Rocky Mountain playground

[HalfAce]

I’m finally getting caught up after the hunts this year. No big tags drawn, no points burned, but I got to spend a lot of time in some wiiild country and look over a few deer and elk.

After tagging my buck in early October, i stayed on the hunt another 4 days trying to get my best friend a deer. We got to look over some cool country and see a few decent bucks and some other game.























But it wasn’t meant to be. That hunt ended when I lost my trucks four wheel drive out in the desert; we were stuck. I hiked close to 10 miles before I found reception and had a new friend from town come and try to get us out. The day ended with him also getting his truck stuck trying to get us out. We spent the evening hiking out of that desert. Long story short, thank God for skid steers and great people. New friends were made and a few beers were had that night. Silver lining in all of that was during my first hike out of the desert I found a hell of a spot, loaded with deer and zero people anywhere near it, I’m excited to check it out in the future.

Next day I found myself driving to Idaho for the deer opener to hunt for a day before I had to head back home to get back to work and play catch up. I made it to the trail head just after midnight, slept for a few hours and was on the trail at 3 trying to make it to a certain glassing point before grey light. Made it....



But saw nothing during my morning glass. Finished the day out doing a 14 mile loop seeing some elk, but I never saw a deer with antlers. That night I started the drive back home to get back to work and get my truck back in working order before the next hunt.

 

[HalfAce]

Couple weeks, a fixed four wheel drive and a new radiator later I was on my way to Colorado to pick up an OTC elk tag and a few llamas. On the way up I had this come up on the dash.



Stopped in Mesquite NV to have a mechanic look at it. He quoted me 4 days and $3,500. Wasn’t going to do that, so I continued my drive. On the way I called Ford, gave them the diagnostic number and it turns out they just needed to do a sensor update.

Made it out to CO, picked up my tag, got the llamas and met with my friend Jacob. I was originally going to do this hunt alone, but after Jacob didn’t fill his deer tag on the earlier hunt, he wanted to give elk hunting a try.

The plan was to check out the country I hunted the year before. I was looking to find the bull I had a run in with last year.

 

[JohnCushman]

impatiently waiting for the rest of the story......

 

[Sytes]

What is this open glassing country??? NW MT - I'm lucky to view a couple hundred yard clearing within the thick trees. Haha!

Awesome photos - looking forward to this story unfolding! Amazing how some mechanics will really try to rip people off! Mechanics have the devices that read the vehicle information... Heck I purchased one from Harbor Freight for $20 and knew instantly the issue - confirmed by my dealer later when I had the simple fix resolved.

 

[HalfAce]

We hiked 16 miles before we made it to the area where we were going to camp. Super thick country with a lot of blowdown didn’t let us do more of a straight line hike to shorten the distance.

We set up camp, got a few hours of sleep and were on point for the morning of the opener. But it was a slow morning, only 2 cows spotted. About mid day, the snow started, and it didn’t let up for 2 days.





We spent the few days digging out our tents and doing some glassing in between snow squalls. But it was obvious that there were very few elk in the south facing country we were in. Drier conditions this year pushed the elk to more north facing slopes. On night 3, we made the decision to make a move. The snow stopped that night and temps dropped to somewhere around 10 below. The next morning we did a little glassing, saw nothing, packed our stuff and worked our way back to the trial head.



An hour before dark and 3 miles out from the trailhead we ran into a herd of elk with a BIG bull in it. The country was thick, and we bumped them just enough that they stayed out of sight but never running out of the country. It got dark on us and being wet, hungry and cold we went into town that night to get a motel and dry out. We would be back in the same country the next morning to try and find the bull.

 

[HalfAce]

The next 3 days we hunted the same area where we ran into the group of elk in the trees. We would get short visuals of cows and small bulls throughout those days. One afternoon I got a quick look at the big one through the aspens in a brush filled canyon. I went after him but I was never able to find him again. At the end of day 6 Jacob had to head back for home.

Day 7 I left those elk to find new elk. I found 3 rag horn bulls right off the bat early that next morning. Before the hunt started I decided that since I hadn’t got an elk last year, that I wanted to take one home this season. I still had my most important hunt left this year and wanted to leave all my free time for that tag. So, being early Friday morning and knowing i could still get a bull out the same day, drop the llamas off and be home before the weekend was over so I could get caught back up at work; the decision was pretty easy.

 

[HalfAce]

Fast forward to my last hunt of the year. No hunting buddies, no llamas, just a solo mule deer hunt. My favorite thing in the world to do.

Day 1

I found myself starting my hike at 4 in the morning to one of my favorite glassing points. Big bucks and good memories make it a friendly place, no matter how dark and cold it gets. Never saw any big ones that day but I got to look over a few bucks and one excellent up and comer who I’m pretty sure made it through the season.

 

[HalfAce]

This one on some private while on the way to check out a different place.

 

[HalfAce]

Day 2

Not as many bucks. I think I saw 7 bucks total. One buck that was an almost shooter. But if he gets a year he could be a fun one.

At the end of the day I got a call that Ide have to head back home at the end of day 3 to make it back for a big last minute work meeting. It was a non option to miss. So only 1 day left of my 2020 season.

 

[HalfAce]

Day 3

That night was cold and it was snowing off and on. There was supposed to be a short window of light snow in the morning before it started to dump. So I started my hike up the trail a little extra early that day to beat any other foot traffic and have as much glassing time as possible before whiteout. The snow, cold and no boot prints in the trail had me feeling good about what that day might bring.

I hiked in, set up on a certain side hill and waited for grey light. Didn’t see anything right at first light. Half an hour later I picked up the first few deer of the day. Four does started milling around on the opposite hillside from me. Then some more does and a few small bucks on a distant hillside. Conditions were ideal. But no big bucks.

The snow started to get a little heavier. I knew spotting conditions were just going to fade from that point on. I got up and started to pack my gear and spotting scope up so I could go do the only other type of hunting you can do when you can’t see: agonizingly slow still hunting. Before I threw my pack on to make the hike up the hill I looked out across the opposite hillside one last time, naked eye. I scanned the edges of Aspen on the top quarter of the hillside. This time I noticed a large dark body on the edge of an Aspen patch, completely still. There was no second guessing what that was. It’s one of those short moments all serious deer hunters live for! The moment you know to drop all your shit and try to assemble a spotting scope with shaking hands.

There! There he is! The caliber of buck I have been looking for, for years.

 

[targetpanic]

Waiting!!! Patiently!!!

 

[MITCHMO]

Awww come on!

 

[HalfAce]

After taking a couple pictures I hurriedly packed up my stuff and was trying to figure out a stalk. The area he was at really didn’t allow for any kind of good stalk opportunity. He wasn’t there by mistake.

I quickly moved a few hundred yards up the draw to a point where I might be able to get a poor shot (at best), it was the best option I could think of when time was not on my side. Sure enough, during my move he had went back up and into the aspens and somewhere higher on the ridge line. Just as fast as he had appeared, he was gone. Total time out and in the open was probably less than 4 minutes.

After that, the snow moved in and dropped visibility to pretty much nothing. I sat there thinking about what to do. And convinced myself that getting impatient and going up and after a ghost like this would not leave the odds in my favor. I sat there a few hours just trying to stay out of the now really heavy snow fall and wind. Every now and then taking a look at the few pictures I had of him to kill the time.



A good 3 hours had passed and the snow had not let up. I figured since i had no extra days to hunt, I had to try and get as close as possible for the last hour of the day and hope the snow dies down enough to where I could see him enough to get a shot. I made my way up the mountain and circled back down a ridge line that put me about 400 yards from where he was. I glassed into the thick maze of Aspen trying to pick a body part out. And throughout the day I was able to find a doe here and there, but not the big buck. I sat there and froze my ass off until dark. About 20 minutes before last shooting light a 3.5 year old 23 inch deer with really deep forks came out pushing some does. Probably the best genetics of any young buck I’ve seen this year. I knew if I didn’t shoot him that I would be going home empty. He’s still alive. I sat there until dark-dark hoping the big one would slip out into the open. But he never did.

It was a quiet 15 hour drive home.

 

[HalfAce]

On my drive back home I was thinking about all the effort I’ve put in the last few years and had little to show for it. Eating 7 combined non resident mule deer tags in 2018 and 2019, and then finding this deer and only having to go home because of work wasn’t a good feeling.

I couldn’t let my season end like that.

During the drive I called in and made an arrangement with work. Ide be at the meeting. Then as soon we would be done. Ide go back to finish my hunt.

I rolled into LA that night. Had a short night of sleep. Went to work, did my job. And turned and burned the 15 hours back.

Now it was a race against the clock. The season would be over in 48 hours. I didn’t get onto the road until about 7pm and I was going to lose an hour because of the time zone change. Except for a 2 hour cat nap, I drove all night. Made it back to the trailhead at 1pm. And hiked up the mountain and set up where I saw the big buck last. I saw 5 bucks that afternoon. One better one. I got excited when he came out thinking it was him. But quickly realized it was a different buck.



It got dark. 1 day left.

 

[HalfAce]

Last day

Another short night of sleep. I woke up at 3 that night to make sure I had first dibs on the mountain if there were any big buck gamblers holding out till the last day.

I made it to my glassing spot a little too early. Waited for grey light for about an hour. It was COLD! I don’t think I stopped moving my feet and hands that morning trying to stay warm.

Unfortunately no big buck that morning. Actually, NO bucks that morning. Time for plan B. Time to do a still hunt through a spot I’ve been hunting a few years.

I made my way up and into the forest. Doing my best to keep my wind right, noise down, and walking at an excruciatingly slow pace. I spotted a doe with my binoculars. Then another one. I moved a step to the side trying to see if I could get a better look from a different angle. Oops, to my left, a deer body and antler bounced through the trees. Luckily not too spooked. I stopped for a few minutes. Let the deer settle. Then moved forward again. And this went on a couple of times. Eventually I was able to see the back end of a deer. I stepped to the side to see the front end. There he is. A buck. Not much time. He’s looking at me. Cant see much of his Antlers, but I can make out a bit of his frame. He’s got a thick neck. Time to roll the dice... Boom.

I step to the side after the shot and he’s still standing there. I shoot again. Hit. This time he’s down.

I make my way to the buck. He was worth the drive back.

I’m not there for 3 minutes before I notice another hunter making his way to me like fog moving through the forest. Right before he gets to me I recognize who he is. That hunttalker will remain nameless. But we had a good chat on the mountain. He took a few pictures for me. And then he was off to try and make something happen the last few hours of the season. Thanks for taking the time dude!

Thanks for tuning in all.

 

[MTHunter1321]

Great buck and great write up. Congrats!

 

[TheJason]

Great buck! Your little plot twist had me cussing last night.

 

[Addicting]

Congrats on a very nice buck!

 

[Montana4Life]

Awesome!!! Heck of a buck. Congrats

 

[EKYHunter]

All I can say wow! Congrats sir.