Wiszard
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 10,895
This hunt started when I came to the decision that I was done building points for deer in Colorado. I wanted to hunt and learn a new area to draw tags during the 2nd season. The weather was not good...no snow and it was unseasonably warm. I figured I'd make the best of it and get there after the season opened and hoped the weather would change for the better. Looking at the forecast, it was going to be the same conditions for the next few weeks. I did a lot of research on google earth and talked to quite a few guys here on MM which gave me a good idea of what to expect. I had a plan on where I was going to make my camp and where I'd hunt the first couple days and if I didn't find anything I liked or the amount of deer I was happy with, I'd move camp.
The first eve I find myself glassing a large area that looked pretty good. The only deer I saw that night was this girl who came out about 30 minutes before sun down and didn't take a step further until just about shooting light. Even then, she stayed within 6 feet of where I first spotted her in the thick stuff. It was not a good feeling knowing the deer would be that close to cover up til dark.
When I got back to camp, I texted a fellow MM guy who had a tag for the area and he said he had only seen 16 bucks that night. I instantly I needed to move camps. I would do that after the morning hunt. The next morning found me waking up a bit late. I still managed to take a little walk and found a doe and a buck in the pipeline. I didn't have my binos so I ran back to camp and glassed the small buck and doe. I looked to my left and noticed a light spot in the thick stuff. My binos weren't enough so I went back to camp and grabbed my spotter and re-positioned myself farther down the ridge in order to get a better angle on the deer. Turns out it was 3 does with a decent 3 pointer chasing around a smaller forked horn. I sat and watched them for about 45 minutes which really made my morning. It gave me confidence that I would be seeing deer and that they would be out longer during the morning hours. It was about 8:45 at this point. Here's the rutting 3 pointer I thought about shooting for a split second.
That afternoon I moved camp to an area about 8 miles from where I originally was. The second evening of the hunt found me driving the south end of the unit. Driving and glassing...driving and glassing. Nothing....no deer spotted until after dark. Frustrating because the area looked very good.
The next morning I ended up hunting with a fellow MM'er and we drove to an area he had been to a few days before. I knew at this point that my expectations had to be a bit lower than originally set but I was ok with that. We park high up on a ridge and start walking out on the finger to over look a large canyon. We spot a buck chasing a doe not 85 yards below us and I knew I needed to shoot him. It was first light and they knew we were there so there was no time to dissect the bucks rack. I knew he was good enough for me so I got prone and let one fly. My .280 was shooting 4 inches high at 100 yards and it was a down hill shot so I put the crosshairs just above his brisket. All I saw was muzzle blast but my buddy said it was a good hit. I was very excited. We waited about 10 minutes and just talked about the morning before heading down to find blood. When we got down to where the buck was, we found plenty of blood and followed it for about 50 yards. He was piled up. The shot was perfect and my tag was filled. I am happy with this buck. I would've loved to shoot a 175'ish buck but to me its about the experience and not the inches. My buck is a 24" 4x4 with eyeguards.
The awesome part about being done was I had the opportunity to hunt with a couple other guys, one was a fellow MM'er. It was nice glassing with him one evening. It's nice to meet those "good ones" on this site. I know that if I ever have a tag in this area again, I can count on him to give a hand or just go out and help glass.
So, I came across a friend of a friend who was going to be hunting solo the following morning and the night before we spotted this buck which I LOVE!! If I hadn't have shot my buck in the am, I would have certainly made a play on this guy.
The next morning finds me and Matt speeding around trying to find the right finger to get out on (we got lost). At first light, I saw that we were one canyon over and that we needed to haul ass over to the next finger. As we're walking out on the right finger to set up to glass for the morning, we saw a group of deer below us sidehilling back into the canyon. There was a buck in the back that had the same frame as the big 4x3 from the night before. Matt laid down and made a great shot on the buck. 179 yards with his 30-06 and the bucks face was being pushed through the dirt bulldozing. One more shot and he was rolling down the hill into the sage. Again, congrat were in order and I had still thought it was the 4x3 so I was pumped to be able to see this buck up close. Matt didn't care because he knew it was a good solid framed buck regardless. When we got down to the deer, it was not the same one. He's a huge, heavy 25" 3x2 with lots of mass.
I really enjoyed hunting with Matt. We ended up quartering the buck out and needing 3 trips to get all the meat and the head/cape out of the canyon we were in.
I had a blast on this hunt. I met some great, unselfish guys. I had originally wanted to do this hunt solo but I really feel things happen for a reason. The weather was horrible and the deer just weren't in the numbers that they normally should've been. I'm not a trophy hunter and my goal was simply to enjoy the hunt on my terms which I did. Thanks to all the MM guys who helped me with info about the unit.
Just an FYI- waiting for the later season dates may end up biting you in the ass so don't get greedy if you have points but are waiting for favorable dates. Mother nature may have it in for you.
Steve
Cancer doesn't discriminate...don't take your good health for granted because it can be gone in a heartbeat. Please go back and read the last line. This time really understand what it says.
The first eve I find myself glassing a large area that looked pretty good. The only deer I saw that night was this girl who came out about 30 minutes before sun down and didn't take a step further until just about shooting light. Even then, she stayed within 6 feet of where I first spotted her in the thick stuff. It was not a good feeling knowing the deer would be that close to cover up til dark.
When I got back to camp, I texted a fellow MM guy who had a tag for the area and he said he had only seen 16 bucks that night. I instantly I needed to move camps. I would do that after the morning hunt. The next morning found me waking up a bit late. I still managed to take a little walk and found a doe and a buck in the pipeline. I didn't have my binos so I ran back to camp and glassed the small buck and doe. I looked to my left and noticed a light spot in the thick stuff. My binos weren't enough so I went back to camp and grabbed my spotter and re-positioned myself farther down the ridge in order to get a better angle on the deer. Turns out it was 3 does with a decent 3 pointer chasing around a smaller forked horn. I sat and watched them for about 45 minutes which really made my morning. It gave me confidence that I would be seeing deer and that they would be out longer during the morning hours. It was about 8:45 at this point. Here's the rutting 3 pointer I thought about shooting for a split second.
That afternoon I moved camp to an area about 8 miles from where I originally was. The second evening of the hunt found me driving the south end of the unit. Driving and glassing...driving and glassing. Nothing....no deer spotted until after dark. Frustrating because the area looked very good.
The next morning I ended up hunting with a fellow MM'er and we drove to an area he had been to a few days before. I knew at this point that my expectations had to be a bit lower than originally set but I was ok with that. We park high up on a ridge and start walking out on the finger to over look a large canyon. We spot a buck chasing a doe not 85 yards below us and I knew I needed to shoot him. It was first light and they knew we were there so there was no time to dissect the bucks rack. I knew he was good enough for me so I got prone and let one fly. My .280 was shooting 4 inches high at 100 yards and it was a down hill shot so I put the crosshairs just above his brisket. All I saw was muzzle blast but my buddy said it was a good hit. I was very excited. We waited about 10 minutes and just talked about the morning before heading down to find blood. When we got down to where the buck was, we found plenty of blood and followed it for about 50 yards. He was piled up. The shot was perfect and my tag was filled. I am happy with this buck. I would've loved to shoot a 175'ish buck but to me its about the experience and not the inches. My buck is a 24" 4x4 with eyeguards.
The awesome part about being done was I had the opportunity to hunt with a couple other guys, one was a fellow MM'er. It was nice glassing with him one evening. It's nice to meet those "good ones" on this site. I know that if I ever have a tag in this area again, I can count on him to give a hand or just go out and help glass.
So, I came across a friend of a friend who was going to be hunting solo the following morning and the night before we spotted this buck which I LOVE!! If I hadn't have shot my buck in the am, I would have certainly made a play on this guy.
The next morning finds me and Matt speeding around trying to find the right finger to get out on (we got lost). At first light, I saw that we were one canyon over and that we needed to haul ass over to the next finger. As we're walking out on the right finger to set up to glass for the morning, we saw a group of deer below us sidehilling back into the canyon. There was a buck in the back that had the same frame as the big 4x3 from the night before. Matt laid down and made a great shot on the buck. 179 yards with his 30-06 and the bucks face was being pushed through the dirt bulldozing. One more shot and he was rolling down the hill into the sage. Again, congrat were in order and I had still thought it was the 4x3 so I was pumped to be able to see this buck up close. Matt didn't care because he knew it was a good solid framed buck regardless. When we got down to the deer, it was not the same one. He's a huge, heavy 25" 3x2 with lots of mass.
I really enjoyed hunting with Matt. We ended up quartering the buck out and needing 3 trips to get all the meat and the head/cape out of the canyon we were in.
I had a blast on this hunt. I met some great, unselfish guys. I had originally wanted to do this hunt solo but I really feel things happen for a reason. The weather was horrible and the deer just weren't in the numbers that they normally should've been. I'm not a trophy hunter and my goal was simply to enjoy the hunt on my terms which I did. Thanks to all the MM guys who helped me with info about the unit.
Just an FYI- waiting for the later season dates may end up biting you in the ass so don't get greedy if you have points but are waiting for favorable dates. Mother nature may have it in for you.
Steve
Cancer doesn't discriminate...don't take your good health for granted because it can be gone in a heartbeat. Please go back and read the last line. This time really understand what it says.
