H
HuntOrDie
Guest
Well I guess I'll finally get around to posting my third season Colorado Buck. This hunt had a couple firsts for me and definitely a hunt I'll never forget. Here?s the story, hope it doesn't get too long. I drove up to Colorado from Vegas after work on Saturday, opening day of the season. My mom came along with me because she has a house there and wanted to get it ready for winter. I also have family there. Anyways I drove straight through the night and by the time I dropped my mom off and hiked in to my spot it was about an hour before first light, perfect. I sat on my favorite knob over looking a lot of country which is my preferred way to hunt. That morning I saw a dozen deer and a few elk. There was one pretty nice buck that I watched bed about 800 yards away. I hiked down to get a better look. I put him in the scope at about 250 yards. He was a solid 27 inch buck, not real good forks or mass so I decided to pass seeing as it was the first morning. A couple hours later I was second guessing that decision. I usually like to hunt all day but I didn't have a lunch or anything so I hiked back to the truck which was a good ways now. I went to my moms house and she asked if she could go back out with me. I like to hunt alone but I said sure but in the back of my mind I thought great she's gonna make a bunch of noise and complain the whole time. We got back out around 2 and hiked to the same spot which is a decent hike, about three miles uphill. She sat right next to me with my old binocs and was glassing and getting into it. But I was also thinking she isn't gonna spot anything but at least she seems to be having fun. There was about a half hour of light left and I was watching some deer and elk off to the left when she says ?there's a big buck?. I was like bullsh#$. Sure as hell there's a monster walking through the oak brush about 500 yards away straight down to the right coming up this draw. I couldn't believe it. I waited for him to go behind some trees and positioned myself for a shot when he got to the top of this draw about level with where we were sitting. He was on the move and right at the top at about 300 yards, BOOM. This old buck falls back and rolls about 50 yards down this ridiculously steep hill. I was pumped and my mom was high fiving me and hugging me. It was a great moment. I knew that I just smoked a great buck but also that I/we were in for a long night. By the time we hiked or I should say ?slid? down to this buck it was dark and raining. When I got my hands on him I forgot about all that. He was a great buck. Mass, a little trash, great forks, spread. He had it all. I busted out the knife and saw and got to work. I immediately realized this wasn?t going to work. Every time I touched the deer he would slide down the hill. My mom got below the deer and braced herself on some brush and held this deer up, which was well over 200 lbs, while I caped him and quartered him. My mom is 120 lbs by the way. I wasn?t keeping track but I'd guess it took me about 2 hours to cape and quarter him. When I was all done we had slid about 30 yards down the hill from where I started working on him. I took off with the head while my mom started throwing each quarter up the hill. It was miserable. You?d take a step and you'd go back three feet and the rain didn't help matters. It took about 3 hours to get to the top and we were still 3 miles from the truck. My poor little mom was spent and I was beat too. I never slept the night before. It was going to be at least 2 trips with the deer and my pack and gun. I took my gun and pack and headed for the truck. I called my uncle and he came and helped me. He loaded up the head and two quarters and I got two quarters. One trip! By the time everything was to the truck it was 1 AM. I got back to the house, took a hot shower and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I'm 24. I've killed a dozen bucks or so but this was the greatest hunt ever. I got my biggest buck to date, had the hardest pack out to date, and my mom was there with me every step of the way. She never complained, she did her share of the work, and she even spotted the buck to boot. Priceless.
I'm not into scores much. A good buck?s a good buck in my opinion. But he's a 29 inch 5x4 with some trash around the bases with good mass and good forks. My taxidermist said he'll probably go around 190. What do you guys think?
Here?s some pics. Enjoy. The last one is the next morning taking him to the taxi. I look stoned because I'm allergic to deer hair. It usually takes me a day to get back to normal.
I'm 24. I've killed a dozen bucks or so but this was the greatest hunt ever. I got my biggest buck to date, had the hardest pack out to date, and my mom was there with me every step of the way. She never complained, she did her share of the work, and she even spotted the buck to boot. Priceless.
I'm not into scores much. A good buck?s a good buck in my opinion. But he's a 29 inch 5x4 with some trash around the bases with good mass and good forks. My taxidermist said he'll probably go around 190. What do you guys think?
Here?s some pics. Enjoy. The last one is the next morning taking him to the taxi. I look stoned because I'm allergic to deer hair. It usually takes me a day to get back to normal.
