Tarp Man
11-19-2006, 06:14 PM
Well after hunting last weekend in the pouring rain/blowing snow and coming up empty, my buddy (Lapadat) and I went out to see what sort of Blacktails we could find in a new to us area. As usual, packing up the stuff for an intense dayhike got the buck fever flowing, but with a healthy dose of skepticism. As Lapadat had done the homework on this area (as he usually does the lion's share of this) I agreed quickly that he would get first shot at a buck, if at all possible. Also the stipulations were ABSOLUTE SECRECY and big bucks only. As I was still waiting to shoot my first buck, I was happy to comply with this. Any day out with Lapadat usually means a good chance to see animals.
So the alarm sounds when dawn is dark and early, and the stealth mode gets a work out in an attempt to finish final packing and not wake the sleeping wife. Never a good idea to fail at this spot and stalk! Success arrives with Lapadat on time as usual and me out the door already tasting the morning's traditional hunting double double. Little did I know, things came in doubles today. So, thermos filled, coffee mugs brimming full and we are on the way.
We arrive at the designated spot, quickly throw on our packs, prepare the rifles and head into the forest. (I love the anticipation of the unknown, heading into a new area bursting with potential). We slowly make our way through the first 30 minutes of easy but cautious hiking, and then begin to climb. A lot. And steep. It is at this point that the inner voice takes over...
"Why do you always have to bring that extra margin of safety gear? It has to add at least 5lbs of weight to your pack. You know you can't do the math to how much extra weight that adds up to on every step. It's only a day hunt. Do you REALLY need all that gear? Come on, keep going, Lapadat is pulling away. You aren't gonna get dropped by THAT guy are you? Whoa, watch that slick rock. You know you are going to burst into tears like a little school girl if you bang up your rifle. Not to mention that if you fell RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT you might not stop sliding for a good 30 seconds. 10lbs. At least that much in extra safety gear. I gotta go through my survival gear and lighten up... should have done more cardio training this fall. Stupid job, why does it always get in the way of keeping in hunting/hiking shape?"
Anyways you get the idea once you insert much puffing and huffing to keep the oxygen flowing. Liberally interspersed with drinking greedily from the water pack hose.
After climbing for an hour and a half we stop and decide to start traversing across this rediculously steep slope along some heavily used game trails. Now as soon as we start this we see lots and lots of sign. That is encouraging as the frustration factor exponentially climbs as I do and don't see animals. Especially carrying my rifle. If my tikka comes out of the safe in hard hunting conditions, it better be cause we are gonna see some ANIMALS. (As you probably can tell, I tend to baby the tikka a bit... Lapadat, no laughing now).
We decide to space ourselves out a bit, but keep within eyesight. This puts me a bit behind Lapadat and slightly uphill from him. We walked for maybe 15 minutes this way before Lapadat freezes and motions for me to stand still. (Why does this ALWAYS happen when I am on one foot? Without fail I am stuck trying to balance on one leg and bring my other down with out snapping a stick or falling on my keester.Kind of like at a restaurant when the server comes to your table and asks how everything is when you just took a huge bite of something.) I slowly sink to one knee and ready my rifle. I already unsnapped the chest strap on my pack and am waiting to drop my pack if Lapadat sees a shooter buck. He raises his rifle after motioning he sees antlers, and I mutter under my breath "It better be big" because I know he won't shoot a spiker this early in the hunt and this far from the vehicle. At least he better not... Lapadat slowly stands up, peeking over the edge of the ridge we had come to and...
BOOOOM... Lapadat shoots, I drop my pack and start scanning the woods cause I can hear crashing above and in front of me. I quickly walk over to where Lapadat is and holler "Where is he?" He quickly tells me he peeked over the edge of this ridge and saw a buck coming down towards him, maybe 40 yards uphill from him. The only shot he had was a quartering towards him and he wasn't sure how well he hit him. He knew he hit him in the base of the neck, but the buck rolled downhill from us and out of sight over a cliff. Not good. We quietly celebrated with a large portion of skepticism on the part of Lapadat on how well he hit him. We decide to mark the shot and wait for a few minutes before trailing the buck. Then came the understatment of the day. "You better keep your rifle handy, cause there may be another buck around and they are hornier than... that buck walked right down towards me." We grin like idiots and pause for a moment. Then Lapadat ruins the moment and says, "there's another deer!" He pulls up his binos and starts pleading, "grow antlers, grow antlers... its a doe. Maybe there is a buck behind her? HOLY CRAP there is a huge buck coming!"
Well I had already gotten on one knee with my hand resting against a tree for a rest and was waiting to see what was coming down the trail. I quickly find the doe through the trees and she is booking it right down towards us. She walked within 10 yards of the two of us smelly sweaty hunters. I think she had seen enough and was running for some peace and quiet if you know what I mean.
THEN I spot the buck who was chasing that sweet little blacktail... "What do you mean 'you have a headache'? don't you know what time of year it is? I have been running all over this steep hillside looking for a sweet little something just like you! Come on... I even rubbed a cedar tree. I smell GREAT!"
So the alarm sounds when dawn is dark and early, and the stealth mode gets a work out in an attempt to finish final packing and not wake the sleeping wife. Never a good idea to fail at this spot and stalk! Success arrives with Lapadat on time as usual and me out the door already tasting the morning's traditional hunting double double. Little did I know, things came in doubles today. So, thermos filled, coffee mugs brimming full and we are on the way.
We arrive at the designated spot, quickly throw on our packs, prepare the rifles and head into the forest. (I love the anticipation of the unknown, heading into a new area bursting with potential). We slowly make our way through the first 30 minutes of easy but cautious hiking, and then begin to climb. A lot. And steep. It is at this point that the inner voice takes over...
"Why do you always have to bring that extra margin of safety gear? It has to add at least 5lbs of weight to your pack. You know you can't do the math to how much extra weight that adds up to on every step. It's only a day hunt. Do you REALLY need all that gear? Come on, keep going, Lapadat is pulling away. You aren't gonna get dropped by THAT guy are you? Whoa, watch that slick rock. You know you are going to burst into tears like a little school girl if you bang up your rifle. Not to mention that if you fell RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT you might not stop sliding for a good 30 seconds. 10lbs. At least that much in extra safety gear. I gotta go through my survival gear and lighten up... should have done more cardio training this fall. Stupid job, why does it always get in the way of keeping in hunting/hiking shape?"
Anyways you get the idea once you insert much puffing and huffing to keep the oxygen flowing. Liberally interspersed with drinking greedily from the water pack hose.
After climbing for an hour and a half we stop and decide to start traversing across this rediculously steep slope along some heavily used game trails. Now as soon as we start this we see lots and lots of sign. That is encouraging as the frustration factor exponentially climbs as I do and don't see animals. Especially carrying my rifle. If my tikka comes out of the safe in hard hunting conditions, it better be cause we are gonna see some ANIMALS. (As you probably can tell, I tend to baby the tikka a bit... Lapadat, no laughing now).
We decide to space ourselves out a bit, but keep within eyesight. This puts me a bit behind Lapadat and slightly uphill from him. We walked for maybe 15 minutes this way before Lapadat freezes and motions for me to stand still. (Why does this ALWAYS happen when I am on one foot? Without fail I am stuck trying to balance on one leg and bring my other down with out snapping a stick or falling on my keester.Kind of like at a restaurant when the server comes to your table and asks how everything is when you just took a huge bite of something.) I slowly sink to one knee and ready my rifle. I already unsnapped the chest strap on my pack and am waiting to drop my pack if Lapadat sees a shooter buck. He raises his rifle after motioning he sees antlers, and I mutter under my breath "It better be big" because I know he won't shoot a spiker this early in the hunt and this far from the vehicle. At least he better not... Lapadat slowly stands up, peeking over the edge of the ridge we had come to and...
BOOOOM... Lapadat shoots, I drop my pack and start scanning the woods cause I can hear crashing above and in front of me. I quickly walk over to where Lapadat is and holler "Where is he?" He quickly tells me he peeked over the edge of this ridge and saw a buck coming down towards him, maybe 40 yards uphill from him. The only shot he had was a quartering towards him and he wasn't sure how well he hit him. He knew he hit him in the base of the neck, but the buck rolled downhill from us and out of sight over a cliff. Not good. We quietly celebrated with a large portion of skepticism on the part of Lapadat on how well he hit him. We decide to mark the shot and wait for a few minutes before trailing the buck. Then came the understatment of the day. "You better keep your rifle handy, cause there may be another buck around and they are hornier than... that buck walked right down towards me." We grin like idiots and pause for a moment. Then Lapadat ruins the moment and says, "there's another deer!" He pulls up his binos and starts pleading, "grow antlers, grow antlers... its a doe. Maybe there is a buck behind her? HOLY CRAP there is a huge buck coming!"
Well I had already gotten on one knee with my hand resting against a tree for a rest and was waiting to see what was coming down the trail. I quickly find the doe through the trees and she is booking it right down towards us. She walked within 10 yards of the two of us smelly sweaty hunters. I think she had seen enough and was running for some peace and quiet if you know what I mean.
THEN I spot the buck who was chasing that sweet little blacktail... "What do you mean 'you have a headache'? don't you know what time of year it is? I have been running all over this steep hillside looking for a sweet little something just like you! Come on... I even rubbed a cedar tree. I smell GREAT!"