Wyoming produces again!

koda · Sep 28, 2007

Well, Wyoming is a great state and there are still a few nice bucks running around. After scouting my buddies were excited. We had located a couple of bucks in the 170-190 range. Opening day my buddy Zach couldn't make it because he was hunting Dall sheep in Alaska. Priorities? Mule deer of Dall's? Shouldn't even be a question. So Curtis and myself headed up and backpacked in 4 miles through the nastiest country imaginable. The night before the hunt I located a 28" heavy horned beast. Would probably gone 180, and I put him to bed. That night in the tent we could hardly sleep. As morning came, I was a little dissapointed to find the weather very warm. Right at first light, we spotted up two shooter bucks and we took off after them. By the time we got to them they had moved to the edge of the trees and the best buck was already gone. This 24" buck with a cheater on each side was too hard to resist so Curtis hammered done killing his best buck yet. he scores right at 160. The rest of the weekend involved hauling him out on our backs. The older I get the less my knees like it. Well the next weekend, It was Zach and I and we hiked back in. The first day, Saturday we didn't see much just small 22" bucks. That night the storm moved in and it started raining. I passed on about a 26" 3x4 that was really tall, I almost hammerred down. It was very tough not too. But Zach, talked me out of it. That night it poured all night long. I am not talking about a little storm. It poured! When light came we were engulfed in a fog where you couldn't see more than 50 ft. So we slept in. layed in our tent and it finally started to clear up about 9:00. When I stepped out of the tent, it just had that feel to the air. You know the one? We felt like today was going to be a good day. All morning We didn't see anything, But the feeling was still good. At 3 I bumped up some bucks out of there bed. And We set up for a shot. By the time we were set up they were at 550 yds. Zach, is one of the best shots I know and the 30-378 roared. After a long walk we were up to him and very surprised. He will score a little over 160 but he has an extra with alot of character. Heavy and bladed. A way cool buck. So I was the only one left with a tag. The next morning (mon) we were actually heading out to the truck about 10. Zack had a little meat left to get from the kill site. I wasn't expecting or even really wanting to hunt in the morning because I knew If I killed I would have to call in sick again. We woke up to a couple of inches of snow and it felt really good out. As we were walking to his buck, I looked down over the ridge and there he was! It was almost surreal. It felt like a dream. "This was too easy, I thought to myself" He had me pegged right off the bat, but didn't really know what we were. I knew I didn't have long. At 200 yds, I touched off a shot with the 300 ultra mag, and the rest is history. His is just a tad under 28" and will go between 170-175. Right when I pulled the trigger I thought to myself oh **** this is going to be a long day. It was. It took two trips out. about 12 miles total with heavy packs the whole way. But I would do it over again in a heart beat. There is something about earning a buck the hard way, all on foot that makes it that much more rewarding for me. Hope you enjoy. the pictures.