Hi all, I want to share the story of my first buck. It took me a season and a half to get the job done! Feel like I’ve waited forever to write this post, so excuse the long yarn but I’m very excited about the whole thing!
My plan was to escape the area I usually hunt inspired by something I saw Caddisguy write about his own experience that he had to ‘hunt where the deer are not where I wanted the deer to be’ so I went further east and tried something new with hopes of more deer and less people.
Day one, a fruitless morning hunting the lower forest for deer so at noon I jumped in the truck to spend mid day driving around to some cuts to get eyes on some more country and get a feel for the area.
I crested the top of a hill, parked the truck and glassed the cuts below in both directions. Instantly, Slung spotted! a big bear from about a mile away working through a cut below..i watched him through the binos for 5 minutes and decided to make a move, checked my map app, figured a road that would take me there, and I was off back down the hill. I parked down a ways, got my wind right and hiked up into the cut he was in but couldn’t relocate him. As I walked the timber line I saw lots of his sign but no bear.
Jumped another bear off the road while driving, pulled over and took a look at him. 25 yards away but he had stopped in a bush, I waited , he moved a few yards up hill and looked back at me. Quartered away, head wrapped around a tree looking at me. Couldn’t see middle of the middle.. could have taken a head shot , but passed. I was unsure. Later I would kick myself because I wasn’t ready, wasn’t prepared to act fast and decide in the moment. The evening brought no deer. Although I was deer hunting seeing two bears was a good start to me trip.
Woke up all too early and waited for first lite at the entrance to a large cut in the rain, As the grey light came i walked in, glassing up and down as I slow made my way to the end of the road, from there I’d walk the tree line to the top of the cut. Rain was getting heavier, cloud was low, visibility was at 150 yards. Up I go! The country was perfect, good growth in the cuts, big timber along side, sub alpine up above, this is mule deer country! But with the rain and now blowing wind, my best guess was everything would be bedded. After a few hours of slowly moving through the timber I come to a tree and notice a deer bed, as soon as I processed the thought ‘this is a deer bed’ I heard the bound and crash of a mule deer buck making his escape. Dammit!
Jumped another buck on the edge of the timber 20 minutes later, at least this guy stopped in the opening long enough to admire him but not still enough to verify he had 4pts.. watched as he made his way up a bank and back into the timber. That was it for deer that day, throughly soaked I made my way back.
Day 3, my last full day and I was feeling the pressure! Got up early to check out a promising spot. Sat in the dark on the hill top waiting for first light. Sat there for 45 minutes in 1 degree weather and as it became shooting light I started to walk the hill hoping that when the sun comes up the deer would leave the fields below and work up the draws onto the hills to bed. And they did not disappoint, I must have seen 20 deer, including many bucks. an hour later I’m slowing walking over a hill and I spot a buck slowly feeding toward me. Stop, put up the binos, he is a forky.. dam... look again oh wait the tips are split! He has 4 points, a legal buck! Pretty much the only legal in season animal I’ve seen other than bears. Once i realized he was legal I raised my rifle and I got a good dose of the shakes. I guess that’s what they call buck fever! Got somewhat steady and shot him through the front shoulder at 60 yards..too far forward. A few stumbles and bucks and he lay down, 10-15 yards away.. much quicker than I expected. It all happened quicker than I expected. I felt so happy running my hands through his hide, and admiring him. I felt like I had finally put some of the pieces of the puzzle together for this hunting thing. I also felt a good amount of relief knowing I was bringing home meat for the freezer, some justification to my wife for all the days I go hunting and leave her at home with our 9 month old. Shes a champ!
Gutted him, dragged him, luckily he was in a position that I could just drag him out. And my hunt was done! Dropped him to a butcher and was pleased to pick up over 90lbs of boneless meat a few days later. The skull will be diy euro mounted and proudly displayed in the living room, the meat will be enjoyed by all the family, might even gift some to the neighbors!
Thanks for taking the time to read the story of my first buck.
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