yatran
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-30-12 AT 03:10PM (MST)[p]I was pretty excited when I finally read in my email the words, "SUCCESSFUL" next to the words Buck Deer for hunt 1015! I was headed to the Book Cliffs! After a few scouting trips with my son I was even more excited. What a great area. Deer everywhere! Bucks everywhere!
When the week of the opener finally rolled around, I was going out of my mind! I loaded up my trailer and headed up Thursday to get a good spot and do a little more scouting. The last hour or so of my drive was on the dirt roads and so the huge dust cloud covered the smoke that was surely pouring out from under my trailer. When I finally stopped I noticed that my trailer wheel was kinked on a horrible angle. My dad's words from about a month ago came ringing into my head "When was the last time you packed your bearings??????" Ouch! It was bad. There were no more bearings!!! The hub was busted as well. I parked the trailer the best I could and called My Dad. He had planned on coming up with the rest of my family on Friday so he packed a few extra tools in his truck and brought them up with him. The plan was to hunt till I shot a buck and then worry about the trailer. We took apart the other wheel and hub to get part and part numbers to take to Vernal. When opening morning finally came, my dad drove 4-5 hours round trip to get the parts I needed while I went to hunt the buck I have waited almost ten years for. In my life I have found a handful of people who will always help me when I need them. I have also found that there are a few people who are not only willing, but HAPPY to help no matter what. This is the category under which my dad falls! There was no moaning or grumbling about the stupid mistake I had made, no complaining about driving to Vernal. I had a problem, we both knew I had screwed up and my Dad knew I needed him. I was lucky he was there.
The first morning of the hunt turned out to be fun but we did not see the buck I had waited 10 years for. Saturday evening my son and I watched a beautiful old 3x5 walk into the water hole we had been watching. My son was going out of his mind that I was not going to shoot this great buck. "This is the dumbest mistake I have ever seen you make dad! You are going to be regretting this for a long time!" I told him, "someone will shoot that buck tonight, but it's not going to be us." There were quite a few hunters that were in the area, they had seen the same thing that we had seen…where there was water, there were A LOT of deer. A few minutes after the buck had left the water hole we heard a shot and I knew that the buck had been harvested. As we drove out that night, we passed the successful hunters as they were pulling the buck to their 4-wheelers. I recognized them as a group of hunter with which we had spoken that morning. As we chatted earlier that morning we found out that the hunter in their group with the tag was a 19 yr old girl who had drawn out with three points and was looking to shoot her first buck! Wow!!! What a way to start! I was thrilled when I realized that it was her that was able to harvest this beautiful buck! We congratulated her and drove back to camp, my son berating me the whole way for passing up on that great non-typical buck.
Sunday morning came and we woke up even earlier than we had on Saturday. I did not want to fall into the 2nd day bad hunting habits many of us do. We headed to the same water hole hoping for more action! When we arrived we were disappointed to find that someone had beaten us to "our spot"! The nerve! Hadn't they seen us there yesterday???
We turned around and started to formulate plan B. I had seen another water hole that was a little too close to a main road for my comfort. As I had watched deer “appear” out of “nowhere” I had found that many deer would follow a ridge that was on the other side of the water hole away from the road. The deer that I watched would sneak all the way along this ridge completely out of site of the road, creep up to the water, get a drink and then go back down out of site of the road and sneak away. I thought I could use this to my advantage. I positioned my wife and my son and I up high on the other side of this ridge so I could see this hidden trail between us and the water. We would try to out smart an old thirsty buck. We sat for about an hour and had watched several does and fawns and a few small bucks use this hidden highway to get to the water and then back to the cedars. Then while I was glassing with my binos I spotted a huge body and thick antlers sneaking through the cedars. He was on the complete opposite side, past the hidden trail, past the water, past the road, 1600 yards away,. My heart started pounding! I knew he was going to come to the water, and I could tell he was nervous about coming into the open and making that long trip across the open field and across the road to the water. I told my wife and son, that's a dang good buck, I can't tell how good but I have got to get down there! I grabbed my gun and hustled down to the same hidden trail that we had been watching and started heading to the water from the opposite direction of the buck. As I hustled along behind the ridge the wind was blowing in my face it was a perfect set up. The end of the ridge would spit me out about 40 yards from the water hole, now my heart was really racing! When I got to the point where it was time to "come out" from behind the ridge, I had no idea if the buck was at the water, coming to the water, or had come and gone from the water. I poked my head up for a look and three does that I didn't even know were there spotted me and took off! I was scared I had blown it! I crouched down and tried to figure out my next move, my plan had worked brilliantly to this point, but I hadn't thought it through. How was I going to get from where I was, to where I could see without spooking the old buck? As I was trying to figure out what to do a small three point curiously came poking over the ridge to see what had spooked the does. He found me and trotted off. Now I thought I was really busted. Just then I saw the old buck raise his head up from the water, All I could see was his head over the ridge and his big old thick antlers. He stared at me for a minute...seemed like an hour and then he turned around and trotted away. He was headed back from where he came toward the safety of the cedars. I sprinted up the ridge and got down on one knee, put my 300 WSM up to my shoulder and found him in my scope. He was only about 150 yards and still trotting directly away from me. I was still trying to decide if this was the buck that I had waited for. Then he made a mistake, curiosity got the better of him and he turned to see what that man in the orange hat was doing back there. As he turned broadside in my scope, I saw his fat white nose, his tall perfectly symmetrical four points and his massive body, he was a big old beautiful buck! Then I noticed the great dark mass that he had and I remembered Zeke's advice to me, "Find and old buck with a big body and good mass and shoot him!" BOOM! The gun went off! I did not consciously make the decision to shoot him. It just happened. He dropped on the spot! I finally took a breath; it felt like I hadn't been breathing for the last minute or two! I turned around to where my wife and son sat, 800 yards away and pumped my fists in the air! They immediately came running down the hill. I waited for them and we walked up to the old buck together. A good friend of mine once said, “There is nothing like walking up on a big old buck and seeing those antlers holding his head up off the ground.” He was right. This was by far the biggest, tallest widest buck I had ever shot, and I was shocked to walk up on antlers like holding his head off of the ground. We set up for a ton of pictures, we called my mom and dad and they were able to come and get in some pictures with us as well.
My dad is the one who started me on this hunting journey. He has hunted his whole life. I could tell he was proud of me. He told me it was a great deer! He said, "I have killed a lot of deer in my life, but I have never shot one that good!" I know this is not the biggest deer to be killed in the books this year, I know what he scores. I know where he is weak, and where he could be bigger. But this hunt meant more to me than a score; it was more than outdoing the other guy. Shooting a record book animal is great. I have shot a few record book animals. Shooting a record book mule deer is still one of my goals. But hunting is not all about score. It's about being with family. It's about spending time with your wife and son in the outdoors. It's about the look in your son's eyes when he walks up to the buck laying there. It's about teaching him respect for the animal. That is what this buck represents to me. And THIS buck will always remind me of my dad, and always being there for your family, HAPPILY, no matter what.
Thanks to those of you who helped on this hunt, with pointing me in the right direction, loading ammo, etc. etc. etc. You know who you are.
When the week of the opener finally rolled around, I was going out of my mind! I loaded up my trailer and headed up Thursday to get a good spot and do a little more scouting. The last hour or so of my drive was on the dirt roads and so the huge dust cloud covered the smoke that was surely pouring out from under my trailer. When I finally stopped I noticed that my trailer wheel was kinked on a horrible angle. My dad's words from about a month ago came ringing into my head "When was the last time you packed your bearings??????" Ouch! It was bad. There were no more bearings!!! The hub was busted as well. I parked the trailer the best I could and called My Dad. He had planned on coming up with the rest of my family on Friday so he packed a few extra tools in his truck and brought them up with him. The plan was to hunt till I shot a buck and then worry about the trailer. We took apart the other wheel and hub to get part and part numbers to take to Vernal. When opening morning finally came, my dad drove 4-5 hours round trip to get the parts I needed while I went to hunt the buck I have waited almost ten years for. In my life I have found a handful of people who will always help me when I need them. I have also found that there are a few people who are not only willing, but HAPPY to help no matter what. This is the category under which my dad falls! There was no moaning or grumbling about the stupid mistake I had made, no complaining about driving to Vernal. I had a problem, we both knew I had screwed up and my Dad knew I needed him. I was lucky he was there.
The first morning of the hunt turned out to be fun but we did not see the buck I had waited 10 years for. Saturday evening my son and I watched a beautiful old 3x5 walk into the water hole we had been watching. My son was going out of his mind that I was not going to shoot this great buck. "This is the dumbest mistake I have ever seen you make dad! You are going to be regretting this for a long time!" I told him, "someone will shoot that buck tonight, but it's not going to be us." There were quite a few hunters that were in the area, they had seen the same thing that we had seen…where there was water, there were A LOT of deer. A few minutes after the buck had left the water hole we heard a shot and I knew that the buck had been harvested. As we drove out that night, we passed the successful hunters as they were pulling the buck to their 4-wheelers. I recognized them as a group of hunter with which we had spoken that morning. As we chatted earlier that morning we found out that the hunter in their group with the tag was a 19 yr old girl who had drawn out with three points and was looking to shoot her first buck! Wow!!! What a way to start! I was thrilled when I realized that it was her that was able to harvest this beautiful buck! We congratulated her and drove back to camp, my son berating me the whole way for passing up on that great non-typical buck.
Sunday morning came and we woke up even earlier than we had on Saturday. I did not want to fall into the 2nd day bad hunting habits many of us do. We headed to the same water hole hoping for more action! When we arrived we were disappointed to find that someone had beaten us to "our spot"! The nerve! Hadn't they seen us there yesterday???
We turned around and started to formulate plan B. I had seen another water hole that was a little too close to a main road for my comfort. As I had watched deer “appear” out of “nowhere” I had found that many deer would follow a ridge that was on the other side of the water hole away from the road. The deer that I watched would sneak all the way along this ridge completely out of site of the road, creep up to the water, get a drink and then go back down out of site of the road and sneak away. I thought I could use this to my advantage. I positioned my wife and my son and I up high on the other side of this ridge so I could see this hidden trail between us and the water. We would try to out smart an old thirsty buck. We sat for about an hour and had watched several does and fawns and a few small bucks use this hidden highway to get to the water and then back to the cedars. Then while I was glassing with my binos I spotted a huge body and thick antlers sneaking through the cedars. He was on the complete opposite side, past the hidden trail, past the water, past the road, 1600 yards away,. My heart started pounding! I knew he was going to come to the water, and I could tell he was nervous about coming into the open and making that long trip across the open field and across the road to the water. I told my wife and son, that's a dang good buck, I can't tell how good but I have got to get down there! I grabbed my gun and hustled down to the same hidden trail that we had been watching and started heading to the water from the opposite direction of the buck. As I hustled along behind the ridge the wind was blowing in my face it was a perfect set up. The end of the ridge would spit me out about 40 yards from the water hole, now my heart was really racing! When I got to the point where it was time to "come out" from behind the ridge, I had no idea if the buck was at the water, coming to the water, or had come and gone from the water. I poked my head up for a look and three does that I didn't even know were there spotted me and took off! I was scared I had blown it! I crouched down and tried to figure out my next move, my plan had worked brilliantly to this point, but I hadn't thought it through. How was I going to get from where I was, to where I could see without spooking the old buck? As I was trying to figure out what to do a small three point curiously came poking over the ridge to see what had spooked the does. He found me and trotted off. Now I thought I was really busted. Just then I saw the old buck raise his head up from the water, All I could see was his head over the ridge and his big old thick antlers. He stared at me for a minute...seemed like an hour and then he turned around and trotted away. He was headed back from where he came toward the safety of the cedars. I sprinted up the ridge and got down on one knee, put my 300 WSM up to my shoulder and found him in my scope. He was only about 150 yards and still trotting directly away from me. I was still trying to decide if this was the buck that I had waited for. Then he made a mistake, curiosity got the better of him and he turned to see what that man in the orange hat was doing back there. As he turned broadside in my scope, I saw his fat white nose, his tall perfectly symmetrical four points and his massive body, he was a big old beautiful buck! Then I noticed the great dark mass that he had and I remembered Zeke's advice to me, "Find and old buck with a big body and good mass and shoot him!" BOOM! The gun went off! I did not consciously make the decision to shoot him. It just happened. He dropped on the spot! I finally took a breath; it felt like I hadn't been breathing for the last minute or two! I turned around to where my wife and son sat, 800 yards away and pumped my fists in the air! They immediately came running down the hill. I waited for them and we walked up to the old buck together. A good friend of mine once said, “There is nothing like walking up on a big old buck and seeing those antlers holding his head up off the ground.” He was right. This was by far the biggest, tallest widest buck I had ever shot, and I was shocked to walk up on antlers like holding his head off of the ground. We set up for a ton of pictures, we called my mom and dad and they were able to come and get in some pictures with us as well.My dad is the one who started me on this hunting journey. He has hunted his whole life. I could tell he was proud of me. He told me it was a great deer! He said, "I have killed a lot of deer in my life, but I have never shot one that good!" I know this is not the biggest deer to be killed in the books this year, I know what he scores. I know where he is weak, and where he could be bigger. But this hunt meant more to me than a score; it was more than outdoing the other guy. Shooting a record book animal is great. I have shot a few record book animals. Shooting a record book mule deer is still one of my goals. But hunting is not all about score. It's about being with family. It's about spending time with your wife and son in the outdoors. It's about the look in your son's eyes when he walks up to the buck laying there. It's about teaching him respect for the animal. That is what this buck represents to me. And THIS buck will always remind me of my dad, and always being there for your family, HAPPILY, no matter what.
Thanks to those of you who helped on this hunt, with pointing me in the right direction, loading ammo, etc. etc. etc. You know who you are.
