T
Truelife
Guest
LAST EDITED ON Sep-30-13 AT 03:42PM (MST)[p]Well it's come and gone. With 10 bonus points I drew a Vernon muzz tag this year. Including the past 6 days my family, friends and I spent nearly 30 days on the unit spotting deer. We looked over literally hundreds of bucks. In all of that looking I would say that we found maybe 5 that would either go wider than 24?, or would score above 160?. There are a whole lot of big 2 points, and bucks with very weak forks. We did see a few bucks with extras, or kickers here or there. The largest buck I saw and had as #1 on my list was a big square frame 4X4 with a 3? kicker off of each side on the back making him a 5X5 about 30? wide overall. His forks weren't great but he seamed to have good mass and judging from his body features I would guess he was a little older than most other bucks out there. I know he was on the top of the list for some bow hunters as well. He disappeared during the bow hunt and I couldn't ever locate him again. If anyone knows of anyone getting pictures of this buck, or killing him I would really love to see pictures and/or know any information about him.
So on to the hunt. We arrived on Monday morning and promptly found a pretty decent four point about 26? wide. Come opening morning we were right in the middle of his whole crew but he was nowhere to be found. I'm pretty sure I saw him dive into some thick cover mid-day that day but we tried everything short of burning the place down and couldn't get him out. It took three pass through the place to even get a couple of does out. It was a good hiding place to say the least and I suspect he uses it often.
Later that afternoon it started to snow and it snowed pretty good off and on for the rest of the day. We saw several deer out enjoying the snow including a couple of bucks the caliber of this one I shot. The next morning we had a couple of inches of snow on everything and about 33 degrees. We saw a lot of bucks again and passed on several. Later that day we made a run up into an area we had spotted on Sabie. I knew there were a couple of good bucks in there earlier. At one point we spotted a few deer and I noticed a good buck laying under a cedar tree. He had his head down flat on the ground like I've seen them do when they are trying to lay low and hide. I watched him for a few minutes and could see that he was turning his head now and then to look around a little. I ranged him at 258 yards which is farther than I wanted to try. So I quickly devised a plan and started to move. It was then that another hunter popped up and walked up to the buck. Turns out he had already shot him once and was giving him some time. He had a buddy up on the hill and I'm sure he was watching me and relaying the information to the hunter. That was an extreme let down to finally find a decent buck and then realize he had already been shot.
Congrats to the other hunter! I don't know who it was and I apologize for trying to make a move on his buck. It was an honest mistake. If anyone knows of this hunter or story I'd love to see pictures of his deer.
Friday morning we had even more snow and less pressure in the area we were in. We tried the area the big 5X5 had been in but found only four 2 points. We did see 15 bucks in all that morning and had a chance to shoot several of them. Later that afternoon I found another decent four point. I made a play and ended up missing on a shot that I shouldn't have missed. He was a little bigger than I expected when he jumped up and I guess I was a little riled. After that we headed back to camp and then off in a different direction. As we headed up the road this buck was standing like an archery target just waiting for someone to shoot him.
So I did.
He's not the buck of my dreams or anything, but he's a respectable buck. I probably only saw 2 or 3 bucks with forks this good the whole year out there.
50 yards from the truck has to count for something too right!
I almost forgot to mention a giant thanks to my wife. She spent 6 straight days out there with me in weather that she didn't really enjoy. 33 degrees is cold enough, then add snow, and wind, and some guy dragging you all over the mountains on a four wheeler. Most guys wouldn't be able to get their wife anywhere near that.
Thank you very much Kristy, I love you!
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o303/pete-n-repete/Vernonmuzz2013_zps350f4aaf.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
So on to the hunt. We arrived on Monday morning and promptly found a pretty decent four point about 26? wide. Come opening morning we were right in the middle of his whole crew but he was nowhere to be found. I'm pretty sure I saw him dive into some thick cover mid-day that day but we tried everything short of burning the place down and couldn't get him out. It took three pass through the place to even get a couple of does out. It was a good hiding place to say the least and I suspect he uses it often.
Later that afternoon it started to snow and it snowed pretty good off and on for the rest of the day. We saw several deer out enjoying the snow including a couple of bucks the caliber of this one I shot. The next morning we had a couple of inches of snow on everything and about 33 degrees. We saw a lot of bucks again and passed on several. Later that day we made a run up into an area we had spotted on Sabie. I knew there were a couple of good bucks in there earlier. At one point we spotted a few deer and I noticed a good buck laying under a cedar tree. He had his head down flat on the ground like I've seen them do when they are trying to lay low and hide. I watched him for a few minutes and could see that he was turning his head now and then to look around a little. I ranged him at 258 yards which is farther than I wanted to try. So I quickly devised a plan and started to move. It was then that another hunter popped up and walked up to the buck. Turns out he had already shot him once and was giving him some time. He had a buddy up on the hill and I'm sure he was watching me and relaying the information to the hunter. That was an extreme let down to finally find a decent buck and then realize he had already been shot.
Congrats to the other hunter! I don't know who it was and I apologize for trying to make a move on his buck. It was an honest mistake. If anyone knows of this hunter or story I'd love to see pictures of his deer.
Friday morning we had even more snow and less pressure in the area we were in. We tried the area the big 5X5 had been in but found only four 2 points. We did see 15 bucks in all that morning and had a chance to shoot several of them. Later that afternoon I found another decent four point. I made a play and ended up missing on a shot that I shouldn't have missed. He was a little bigger than I expected when he jumped up and I guess I was a little riled. After that we headed back to camp and then off in a different direction. As we headed up the road this buck was standing like an archery target just waiting for someone to shoot him.
So I did.
He's not the buck of my dreams or anything, but he's a respectable buck. I probably only saw 2 or 3 bucks with forks this good the whole year out there.
50 yards from the truck has to count for something too right!
I almost forgot to mention a giant thanks to my wife. She spent 6 straight days out there with me in weather that she didn't really enjoy. 33 degrees is cold enough, then add snow, and wind, and some guy dragging you all over the mountains on a four wheeler. Most guys wouldn't be able to get their wife anywhere near that.
Thank you very much Kristy, I love you!
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o303/pete-n-repete/Vernonmuzz2013_zps350f4aaf.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
