Spotnstalk80
Active Member
- Messages
- 108
So once again we headed to the C zone this last weekend for our annual deer camp with our family and friends. This year with a few guys trying to get some x zone tags and not drawing C for second choice, the group lost a few members but also opened up to a couple new folks and some folks returned that had hunted in the past with us. We did our typical preseason scouting to check how things were looking and how things were moving around by setting a few cameras in some locations we know to be hot spots for deer movement. We found alot of new logging in the area we typically hunt, and we found it to be very dry. Perhaps more dry than any of us had ever seen it. But nevertheless we set out to see if we could find the deer. We found instead alot of bear mixed in with some deer but nothing that was out of what we normally see in the area preseason as 90% of the deer we hunt are migratory and should not find their way into our area until the weather cools.
Fast forward to last Thursday members of our group began arriving to camp and finding more bear, not that great of a deer showing and even more dry than earlier in the year. Stands were set and hopes were high. I arrived early Friday afternoon and decided to set a treestand on a very established migration trail that we had monitored for a few weeks with a camera that was seeing regular usage by deer starting to trickle into the area. Friday evening my brother decided to take a quick drive in the area around my stand and returned to tell me that he had seen two very nice bucks right near my stand. One was a 3x3 that would go +20" wide and the other was a very nice forked horn. I was pumped and very hopeful that somehow those bucks might just be there come Saturday morning.
Saturday morning found me crawling out of my sleeping bag to unseasonably warm temps but with hopes very high. I got to my stand 1.5 hours before light to make sure there was plenty of time for the woods to settle down before light. Of course its public land so as per the course 30 min after my arrival here came the other hunters. Lucky me there was only one truck but unlucky me he parked right on a major trail to my right and I immediately knew this was going to reduce my hopes of seeing much cross in his direction. Slowly the sun rose and legal light came at 6:26. Within minutes there was rustle to my left then a crash. A doe quickly darted through my area. Not sure what had her spooked but I was sure from the direction she ran it wasn't me or my presence. Suddenly at 7:05 a single shot rings out very near me and immediately I know its the guys parked on top of me. Hope fades slightly but who knows maybe I'll just get lucky somehow. 15 minutes later I sense motion coming right at me and look to see a single deer casually walking right down the trail coming right at me. And it has horns, its legal, holy crap I'm not ready! he walks closer and I see it's clearly a 3x3. Now its at 30 yards and closing fast and my rifle is still on my lap. I see he has one more tree to pass by this will be my chance. As he walks by the second his head is blocked I quickly shoulder my rifle. He immediately stops and looks directly at me. Only his head has cleared the tree. One more step and I have him. He stands there what seemed like forever but in reality probably less than 20 seconds. Then very cautiously takes a step. Still not clear...then he takes another still looking at me. The second step exposes his shoulder for a perfect shot at less than 20 yds. I forget all that fancy squeezing stuff we practice and I punch that trigger. Immediatley he rears on his back legs then topples over. The bullet has done the job. Clips the top of the heart and he expires within seconds. Immediatley I look at my watch. 7:20. Not even a full hour into the season and it's over. As I walk up to him I realize this is probably the buck my brother had seen the night before. Later he confirms it is, he is a perfect 3x3 and tapes at 21 3/8" wide. Couldn't be happier with this hunt. Quickly I clean him then head up the hill to see if there's anyone else that needs help. Before I come back down the hill our group has 3 more in the truck. Opening day was overwhelmingly a success for us. Until next year thank you C zone for continuing to provide us with memories for a lifetime. Later it was confirmed the guys next to me shot the forked horn running with my buck from the night before, but couldn't get a shot at him. Now its off to try and fill a d tag before getting after bull elk in CO for 10 days..should be a fun month and a half!
Sorry about the pics being sideways, can't figure out how to rotate em, hopefully someone can assist me..
As he laid where he fell.
Fast forward to last Thursday members of our group began arriving to camp and finding more bear, not that great of a deer showing and even more dry than earlier in the year. Stands were set and hopes were high. I arrived early Friday afternoon and decided to set a treestand on a very established migration trail that we had monitored for a few weeks with a camera that was seeing regular usage by deer starting to trickle into the area. Friday evening my brother decided to take a quick drive in the area around my stand and returned to tell me that he had seen two very nice bucks right near my stand. One was a 3x3 that would go +20" wide and the other was a very nice forked horn. I was pumped and very hopeful that somehow those bucks might just be there come Saturday morning.
Saturday morning found me crawling out of my sleeping bag to unseasonably warm temps but with hopes very high. I got to my stand 1.5 hours before light to make sure there was plenty of time for the woods to settle down before light. Of course its public land so as per the course 30 min after my arrival here came the other hunters. Lucky me there was only one truck but unlucky me he parked right on a major trail to my right and I immediately knew this was going to reduce my hopes of seeing much cross in his direction. Slowly the sun rose and legal light came at 6:26. Within minutes there was rustle to my left then a crash. A doe quickly darted through my area. Not sure what had her spooked but I was sure from the direction she ran it wasn't me or my presence. Suddenly at 7:05 a single shot rings out very near me and immediately I know its the guys parked on top of me. Hope fades slightly but who knows maybe I'll just get lucky somehow. 15 minutes later I sense motion coming right at me and look to see a single deer casually walking right down the trail coming right at me. And it has horns, its legal, holy crap I'm not ready! he walks closer and I see it's clearly a 3x3. Now its at 30 yards and closing fast and my rifle is still on my lap. I see he has one more tree to pass by this will be my chance. As he walks by the second his head is blocked I quickly shoulder my rifle. He immediately stops and looks directly at me. Only his head has cleared the tree. One more step and I have him. He stands there what seemed like forever but in reality probably less than 20 seconds. Then very cautiously takes a step. Still not clear...then he takes another still looking at me. The second step exposes his shoulder for a perfect shot at less than 20 yds. I forget all that fancy squeezing stuff we practice and I punch that trigger. Immediatley he rears on his back legs then topples over. The bullet has done the job. Clips the top of the heart and he expires within seconds. Immediatley I look at my watch. 7:20. Not even a full hour into the season and it's over. As I walk up to him I realize this is probably the buck my brother had seen the night before. Later he confirms it is, he is a perfect 3x3 and tapes at 21 3/8" wide. Couldn't be happier with this hunt. Quickly I clean him then head up the hill to see if there's anyone else that needs help. Before I come back down the hill our group has 3 more in the truck. Opening day was overwhelmingly a success for us. Until next year thank you C zone for continuing to provide us with memories for a lifetime. Later it was confirmed the guys next to me shot the forked horn running with my buck from the night before, but couldn't get a shot at him. Now its off to try and fill a d tag before getting after bull elk in CO for 10 days..should be a fun month and a half!
Sorry about the pics being sideways, can't figure out how to rotate em, hopefully someone can assist me..
As he laid where he fell.
