thegamegtr
New member
Drew a tag in an area that I know well. To say the least, I was fired up. The scouting was a blast. My dad (63 yrs old) and I would hike in two to five miles during the afternoon, glass all evening, stay the night and glass all morning. Then we would hike out in the afternoon, relocate and do it all again. Seemed to be a good way to use our time and energy! We saw a lot of deer and some nice bucks, but nothing real big.
Dad and I hiked 3 1/2 miles into an area two days before the season opened. A good friend of mine, Trevor, met us on opening. We spotted some nice bucks from our camp, but decided to hunt further in. My dad, being somewhat intelligent, decided to stay at camp and look around. I found out that Trevor is a bad influence on me. Normally, my dad reigns me in when I want to see what is over the next ridge, and the next and the next--not Trevor! If I didn't come up with the idea to go to the next ridge, he did. The first evening with Trevor took us over three hours of hiking in the dark to get back to camp. Thank God we did not shoot something back in there! We spotted several nice bucks on this trip. One of which I had a hard time passing on. He would have been my biggest deer yet, but I wanted one with deep forks. I must have stopped 5 times on our way out the last afternoon asking if I was stupid for not going after that deer.
On our next trip Dad and I hiked in 4 1/2 miles up a closed road. It was all up hill--no joke! We set our camp down and began to glass as the sun came up. Immediately, I saw a nice buck chasing a doe well over a mile away. I got the spotting scope on him and thought he was a good deer. Then he showed me his side view and I thought he was a great deer! Then I saw him from the front and thought I would pass. Then he showed me the side view and I thought I would shoot him.... I was torn. Finally, he looked away and I saw that he had two good eyeguards and decided he was a shooter!
Dad and I made a big loop to get above the draw that he had gone into...I glassed every inch of that draw and could not find him. Finally, I found a doe bedded in the rocks 100 yrds below me. I knew, if I was patient we would find him somewhere close. After frantically looking for over 30 minutes, the sun peaked over the ridge and hit the bucks white face. He was looking right at us and he was nowhere near that doe--go figure. Good news was, he was within range. I got bunkered in was prepared for a long wait. About 30 seconds after I got settled in, he stood up for the last time! My "boom dead" gun barked and he hit the dirt and began a long role to the bottom of the draw. My biggest buck ever was on the ground and my dad was right there with me.
The hike out was grueling! It should have only been a six mile pack, but because of our "short cut" it ended up being closer to 7. My dad packed out most of the camp, and I had the deer, sleeping bags and the gun. A wise man would have made two trips. I am not a wise man! I had never been so physically and mentally beat up in my life. My left knee paid the price--surgury is scheduled for mid January!
Bad thing was my brother had a good tag that opened in a couple of weeks! I will tell you that story soon!
Dad and I hiked 3 1/2 miles into an area two days before the season opened. A good friend of mine, Trevor, met us on opening. We spotted some nice bucks from our camp, but decided to hunt further in. My dad, being somewhat intelligent, decided to stay at camp and look around. I found out that Trevor is a bad influence on me. Normally, my dad reigns me in when I want to see what is over the next ridge, and the next and the next--not Trevor! If I didn't come up with the idea to go to the next ridge, he did. The first evening with Trevor took us over three hours of hiking in the dark to get back to camp. Thank God we did not shoot something back in there! We spotted several nice bucks on this trip. One of which I had a hard time passing on. He would have been my biggest deer yet, but I wanted one with deep forks. I must have stopped 5 times on our way out the last afternoon asking if I was stupid for not going after that deer.
On our next trip Dad and I hiked in 4 1/2 miles up a closed road. It was all up hill--no joke! We set our camp down and began to glass as the sun came up. Immediately, I saw a nice buck chasing a doe well over a mile away. I got the spotting scope on him and thought he was a good deer. Then he showed me his side view and I thought he was a great deer! Then I saw him from the front and thought I would pass. Then he showed me the side view and I thought I would shoot him.... I was torn. Finally, he looked away and I saw that he had two good eyeguards and decided he was a shooter!
Dad and I made a big loop to get above the draw that he had gone into...I glassed every inch of that draw and could not find him. Finally, I found a doe bedded in the rocks 100 yrds below me. I knew, if I was patient we would find him somewhere close. After frantically looking for over 30 minutes, the sun peaked over the ridge and hit the bucks white face. He was looking right at us and he was nowhere near that doe--go figure. Good news was, he was within range. I got bunkered in was prepared for a long wait. About 30 seconds after I got settled in, he stood up for the last time! My "boom dead" gun barked and he hit the dirt and began a long role to the bottom of the draw. My biggest buck ever was on the ground and my dad was right there with me.
The hike out was grueling! It should have only been a six mile pack, but because of our "short cut" it ended up being closer to 7. My dad packed out most of the camp, and I had the deer, sleeping bags and the gun. A wise man would have made two trips. I am not a wise man! I had never been so physically and mentally beat up in my life. My left knee paid the price--surgury is scheduled for mid January!
Bad thing was my brother had a good tag that opened in a couple of weeks! I will tell you that story soon!
