sneakem
Well-known member
Well the Colorado muzzleloader season didn't last long. I feel fortunate to have harvested a great buck. I had scouted two really good bucks prior to the season, one with big prongs, one big, tall and super heavy. Opening morning I found both within about a 1/3 of mile of one another. I spent some time sizing both up from a distance, but unfortunately before I could decide, a hunter spotted the big prong buck from the road and moved in on him before I could get there. I watched as the guy bailed out of his truck, without his required hunters orange, to pursue the buck. I waited patiently as he stalked the buck in full camo, set up, shot and missed. The buck took off and circled around him going up over the hill past his truck.
At this point I decided it would be appropriate to proceed down the road past him to go pursue the other tall heavy buck. As I made my way over I saw him rush back to his truck, and as I was going past him the buck he missed was standing just off the two track maybe 300 yards from his truck. I could have easily stopped and likely killed the buck but decided to continue past and let this guy have at the buck, even though he was rushing to put his orange on at his truck. I continued past and left the buck in an ideal spot for him to continue his hunt. I thought about calling the game warden but decided that he probably realized that he got lucky so far...
So I continued down the road until I spotted the big tall buck with a doe out on the big flat. I grabbed my gear, put a good stalk on them to about 300yards and realized I needed to wait for them to lie down before continuing to crawl as they would surely spot me otherwise. As I am waiting here comes the hunter from earlier stopping just down the road from my truck. He watches me sitting on the buck for about 15 minutes, then jumps in his truck and drives back the way he came. Another 5 minutes I see him driving down the main road and circles around about a mile behind the buck I am sitting on. Another 20 minutes here he come over the hill with only his orange cap on headed right towards the buck I am sitting on. As he gets closer he takes his orange hat off, opens his decoy and comes right at us. I know he can see me sitting in full orange directly behind the buck, the sage is 12" tall and flat as a pancake. I am pissed at this point. The buck obviously sees him coming, gets nervous, and takes off with the doe. I stand up and yell "hey", the guy looks at me through his binoculars, turns and heads back to his truck. I stand up watch the buck and doe go over the hill and decide to follow.
So as I start to close in again, here comes the truck again and he proceeds to drive right into the buck, they continue to run again. He gets out with his muzzleloader, with only an orange hat again and starts to follow them. I am pissed at this point, I video the guy with full intentions of videoing him and turning him in. As I start my mile long walk back to the truck, I cool down a bit, but still pissed that someone could act like this. I reach the truck, with full intentions of finding a game warden and turning this guy in. As I leave and pass the spot where the hunter missed the buck earlier, my mind started to wander, I'm curious if this turd even went after the buck he shot at, because it didn't take him too long to show up and watch me. I stop the truck where I last saw the big prong buck, grab my gear, walk out that direction. I make it about 200 yards and the buck stands up. I chuckle, obviously this guy didn't even try. He must've been so nervous about his orange he must've never seen the buck behind his truck. The buck walks over the hill and down into a draw. I follow, he beds, I sneak into about 128 yards and wait, gun in the prone position rested on the sage. He stands, smoke... I see feet in the air...
As I walk up on him I realize I completely underestimated the size of this buck. I thought he was much shorter and thinner than he was due to the massive prongs, I was looking at a booner pronghorn... hands down bigger than the buck I was pursuing. I had to laugh at the thought of how I had come full circle to this buck, the KARMA..
. I tried to be a good sportsman, let some turd ruin my mood and experience, and inevitably came out the winner of the situation. I had a fleeting thought of circling around and finding the black truck to rub it in, but I will just give the video to law enforcement and let them sort it out... Anyways, my muzzleloader buck I nicknamed Karma.
At this point I decided it would be appropriate to proceed down the road past him to go pursue the other tall heavy buck. As I made my way over I saw him rush back to his truck, and as I was going past him the buck he missed was standing just off the two track maybe 300 yards from his truck. I could have easily stopped and likely killed the buck but decided to continue past and let this guy have at the buck, even though he was rushing to put his orange on at his truck. I continued past and left the buck in an ideal spot for him to continue his hunt. I thought about calling the game warden but decided that he probably realized that he got lucky so far...
So I continued down the road until I spotted the big tall buck with a doe out on the big flat. I grabbed my gear, put a good stalk on them to about 300yards and realized I needed to wait for them to lie down before continuing to crawl as they would surely spot me otherwise. As I am waiting here comes the hunter from earlier stopping just down the road from my truck. He watches me sitting on the buck for about 15 minutes, then jumps in his truck and drives back the way he came. Another 5 minutes I see him driving down the main road and circles around about a mile behind the buck I am sitting on. Another 20 minutes here he come over the hill with only his orange cap on headed right towards the buck I am sitting on. As he gets closer he takes his orange hat off, opens his decoy and comes right at us. I know he can see me sitting in full orange directly behind the buck, the sage is 12" tall and flat as a pancake. I am pissed at this point. The buck obviously sees him coming, gets nervous, and takes off with the doe. I stand up and yell "hey", the guy looks at me through his binoculars, turns and heads back to his truck. I stand up watch the buck and doe go over the hill and decide to follow.
So as I start to close in again, here comes the truck again and he proceeds to drive right into the buck, they continue to run again. He gets out with his muzzleloader, with only an orange hat again and starts to follow them. I am pissed at this point, I video the guy with full intentions of videoing him and turning him in. As I start my mile long walk back to the truck, I cool down a bit, but still pissed that someone could act like this. I reach the truck, with full intentions of finding a game warden and turning this guy in. As I leave and pass the spot where the hunter missed the buck earlier, my mind started to wander, I'm curious if this turd even went after the buck he shot at, because it didn't take him too long to show up and watch me. I stop the truck where I last saw the big prong buck, grab my gear, walk out that direction. I make it about 200 yards and the buck stands up. I chuckle, obviously this guy didn't even try. He must've been so nervous about his orange he must've never seen the buck behind his truck. The buck walks over the hill and down into a draw. I follow, he beds, I sneak into about 128 yards and wait, gun in the prone position rested on the sage. He stands, smoke... I see feet in the air...
As I walk up on him I realize I completely underestimated the size of this buck. I thought he was much shorter and thinner than he was due to the massive prongs, I was looking at a booner pronghorn... hands down bigger than the buck I was pursuing. I had to laugh at the thought of how I had come full circle to this buck, the KARMA..
. I tried to be a good sportsman, let some turd ruin my mood and experience, and inevitably came out the winner of the situation. I had a fleeting thought of circling around and finding the black truck to rub it in, but I will just give the video to law enforcement and let them sort it out... Anyways, my muzzleloader buck I nicknamed Karma.
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