.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/IMG_0770.jpg
I must admit to getting a little emotional at this point while at the same time laughing out loud. I said to him, I got you, I got you! This was my best ever deer by a far margin. I thanked him for being there for me and told him that he would take a place on my wall and fill my freezer. I looked around me. The sun was blasting through the trees shining on both him and me. I cannot explain this story well enough for you to know what it was like for me or how I felt, words are just not enough.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/IMG_0767.jpg
The shot was measured at just over 125 yards uphill through a small window of opportunity. It was truly my honor to take this deer, I will always remember him and the moment we connected. It was as if time stood still and there was only me and him on this planet and that during those first few minutes with him I had no worries, no thought of anything else, only that he was perfect and that he was the perfect ending to the 2010 hunting season.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/steely_crazy/IMG_0775.jpg
Cheers to a great season, and cheers to this tremendous buck. Now to get the cape and antlers to the taxi.
Grant