MKotur325
New member
Wow... Don't even know where to start on this one. Left Missoula Sunday at 1:30 for two Days in the Crazy's. Over 600 miles on the clock and something like 12hrs driving in the past three days. 3 Hunting buddies backed out, I stayed the course. Was it worth it... Yup.
Monday morning started early with the alarm sounding at 04:45. This started a bit over an hour of driving from the motel to spot. Starting off with 800' gain in the first mile. Bumped a smaller buck out of his bed that decided to hang out at 94 yds for about 10 minutes staring at me while I stood there waiting for him to move off. Should say something about the wind when this deer was in his bed by 7:20 Got to my Glassing knob. Saw a handful of other deer. 40 Degrees 20+ mph wind, and it was at that point I realized that I left my warm gloves in Missoula... ... ... Not the best of days. Saw 7 other Mule Deer does and a forkie braving the wind on top of a barren ridge. Worked down through three folds looking for other deer. Things were pretty calm. From my second glassing spot, 950 yds off I spot a buck laying in some Nasty brush on a steep ridge in a little fold out of the wind. Put the Binos on him again. All I could see were Big fronts. I knew at that point that I had to get a better look at this guy. Spent 20 minutes looking for other deer in the area, planning a stock and warming my freezing hands; then decided to give it a go. Peeled back off the ridge, around another point, down into a big draw, up out the other side, up some more to the tree I'd marked. The closest look I'd had at the buck was at 720yds, still too far to really tell much, just that he had Big fronts.
Not the wind peeling around the ridge dangerously close to the direction of the buck. I had no clue what to do at this point. Didn't even know if the buck was still there, with the way the wind was peeling around the ridge I couldn't climb any more or the he would surely wind me. So, I figure, What the Heck. He's either there or he isn't. Peek over the crest of the ridge. Can't see anything. Spend a few minutes looking over the brush where he was bedded. Then it happens, the buck reached back to scratch himself, and I see the tip of a back for waving in the brush. Well... "What do I do now" This is always one of those times where it's nice to have a hunting buddy along for the ride to bounce ideas off... My first thought was, lay down, get set up and wait him out. Second thought Yeah right, not in this wind. I figured I could camp out there for a while, but there's only so much wind that I'm willing to take before I need to get up and move. Besides that I'm 251yds from this deer and I still can't tell how big he is. Solution, Get closer. Drop straight down off the ridge and up to the next little finger and the last bastion of cover. Take my rifle off my shoulder (and promptly forget to turn my scope down from 15x...) and tip toe up to the tree closest to me, look up, can't see the deer. One tree left to go at this point, and I'm out of cover. Hit the last tree, shed my pack and take a range, 151 to the far brush line. Still cannot see the buck. Luckily the wind is mostly blowing around this little pocket. Then it happens. The buck stands up. He's looking across, Can't tell how wide he is, but see those Big fronts, decent back forks and extras. Done deal, Except.... All I can see is the back of his neck and his head. So, I situate myself resting against a tree waiting for the buck to make a move. Seems like it's taking forever, realistically maybe a minute or two, the buck turns to walk down hill. Step, No shot, Step, No Shot, One more and there's the tiniest opening. Just one more step! Then get that sinking feeling as I feel the wind hit the back of my neck. Watch the buck lift his nose to test the wind. Got to see the look in his eyes when he realized I was there. The buck turned to head back up the hill. Takes about 3 bounds and is out of the brush. I scream "Hey, Hey" trying to get the buck's attention. Sure enough, he slows to a walk, Find him in the scope, watch as he just hesitates to turn and look at me, the crosshairs settle on his shoulder, the trigger breaks. The rest is history. By the way, It's not an easy task to get a Whole deer loaded solo. No ground shrinkage on this one. Definitely not a wide deer, but scores as my personal best. Nice 4x4 with Eyegurads and 3 extras. There's a little hook tine off the left G2, the extra tine in the left rear fork and a 2.5" sticker off the right base Fun Hunt, Hope you enjoy the write up.
I appologize for the pack bits in the picture, I missed that when I was in the field...
Monday morning started early with the alarm sounding at 04:45. This started a bit over an hour of driving from the motel to spot. Starting off with 800' gain in the first mile. Bumped a smaller buck out of his bed that decided to hang out at 94 yds for about 10 minutes staring at me while I stood there waiting for him to move off. Should say something about the wind when this deer was in his bed by 7:20 Got to my Glassing knob. Saw a handful of other deer. 40 Degrees 20+ mph wind, and it was at that point I realized that I left my warm gloves in Missoula... ... ... Not the best of days. Saw 7 other Mule Deer does and a forkie braving the wind on top of a barren ridge. Worked down through three folds looking for other deer. Things were pretty calm. From my second glassing spot, 950 yds off I spot a buck laying in some Nasty brush on a steep ridge in a little fold out of the wind. Put the Binos on him again. All I could see were Big fronts. I knew at that point that I had to get a better look at this guy. Spent 20 minutes looking for other deer in the area, planning a stock and warming my freezing hands; then decided to give it a go. Peeled back off the ridge, around another point, down into a big draw, up out the other side, up some more to the tree I'd marked. The closest look I'd had at the buck was at 720yds, still too far to really tell much, just that he had Big fronts.
Not the wind peeling around the ridge dangerously close to the direction of the buck.
I had no clue what to do at this point. Didn't even know if the buck was still there, with the way the wind was peeling around the ridge I couldn't climb any more or the he would surely wind me. So, I figure, What the Heck. He's either there or he isn't. Peek over the crest of the ridge. Can't see anything. Spend a few minutes looking over the brush where he was bedded. Then it happens, the buck reached back to scratch himself, and I see the tip of a back for waving in the brush. Well... "What do I do now" This is always one of those times where it's nice to have a hunting buddy along for the ride to bounce ideas off... My first thought was, lay down, get set up and wait him out. Second thought Yeah right, not in this wind. I figured I could camp out there for a while, but there's only so much wind that I'm willing to take before I need to get up and move. Besides that I'm 251yds from this deer and I still can't tell how big he is. Solution, Get closer. Drop straight down off the ridge and up to the next little finger and the last bastion of cover. Take my rifle off my shoulder (and promptly forget to turn my scope down from 15x...) and tip toe up to the tree closest to me, look up, can't see the deer. One tree left to go at this point, and I'm out of cover. Hit the last tree, shed my pack and take a range, 151 to the far brush line. Still cannot see the buck. Luckily the wind is mostly blowing around this little pocket. Then it happens. The buck stands up. He's looking across, Can't tell how wide he is, but see those Big fronts, decent back forks and extras. Done deal, Except.... All I can see is the back of his neck and his head. So, I situate myself resting against a tree waiting for the buck to make a move. Seems like it's taking forever, realistically maybe a minute or two, the buck turns to walk down hill. Step, No shot, Step, No Shot, One more and there's the tiniest opening. Just one more step! Then get that sinking feeling as I feel the wind hit the back of my neck. Watch the buck lift his nose to test the wind. Got to see the look in his eyes when he realized I was there. The buck turned to head back up the hill. Takes about 3 bounds and is out of the brush. I scream "Hey, Hey" trying to get the buck's attention. Sure enough, he slows to a walk, Find him in the scope, watch as he just hesitates to turn and look at me, the crosshairs settle on his shoulder, the trigger breaks. The rest is history. By the way, It's not an easy task to get a Whole deer loaded solo. No ground shrinkage on this one. Definitely not a wide deer, but scores as my personal best. Nice 4x4 with Eyegurads and 3 extras. There's a little hook tine off the left G2, the extra tine in the left rear fork and a 2.5" sticker off the right base Fun Hunt, Hope you enjoy the write up.
I appologize for the pack bits in the picture, I missed that when I was in the field...
