Dueces

[Sofa King]

went out for a hunt today, as there was fresh snow even down low.
i was out yesterday as well, but the snow was all crunchy from melting and rain instead of snow.
walking was absolutely impossible without alerting everything in the region.

i went to the area that i've been going lately.
there's a big boy in there that's been outsmarting me repeatedly.
well, the snow helped, a bit, but it was still pretty noisy.
there's a group of four hills that he's been making his home, and today i picked the two on the right.
i hiked up and all over the top, not a single fresh track in the new snow.
off the backside, and down and over to the hill beside.
i had a spot in mind that i was planning to sit.
as i was approaching it, some fresh tracks had beat me to it.
a couple deer had just walked in from the backside.
i sat for awhile anyway, as their size looked to be does.
nothing more showed after awhile and i decided to follow the tracks just to see what route they were taking.
i ended up spooking them fairly shortly and they bounded over to the hill i had been on earlier.

i didn't expect much, since the snow was still too noisy for walking.
but i figured it was worth a try.
one never knows what one might see.
i knew there wasn't much point to continue walking this area, so i headed to higher ground, an area i hadn't been to in a few days.
i knew there'd be more snow up there and surely softer and quieter.

i'm posting this now before it times out. will continue in a sec.

[Sofa King]

i give up.
why does this shit time out?
and what's the time limit?
i was just adding my second part with the pics, took maybe 15-20 nminutes tops.
go to post, and nada, it's logged me off the site.
why even have this feature?
what's it solve?
so, can someone not just read threads and not post without getting logged out?
seems like a stupid feature.

[Buckmeister]

It's happened to me in the past, but it seems the there is an auto-save feature working now. look for the button that says retrieve saved content, or something like that.

[redwards92]

before you hit post just highlight your entire post then right click and hit copy.

after you log in you can just paste it and post

lol

[TexasWalker]

Epic fail



as usual.

[cdnshooter13]

Then what happened???? What happened up higher??? In the softer quieter snow?? Awwww c'mon the suspense is killing me!!! Stepping out into traffic now:( so long hbc! (Cue car crash sounds);) laaammme

[Sofa King]

Then what happened???? What happened up higher??? In the softer quieter snow?? Awwww c'mon the suspense is killing me!!! Stepping out into traffic now:( so long hbc! (Cue car crash sounds);) laaammme

i had the second part all done, with pics, and when i went to post, it had logged me out.
i thought i had learned from earlier snafu's and was going to post in three or four short segments.
but that didn't even work.
the second piece was shorter than the first and i was already logged out.
can't the site see that i'm posting?
it's not like i'm just on the site browsing, i'm making a thread, how is that non-active?
i just wish they could fix this, but i highly doubt it.
there's tons of picture-posting problems every day, and it usually has to be a member who ends up helping those people out.

[Sofa King]

ph*ck it!
i'll try this again.
in even shorter segments.
i know i should just go do it all up offline and then copy/paste it, but that just doesn't make sense.
it shouldn't be that way.

so.
i jumped on the quad and headed for higher ground in search of softer, quieter snow.
there's an area i was hunting earlier in the season.
i had walked it all and really scouted it out, learning the lay of the land and how the deer were using the area.
i'd only been back up there once since then.
it's the same area where i had hiked around one day, then sat at the back-end of the block.
where i watched a truck eventually make his way in on the road below, then disappear from sight as he wrapped around through the trees to the trail's end, wherre my quad was sitting.
two minutes later, he was driving out again but stopped to fire several shots out into the cutblock before taking off.
he was apparently pissed someone was already in there.

[Spy]

Keep it comi g sounds good !

[Sofa King]

so, i get up there, and there is much more snow than lower.
and the temps are that much colder, which also means softer snow, which is what i needed to be able to cover some ground and have any chance at not spooking the deer first.
i got to the end of the trail once again and parked the quad off the trail.
not one fresh track anywhere on the ride up, and nothing visible in this area either.
but that was fine, because i knew that i'd find them once inside the trees.

and shortly thereafter, sure enough.
as i got farther into the trees, the fresh tracks appeared.
it was still snowing this morning, so their freshness was very obvious.
a nice set was walking through, luckily going the same direction as i was.
i started to follow, really watching ahead for any sighting.
he seemed to be backtracking, as an identical set were under his going the opposite direction.
shortly, i found where he stepped to the side and had turned.
i'm assuming this was his hearing me approaching on the quad or entering the trees.
i followed even more slowly, expecting him anywhere.
his tracks were then joined by an equally big pair.
they didn't really seem to be together, but more like they were just sharing the area.
now i was more leary about continuing following.
the terrain goes up to a rocky knoll and the trees get thicker.
plus, i prefer to get off tracks and try to parallel them, so that's what i decided to do.

[Sofa King]

to my right is the upper end of the high-mountain cutblock.
the main cut is in the bottom, but it has a bench in the upper-backend.
this is where i've sat and watched does go through earlier in the season.
my original plan was to come up and hunt that bench, expecting to find a deer there.
but the tracks were showing that the deer were keeping to the shelter of the trees.

anyway, rather than continue following the tracks, i decided to get out into the edge of the cut and watch for any deer.
and i thought that the ones i was following would eventually come out for a nibble as well.
just as i was getting near the cut's edge, i found this just inside the trees.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021217.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021187.jpg
now this sign seemed like a smaller deer.
he didn't use the rub again as he went by, but he stopped and pissed at it.
i took a few more steps and i was through the trees and into the cut.
looking to my right, this is what was waiting for me.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021183.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021184.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021186.jpg
there was actually a second buck right beside this guy that i didn't see right away.
i had put the camera away and was watching through my scope, hoping it would be a 4 pt.
but it turned out to be an almost identical copy of this guy.

[Sofa King]

we stood watching each other for quite awhile.
once i confirmed there was no 4 pt. i turned away from them and started walking higher.
i watched them to see how they'd react.
i was thinking that if i showed i was walking away, they might not spook.
sure enough, they just stood and watched me.
it was quite awhile before they'd had enough and walked over the edge and disappeared to the lower block.
i walked til i could see the back of the area.
nothing.

at first i thought that maybe these deer were the two tracks i was following earlier.
but i was sure that those tracks would have been larger deer.
now i was confused.
i followed their tracks to see where they came out of the trees.
sure enough, it was from up a little higher.
still, i could have sworn the tracks were different.

to hell with it, i had to know.
rather than just sit and wait, i wanted to go follow the original tracks and see where they went.
i was back on them quickly, and they went higher up the ridge.
and sure enough, two smaller sets crossed them and went toward the cut.
now i was excited again, confirming there was a larger buck in here.
i decided to follow him.
he was that much farther ahead of me now.
plus, i knew the area and what was ahead.
one worry of mine though was this.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021188.jpg
luckily, he had already vacated and continued on.
but this is what he went into.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021191.jpg
now i wasn't going to follow directly, so i chose the easiest path to the top.
even so, i knew that i'd eventually have to go through the crap as well to get back to the cut from above.

[Sofa King]

so i pressed on.
and i never cut his track again, so i knew he was still below me.
and that what was ahead of us both was the cutblock.
but, i still had to make my way through this.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021194.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021199.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021200.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021192.jpg
but, i made it.
and without any noise, thanks to all the nice powder.
so once again, i find myself stepping out from the trees and into the edge of the cut.
but this time from higher above than before.
and this is what was waiting for me this time.

[Sofa King]

http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021206.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021207.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021210.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021212.jpg
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w362/deddeer/PC021211.jpg

i couldn't believe it.
i knew it was a bigger deer, but i didn't expect this.
still, it was fun just to watch him.
he never even knew i was there.
i watched him feed and walk until he was out of sight, probably twenty minutes to half an hour.

but still, looking for a 4 pt and i come up dueces.

[marcus44]

Some nice genes in there, gonna be a nice buck when he grows up

[tinhorse]

Good day non the less. It would have been so perfect if they big 2 had a couple extra on each side. Great story and pics.

[RoscoeP]

Maybe next year they will be 4x4's. Good day anyway, nice pics. Cheers Roscoe

[markt308]

nice photos.

[Iltasyuko]

Really nice pictures - thanks!

[Sofa King]

a good thing though, is that i think i've found where the bucks have gone post-rut.
this is definitely a buck-zone right now.
there has to be a 4 in there somewhere.
unless the hunters have taken them all.

[hunter1947]

Thanks for sharing your story and pictures ,,very nice of you..

[s0ylentgreen]

yes - great pics - i like the narrative also - very interesting to learn from more experienced hunters
thanks
!

[*bcgold*]

Nice story and pictures, I was following your story last night then you left me hanging, lol

[gwillim]

Sounds like a great day in the woods! I think we have pretty similar hunting styles. Lots of walking and looking around, and if the freezer gets full its a bonus.

[coach]

Great story and pictures, Duallie. That what this site is supposed to be all about. Good luck over the next week. Hope you connect on a nice 4 point.

[kennyj]

Great story and photos.
kenny

[Sofa King]

thanks for the comments.
i'm going back up tomorrow to search again.
i've been on a really big buck at the lower spot, but i just can't hunt it anymore because of the noise.
i'll pass on him until next year, maybe get a trailcam in there soon to try and get a pic at least.
this upper area is much more huntable right now.
i prefer to cover some ground and find the deer as opposed to sitting and hoping they'll find me.
and there's no way i saw every buck that's in there right now.
there's gotta be a booner just waiting to make a mistake surely?
no?
and sorry for calling you shirley.

[knightcc]

Great story and pics. Definitely some crankers when they grow up.