nk
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Here is the story of my 2009 WY hunt. My best friend Dave and I spent 8 days in the field with a couple buddy's from Casper. We hunted hard and Dave was fortunate enough to take a nice 160 class 4x4 in the mountains on our 2nd day. The wind was gusting anywhere from 35 to 50 MPH so glassing was tough. The 3rd day of the hunt brought about 12-24 inches of snow so we had to re-locate the camp to lower ground. We hunted days 3-7 in the snow still seeing deer but no shooters. Finally on the last day of the hunt we caught clear skies with extreme winds once again. After stalking to 75 yards of a 150 class buck at first light of the last day I decided to pass and try to harvest a buck that would score at least 165. That was my original goal so... We trudged up to the top of the rock piles we were hunting again only to be knocked around by the wind. My buddy was not too happy with me considering the distance we traveled only to be cut off by the new country we were hunting. There were other eyes helping us elsewhere but we set up and glassed anyways. I spotted a herd just below us and was astonished that there was not a buck with the 10 does. I continued to glass farther away battling the wind with my light weight tripod and the 15x56 Swarovski?s mounted to it. Off in the distance I spotted a good herd with a buck rutting some does. I told Dave to check out the deer with his spotting scope and his reply was "that's a mile and a half away!" My gut told me he didn't want to go that far so I tried to get a better look at him. As I continued to glass Dave said "that's a big frame, we need to get a closer look at him." So, we packed up and met up with our other buddy and moved to a location where we could get a better look. We decided he was definitely a shooter so Jer stayed put and made sure the buck didn't put the sneak on us while Dave and I stalked to a spot where we could make a better shot. The stalk was extremely challenging battling the wind through the sand filled dunes up to the huge rock piles. We were literally getting sand blasted. I felt like I was in the Sahara desert battling an epic sand storm. We continued sneaking up and around the rock piles where the deer had taken shelter. I crept over the rock and saw a buck not more than 35 yards from us. It was a 4x4 but not the same buck we had originally spotted. Through some crafty communications we were able to find out the larger of the two bucks was just 15 yards below the smaller 4x4 and we had to move fearing the wind at our backs would spook the bucks. I was amazed they had not caught our scent already. We crawled under small crevices with deadly drops below us. We four pointed through cracks making our way like spider man through the enormous rocks. Slowly and quietly getting to a point where we should be able to see the buck a doe headed our way from the bottom of the lake. She passed by us at approximately 100 yards and the larger of the two bucks followed. The buck was about to crest over the ridge out of sight as I set up the rifle. He stopped to check the clearing in front of him giving me only one choice. Shoot him as he was, facing away. I waited as long as possible for a broad side shot and Dave was whispering "shoot, shoot!" I put the crosshairs directly on him and let off the shot. The shot was true and the buck was hit hard. He buckled and stood broadside long enough for me to chamber another round and finish him off right where he stood. The celebration was on and I accomplished my goal. My buck scored 166 6/8 with a 28 inch spread. I wouldn't have been able to have another wonderful hunt without the help of Dave, Jer and his family. I was off to Colorado after that for 5 days and missed a 190 plus bruiser. I hunted CO hard and searched for that buck the entire hunt to no avail. Overall both hunts were very exciting and successful. Can't wait to get out again next year.
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