Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. We were really happy with both of the trophies we were able to take. We had a lot of fun with friends and family at our camp. We spent mid day at camp eating the best food and target practicing between 200 and 1000 yds. There is plenty of cedar deadfall on the unit to make the best campfires in the evenings.
The first buck was hunted for 3 days (Tuesday-Thursday) as he would only show himself in the evenings during the last few minutes of shooting light. The dedicated and lucky lady was able to take him at 700 yds with a single shot. The buck took one final step before tipping over and expiring.
Some highlights of this buck are his 28" outside spread, 19.5" G2s, and over 20" of mass per side. Total score is 187 6/8".
I was really surprised at how difficult it can be to locate a respectable buck. I had spent 9 days looking over deer in several locations on the unit.
I felt very fortunate to stumble onto the buck I harvested on the last morning of the hunt. I had planned to road hunt on a road that would give us a look at a few canyons early Sunday morning. Upon cresting the second draw we stopped and glassed up a couple does and a 2 point feeding. A few seconds later my hunting partner blurted out "SHOOTER BUCK". I struggled to find the deer in my binoculars but when I finally found him it only took a quick glance before I was looking for landmarks on the hillside so I could relocate him with my rifle scope. I ranged the deer at 550 yds as he lay resting about 30 yds above the feeding deer on the hillside. I grabbed my rifle loaded a round and stepped toward a fence line to obtain a dead rest.
Time seemed to go by so slow and my hunting partner was not helping me remain calm as he might have been more excited than I was. The deer was laying in his bed quartering toward us. He never even stood up but my partner would have had you believe he was about to jump to the next county. The big buck had us pegged and would not allow us to slip any closer.
I couldn't get the steadiness I wanted from the fencline so I moved to an adjacent tree and rested my 7mm Mag into a V on the lowest branch emerging from the trunk. With the morning wind starting to pickup i knew I need to make something happen. It took me several seconds before I felt comfortable with my breathing as I was holding my 500 yd hash mark slightly above the bedded buck. The shot surprised me as the rifle broke the morning silence.
My partner immediately yelled "GOOD HIT". I loaded another round and found the buck in my scope again. The shot was high and had broke his back. I watched as the buck shimmied down about 5 yds and remained bedded behind a big clump of bitterbrush.
We kept our eye on the buck as we got closer. As we approached the deer at about 30 yds I noticed him breathing and knew I need to dispatch him as quickly as possible. My partner had warned mt to not shoot off his antlers or place any unnecessary damage on the trophies beautiful cape. As I approached the deer i began to circle below him to get a shot at the vitals, around 5 yds the buck tried to jump up and that is when I clicked off the safety and finalized the kill with a quartering way shot behind the shoulder. We watched as the buck took two final breaths and slumped into his eternal sleep. We immediately began the celebrating and started the photo session before quartering and caping the buck.
Some highlights of this buck are his 23.5" outside spread, 2.5" cheater on his left side, 2" bladed eyeguards, his symetrical frame, and a very unique cape. Total score is 172 1/8"
A special thanks to the King family. I cant wait to start planning next year's hunts. The 2015 deer hunt will be hard to top. Where should we hunt next year....
