coach
10-16-2011, 10:51 PM
I headed out through Region 8 and into 3 early today, in search of Jimmy the Immy. After covering ground in the morning and spotting several does, my hunting partner and I decided to give the moose a rest and explore some ridges mid-day in search of a mule buck. We parked the truck and headed separate ways with the plan that I would eventually work my way down onto a lower road where he would pick me up.
Not long after parting ways, I glassed a lone deer walking over a ridge about about a kilometer away. At that distance, and with only a brief glimpse, I couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe. I glassed the spot a little longer, and couldn't locate him again. With the wind quartering from my left, I decided to veer right, hug the treeline and hopefully move around the deer in order to make a stalk into the wind. I slowly made my way along, glassing other spots as I went. Along the way, I almost stepped on three fat blue grouse. For a few seconds, I questioned whether I should have left the Tikka .300wsm in the truck and opted for the 16 gauge instead.
Eventually, I got into position downwind from where I thought the deer might be. At that point, I headed up a thin line of trees and worked my way toward where I had last seen him. Several times, I thought of turning around as I didn't know whether this was a buck or not or if he would still be anywhere nearby. As I made my way further up the hill, I caught a glimpse of a small buck feeding very near where I had seen the first deer. Not sure whether I would shoot him, I decided to continue the stalk anyway. After a quick glance at the surrounding terrain, I decided to cut to my right and use a small hill to shield me from the buck's view. A couple hundred yards later, I was fairly certain I could move to the top of hill and have a clear view of the deer.
The plan worked perfectly. At the top of the hill was a stump that I moved behind. Immediately, I spotted a healthy 2 point bedded and looking in my direction. With my hunting time more limited this year, I decided it would be worth taking him. I lay prone and tried to use my pack for a rest. Unfortunately, the grass was too long and I couldn't see the deer. I slowly moved over to the stump and rest my rifle on it. I lined the buck up in the scope and was planning to wait for him to stand. The rest was so steady and I am confident enough in my shooting that I decided to take a face on neck shot. I let out a deep breath and slowly squeezed the trigger. The Tikka barked and the the deer slumped over. He died instantly in his bed.
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/IMG_0970.jpg
As soon as I shot, a second buck (the small one I had originally spotted) stood up. For a second, I had to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I had completely missed this guy as I focused in on the two point. It's a good lesson for all of us mule deer hunters as it's always possible a bigger buck could be bedded near the obvious one. The little guy didn't seem too concerned about me and stood with his fallen brother long enough for me to take his picture and make a short video. As I walked up to my buck, he remained standing there until I was 50 yards away. As I tried to take a few more pictures, he decided enough was enough and bounded away.
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/IMG_0968.jpg
After cleaning my deer and dragging him a few hundred yards to the nearest road, I realized my partner was probably waiting for me at the original meeting spot (the lower road). I left my pack with the deer and high tailed it the kilometer or so to where we had been supposed to meet. When I arrived, his truck was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he figured something must have happened so he drove back up to where we started. In the end, he turned around a headed back down to find me. I had cleaned my hands in a puddle, but the blood on my face made it pretty obvious what had happened. We headed back up the hill and loaded the deer into the truck.
All in all, it was a great day to be out. My hunting partner managed to shoot some nice blue grouse and I got my second buck in as many weeks. Now that I'm done in R3 and R8 for mulies, I'll be turning more attention to moose and then whitetails.
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/IMG_0981.jpg
Not long after parting ways, I glassed a lone deer walking over a ridge about about a kilometer away. At that distance, and with only a brief glimpse, I couldn't tell if it was a buck or doe. I glassed the spot a little longer, and couldn't locate him again. With the wind quartering from my left, I decided to veer right, hug the treeline and hopefully move around the deer in order to make a stalk into the wind. I slowly made my way along, glassing other spots as I went. Along the way, I almost stepped on three fat blue grouse. For a few seconds, I questioned whether I should have left the Tikka .300wsm in the truck and opted for the 16 gauge instead.
Eventually, I got into position downwind from where I thought the deer might be. At that point, I headed up a thin line of trees and worked my way toward where I had last seen him. Several times, I thought of turning around as I didn't know whether this was a buck or not or if he would still be anywhere nearby. As I made my way further up the hill, I caught a glimpse of a small buck feeding very near where I had seen the first deer. Not sure whether I would shoot him, I decided to continue the stalk anyway. After a quick glance at the surrounding terrain, I decided to cut to my right and use a small hill to shield me from the buck's view. A couple hundred yards later, I was fairly certain I could move to the top of hill and have a clear view of the deer.
The plan worked perfectly. At the top of the hill was a stump that I moved behind. Immediately, I spotted a healthy 2 point bedded and looking in my direction. With my hunting time more limited this year, I decided it would be worth taking him. I lay prone and tried to use my pack for a rest. Unfortunately, the grass was too long and I couldn't see the deer. I slowly moved over to the stump and rest my rifle on it. I lined the buck up in the scope and was planning to wait for him to stand. The rest was so steady and I am confident enough in my shooting that I decided to take a face on neck shot. I let out a deep breath and slowly squeezed the trigger. The Tikka barked and the the deer slumped over. He died instantly in his bed.
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/IMG_0970.jpg
As soon as I shot, a second buck (the small one I had originally spotted) stood up. For a second, I had to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I had completely missed this guy as I focused in on the two point. It's a good lesson for all of us mule deer hunters as it's always possible a bigger buck could be bedded near the obvious one. The little guy didn't seem too concerned about me and stood with his fallen brother long enough for me to take his picture and make a short video. As I walked up to my buck, he remained standing there until I was 50 yards away. As I tried to take a few more pictures, he decided enough was enough and bounded away.
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/IMG_0968.jpg
After cleaning my deer and dragging him a few hundred yards to the nearest road, I realized my partner was probably waiting for me at the original meeting spot (the lower road). I left my pack with the deer and high tailed it the kilometer or so to where we had been supposed to meet. When I arrived, his truck was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, he figured something must have happened so he drove back up to where we started. In the end, he turned around a headed back down to find me. I had cleaned my hands in a puddle, but the blood on my face made it pretty obvious what had happened. We headed back up the hill and loaded the deer into the truck.
All in all, it was a great day to be out. My hunting partner managed to shoot some nice blue grouse and I got my second buck in as many weeks. Now that I'm done in R3 and R8 for mulies, I'll be turning more attention to moose and then whitetails.
http://i787.photobucket.com/albums/yy154/coach108/IMG_0981.jpg