LAST EDITED ON Oct-02-12 AT 07:16PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Oct-02-12 AT 07:16?PM (MST)
In anticipation for my own deer hunt in Utah this year, I couldn't stay in doors while I went to my home state of Nevada this last weekend to visit family. I wanted to go check some old stomping grounds for deer, elk and whatever else I could find. The morning was actually going quite slow in regards to seeing wildlife. About mid-morning, I made a spot on a buck that was nearing the top of a little ridge. He was about a 20-inch, 4 point and I tried to find a bigger buck with him but he turned out to be all by himself. He was making his way through a buck brush/mahogany mix and disappeared out of sight. I drove around to get a better look at him and couldn't find him. I decided to pull out the spotting scope and glass in the mahogany patch he disappeared in and after about 10 minutes I found the bucks G-2's sticking out, in between 2 mahogany trees. It was a clump of mahogany's about 20 yards in diameter and that buck sat down right in the middle. The wind was strong and the fact that the knoll was somewhat rounded, with hardly any cover 200 yards in most directions, made a stalk a difficult option. However, I wanted to have fun and see if I could make a play and get close to this guy. I formed a plan to go around the back side, get the wind in my face and see how close I could get. I started making a play on the buck and made great time getting about 200 yards above him on the ridge line. Looking at the photo, you can actually see I made it fairly high on this ridge line, the buck is about 200 yards down, in a clump of trees that's barely out of sight to the left. The wind is blowing directly at me, basically the same direction as this photo is taken. Also, if you look right near the center of the photo, you'll notice that knoll with the PJ on it. That's where I spotted the buck laying down.
Once hitting the ridge line, I dropped into the backside of the hill which was the south face. It was actually a bit steeper than I thought and this was good in a lot of ways. It made the wind break pretty sharp so I had a little bit of lenience in excess noise if I rolled a rock on accident. I crept down checking my landmarks I made before the stalk so I knew exactly where the buck was going to be. After about 15 minutes from hitting the ridge line, I started making my way up to "the mahogany" clump. Once I crested the top (behind a tree of course), the wind was ripping pretty well. So perfect - right in my face. I actually crested the ridge a little further down then where I wanted, so I dropped on the backside again and came up another 20 yards up the ridge line. I crept behind a few trees and then inched behind some buck brush to where this view came into play.
I came up EXACTLY where I wanted to. The wind was still in my face, blowing pretty hard. If you look right in the middle of the image, in the little opening under the mahogany branches, you'll see antlers sticking out. Right now, I'm about 25 yards away from this snoozing buck. I couldn't believe how perfect this stalk worked, here it is the last weekend of the Nevada muzzy season and I'm within archery range. As soon as my shutter on my Canon DSLR went off a few times, he stood up. I hunkered down next to a big sage and kept on snapping photos.
After about 2 minutes, he leaped through the mahogany?s and went up the canyon.
He wasn't the biggest deer but awesome time in the hills. Nice red tint in the tines and a nice late September/early October cape. It was still an awesome experience for me to make a play like that and get so close to that deer, just like it's been on other successful stalks. I learned a lot about elevation gain, wind direction and topography when it comes to making a successful stalk.
I didn't run into any other hunters the entire morning (one of the reason?s I love Nevada) but I'm sure that buck would make a junior hunter?s day if they get a crack at him during the rifle hunt this year. Definitely a great day in the hills and now I'm even more excited for my hunt this year.
In anticipation for my own deer hunt in Utah this year, I couldn't stay in doors while I went to my home state of Nevada this last weekend to visit family. I wanted to go check some old stomping grounds for deer, elk and whatever else I could find. The morning was actually going quite slow in regards to seeing wildlife. About mid-morning, I made a spot on a buck that was nearing the top of a little ridge. He was about a 20-inch, 4 point and I tried to find a bigger buck with him but he turned out to be all by himself. He was making his way through a buck brush/mahogany mix and disappeared out of sight. I drove around to get a better look at him and couldn't find him. I decided to pull out the spotting scope and glass in the mahogany patch he disappeared in and after about 10 minutes I found the bucks G-2's sticking out, in between 2 mahogany trees. It was a clump of mahogany's about 20 yards in diameter and that buck sat down right in the middle. The wind was strong and the fact that the knoll was somewhat rounded, with hardly any cover 200 yards in most directions, made a stalk a difficult option. However, I wanted to have fun and see if I could make a play and get close to this guy. I formed a plan to go around the back side, get the wind in my face and see how close I could get. I started making a play on the buck and made great time getting about 200 yards above him on the ridge line. Looking at the photo, you can actually see I made it fairly high on this ridge line, the buck is about 200 yards down, in a clump of trees that's barely out of sight to the left. The wind is blowing directly at me, basically the same direction as this photo is taken. Also, if you look right near the center of the photo, you'll notice that knoll with the PJ on it. That's where I spotted the buck laying down.
Once hitting the ridge line, I dropped into the backside of the hill which was the south face. It was actually a bit steeper than I thought and this was good in a lot of ways. It made the wind break pretty sharp so I had a little bit of lenience in excess noise if I rolled a rock on accident. I crept down checking my landmarks I made before the stalk so I knew exactly where the buck was going to be. After about 15 minutes from hitting the ridge line, I started making my way up to "the mahogany" clump. Once I crested the top (behind a tree of course), the wind was ripping pretty well. So perfect - right in my face. I actually crested the ridge a little further down then where I wanted, so I dropped on the backside again and came up another 20 yards up the ridge line. I crept behind a few trees and then inched behind some buck brush to where this view came into play.
I came up EXACTLY where I wanted to. The wind was still in my face, blowing pretty hard. If you look right in the middle of the image, in the little opening under the mahogany branches, you'll see antlers sticking out. Right now, I'm about 25 yards away from this snoozing buck. I couldn't believe how perfect this stalk worked, here it is the last weekend of the Nevada muzzy season and I'm within archery range. As soon as my shutter on my Canon DSLR went off a few times, he stood up. I hunkered down next to a big sage and kept on snapping photos.
After about 2 minutes, he leaped through the mahogany?s and went up the canyon.
He wasn't the biggest deer but awesome time in the hills. Nice red tint in the tines and a nice late September/early October cape. It was still an awesome experience for me to make a play like that and get so close to that deer, just like it's been on other successful stalks. I learned a lot about elevation gain, wind direction and topography when it comes to making a successful stalk.
I didn't run into any other hunters the entire morning (one of the reason?s I love Nevada) but I'm sure that buck would make a junior hunter?s day if they get a crack at him during the rifle hunt this year. Definitely a great day in the hills and now I'm even more excited for my hunt this year.
