SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
Picked up my Wyoming bull and meat from late September to take home with me.
My biggest/longest road trip yet.
- Thread starter SC Living Outdoors
- Start date
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Should have read 'scavenger hunt'...you always seem to find what you're seeking SCI.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
16 does so far this morning
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
I feel like it’s been snowing for like a year straight. As a guy from the deep south, this is probably more snow than I’ve seen in like five years.
Valley1320
Well-known member
Snow makes it easier to see big bucks!
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
Done. Taking a break on top of the ridge. Still have a bit to go to the truck but it’s all downhill now. Shot him in a hell hole. Took me three hours to go .6 miles to the top of the ridge. I’ll do a write up later.
Keep on
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- Nov 9, 2021
- Messages
- 1,578
Batting .750 on a big road trip like that is doing pretty good. Congrats
RunNGunSC
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- Joined
- Nov 3, 2022
- Messages
- 148
Heck of a trip, drive safe!
CPAjeff
Well-known member
Congrats!
WNC2500
Well-known member
@SCliving Outdoors Looking forward to the write up. Way to finish it out.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
First, I need to give credit where credit is due. @Dsnow9 and I have become good friends over the past 6 to 8 months. When we were talking about hunts for this fall, he told me if I was able to grab this deer tag that he would hook me up with all his knowledge from the unit. I was able to get the tag on the return list and he did just that. His tips and wealth of knowledge on the area was vital in my success.
I arrived in Colorado a few days early. I took glassing and exploring different areas. I was seeing does pretty consistently, but no bucks. This was a little discouraging, but also not discouraging. We all know what November means in terms of deer hunting and with the number of does I was seeing I was hopeful that bucks would be showing up as well. Friday evening I parked my truck and little camper in the spot I was planning to use to access the public land I was going to be hunting. I decided I would just stay there that night in hopes of deterring anyone else from coming in the same way to the spot I was hunting. I believe I did just that as I saw a truck with a side-by-side, drive-by slowly an hour and a half later and then decided to keep going. It began snowing at about 8 PM. I went to sleep and woke up to it still snowing. The weather report said that it would be snowing until about 2 PM. I thought a little bit of snow was probably a good thing to just help with spotting animals.
I headed out at about 4 AM opening morning and began to climb. Deacon encouraged me to reach a specific elevation, then slowly work my way still hunting along a large area where I had seen deer while glassing the area over the past couple days. As the sun came up I began to move across the face slowly, easing along and glassing a good bit as I went. After about 30 minutes I spotted a group of four does with a small forky. I really wanted to kill a buck on Saturday or Sunday to start heading home. I had told my boss I’d be back to work on Wednesday. I felt like I could probably stretch it a little more if I needed to, but I try not to break my word if all possible, I was feeling the pressure to kill a buck, but I really didn’t want to kill a small one. I let that forky walk and continued along. About an hour later I came up over another small rise and was glassing when I spotted two guys about 500 yards away on the adjacent knob where I was heading. I’m not sure how they came into the area, but that didn’t matter because they were there so I had to adjust my plan. I backtracked and began to gain elevation heading up towards the top. When I got within 500 yards of the top, I stopped to do some glassing and saw a bedded doe on the hillside. I sat down under a tree and begin to glass in hopes of picking out some more deer. As I was watching that doe a group of four does began moving across the hillside from left to right. Hindsight is 20/20. I should have immediately ranged those does and gotten my gun up on them. Like I said it’s November and you never know when there could be a buck behind them. They were walking pretty good but not running. As they disappeared into the brush, I looked behind them and here came a very large buck with another smaller buck behind him. I began to frantically try to range him. The snow was wreaking havoc with my rangefinder and by the time I finally got a range on him and scope dialed he was out of sight. If I had gotten ready when I saw the does just in case I would have killed him. When the rangefinder finally gave me the yardage of 400 yards it was too late.
I took off up the hill towards the top of the ridge to where the deer crossed as fast as I could go. As I got to the top, I found the tracks from the buck and began to follow them as they meandered up back-and-forth following the does to the top of the ridge, then slightly over the top onto the backside, heading back the way they originally come. After about 30 minutes of following these tracks I saw a doe pop out behind a tree. I immediately hit the ground throwing up my gun as they filteredout. I ranged them and it was 172 yards. It was all set. I just knew that big buck was going to come out behind those does. I waited and waited and waited. Finally the does moved off going back over the ridge. I waited more. What the heck? That buck was on them. Where did he go? Finally I began to move up and after about 20 yards two does jumped up with another buck right above me. He wasn’t the big buck but he also wasn’t a small buck. They had only been 35 yards away while I was watching the does. I got on the track of this buck and begin following it up the ridge farther. Eventually, he joined back up with some other does, and I began to follow the tracks back towards an area where I had sent Deacon a pin asking if it was a good spot. This area was a deep tight canyon tucked in behind some private land. He told me it was a good area, but he had never killed a deer back there. As the tracks headed into the canyon, I saw a rocky outcropping covered with snow that would allow me a good vantage point to look over the area. I figured those animals could not be that far in front of me so I thought this was a good opportunity to just sit and glass. I immediately picked out a lone doe, then four more does, then another doe, then three more does. I ranged them all and they were all inside of 500 yards. I sat and waited. I was hopeful there was a buck tucked in somewhere.
After about 20 minutes, I decided to readjust about 10 feet farther up to allow myself to see even more of the canyon and settle in for the long cold afternoon of glassing. As I moved my gear and gun up, I opened up my pack to take out my puffy pants and begin to put them on. As I was looking down below me halfway through putting my pants on a buck took off below. I’m not sure if he had been bedded just 50 yards below me out of sight on the ridge or if he had dropped in to canyon through some thick stuff over the top of the ridge to my right. But either way he was a new buck and I could tell he was a pretty good one. I started to get my gun set up as he was bounding away from me. I could see a ton of country and I knew eventually he was going to stop and offer me an opportunity. He dropped all the way into the bottom coming up the other side into some thick cover. I’m sure he felt safe and most people weren’t going to go into that canyon. I would guess that he has retreated to that area before. However, from my vantage point I could see into that area very well. I ranged him at 400 yards. He went up the far side another handful of steps and then stop broadside and I was waiting. I felt the recoil and he kicked and began to move to his right. I worked the bolt getting ready for shot number two when I saw him stumble and fall into a snow covered bush. It was 12:25pm.
Last year I was able to grab a returned third season tag in a different area area that I never hunted. I shot a nice buck as well around 1pm. I can’t stress how important it is to atay out all day and hunt if you’re able.
I dropped down into the canyon and crossed the bottom working my way up the other side following his tracks. I found where the bullet hit and followed the blood in the snow. As a guy that’s colorblind and really struggles to trail deer I can’t explain what a dream come true it is to have snow as a helpful aide. The buck had a very large body and a weird rack. Kind of starting to get gnarly making me think that he might be an old buck headed into regression with his antlers. One side is just a regular three-point with good mass while the other side has two little crabby points, making him a 3 x 4. He also has weird small eye guards. I think he’s awesome. I began breaking him down and boning out the hams. I left the bones in the front quarters for structure when strapping the meat in the pack. I’m not sure if that was a good choice or not.
There was no easy way back to the truck. I strapped all the meat on my pack along with the antlers and head and began the long process of climbing my way out of the steep canyon. It took me three hours to go .6 miles to the top of the canyon, I’m going to be completely honest. It was a little sketchy. I took breaks when needed but because of the cold if I stopped for too long I began to get cold so I would take five minute breaks here and there. I made my way up and finally made it to the top. It took another 3 1/2 hours to make my way along the top of the ridge and down the backside to the truck. Because of the snow some of the back half of the pack out going downhill was just as nerve-racking as the going uphill. I finally made it out safe By going slowly, taking my time, talking out different routes, and praying to God that I would not fall and break my leg in a couple of different spots as I slowly moved.
The sun came out. While I was breaking him down. This is the canyon I had to climb out of. Looks can be deceiving, lol.
I arrived in Colorado a few days early. I took glassing and exploring different areas. I was seeing does pretty consistently, but no bucks. This was a little discouraging, but also not discouraging. We all know what November means in terms of deer hunting and with the number of does I was seeing I was hopeful that bucks would be showing up as well. Friday evening I parked my truck and little camper in the spot I was planning to use to access the public land I was going to be hunting. I decided I would just stay there that night in hopes of deterring anyone else from coming in the same way to the spot I was hunting. I believe I did just that as I saw a truck with a side-by-side, drive-by slowly an hour and a half later and then decided to keep going. It began snowing at about 8 PM. I went to sleep and woke up to it still snowing. The weather report said that it would be snowing until about 2 PM. I thought a little bit of snow was probably a good thing to just help with spotting animals.
I headed out at about 4 AM opening morning and began to climb. Deacon encouraged me to reach a specific elevation, then slowly work my way still hunting along a large area where I had seen deer while glassing the area over the past couple days. As the sun came up I began to move across the face slowly, easing along and glassing a good bit as I went. After about 30 minutes I spotted a group of four does with a small forky. I really wanted to kill a buck on Saturday or Sunday to start heading home. I had told my boss I’d be back to work on Wednesday. I felt like I could probably stretch it a little more if I needed to, but I try not to break my word if all possible, I was feeling the pressure to kill a buck, but I really didn’t want to kill a small one. I let that forky walk and continued along. About an hour later I came up over another small rise and was glassing when I spotted two guys about 500 yards away on the adjacent knob where I was heading. I’m not sure how they came into the area, but that didn’t matter because they were there so I had to adjust my plan. I backtracked and began to gain elevation heading up towards the top. When I got within 500 yards of the top, I stopped to do some glassing and saw a bedded doe on the hillside. I sat down under a tree and begin to glass in hopes of picking out some more deer. As I was watching that doe a group of four does began moving across the hillside from left to right. Hindsight is 20/20. I should have immediately ranged those does and gotten my gun up on them. Like I said it’s November and you never know when there could be a buck behind them. They were walking pretty good but not running. As they disappeared into the brush, I looked behind them and here came a very large buck with another smaller buck behind him. I began to frantically try to range him. The snow was wreaking havoc with my rangefinder and by the time I finally got a range on him and scope dialed he was out of sight. If I had gotten ready when I saw the does just in case I would have killed him. When the rangefinder finally gave me the yardage of 400 yards it was too late.
I took off up the hill towards the top of the ridge to where the deer crossed as fast as I could go. As I got to the top, I found the tracks from the buck and began to follow them as they meandered up back-and-forth following the does to the top of the ridge, then slightly over the top onto the backside, heading back the way they originally come. After about 30 minutes of following these tracks I saw a doe pop out behind a tree. I immediately hit the ground throwing up my gun as they filteredout. I ranged them and it was 172 yards. It was all set. I just knew that big buck was going to come out behind those does. I waited and waited and waited. Finally the does moved off going back over the ridge. I waited more. What the heck? That buck was on them. Where did he go? Finally I began to move up and after about 20 yards two does jumped up with another buck right above me. He wasn’t the big buck but he also wasn’t a small buck. They had only been 35 yards away while I was watching the does. I got on the track of this buck and begin following it up the ridge farther. Eventually, he joined back up with some other does, and I began to follow the tracks back towards an area where I had sent Deacon a pin asking if it was a good spot. This area was a deep tight canyon tucked in behind some private land. He told me it was a good area, but he had never killed a deer back there. As the tracks headed into the canyon, I saw a rocky outcropping covered with snow that would allow me a good vantage point to look over the area. I figured those animals could not be that far in front of me so I thought this was a good opportunity to just sit and glass. I immediately picked out a lone doe, then four more does, then another doe, then three more does. I ranged them all and they were all inside of 500 yards. I sat and waited. I was hopeful there was a buck tucked in somewhere.
After about 20 minutes, I decided to readjust about 10 feet farther up to allow myself to see even more of the canyon and settle in for the long cold afternoon of glassing. As I moved my gear and gun up, I opened up my pack to take out my puffy pants and begin to put them on. As I was looking down below me halfway through putting my pants on a buck took off below. I’m not sure if he had been bedded just 50 yards below me out of sight on the ridge or if he had dropped in to canyon through some thick stuff over the top of the ridge to my right. But either way he was a new buck and I could tell he was a pretty good one. I started to get my gun set up as he was bounding away from me. I could see a ton of country and I knew eventually he was going to stop and offer me an opportunity. He dropped all the way into the bottom coming up the other side into some thick cover. I’m sure he felt safe and most people weren’t going to go into that canyon. I would guess that he has retreated to that area before. However, from my vantage point I could see into that area very well. I ranged him at 400 yards. He went up the far side another handful of steps and then stop broadside and I was waiting. I felt the recoil and he kicked and began to move to his right. I worked the bolt getting ready for shot number two when I saw him stumble and fall into a snow covered bush. It was 12:25pm.
Last year I was able to grab a returned third season tag in a different area area that I never hunted. I shot a nice buck as well around 1pm. I can’t stress how important it is to atay out all day and hunt if you’re able.
I dropped down into the canyon and crossed the bottom working my way up the other side following his tracks. I found where the bullet hit and followed the blood in the snow. As a guy that’s colorblind and really struggles to trail deer I can’t explain what a dream come true it is to have snow as a helpful aide. The buck had a very large body and a weird rack. Kind of starting to get gnarly making me think that he might be an old buck headed into regression with his antlers. One side is just a regular three-point with good mass while the other side has two little crabby points, making him a 3 x 4. He also has weird small eye guards. I think he’s awesome. I began breaking him down and boning out the hams. I left the bones in the front quarters for structure when strapping the meat in the pack. I’m not sure if that was a good choice or not.
There was no easy way back to the truck. I strapped all the meat on my pack along with the antlers and head and began the long process of climbing my way out of the steep canyon. It took me three hours to go .6 miles to the top of the canyon, I’m going to be completely honest. It was a little sketchy. I took breaks when needed but because of the cold if I stopped for too long I began to get cold so I would take five minute breaks here and there. I made my way up and finally made it to the top. It took another 3 1/2 hours to make my way along the top of the ridge and down the backside to the truck. Because of the snow some of the back half of the pack out going downhill was just as nerve-racking as the going uphill. I finally made it out safe By going slowly, taking my time, talking out different routes, and praying to God that I would not fall and break my leg in a couple of different spots as I slowly moved.
The sun came out. While I was breaking him down. This is the canyon I had to climb out of. Looks can be deceiving, lol.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
This trip has been physically and mentally demanding. Hunting four different states back to back to back to back all solo has been a joy, but also a grind. Unfortunately, I did not accomplish my goal of killing 4 mature bucks. Idaho frustrated me a good bit, but the three animals I did kill were all mature, big bucks and I am proud of that. I’m in Missouri now headed east. I don’t mind hunting solo and spending time by myself at all. I actually enjoy it, but I am looking forward to getting home and seeing my wife and having a shower for the first time in three weeks. I’m hopeful this trip has made me a better hunter and a more mentally tough hunter moving forward. I really appreciate everybody following along and the words of encouragement along the way. The hunttalk community is a cool place and I’m happy to be a part of it.
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Sask hunter
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- Joined
- Sep 20, 2016
- Messages
- 3,338
Congrats!!
WNC2500
Well-known member
Great job @SCliving Outdoors
You did great!! Productive trip for sure.
You did great!! Productive trip for sure.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
You make it look easy SCI...I'm sure the mental work is almost as taxing as the physical as I always get barn fever in less than a week. Good job on the share & great pics as usual.
Glad you're here sir.
Glad you're here sir.
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That pack out is not fun in daylight dry. Glad you made it out of there safely!
ashersdad
Well-known member
Epic trip! Congratulations and drive safe!
