backinthegame
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LAST EDITED ON Sep-18-08 AT 12:17PM (MST)[p]The trip to the high country was a fun one, beautiful country, nice cool weather and a bunch of bucks.
As you can see below I was able to get a buck on the ground, but the one I missed a couple days earlier seems to be the defining moment of this hunt. He was a great buck, and after an 11 hour day of climbing, descending, and stalking I finally got an opportunity only to come away with a clean miss. Not a good feeling. We tried to find him again the next day with no luck, so it was off to find my second choice deer.
We were able to locate my second choice, a 160" class buck with a couple cheaters we had originally seen the first morning. After finding him again in the evening we spotted him again the following morning, along with what would be my third choice buck (we had also seen him opening morning) in the same basin. We watched the cheater buck feed all morning and then bed in a terrible location for a stalk, so with time running short we decided to try and move in on third choice buck, who had dissapeared into a pine stand in a much better location.
Besides the big descent into the basin, getting on the buck proved not to be overly difficult, and I was able to get within 55 yards for the shot.
We scored the buck at 160 5/8" gross. Not exactly what I had hoped for and not even close to as good as the buck I screwed up on, but a decent buck none the less.
Thanks to my brother and Dad for the help, especially with the packout!
As you can see below I was able to get a buck on the ground, but the one I missed a couple days earlier seems to be the defining moment of this hunt. He was a great buck, and after an 11 hour day of climbing, descending, and stalking I finally got an opportunity only to come away with a clean miss. Not a good feeling. We tried to find him again the next day with no luck, so it was off to find my second choice deer.
We were able to locate my second choice, a 160" class buck with a couple cheaters we had originally seen the first morning. After finding him again in the evening we spotted him again the following morning, along with what would be my third choice buck (we had also seen him opening morning) in the same basin. We watched the cheater buck feed all morning and then bed in a terrible location for a stalk, so with time running short we decided to try and move in on third choice buck, who had dissapeared into a pine stand in a much better location.
Besides the big descent into the basin, getting on the buck proved not to be overly difficult, and I was able to get within 55 yards for the shot.
We scored the buck at 160 5/8" gross. Not exactly what I had hoped for and not even close to as good as the buck I screwed up on, but a decent buck none the less.
Thanks to my brother and Dad for the help, especially with the packout!
