BrowningRage
Long Time Member
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- 4,441
My uncle was fortunate enough to be the first in our family to draw for an LE tag on the Book CLiffs. He drew with 7 points. We were able to scout the area on 2 occasions preseason and he and my father were going to be there the entire hunt if necessary... I had accepted a new job the week of the hunt and was unable to go on the trip...
My uncle and dad hunted hard on opening day and saw several nice bucks, but nothing big enough to shoot. They were happy to be seeing so many deer though, and were lucky to not be bombarded by too many hunters. On Sunday they saw more deer, including some nicer bucks, but nothing to be shot the opening weekend.
Monday morning produced a group of deer holding 2 nice bucks, the larger of which my uncle guessed at the 170" mark, but probably better. He had 2 running shots at the buck through the Cedars and unfortunately missed him. They hung in the area and hiked around trying to locate the deer again. After a few hours, they headed back to the truck, and then towards camp. They took one last loop around the same hills the deer had disappeared into earlier when he spotted a buck laying up under a Cedar in the shade.
He got out and raised his gun. He couldn't make out the back forks at all in the shade nad under the Cedar, but the bases and eye guards looked great, and the deer's body looked enormous. My dad asked, "Is it the big one?" and my uncle replied, "I don't know for sure..." He studied it through his scope and couldn't believe at the size of this deer's body and head. My dad asked, "Are you going to shoot it..?!" And in place of a reply from my uncle, he fired. BOOM!!! My uncle turned back into the cab and said, "My hunt's over..." They were both all smiles.
Their joy was a bit premature as they approached this deer on the ground and found that it was only a 3-point. Though initially disappointed, my uncle and the rest of us all love the buck, and as he is a taxidermist, he will be mounting it. The deer has 5 1/2" bases, and wa aged at 51/2 years old... Just had poor genes for those backs...
Thanks for reading... He is 25" wide and scores 136".
My uncle and dad hunted hard on opening day and saw several nice bucks, but nothing big enough to shoot. They were happy to be seeing so many deer though, and were lucky to not be bombarded by too many hunters. On Sunday they saw more deer, including some nicer bucks, but nothing to be shot the opening weekend.
Monday morning produced a group of deer holding 2 nice bucks, the larger of which my uncle guessed at the 170" mark, but probably better. He had 2 running shots at the buck through the Cedars and unfortunately missed him. They hung in the area and hiked around trying to locate the deer again. After a few hours, they headed back to the truck, and then towards camp. They took one last loop around the same hills the deer had disappeared into earlier when he spotted a buck laying up under a Cedar in the shade.
He got out and raised his gun. He couldn't make out the back forks at all in the shade nad under the Cedar, but the bases and eye guards looked great, and the deer's body looked enormous. My dad asked, "Is it the big one?" and my uncle replied, "I don't know for sure..." He studied it through his scope and couldn't believe at the size of this deer's body and head. My dad asked, "Are you going to shoot it..?!" And in place of a reply from my uncle, he fired. BOOM!!! My uncle turned back into the cab and said, "My hunt's over..." They were both all smiles.
Their joy was a bit premature as they approached this deer on the ground and found that it was only a 3-point. Though initially disappointed, my uncle and the rest of us all love the buck, and as he is a taxidermist, he will be mounting it. The deer has 5 1/2" bases, and wa aged at 51/2 years old... Just had poor genes for those backs...
Thanks for reading... He is 25" wide and scores 136".
