Hawaii Idaho deer hunt.

[Scott85]

I wanted to add:

Scott spent an enormous amount of time researching and planning this hunt. He was very well prepared and accommodations were spectacular. It's nice to hunt with someone who takes the game so seriously. I can tell he truly loves the outdoors.

When I heard that his usual hunting partner wouldn't be able to make the trip I immediately jumped at the opportunity. He's a world class individual. Thanks for a good trip buddy.

Any time Paul it was truly a pleasure having you in camp!! Super grateful for your spotting abilities!

 

[rtraverdavis]

What a cool hunt. From the specialness of the tag, to the camaraderie, to landscape and animals--this is a dream hunt. Awesome deer, Scott, and well-earned. Super happy for you, man.

 

[perma]

Sweet buck, congrats on a punched tag. That terrain looks like a lot of fun to hunt.

 

[OwyheeHuntr]

Awesome story, and a great buck! That part of the world holds a special place in my heart, glad to see others enjoying all it has to offer! Congratulations!!!

 

[TheTone]

Great story telling and congrats on the buck.

 

[blueridge]

Congratulations, Scott! Man, what a stud buck! Killer tag. Sounds like killer company. Thanks for sharing the story.

 

[Scott85]

 

[p_ham]

 

[Dave Bergman]

Day 9

Sunday found us back at 4 way. It was cold and windy!!! Paul spotted a few deer far away but nothing close. I saw nothing, I started to get into a little bit of a funk. We had been seeing a ton of deer and bucks chasing does and now we are seeing nothing.

We decided we haven’t drove to the west so we drive west and don’t see anything we really like. Paul suggested that we go to a bigger ridge that we haven’t glassed from yet.

We get there around noon and the wind is still blowing so we decided to wait a while so we didn’t have to freeze for so long. Right when we were going to get out and start climbing 5 does came out of the trees and almost fed right to the truck, the truck spooks one they take off.

We climb up to this knob and the wind is howling. I find a nice spot mostly sheltered from the wind and Paul does the same on the the other side. We glass for about 1.5 hours. Paul comes over and checks on me. He tells me deer are starting to come out of the trees but I’m not seeing crap. I go check on him and he’s still seeing deer and I’m not. He comes back to show me a little buck and I’m still not seeing anything. He comes back over at 1650 and shows me a good buck. I look it over and one more time. I tell him I’ll kill that buck!!! View attachment 300719View attachment 300720

He goes back over to grab all his crap and I stow all mine. I head over to Paul. He points out the spot the buck and doe were at. It’s 1200 yards away and it’s now 1700, we got one hour to get it done.

We tear off in the direction on the deer. The wind is perfect, it’s a cross wind! One thing that I haven’t talked about is I’m taller than Paul and I’ve always walked fast to the point he is always rushing. Well I put it in high gear and by the time we cleared 800 yards we were both breathing heavy. As we are approaching the last line of trees we bump 3 does… well crap.

We ease up to the last known location; no deer. We ease around to another clearing, no deer. Well this really stinks, they just upped and disappeared. We move around to another big opening and nothing. I told Paul we will just ease around and start heading back to the truck. We pass one tree and I look left; Shit!!! Deer!!! A doe was 168 yards away upwind looking at us, I don’t see the buck. Paul is to my right, he tells me to side step to the left to see if I see the buck. One step nothing, second step, I left up the gun and look at the doe then to right. Buck!!!! He is facing us at about 170 yards!!! I click off the safety take a deep breath, aim at his chest and squeeze the trigger. First time hunting with a suppressor and I barely hear the gun go off but the twack of the bullet hitting flesh is a sound I’ll never forget. By the time Paul clears the tree the buck is down and doing his final kicks. I look at my watch, 1749! We walk up on a great great buck I couldn’t be happier with. We high five and take pictures. View attachment 300730View attachment 300731View attachment 300732View attachment 300733View attachment 300734View attachment 300735View attachment 300736View attachment 300737

We get him all processed and look at onX 203 yards to the nearest 2 track. Paul makes a way point to come back to gather up the head and a trash bag. We grab all game bags to carry them to the road (don’t ever do that!! It sucks!!) We get to the 2 track. I tell Paul I’m going to get the truck and he can go back for the head.

I look at onX and take off at a very brisk walk. The direction onX said I was going changed and I had to do a 90 degree turn to get back track. It’s very dark and everything looks the same. I hit a cow trail that’s going back to the truck more or less. I start waking even faster. It’s just over a mile from the 2 track where I left Paul to the truck, I made it in 10 minutes! I get in the truck fire it up and hit the horn thinking Paul might hear it and know I made it to the truck. I’m real thirsty and I know I got bottles in my pack with Paul. I get to Paul in record time all the time thinking about that water.

I get to Paul waiting at the 2 track. He tells me he can’t find the deer head. That onX messed up his location when he set the way point. I say no problem, we threw the meat in the cooler and the packs in the truck and we head off to locate the head. We get to one spot and nothing. I look at onX and mark a location that I think the deer was at. We walk near the spot and nothing. Hey, that tree looks familiar!! Ok that doe was 168 and the buck was right behind her. Get to that spot and start searching. Bingo!!! Paul found it, it was like 5 yards from where I marked the location I thought it was. Paul tells me we been looking for the head for over an hour! The trip back to the truck was uneventful. We got back to camp and we had our celebratory beer. We packed up and drove home yesterday fighting wind the whole way!!

Deer count: 33

Total deer count for trip: 356!

Great write up, cool story