Region 8 WT Success (Pic Heavy)

[OutWest]

Being in my first year at Selkirk College here in Castlegar has left me with only a handful of days to hunt this season. I was, however, able to make it back to Region 8 for a few days of elk and mule deer hunting. Though we were able to get into some heavy elk action like usual, our crew was unsuccessful in harvesting a bull this season.

With Remembrance Day falling on a Friday, I was able to take a couple days off from classes. Upon realizing this I got on the phone to buckeye77, yamooohks (Keith) and ryancoe6. The boys were also able to take some time off work to get a little muley hunting in for the final 2 days of the season. Those 2 days were awesome but that's for another thread :wink:

The 4 of us, along with my Dad and another guy, Perry form our hunting crew. So with that, the 6 of us headed out at 4am Friday morning en route to Ryan's large family property in Cherryville. Just before pulling in to the farm at 5 30 Ryan and I narrowly avoided pasting a large buck who decided to chase a doe across Highway 6.

Finally, the hunting began. The 6 of us headed out to our predetermined spots. Friday would turn out to be a very uncharacteristically slow day with only a handful of does seen amongst the 6 of us. There were lots of rubs and scrapes on the ground so we knew the bucks would be moving around like always, even though some guys would claim "the rut is late this year".

Saturday morning came quickly. Ryan and I headed out to try a spot higher up while buckeye77 and my Dad decided to stick with their spot just above the property. There was sign everywhere but it turned out to be another slow morning for most of us. My Dad, however, had a nice buck sneak in on him from behind. As he turned to get the scope on the buck, it trotted over the ridge and he was unable to get a shot.

We regrouped back at the farm. My Dad was a little discouraged about not being able to get a shot off on the buck in the morning but that's just hunting. A little BS session back at the farm and all 6 of us headed out again. A fair amount of snow had fallen during the day so the spirits were still high. Just before we split up for the evening hunt Ryan says, " The flood gates are about to open boys".

Keith headed out to Ryan's woodlot while Perry, Ryan and I decided to hit a different ridge we refer to as "The Knob" on the property. Buckeye and my Dad were hoping persistence would pay off and headed back in to their usual spot. Ryan and I split up from Perry and hadn't been sitting down in the blind for more than 15 minutes before we hear a loud gunshot above us. A few seconds later the radio crackles, "Buckeye, get over here buddy we've got one down." Shortly after my Dad got Ryan and I on the radio. He shot the buck on a very steep hillside and would need a hand getting the buck out. After racing back to the farm to grab a quad, Ryan and I made it there in a little over 20 minutes. We were greeted to a pair of happy hunters

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Buckeye77 on the left and my Dad

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Me and the old man!

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Myself and Ryan with the 5x5. The body on this buck was huge!

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Prior to hanging him up

My Dad was about to get up and take a walk when he heard a snap below him followed by another very loud CRACK. This guy came from his left with his nose down, trotting through the trees after does and my Dad was able to put one in the boiler room and drop him in his tracks.

[OutWest]

If the spirits weren't high before, the boys were really pumped now. We made it back to the farm awhile after dark and the stories were shared with Keith and Perry as well as everyone else who was staying up at the cabin. The rums and stories began flowing and everyone shared a few past memories.

Sunday would be our last day of hunting but things were only getting better. A nice dusting of snow had fallen overnight. Buckeye77 headed back to his spot while the 4 of us dispersed on different locations. My Dad decided he was going to sleep in this morning and skin his deer out that was hanging in the shed. After not seeing much in the morning, Ryan, Keith and I were headed back to the cabin when I caught a buck staring at us through the trees. I quickly chambered a shell and made my way to the top of the hill. The buck bolted and 2 does who were bedded below me that I hadn't seen took off 90 degrees the other way. The 3 of us parallelled the road when Keith spotted the buck. I put the cross-hairs behind the front shoulder and let one fly. The snow made for easy tracking and 75 yards away we had another Whitetail on the ground. This time it was a little basket 4x4.

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yamooohks aka Keith and myself

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We made it back to the cabin and had barely hung this buck up in the shed when my Dad asks if we heard the shot. A few minutes later and buckeye is on the radio telling us he has a buck down as well! The 5 of us headed back up to where my Dad shot his buck the night before as we knew buckeye was somewhere in the vicinity.

[OutWest]

This is where things get really interesting. Just before reaching buckeye's location, he informed us it was a 5pt buck he had down but that it only had one antler. A month or so ago, and many valleys and kilometres away, a member of our group managed to shoot the antler off of a 5x5 buck who was with a couple does. He just happened to have this antler back at the cabin.....

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Buckeye with his then one-antlered 5 point buck

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The greatest hunting partners a guy could ask for. From left to right - Myself, Perry, My Dad, yamooohks, buckeye77 and ryancoe6

Back at the farm we pulled out the other antler and it turned out to be a perfect match!

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buckeye77 with the matching left side!

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The boys fitting the matching antler



We always have a great time at Ryan's property in Cherryville and this year was no different. Deer or no deer this trip is always one of the highlights of our season, although, we do always get a couple deer :smile:. This year was even more special because I personally haven't been able to hunt as much with these guys as much as I have in the past due to school.

I'm lucky to have such a great group of guys that I call close friends and am able to hunt with. I really appreciate you guys taking the time off work to get some hunting in with me during the week and it was great that the 6 of us all got to hunt together on Remembrance Long Weekend.

[Gunner]

Congrats Nick!I got one this morning in Cherryville as well. Gunner

[OutWest]

Sorry for the long write up. Here's a couple more pics from the weekend.

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Myself and Ryan doing the last of the skinning

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A happy hunting crew after the first buck of the weekend went down!

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Getting the 5x5 out Saturday night.

[OutWest]

Congrats Nick!I got one this morning in Cherryville as well. Gunner

Thanks Gunner! Congrats to you as well!

[bowhunterbruce]

and thats how ya do it region 8,well done guys

[J_T]

Yeah. Good job. Love those kinds of weekends. Nice to just get into a weekend like that with family and friends but real good for the soul when there is so much action. We call it a good "defrag" weekend. a weekend where you get things into perspective and in their appropriate order. Well done. Thanks for the photo essay.

[Fisher-Dude]

Nice lookin' bucks Nick! Congrats to you and the boys!

[rocksteady]

Congrats...Thanks for posting the pics....

BTW what are you taking at Selkirk???? I graduated Forestry in (probably before you was born) in 1985...

[OutWest]

Thanks everyone!


Congrats...Thanks for posting the pics....

BTW what are you taking at Selkirk???? I graduated Forestry in (probably before you was born) in 1985...

I'm taking Forestry also. I was born in '89 so it was a couple years. In fact, buckeye77 graduated from the the Forestry program at Selkirk in '84!

[rocksteady]

In fact, buckeye77 graduated from the the Forestry program at Selkirk in '84!

PM me his real name...he sure does look familiar :)

[killer]

right on good trip unreal how u get the buck thats missing one horn at a way different place good job

[rocksteady]

I MAY b a bit biased, but I think you are in one of the best Forestry programs available in Canada...A great mix of lectures, labs AND field work....

The field work really makes the difference....Only so much you can learn in a classroom.....

[meat eater]

very good remembrace day weekend an the freezer will look good too!!

[spear]

right on, a bunch of good bucks there, wild coincidence with the 5 point antler. Nice looking shed in there too.

[yamooohks]

Great post nick. I live to hunt and am honored to do so with such a great hunting crew. There's so much that goes into it (scouting, planning, hangin' with great friends...). The feeling of having things finally (nick eluded to our elk and mule deer season) come together makes me speechless and is one only another hunter can relate to.

Good luck to everyone on the remainder of the season!

[d6dan]

Good times Nick!, congrats to all the lucky hunters. Good story and pics. Thanks for posting....

[Rattler]

Congrats and thanks for sharing. Some dandy bucks in that country and I too have nearly pasted a few big ones with the grill of my truck.

[OutWest]

Congrats and thanks for sharing. Some dandy bucks in that country and I too have nearly pasted a few big ones with the grill of my truck.

Thank you. The buck came out right by that guys driving range totally oblivious to us coming down Hwy 6. He's one lucky deer that's for sure!

[Mark_S]

Well done Nick! Nice to see you got some nice bucks down.

[yugo111]

nice job boys

[kennyj]

Good for you guys. Awesome trip with awesome partners.
kenny

[cainer]

Good job boys. I'd say the bucks are up and moving.

[ianwuzhere]

wow them are some great bucks- huge lookin necks and bodies on them
good job!

[OutWest]

Thanks for the comments everyone!


Well done Nick! Nice to see you got some nice bucks down.

Thanks Mark!

I should mention that while I wasn't able to make it home to get much hunting in, Mark was awesome in getting a new Kootenay boy set up in a couple spots out here. Yamooohks came up at the start of the season and we managed to get into some elk and saw some great country as well! Thanks again Mark

[coach]

Congrats on a very successful hunt, Nick. Great story an pics. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to your mule deer thread.

[MerrittBow]

We also got 3 bucks in cherry vile with our bows, all 4 points. Sure looks familiar

[moose2]

Good story and pictures , they are nice bucks congratulations to everyone involved.
Mike

[mark]

Awesome hunting trip right there, love the missing antler buck!!!
Dying to hear about yer last couple days of muley season!!!!!!!!!!!

[OutWest]

Awesome hunting trip right there, love the missing antler buck!!!
Dying to hear about yer last couple days of muley season!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Mark. You'll be getting a PM real soon.

[hunter1947]

The story was great and the pictures as well hunts like this one is what its all about with friends etc ,congrats to all the crew on a very successful weekends hunt..

[5 spike]

awesome guys looks like a good time had for everybody. great pics and story. congrats to all of you.

[Bigbuckadams]

Good job to all, Congrats :)

[buckeye77]

Great story Nick, felt like I was there. Oh wait a minute i was. Not sure what is more amazing, an antler getting shot off a deer and then a month later the same deer gets shot by his hunting partner approximately 40 km away or the fact we got your dad out hunting for a whole weekend. Great weekend though, thanks for the recount.

[OutWest]

I would have never guessed a buck would travel as far as in a month as that one did.

I see it was almost 9am when you posted buckeye. Aren't you supposed to be working ;).

Have fun at the Grey Cup this weekend!

[mwalter]

yup selkirk college boys know how to do it right... i was there 5 years ago and your story brings me back to some good times in the bush.
nice bucks!

[matt420]

great pics nick, tell you dad congrats on that buck for me, iv made it to sask and now have to get my licence and then i can stat hunting out here

[OutWest]

great pics nick, tell you dad congrats on that buck for me, iv made it to sask and now have to get my licence and then i can stat hunting out here

Thanks Matt. I will let him know for sure. Good luck in Sask and say hey to your bro!

[rocksteady]

yup selkirk college boys know how to do it right... i was there 5 years ago and your story brings me back to some good times in the bush.
nice bucks!

Not ANOTHER graduate of the school of Rock !!!! What were you there for?????

[Rubberknot]

Very nice!! That'll be a trip to remember!