wetcoaster
10-10-2006, 10:31 AM
Hello boys and girls,
Well my hunting partners and I enjoyed a sunny weekend in region five that ended with three deer in the cooler and a bunch of grouse. I filled my doe draw while my hunting partner got his doe and big bodied 2 point to boot. If my other partner could shoot straight (you know who you are! :razz:) and I had a little more patience we would have had 2 more good bucks and limited out in only 2.5 hunting days. We heard about it all the way home :rolleyes: .
We headed up Friday and arrived shortly before dusk and only had time for a drive around but didn't see much except for grouse that ended up in the cooler. Our first full day of hunting was slow but we hunted hard covering mucho ground on foot and eventually found the sign setting the stage for the following day. The deer were sticking pretty hard to the thick and steep stuff and weren't moving much. The next morning I hunted a grouping of small aspen thickets within small clearings on a little plateu a way back in the snarl that I had found the previous day. I stalked in and found three does, two of them busted me and took off but the third, a decent sized dry doe, stood listening a few seconds more than she should have. I took her at about 120 yards bang flop and then the work. It was a bit of a drag out to the edge of the trees and I am still feeling it. Took the better part of an hour and when I finally got her out my hunting partner was standing 500 yards up the tree line with his doe as well. What a great morning!
That evening I saw five does and one buck across on another ridge moving along the treeline at 800 yards but that was as close as I got and saw nothing else over the rest of the evening. Walking back to camp I watched a Great Grey Owl hover over me and work a clearing for voles and forgot all about not being able to track down that buck. Turns out the same partner that got the doe jumped a buck earlier in a small slash again back in the thick stuff. The buck stopped to take a look after bounding a short distance, bang flop. We all pulled that sucker out to make the going easier, it was well after dark before we could enjoy a thanksgiving dinner of chilli mixed with the spaghetti from the night before (why does dinner taste so much better with dry deer blood on your hands?).
I decided to hunt another larger thicket I knew of to try and get my buck on the next and last morning. I stalked in and found a number of does that didn't make me so I sat and waited for about an hour watching for a buck to come sniffing around. Eventually I tired of waiting, circled around and went up on a little rise that I figured a buck might use to keep an eye on the thicket; nothing. I sat there to watch the thicket and 1 minute later I heard a snap behind me in the bush. I turned my head to quickly in reaction and spooked both the 2 points that were walking out 30 yards behind me. I turned to shoot but was a little late and all I heard was the tell tale thump, thump, thump. I chased them for a bit but it was a lost cause. If I had only waited where I was on the edge of the aspen thicket and didn't give up so quickly in the first place I would have nailed one from where I was sitting. Oh well better luck next time I figure your doing something right if your getting chances. My other partner took an offhand shot and missed a 3 point at 200 yards in the open along a treeline that morning and is still kicking himself.
We broke camp and headed out just after lunch and will be talking about the three that got away over venison steaks until we go back up in November for moose as one of them pulled a bull for region five. I just might get my buck out of there yet.
Well my hunting partners and I enjoyed a sunny weekend in region five that ended with three deer in the cooler and a bunch of grouse. I filled my doe draw while my hunting partner got his doe and big bodied 2 point to boot. If my other partner could shoot straight (you know who you are! :razz:) and I had a little more patience we would have had 2 more good bucks and limited out in only 2.5 hunting days. We heard about it all the way home :rolleyes: .
We headed up Friday and arrived shortly before dusk and only had time for a drive around but didn't see much except for grouse that ended up in the cooler. Our first full day of hunting was slow but we hunted hard covering mucho ground on foot and eventually found the sign setting the stage for the following day. The deer were sticking pretty hard to the thick and steep stuff and weren't moving much. The next morning I hunted a grouping of small aspen thickets within small clearings on a little plateu a way back in the snarl that I had found the previous day. I stalked in and found three does, two of them busted me and took off but the third, a decent sized dry doe, stood listening a few seconds more than she should have. I took her at about 120 yards bang flop and then the work. It was a bit of a drag out to the edge of the trees and I am still feeling it. Took the better part of an hour and when I finally got her out my hunting partner was standing 500 yards up the tree line with his doe as well. What a great morning!
That evening I saw five does and one buck across on another ridge moving along the treeline at 800 yards but that was as close as I got and saw nothing else over the rest of the evening. Walking back to camp I watched a Great Grey Owl hover over me and work a clearing for voles and forgot all about not being able to track down that buck. Turns out the same partner that got the doe jumped a buck earlier in a small slash again back in the thick stuff. The buck stopped to take a look after bounding a short distance, bang flop. We all pulled that sucker out to make the going easier, it was well after dark before we could enjoy a thanksgiving dinner of chilli mixed with the spaghetti from the night before (why does dinner taste so much better with dry deer blood on your hands?).
I decided to hunt another larger thicket I knew of to try and get my buck on the next and last morning. I stalked in and found a number of does that didn't make me so I sat and waited for about an hour watching for a buck to come sniffing around. Eventually I tired of waiting, circled around and went up on a little rise that I figured a buck might use to keep an eye on the thicket; nothing. I sat there to watch the thicket and 1 minute later I heard a snap behind me in the bush. I turned my head to quickly in reaction and spooked both the 2 points that were walking out 30 yards behind me. I turned to shoot but was a little late and all I heard was the tell tale thump, thump, thump. I chased them for a bit but it was a lost cause. If I had only waited where I was on the edge of the aspen thicket and didn't give up so quickly in the first place I would have nailed one from where I was sitting. Oh well better luck next time I figure your doing something right if your getting chances. My other partner took an offhand shot and missed a 3 point at 200 yards in the open along a treeline that morning and is still kicking himself.
We broke camp and headed out just after lunch and will be talking about the three that got away over venison steaks until we go back up in November for moose as one of them pulled a bull for region five. I just might get my buck out of there yet.