MuskegMan
Active Member
- Messages
- 727
I didn't draw a mule deer tag this year, although I applied for hunts in Nevada, New Mex and Utah.
I'm lucky in that we get 4 tags per person for Blacktail and the season runs for 5 solid months, with the opener being Aug 1. The WX sucked on the opener (rain) so Jr jumped on the first stretch of good weather since June (not kidding here either.)
We headed out and set up spike camp around 8:30 pm at 800 ft elevation. We travel pretty light with bivy sacks and pads only. Woke up at 3:00 am sharp to eat breakfast and get gear together. Set out at 3:45 am with headlamps. It's a 1,200 foot climb to tree line from spike camp.
We busted out at tree line at 5:15 am. See 5 deer right away. All does and fawn. Headed a little further up and spotted 6 deer, including two bucks. He shot the bigger of the two at 5:50 am. I could have shot the second buck, but passed it up. Kid was shooting a .308 Win that I had just got done tricking out for him. It's a Ruger MKII stainless. It sports a 21? PacNor, 1:10? twisty, 3-groove barrel; a B&C carbalite stock and a Leupy 6x42 with elevation turret. All this for a 60 yard shot!
A respectable deer for the locale and these are very good eating
We decided to gut him on the spot and stash him in some trees so we could hunt some more. To be honest, I was not to keen on taking a deer myself as I knew we could not pack out in a single trip with two boned out deer. I would have shot if it were a true trophy though.
While the kid was gutting his deer, this doe and fawn were checking us out from about 50 yds away:
And this cruise ship passed by bringing yet another buttload of tourists to town:
Got to see some great scenery while checking out the rest of the mountain top:
Flushed a blue grouse with her clutch on the pack down. She just sat there begging us to take her picture, so we obliged:
Another great hunt with my son. He?s almost 17 and landed his first real job this summer ? deckhanding on a gillnetter. He was making as much as me on a weekly basis (gross) when the fishing was good.
Remember, you can never spend too much time with your kids, ESPECIALLY HUNTING WITH THEM!
I'm lucky in that we get 4 tags per person for Blacktail and the season runs for 5 solid months, with the opener being Aug 1. The WX sucked on the opener (rain) so Jr jumped on the first stretch of good weather since June (not kidding here either.)
We headed out and set up spike camp around 8:30 pm at 800 ft elevation. We travel pretty light with bivy sacks and pads only. Woke up at 3:00 am sharp to eat breakfast and get gear together. Set out at 3:45 am with headlamps. It's a 1,200 foot climb to tree line from spike camp.
We busted out at tree line at 5:15 am. See 5 deer right away. All does and fawn. Headed a little further up and spotted 6 deer, including two bucks. He shot the bigger of the two at 5:50 am. I could have shot the second buck, but passed it up. Kid was shooting a .308 Win that I had just got done tricking out for him. It's a Ruger MKII stainless. It sports a 21? PacNor, 1:10? twisty, 3-groove barrel; a B&C carbalite stock and a Leupy 6x42 with elevation turret. All this for a 60 yard shot!
A respectable deer for the locale and these are very good eating
We decided to gut him on the spot and stash him in some trees so we could hunt some more. To be honest, I was not to keen on taking a deer myself as I knew we could not pack out in a single trip with two boned out deer. I would have shot if it were a true trophy though.
While the kid was gutting his deer, this doe and fawn were checking us out from about 50 yds away:
And this cruise ship passed by bringing yet another buttload of tourists to town:
Got to see some great scenery while checking out the rest of the mountain top:
Flushed a blue grouse with her clutch on the pack down. She just sat there begging us to take her picture, so we obliged:
Another great hunt with my son. He?s almost 17 and landed his first real job this summer ? deckhanding on a gillnetter. He was making as much as me on a weekly basis (gross) when the fishing was good.
Remember, you can never spend too much time with your kids, ESPECIALLY HUNTING WITH THEM!
