My ID buck -continued

deerhuntr4885

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From reading the brochure I saw that there is some units in ID that are open until Nov 18 for any deer. I decided to give this a try. I called Silver Spur Outfitters and Lodge in Dixie, ID to see if they had any rooms available. The lodge is owned by Rick ad Deb Koesel.
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I had decided to hunt out of the lodge given the unpredictable weather and the fact that I was alone. They have a pretty good deal. $95.00 per night for room and three home cooked meals per day! I arrived late in the evening and they had dinner almost ready. It was really good. I was the only guest at the time and I spent the night hanging out with them and their family. I have to say I had a really good time with them and felt very welcome. Deb is a great cook.

Rick got out a topo map and gave me some areas to start with in the morning. I woke up at 0430 to find that Rick was already up and had a hot breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast waiting for me. He also packed me a huge lunch. I went to the are he told me to go.

I drove until the road was blocked by a log. I got out and started hiking. I was on the east side of a ridge. It was very thick forest. I hiked over to the west side and found that it was burned from a fire a few years back. I could not believe how steep it was! There were trees down every where. I could not imagine shooting a deer down in that stuff. I scanned as far as I could see and it all looked pretty rough.

I was getting kind of down as I walked down the ridge on a quad trail. The ground was frozen and crunched with every step. I was in thick timber and had no expectations of seeing a deer. I was trudging along hoping to get in the open before it got to late and everything bedded.

Suddenly to my right I heard a very large deer stotting away. The deer sounded huge as it got further away. I just froze and began cussing myself for not having any discipline to keep quiet. I stood there looking into a very thick stand of trees for about two minutes. It was very quiet but I could not see through the trees at all. I took two steps forward when I heard what sounded like a heard of elk getting up below me.

I froze again and stood there as I heard them moving away. Suddenly I saw a flash a movement in the trees. I threw my rifle up and saw a doe in the scope. I kept my rifle on that spot as doe after doe stepped through this little hole in the trees. After about 8 does I saw one side of a good buck and pulled the trigger. Doe, Doe, Doe, Doe, BUCK..BANG! Just that fast. With the recoil I lost sight of the hole in the trees and had no idea if I had hit him. I had thought the shot was about 40 yards in, but as I started walking through the forest, I kept my eye on the area I had shot and it got farther and farther away. I found that there was a little draw between me and the deer when I shot. By the time I crossed and started up the other side I realized it was more like 90 yards across.

This is the shot I had. The deer were in the middle of the frame.
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When I got there this nice 4X4 was laying there. He is not the widest at only 19 inches but he was very heavy and dark.
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I hunted for about 30 minutes before I had this guy on the ground. I sat there shaking my head in disbelief. I usually bust my ass to get my deer. This is the 2nd biggest deer I've ever killed and the other was on a guided hunt. I had to pack him out myself of course but even that was not bad, about 3/4 of mile on a trail.

Anyway...Thanks for reading. I would like to say that if you are looking for a place to stay I would highly recommend Rick and Deb's place in Dixie, ID. They are really neat people. The lodge is gorgeous. Rick told me right where to go and Bang! I got my buck. Just leave a room for me next year!
 
Damn Mike ur really kicking ass this year! SWEET buck and cool story!

Michael
"What I could do, I was doing, and that was simply putting my butt on the line for my country, the country that I loved, so that all the protestors and the academics and the liberal intelligentsia back home could enjoy the right to protest against people like me, the hated middleclass." --Gary R. Smith, US Special Forces
 
Thanks Michael, yeah, we had a pretty good year. Got into a lot of new country. We are going to make ID our go to spot from now on. By the way...I just booked a rifle bugle elk hunt in WY for 08! Can't wait!

Mike Henne
 
Congrats to ya Mike. That's a nice tall buck, kinda makes up for the width. Great lookin' deer. Thanks for the story.
 
Nice Buck. For shooting at longer ranges especially get some stoney point shooting sticks. Those things are money. I understand your pain about shooting at that buck way out there in your previous post. While dragging my brothers deer out this fall, he spotted a nice 23 inch 4 point with a group of does at 500 yards. It was to a be a heck of a shot. But we had busted our buts the whole day and the deer were on the move and it was the last day my dad would be able to hunt. He settled down with his sticks and got close a few times, just low. Anyways it confused the buck and he only went about 80 yards. Having gone just out of our view my dad was able to sneak closer and drop the buck with 200 yard shot through the neck.
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-16-06 AT 07:56AM (MST)[p]Thanks alot guys. Yeah he is pretty cool. He has a few extra little stickers and some blading that do not show in the photos. I try not to take the "Illusion" photos to make him look bigger. But it sure does look bigger in the photo. Either way I'm happy.

Lance,
Idaho treated me VERY well. Even if I had not killed a buck I woulda really loved it. As Arnold one said, "I'll be baaack."
Sneekee: I was on Stoneys by the way. I do love them but I hate the sheath they come with. I have lost two sets already. Falling out of that damn thing.

Mike Henne
 
Hey Mike Glad you had a good time up here... I work in elk city and have worked out at Dixie as well. I have a photo of a pretty nice buck that was killed out that way this year. Don't want to hijack your thread or nothing but I could email to you if you want it.
 
Yeah, I would love to see it. Just add @aol.com to my screen name. Thanks alot! Make sure you include some details!:)

Mike Henne
 
Mike,

Was it all pretty much thickly forested up there? Sounds like it. My dad and I have contemplated giving it a shot up there, but he scouted once for a day or two and found it to be heavily forested in the places he went. He lives in Grangeville (not far away), but we have always hunted farther south. Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the post. Enjoyed reading it.

Shane
 
Shane,
Yes, it was extremely thick forest. I never got out of the trees. I too scouted it in Sept. and had decided not to hunt there but I kept it as a back up plan. It worked out. I never got out of the trees but was told that if I kept going towards the river it opens up a bit. I never made it that far down and it is extremely steep country. I woulda been in alot of pain if I had gotten him evan another 100 yards down the ridge.

Mike Henne
 
Mike I sent that photo to you.

Shane, I am from Grangeville as well.

The buck in the photo came from some of that "I never made it that far down and it is extremely steep country. I woulda been in alot of pain if I had gotten him evan another 100 yards down the ridge." country. There is plenty of it out there.

later.
 
ok SPRINGBEAR, if you're not going to post the picture (which I don't blame you if it isn't yours), do me a favor and send it over to me as well if you don't mind. I've hunted that area the last couple years and would love to see the pic!! Send it to [email protected] if you don't mind. There are some nice bucks taken up there and I'd love to see a pic of another one.

Thanks!
Jaxon
 

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