Fry777
11-07-2012, 10:51 AM
I head up the mountain again full of excitement because I’m almost into an area that has been very productive over the years. Our hunting party consists of five hunters all eager to get our eyes on some antler, one of which is Matt. He downed a beautiful mule deer buck in the same area we are headed three weeks ago and recently posted this link to his hunt:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showth...-Region-8-Buck (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?87832-Region-8-Buck)
One week later another friend and hunter Andrew took a nice 4x5 less than 100 yards away from Matt and has also posted his hunt here:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showth...lpine-5x4-Buck (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?88247-Region-8-alpine-5x4-Buck)
This weeks episode takes place roughly 500 yards away from the first 2 kill zones. So here we are again, hiking up into the alpine in the dark through the snow. We have 1 hour until legal shooting so we pick up the pace. After a few hundred drops of sweat and a stern burn in the old legs we get into our perches overlooking a beautiful alpine bowl. It was worth the hike to see the sun rise and light up the absolutely breathtaking BC wilderness. To be hunting is just a bonus at this point.
We hunker down and pull out the glass. We had split up our crew earlier. Matt took Zach and Conrad to one end of the bowl and I took Spencer to the other end. Zach, Conrad and Spencer have never been to this area and Spencer has never shot a buck. He had shot a doe last year but like most hunters he has the urge to get a rack on the wall. Also, he is not fond of his nickname doeboy so getting him a buck was our priority on this trip. Within the first hour of glassing Spencer and I see two bucks trot over the far crest of the bowl we are glassing. I receive a radio call shortly after from Matt who also can see the bucks and is ready to watch our move. We are roughly 400 yards closer to the bucks than Matt and the boys and I am able to identify the bucks with my spotting scope. One buck was a tall 2-point and the other a 4x3. After a fairly pathetic sparring match the bucks start moving at a slow pace down the draw. We gave them a grunt and they stopped and stared in our direction, the 4-point broadside to us. We ranged him at 420 yards and even though it’s a tempting number we made the wise decision to get closer. I stayed put and kept an eye on the bucks while Spencer crept in. After 30 minutes or so without a gunshot I decided to make a move too. Spencer made a perfect play through a cluster of trees so I followed his footprints through the snow and found him in a nice spot with a great vantage point at 250 yards from the two bucks. We had the wind in our face and although the bucks were looking in our direction I believe they thought we were deer because of the grunt we gave them before we initiated our stalk. It was snowing and Spencer’s binoculars and scope got some snow in them and were fogged up so he could not identify which buck was the 4-point, this explained why I hadn’t heard the gunshot. My glass was still clear and after I filled him in on which buck was the 4-point we got into position. We crawled in on our bellies to a spot where we could both get a shot. He took aim and fired. I was ready for a follow up shot but it was not necessary. The buck fell on the spot and Spencer had his first buck.
After some high fives, a couple yeehaws and big smiles, (maybe even a hug) we approached the deer. The two-point buck that was with the now downed 4 point stayed within 60 yards of his fallen comrade for 10 minutes or so, even when we reached the downed deer. I quickly snapped a picture of him and than he bounced off. Spencer’s buck was leaking heavily out of his metatarsal gland that gave off a putrid smell that could gag a maggot. Besides the stench we were able to debone and pack out the buck with little trouble. We had put the work in and it felt extremely satisfying to have success. We headed home and even though there was some pain involved the experience made all of us feel fulfilled.
Spencer's first buck
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/stegasus777/IMG_2881copy.jpg
2-point in background
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/stegasus777/IMG_2869copy.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showth...-Region-8-Buck (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?87832-Region-8-Buck)
One week later another friend and hunter Andrew took a nice 4x5 less than 100 yards away from Matt and has also posted his hunt here:
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showth...lpine-5x4-Buck (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?88247-Region-8-alpine-5x4-Buck)
This weeks episode takes place roughly 500 yards away from the first 2 kill zones. So here we are again, hiking up into the alpine in the dark through the snow. We have 1 hour until legal shooting so we pick up the pace. After a few hundred drops of sweat and a stern burn in the old legs we get into our perches overlooking a beautiful alpine bowl. It was worth the hike to see the sun rise and light up the absolutely breathtaking BC wilderness. To be hunting is just a bonus at this point.
We hunker down and pull out the glass. We had split up our crew earlier. Matt took Zach and Conrad to one end of the bowl and I took Spencer to the other end. Zach, Conrad and Spencer have never been to this area and Spencer has never shot a buck. He had shot a doe last year but like most hunters he has the urge to get a rack on the wall. Also, he is not fond of his nickname doeboy so getting him a buck was our priority on this trip. Within the first hour of glassing Spencer and I see two bucks trot over the far crest of the bowl we are glassing. I receive a radio call shortly after from Matt who also can see the bucks and is ready to watch our move. We are roughly 400 yards closer to the bucks than Matt and the boys and I am able to identify the bucks with my spotting scope. One buck was a tall 2-point and the other a 4x3. After a fairly pathetic sparring match the bucks start moving at a slow pace down the draw. We gave them a grunt and they stopped and stared in our direction, the 4-point broadside to us. We ranged him at 420 yards and even though it’s a tempting number we made the wise decision to get closer. I stayed put and kept an eye on the bucks while Spencer crept in. After 30 minutes or so without a gunshot I decided to make a move too. Spencer made a perfect play through a cluster of trees so I followed his footprints through the snow and found him in a nice spot with a great vantage point at 250 yards from the two bucks. We had the wind in our face and although the bucks were looking in our direction I believe they thought we were deer because of the grunt we gave them before we initiated our stalk. It was snowing and Spencer’s binoculars and scope got some snow in them and were fogged up so he could not identify which buck was the 4-point, this explained why I hadn’t heard the gunshot. My glass was still clear and after I filled him in on which buck was the 4-point we got into position. We crawled in on our bellies to a spot where we could both get a shot. He took aim and fired. I was ready for a follow up shot but it was not necessary. The buck fell on the spot and Spencer had his first buck.
After some high fives, a couple yeehaws and big smiles, (maybe even a hug) we approached the deer. The two-point buck that was with the now downed 4 point stayed within 60 yards of his fallen comrade for 10 minutes or so, even when we reached the downed deer. I quickly snapped a picture of him and than he bounced off. Spencer’s buck was leaking heavily out of his metatarsal gland that gave off a putrid smell that could gag a maggot. Besides the stench we were able to debone and pack out the buck with little trouble. We had put the work in and it felt extremely satisfying to have success. We headed home and even though there was some pain involved the experience made all of us feel fulfilled.
Spencer's first buck
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/stegasus777/IMG_2881copy.jpg
2-point in background
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy269/stegasus777/IMG_2869copy.jpg