Brian in Montana
Well-known member
Probably the longest, most arduous stalk of my hunting career, but I seriously would have never pulled it off without On-X Maps.
I was glassing from a little rock outcrop up on the rim of a side-canyon and noticed 8 grey specks appear way, way down in the main canyon where the bottom is intermittent fallow hayfields and private property. I had put a couple of mediocre bucks to bed and was planning to move down to try and be in position when they got up in the evening, but the 8 specks started moving across a field toward the NF land. Where they were headed was the area I was intending to move anyway, so I loaded up and moved on down. Once lower, I could see through my binos that one looked like a nice buck. They milled around down by the creek and didn't really keep coming across where I'd hoped, but the longer I watched, the more I really wanted to get a crack at that buck. All I could do was watch and keep my eye on my On-X app. After a while they moved a little further down the canyon, I followed in the off chance they'd make a move back on to public land. Finally, they did, but it was still back on the other side and I couldn't see that I had a approach. So I kept watching and taking note of geologic features I could recognize on my phone. They moved up a little further and bedded down at the foot of a little hill.
It was a tough spot, I knew they were on NF, but not by much. The wind was coming up the canyon and the stretch of private land went up the canyon for at least a mile and a half. My only approach to get around the annoying rectangle of private was up wind. So eventually I decided to give it shot, again using On-X to plan it out. I was going to have to cross upwind, there was no other way, so I marched a good half mile down canyon before I did. Then climbed up the rim on the other side to get above them and started my approach hopefully the wind would carry my scent off east at a higher level than where the deer were. From the canyon rim I could barely see one of the does still bedded by that little hill.
The NF boundary was not fenced in that spot, but there was an old road I could easily see that was about 100 yards inside on private, so I started down thinking that if they were up and feeding as I got close I'd use the road as a reference point for if they were legal or not. I dropped my pack on the backside of the hill and started up very slowly checking the wind as I came. When I could peek over the top, I spotted the road - no deer near it. I continued the hunchback-walk. I was going to be skylined so I went painfully slow. Finally, looked over the top and saw 3 does and the buck was facing away. Dropped to a squat with my elbow braced on a knee, a couple seconds later, the buck turned quartering away and stuck his nose right in the backside of a doe. I estimated less than 200 yards, took a deep breath and squeezed off the shot. I was using a .270 with handloaded 130gn Hornady Interbonds, and connected right behind the shoulder. The buck went straight down, kicked a few times, and was done.
I originally spotted them at about 11:00 AM, and took the shot at about 4:00 PM. I honestly sort of couldn't believe the whole thing worked out like it did. Where the buck hit the deck was I side NF, but I knew it was close. I didn't know how close until I got down there and actually stepped it off - 60 yards.
Seriously, I don't have any kind of sponsorship with On-X or anything like that, but I'd never ever considered going after that buck without it as I'd never been able to tell where the boundary was or what ridge would take me down directly above where they'd bedded. Trust me, I'm a bone fide techophobe, but I'm definitely a convert to On-X Maps. What incredibly useful tool.
It was exhausting, but what a fun, memorable hunt. And I can tell you it was a monumental undertaking to get all the meat and head out of there. I tried to do a screenshot shot of my On-X app to post the marking where the deer went down in relation to the NF boundary, but couldn't figure out how to do that.
Man, I'm tired and sore and stiff today.
I was glassing from a little rock outcrop up on the rim of a side-canyon and noticed 8 grey specks appear way, way down in the main canyon where the bottom is intermittent fallow hayfields and private property. I had put a couple of mediocre bucks to bed and was planning to move down to try and be in position when they got up in the evening, but the 8 specks started moving across a field toward the NF land. Where they were headed was the area I was intending to move anyway, so I loaded up and moved on down. Once lower, I could see through my binos that one looked like a nice buck. They milled around down by the creek and didn't really keep coming across where I'd hoped, but the longer I watched, the more I really wanted to get a crack at that buck. All I could do was watch and keep my eye on my On-X app. After a while they moved a little further down the canyon, I followed in the off chance they'd make a move back on to public land. Finally, they did, but it was still back on the other side and I couldn't see that I had a approach. So I kept watching and taking note of geologic features I could recognize on my phone. They moved up a little further and bedded down at the foot of a little hill.
It was a tough spot, I knew they were on NF, but not by much. The wind was coming up the canyon and the stretch of private land went up the canyon for at least a mile and a half. My only approach to get around the annoying rectangle of private was up wind. So eventually I decided to give it shot, again using On-X to plan it out. I was going to have to cross upwind, there was no other way, so I marched a good half mile down canyon before I did. Then climbed up the rim on the other side to get above them and started my approach hopefully the wind would carry my scent off east at a higher level than where the deer were. From the canyon rim I could barely see one of the does still bedded by that little hill.
The NF boundary was not fenced in that spot, but there was an old road I could easily see that was about 100 yards inside on private, so I started down thinking that if they were up and feeding as I got close I'd use the road as a reference point for if they were legal or not. I dropped my pack on the backside of the hill and started up very slowly checking the wind as I came. When I could peek over the top, I spotted the road - no deer near it. I continued the hunchback-walk. I was going to be skylined so I went painfully slow. Finally, looked over the top and saw 3 does and the buck was facing away. Dropped to a squat with my elbow braced on a knee, a couple seconds later, the buck turned quartering away and stuck his nose right in the backside of a doe. I estimated less than 200 yards, took a deep breath and squeezed off the shot. I was using a .270 with handloaded 130gn Hornady Interbonds, and connected right behind the shoulder. The buck went straight down, kicked a few times, and was done.
I originally spotted them at about 11:00 AM, and took the shot at about 4:00 PM. I honestly sort of couldn't believe the whole thing worked out like it did. Where the buck hit the deck was I side NF, but I knew it was close. I didn't know how close until I got down there and actually stepped it off - 60 yards.
Seriously, I don't have any kind of sponsorship with On-X or anything like that, but I'd never ever considered going after that buck without it as I'd never been able to tell where the boundary was or what ridge would take me down directly above where they'd bedded. Trust me, I'm a bone fide techophobe, but I'm definitely a convert to On-X Maps. What incredibly useful tool.
It was exhausting, but what a fun, memorable hunt. And I can tell you it was a monumental undertaking to get all the meat and head out of there. I tried to do a screenshot shot of my On-X app to post the marking where the deer went down in relation to the NF boundary, but couldn't figure out how to do that.
Man, I'm tired and sore and stiff today.
