M
MattB
Guest
Hey guys,
This hunt all started out this summer when myself, my brother Steve and good friend/muley guru Steve Dana (AKA BCBOY) were out scouting for bucks. Steve Dana was starting to plan a hunt for all of us and a few others for the coming season. He had planned the hunt to occur during the November rut....the best time to catch those elusive MONSTER MULE DEER that call the farth north of the north thompson home. I had been waiting for this hunt for the last month so i was taking my mule deer hunting around home pretty easy to say the least. Finally the time came and after a few calls to Steve Dana everything was set and i was pumped! My brother and I made the 5 hour trip to the hunting area in what seemed like no time at all. Steve Dana had already set one wall tent up and he was going to meet us up there at a good glassing spot along the old logging road. We met Steve D. at the spot and didnt see a thing. That day was pretty warm so we headed back to camp to get our camp 100% set up and operational. That afternoon we were greeted by the rest of our hunting party, a funny guy named Thad and another super nice HuntShoot member named Kevin. Both guys were awesome to share camp with! Plans were made that night and finalized in the morning. My brother and i were to head into an area we hunted a couple weeks previous so we had an idea of the lay of the land. That morning we were greeted to a skiff of fresh tracking snow, just enough to let you know whats moving around. My brother and i drove to our location and split up just after leaving the trucks. The morning was fairly uneventful, i jumped a deer around 9:00 and didnt get a look at it. I hunted hard and didnt see a deer until 1:00. I had just peaked a rise and spooked a grouse out from under my feet when all of a sudden, thud thud thud. I just caught a glimpse of it, a large deer running away. That damn brush was too thick to get a clear look so i figured i would walk up to where it ran and check its tracks to get an idea of what it was. I walked up to where i had caught the glimpse of the deer and looked at the track, it was decent but no extraoridinary so i figured it was probably an average mature buck. Thats when i looked to my left and noticed a large shed sticking up out of the snow. I walked over and picked it up and it turned out to be a decent 7 pt shed. After that i walked back over to the track and followed it to a ledge where i could glass down and try to spot the deer. I was standing on a large boulder in order to get a better look over all of the brush. I couldnt see a thing so i figured the buck just took off for places elsewhere. I jumped off the rock and slightly injured my ankle by landing too far forward. I bent over in pain and was swearing at myself when i looked down at the ground and noticed a spent '06 shell. I picked it up and thought "Wow, thats weird! Im hunting in this remote location and i happen to find an old Dominion brand '06 shell. I throw the shell in my pocket and think nothing of it. I start to head back to the truck as it is now after 2:00 pm. Im slowly making my way through the thick crap, raking and burping as i go and stopping every now and then to see if i can hear anything. I stopped at one place for probably close to 10 minutes and would rake the antler and listen....nothing so i turn to keep walking when i hear snnnoooorrrt. I stop and look, i cant see the deer and im thinking theres no way it could be snorting at me when all of a sudden 2 deer come flying by. I get a quick look and can tell one is a 2 point and the other looked like a doe. The 2 point was snorting everywhere he went. I looked to the direction they came from when i see another doe enter my viewing area and behind her there is a buck. I can see enough through the bush to get a good look at the buck but i could tell he was definetely mature. I look in front of me and find a good rock to lay in the prone position and rest my rifle on.Finally the buck clears some brush and i get a glimpse of his rack. I can see 4 points, deep forks, and what looks like a non-typical point. At this pont i start to get the shakes and the safety comes off. I keep judging the buck, his antlers look thin and his spread is around 23" but boy are his forks nice. I was contemplating shooting him, but decided to pass. This buck would have probably net over 170" but i already have a buck bigger so i pass. Plus i am hunting with the famous Steve Dana and I knew if i shot a net 170" buck i would be in for a razzin' . The buck walks, even before i can get a pic. I continue on my way and meet my brother near the truck. He tells me of the nice bucks he saw and passed on as well and we were both pumped to see good quality deer! We get back to camp and BS with the other guys. No one had a deer down so we just chatted about the days events and what we saw and some of the experiences we gained. It was during this talk i brought up the story of the '06 shell i found. I told the guys at camp that it was a lucky shell, they probably figure i was full o' Sh!t....little did they know
.
We made plans that night for Thad, Kevin, and Steve D. to head into the area my brother and i hunted. Thad or Kevin likely would have dropped the bucks we passed on and there was still other untouched country for Steve and I to hunt. A plan was made that Steve would head into an area he saw a good buck following a doe the day previous. I was going to hunt some thick crap that we had spent a little time shed hunting the previous spring. Morning didnt come soon enough. We awoke to 2-3" of fresh snow and it was still falling as we left camp on that fateful day. I arrived at my location and loaded my gear, including the lucky '06 shell i put in my pocket.
Im a pretty superstitious guy so i knew that there had to be a reason why that shell felt so lucky. Kinda like how the previous year when i was guiding, Cody Robbins had a lucky measuring tape. Well he forgot that measuring tape at camp when he flew home so i took it out with me and it had been sitting on my dresser at home until Nov. 14th 2004. On that day i decided to carry that tape and see if it really was lucky and as we all know it sure was!
So i slowly make my way back into the thick timber, the kind of timber that lets a buck grow to that prestigious boone and crockett size we all dream of but few rarely see. I only cut one set of tracks during the first hour of light. I didnt let that get my hopes down...i had that lucky shell with me, something was bound to happen! I decided to hunt the exact area we had shed hunted. It consisted of a lot of alder, cedar and few pine/fir trees. I had made my way through that country for about an hour and a half, burping and raking, mimicing my quarry. I had only cut one more set of tracks and they were made sometime during the middle of the night. I continued on and found a dead tree that i decided to rake on for some unknown reason. I had never raked on a dead tree before, nor have i seen a buck rub a dead tree. But i figured "What the hell, that lucky shell will help me out!" So i grabbed my antler, the antler i always carry....the antler that came off the first mule deer i ever shot back when i was 14 years old. I raked for 10-30 seconds and stopped and listened.Im standing there with snow falling all around me and it is dead silent. I look around....nothing....i cant see any deer. I listen some more when i hear a distant snap and then another. I knew it was a buck and by the sounds of things it was big!!! I waited in anticipation i could hear the bruiser getting closer. I look down below me, the opposite direction the buck is approacing from, i see nothing and turn back around when there he is...he looks really good....good spread and awesome height. He turns broadside at 30 yards giving me the first look at his forks and i nearly lost my marbles. Im seeing huge forks and the buck makes his way to a small fir tree i raise my .300 wsm and am shaking feverishly with buck fever. I have never experience buck fever like this, the gun comes up and i go to squeeze on his heart lung area but my gun makes its way to his front shoulder when BOOOOMM!!! Im thinking to myself holy sh!t, i think i got him. The buck spins at the shot and comes charging downhill straight at me. I dive to the left side of me and get the gun up when the buck has closed the distance to 10 yards in 2 seconds. I squeeze off a shot, BOOOM!!! smoked him! that makes the buck go to my right when i jack another shell in and drop him. Its finally over, the buck of my dreams, a buck that came after me lies 15 metres away and im shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. I cant believe what happened so i take a few minutes to let things settle down and then i walk over to the brute admire it and this is what i see...
I finally reach down and grab the huge antlers while thinking to myself i must be dreaming....deer dont grow this big....
But yes they do, here is proof.
I cant believe what is lieing at my feet. A deer of all deer, the one that i thought i would never see. I take a few minutes and just admire the buck. Then i break out the camera and take the pictures of the buck you just looked at. I spent a half an hour taking pics and just taking my time with it and letting it all sink in. I then get down to the hard work and quarter the deer and start with the packing. I packed 2 quarters to the game trail that i walked in on and then grabbed one quarter and all of my gear and headed back to camp to see if my brother was around and to grab my pack. It was a 6 km pack out to the truck and then a short drive to camp where no one except me was. I figured i would pack it out on my own so i left the guys a note to let them know when i expected to be back so they wouldnt think i was lost in the woodwork or stabbed myself or what have you . I got back up to the trail and packed back in carrying my gun- only because the deer happened to expire within 5m of a bear den. I made the 6km hike in in just over an hour. I cleaned up the meat and loaded it in my pack. I proceeded to climb up the hill when i hear..."What did you do? Stab yourself?!" It was my brother, Johnny on the Spot mr Steve032 just appearing at the right time like he always does . He grabbed my pack and hauled it out for me and i sure appreciated that as i was dead tired! What a great guy! We got back to camp right at 6 pm, approximately 9 hours after i dropped the hammer on this guy. Everyone at camp was pumped that a big buck was downed and everyone congratulated me....I was on cloud 9 and still am. I will put the tape to the buck later and come up with some measurments. Steve D. Gave it a few quick measurments last night and figures it will go over 190" gross typical and net 186" as a guess.
A picture of the Good Old Days that we are living in right now!
I also have a video that i will post that shows all angles of the buck to give everyone a better idea of what this buck is like
One last pic
This hunt all started out this summer when myself, my brother Steve and good friend/muley guru Steve Dana (AKA BCBOY) were out scouting for bucks. Steve Dana was starting to plan a hunt for all of us and a few others for the coming season. He had planned the hunt to occur during the November rut....the best time to catch those elusive MONSTER MULE DEER that call the farth north of the north thompson home. I had been waiting for this hunt for the last month so i was taking my mule deer hunting around home pretty easy to say the least. Finally the time came and after a few calls to Steve Dana everything was set and i was pumped! My brother and I made the 5 hour trip to the hunting area in what seemed like no time at all. Steve Dana had already set one wall tent up and he was going to meet us up there at a good glassing spot along the old logging road. We met Steve D. at the spot and didnt see a thing. That day was pretty warm so we headed back to camp to get our camp 100% set up and operational. That afternoon we were greeted by the rest of our hunting party, a funny guy named Thad and another super nice HuntShoot member named Kevin. Both guys were awesome to share camp with! Plans were made that night and finalized in the morning. My brother and i were to head into an area we hunted a couple weeks previous so we had an idea of the lay of the land. That morning we were greeted to a skiff of fresh tracking snow, just enough to let you know whats moving around. My brother and i drove to our location and split up just after leaving the trucks. The morning was fairly uneventful, i jumped a deer around 9:00 and didnt get a look at it. I hunted hard and didnt see a deer until 1:00. I had just peaked a rise and spooked a grouse out from under my feet when all of a sudden, thud thud thud. I just caught a glimpse of it, a large deer running away. That damn brush was too thick to get a clear look so i figured i would walk up to where it ran and check its tracks to get an idea of what it was. I walked up to where i had caught the glimpse of the deer and looked at the track, it was decent but no extraoridinary so i figured it was probably an average mature buck. Thats when i looked to my left and noticed a large shed sticking up out of the snow. I walked over and picked it up and it turned out to be a decent 7 pt shed. After that i walked back over to the track and followed it to a ledge where i could glass down and try to spot the deer. I was standing on a large boulder in order to get a better look over all of the brush. I couldnt see a thing so i figured the buck just took off for places elsewhere. I jumped off the rock and slightly injured my ankle by landing too far forward. I bent over in pain and was swearing at myself when i looked down at the ground and noticed a spent '06 shell. I picked it up and thought "Wow, thats weird! Im hunting in this remote location and i happen to find an old Dominion brand '06 shell. I throw the shell in my pocket and think nothing of it. I start to head back to the truck as it is now after 2:00 pm. Im slowly making my way through the thick crap, raking and burping as i go and stopping every now and then to see if i can hear anything. I stopped at one place for probably close to 10 minutes and would rake the antler and listen....nothing so i turn to keep walking when i hear snnnoooorrrt. I stop and look, i cant see the deer and im thinking theres no way it could be snorting at me when all of a sudden 2 deer come flying by. I get a quick look and can tell one is a 2 point and the other looked like a doe. The 2 point was snorting everywhere he went. I looked to the direction they came from when i see another doe enter my viewing area and behind her there is a buck. I can see enough through the bush to get a good look at the buck but i could tell he was definetely mature. I look in front of me and find a good rock to lay in the prone position and rest my rifle on.Finally the buck clears some brush and i get a glimpse of his rack. I can see 4 points, deep forks, and what looks like a non-typical point. At this pont i start to get the shakes and the safety comes off. I keep judging the buck, his antlers look thin and his spread is around 23" but boy are his forks nice. I was contemplating shooting him, but decided to pass. This buck would have probably net over 170" but i already have a buck bigger so i pass. Plus i am hunting with the famous Steve Dana and I knew if i shot a net 170" buck i would be in for a razzin' . The buck walks, even before i can get a pic. I continue on my way and meet my brother near the truck. He tells me of the nice bucks he saw and passed on as well and we were both pumped to see good quality deer! We get back to camp and BS with the other guys. No one had a deer down so we just chatted about the days events and what we saw and some of the experiences we gained. It was during this talk i brought up the story of the '06 shell i found. I told the guys at camp that it was a lucky shell, they probably figure i was full o' Sh!t....little did they know
.We made plans that night for Thad, Kevin, and Steve D. to head into the area my brother and i hunted. Thad or Kevin likely would have dropped the bucks we passed on and there was still other untouched country for Steve and I to hunt. A plan was made that Steve would head into an area he saw a good buck following a doe the day previous. I was going to hunt some thick crap that we had spent a little time shed hunting the previous spring. Morning didnt come soon enough. We awoke to 2-3" of fresh snow and it was still falling as we left camp on that fateful day. I arrived at my location and loaded my gear, including the lucky '06 shell i put in my pocket.
Im a pretty superstitious guy so i knew that there had to be a reason why that shell felt so lucky. Kinda like how the previous year when i was guiding, Cody Robbins had a lucky measuring tape. Well he forgot that measuring tape at camp when he flew home so i took it out with me and it had been sitting on my dresser at home until Nov. 14th 2004. On that day i decided to carry that tape and see if it really was lucky and as we all know it sure was!
So i slowly make my way back into the thick timber, the kind of timber that lets a buck grow to that prestigious boone and crockett size we all dream of but few rarely see. I only cut one set of tracks during the first hour of light. I didnt let that get my hopes down...i had that lucky shell with me, something was bound to happen! I decided to hunt the exact area we had shed hunted. It consisted of a lot of alder, cedar and few pine/fir trees. I had made my way through that country for about an hour and a half, burping and raking, mimicing my quarry. I had only cut one more set of tracks and they were made sometime during the middle of the night. I continued on and found a dead tree that i decided to rake on for some unknown reason. I had never raked on a dead tree before, nor have i seen a buck rub a dead tree. But i figured "What the hell, that lucky shell will help me out!" So i grabbed my antler, the antler i always carry....the antler that came off the first mule deer i ever shot back when i was 14 years old. I raked for 10-30 seconds and stopped and listened.Im standing there with snow falling all around me and it is dead silent. I look around....nothing....i cant see any deer. I listen some more when i hear a distant snap and then another. I knew it was a buck and by the sounds of things it was big!!! I waited in anticipation i could hear the bruiser getting closer. I look down below me, the opposite direction the buck is approacing from, i see nothing and turn back around when there he is...he looks really good....good spread and awesome height. He turns broadside at 30 yards giving me the first look at his forks and i nearly lost my marbles. Im seeing huge forks and the buck makes his way to a small fir tree i raise my .300 wsm and am shaking feverishly with buck fever. I have never experience buck fever like this, the gun comes up and i go to squeeze on his heart lung area but my gun makes its way to his front shoulder when BOOOOMM!!! Im thinking to myself holy sh!t, i think i got him. The buck spins at the shot and comes charging downhill straight at me. I dive to the left side of me and get the gun up when the buck has closed the distance to 10 yards in 2 seconds. I squeeze off a shot, BOOOM!!! smoked him! that makes the buck go to my right when i jack another shell in and drop him. Its finally over, the buck of my dreams, a buck that came after me lies 15 metres away and im shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. I cant believe what happened so i take a few minutes to let things settle down and then i walk over to the brute admire it and this is what i see...
I finally reach down and grab the huge antlers while thinking to myself i must be dreaming....deer dont grow this big....
But yes they do, here is proof.
I cant believe what is lieing at my feet. A deer of all deer, the one that i thought i would never see. I take a few minutes and just admire the buck. Then i break out the camera and take the pictures of the buck you just looked at. I spent a half an hour taking pics and just taking my time with it and letting it all sink in. I then get down to the hard work and quarter the deer and start with the packing. I packed 2 quarters to the game trail that i walked in on and then grabbed one quarter and all of my gear and headed back to camp to see if my brother was around and to grab my pack. It was a 6 km pack out to the truck and then a short drive to camp where no one except me was. I figured i would pack it out on my own so i left the guys a note to let them know when i expected to be back so they wouldnt think i was lost in the woodwork or stabbed myself or what have you
. I got back up to the trail and packed back in carrying my gun- only because the deer happened to expire within 5m of a bear den. I made the 6km hike in in just over an hour. I cleaned up the meat and loaded it in my pack. I proceeded to climb up the hill when i hear..."What did you do? Stab yourself?!" It was my brother, Johnny on the Spot mr Steve032 just appearing at the right time like he always does . He grabbed my pack and hauled it out for me and i sure appreciated that as i was dead tired! What a great guy! We got back to camp right at 6 pm, approximately 9 hours after i dropped the hammer on this guy. Everyone at camp was pumped that a big buck was downed and everyone congratulated me....I was on cloud 9 and still am. I will put the tape to the buck later and come up with some measurments. Steve D. Gave it a few quick measurments last night and figures it will go over 190" gross typical and net 186" as a guess. A picture of the Good Old Days that we are living in right now!
I also have a video that i will post that shows all angles of the buck to give everyone a better idea of what this buck is like
One last pic
