Bucks from the past

O

ohiohntr

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LAST EDITED ON Jul-21-08 AT 06:32PM (MST)[p]I just happened to be back in Idaho on vacation visiting family. I was up at my parents new cabin and saw the bucks they had put up that had been in storage for awhile. It brought back many memories of hunts from several years ago, one of which is probably the best hunt I ever had.

These two bucks are from the fall of 1992. We were hunting about a half hour East of Idaho Falls. We had set up to do a small drive. My Dad was supposed to be working around to a little hill overlooking a sagebrush flat, and his friend and I were going to push to him. We accidentally started a little early and were almost to where my Dad was by the time he got there. We saw him just get to the point of the hill and pull up and shoot off to our left. This buck was bedded about 100 yards away from him and his first shot hit it in the antler. (You can see the bullet mark at the base of his left G-4). The buck got up and started running directly away from me and my Dad's friend. My dad and his friend shot again almost simultaneously and the deer dropped. I've never seen my dad more excited. We all ran to the buck and looked it over. We could not see a bullet hole anywhere. We started gutting it and noticed the intestines were shredded. It turns out my dad's friend hit it square up the anus. It barely left a mark. My dad suddenly became bummed. We continued gutting and while pulling out the heart, noticed a perfect hole through it. We looked at the inside of the chest wall and noticed holes on both sides. My Dad hit it after all. His friend said "it's your deer". We got it to the truck and then decided to hunt about 300 yards further down the ridge.

We started walking and I found the next buck's skull laying in the sage brush. It appeared he was either winter or cougar kill from the year before. It was pretty bleached out, and even after boiling and bleaching, it still would not whiten. So I painted the skull and stained the antlers. I feel it turned out pretty nice considering the shape it was in.

Anyway back to the hunt. At the start of the hunt, I was not carrying my rifle. I had done something bad earlier in the week and as punishment, my dad said I couldn't take my gun and would have to be the dog. His friend had an old 22-250 laying behind the seat of his truck that he offered me. My dad gave in and said I could take it so off we went. There was a large pocket of quakies that we came to and I sat on the ridge above it while my dad's friend started through from the top. He got about halfway though when the biggest deer I have ever seen came sneaking out the top. (he had walked right by it) It stopped about 100 yards away and I pulled up my gun. I lined up and squeezed off a shot. I saw a dust cloud about 15 feet low and to the right. (It had got knocked off zero while behind the seat.)I emptied the gun as it ran up and over the hill. The last shot I was aiming high and left and saw the bullet smack a rock just as the buck stepped behind it. Just like that he was gone. I never got a good look at the rack, I just know he was a huge non-typical. I later learned from a cousin of the landowner that it was probably a big non-typical that he had seen and hunted for 4 years. He had seen him pre-season and estimated him to be between 38-40 inches wide and estimated him scoring 240-250. I at least had the consolation prize of the euro mount.
If only I had connected, it would have been the hunt of a lifetime for both of us. I still regard that punishment as the worst my dad has ever given me. If I had had my rifle, I am confident the results would have been different


I then left on an LDS mission shortly after. Fast forward to the fall of 1995. I couldn't wait to hunt again. I had been out that spring on the ranch we had hunted before and found a large 8 point shed. I thought, I'd love to get one like him this fall. Fall came and we decided to hunt a different ranch about 15-20 miles away. We hunted hard for 2 days hiking up and down 2 different mountains. I hadn't seen a deer. My dad and the rest of his friends left. I walked around a little more and also decided to leave. AS I was heading out, I noticed a ranch road I had never been on before. I decided to check it out. It was just wide open sagebrush with a little rim rock at the top of the ridge. I was driving and thought something looked out of place up the ridge about 400 yards away. I got out and though the binoculars saw my buck. It looked like he had trees growing out of his head. I quickly got my gun and fired. He dropped at the shot. I drove up the ridge to within 50 yards and hiked up to find him. It had happened so fast, I didn't know what to think. I don't think the excitement really hit me until later that night. I loaded it up and headed home. I got home and found out my dad had gone shopping. I called his cell phone and told him I had shot a 36" wide 9X9 buck. He said "yah, sure you did" and hung up. He got home about a half hour later and about fell over when he found out I wasn't lying. Suddenly the whole neighborhood started showing up. Good memories. I can still picture it like yesterday. It turned out the shed I found earlier in the spring matched this buck point for point. I guess I will never know for sure if it is the same deer, but I am 99% certain.

I just found this picture of my buck laying on my dad's desk. I forgot I took this photo, and haven't seen it for 13 years.

The last buck is one my grandpa shot. It is the last buck he killed before he died. I think it is from the 1970's. Sorry I don't know the story, He may have even got it before I was born. I guess I need to ask my dad to tell me about it so I can pass it along to my kids.


My dad's 1992 buck (This the last deer he has shot since then. He has passed on many other bucks. He is waiting for a bigger one.)
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My 1992 skull find (28-29 inches wide)
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My 1995 buck (The last deer I killed in Idaho before moving to Ohio)
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My grandpa's last deer.
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Outstanding post! Those are some great bucks, especially your 95 Deer, I guess that was your reward for a mission well served eh?! Thanks for the story and pics....
 
Great stories and pics its things like this that make life worthwhile.

Good Luck and Great Memories
 
Well, my mission president told me the harder I worked, the better my future wife would look. I asked him if that worked for buck size as well? He just stared blankly at me.

It turned out I met and married a beautiful girl two months before this hunt. I guess I got a two-for.
 
I moved to Ohio for dental school with every intention of moving back to Idaho after I was finished. When that time came, the practice opportunity I had hoped for in Idaho was only willing to offer about 1/3 the salary I could make at a practice opportunity here. So for now I am in Ohio using the extra income to pay off student loans. There are a few possible future opportunities I am keeping my eyes on in Idaho, and hopefully in the future I will make it back there.
 
Nice pics, better stories. Good stuff.

I think you might find the deer hunting a "1/2 hour east of Idaho Falls" a "little" different now then a decade ago.....
 
Great deer!!
I left from Ohio on my mission to Colorado.
I lived in Westerville for 11 years of my life (some of it not by choice!).
My brother lives in IF, funny.

I understand how you feel.
Thanks for the story and pictures.
Jeff
 

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