J
JimmyAZ
Guest
What a hunt!! I arrived in Albuquerque on Saturday morning and drove the 3.5 hours to our hunting spot. We were able to get camp set up with time to drive the country to get an idea of the roads and layouts. My father, living in Albuquerque had already scouted on multiple occassions so had a good idea of where we would be concentrating our hunt.
Sunday evening, prior to the hunt starting Monday, I took off on my own to go explore a bit and do a bit of glassing. I came out on a point, parked, and hiked out to the end to point. On the way out, I cut 3 bucks tracks meandering through the area, only to find where I jumped them about 50 yards further. With it still being the day before the hunt, I didn't want to spook them so continued out to glass. On the way back, I hopped on the tracks to get an idea of where they were heading. I tracked them for a few hundred yards and noticed they were slowing down. Ahead of me was small knob so I slowly snuck up to the top to peak over and low and behold, about 100 yards out were 3 bucks. One was a 3x4, the other a small 20" 4x4 and the third was a very tall 4x4 with week crab claw fronts. This buck was a nice buck, still in velvet, but wasn't what we were really after. However, this was just a glimpse of what the rest of the hunt would hold for us!
The next morning, we headed out to a spot we've previously hunted that held a series of buttes. The day before, my father had found some fresh buck tracks so it was perfect for a small push with one of the us waiting on the butte. Well the push came and went with no action so we decided to do it again to the next butte. Just about to the end of the the push, I looked off to the East off a small cliff and 80 yards below me were 2 does an a buck(3 point) and he was looking right at me. I slowly backed off to get prepared and when I returned back over to the cliff, the buck and 1 doe had bolted leaving one of the does staring to the South at the other 2 wondering what was going on! I quickly scanned the surronding country and about 250 yards out caught movement! Turned out to be 4 more bucks. A 2 point, couple of 3's and a average 4x. We watched them for a bit to make sure ol' big wasn't with them and one of our hunting partners headed over to where I was. On the way, pushing a doe and a fawn and than the previous 2x and doe. So here it was, opening morning and already had seen 5 bucks!
We headed back to camp to regroup and decided to work a small ridge near camp that had held some buck tracks. On the way over, I kept saying that the South side of the ridge looked good but we ended up working the North and West sides of it. After no deer, I moved up to the top of the ridge to go look at the South side. As soon as I peaked over, 100 yards below me stood 2 bucks. Both in velvet, a 2 point and spike, saw me and started heading east along the ridge. I was about to move on when I saw a larger buck with them heading out of the trees. I hightailed East along the top of the ridge to try and getting above them. About 400 yards down the ridge, I popped back over the edge and low and behold, they were right below me. The larger buck of the group was an decent 4x. Nice forks, tall but not real wide. He was only about 50 yards below me and would have been no problem but again, wasn't quite what I was looking for. Well, by the end of the day, we had seen 18 bucks and were very enthused of what lay in store for us!
The next morning, we headed out to another ridge that we had hunted in the past as well. Once out there, we did a small push with no luck. I decided to head out to the end of the ridge to do some glassing. On the way out, I cut 2 monster buck tracks moving down the ridge line. I decided we didn't have much else going on so I got on the tracks and made my way down the ridge. They ended up bailing off into the bottom of the canyon which was littered with fresh tracks. From there, with them walking, it was next to impossible to distinguish the buck tracks I was on. At this point, I was about 2 miles, hiking distance, from the car, and decided I would follow the bottom of the canyon West. I planned on following the base of the ridge for about 2 miles where it than had a side canyon working it's way back up to the top of the mesa we had been on. My father and hunting partner came over on top to glass ahead of me to make sure I didn't push anything. Well, before I could even start moving, our hunting partner, Mike, says "I've got a big buck!" About 200 yards to the West, was a small butte/outcropping. Was only a couple hundred fee high and gradual. The buck was bedded down on the West end of the butte about halfway up. After about an hour, consisting of my father going back to the car to get the heavy duty optics, we determined it was a nice 4x, weak back forks, but the widest buck we had seen. I had not yet seen the deer or could from my vantage point so had to take what my father said and make a decision. They were thinking it was about 28" wide or so and compared to all the bucks we had seen, was definately the widest.
We decided to see if we could make a stalk on it based on the width. Only problem was that he was bedded in a location that made it next to impossible to approach withouth being seen. We decided that the only option would to climb the butte on the East side, cross the top and see if I could get a shot from above. I took off all my packs to make me as stealthy as possible and was about to move when Mike says, "Just an idea but you may want to take your shoes off...". I thought, why not. I had a thick pair of wool socks on so off came the shoes, and the ankle braces with them. I slowly started to make my ascent on the butte, and I'll tell you what, if it weren't for the shoeless idea, I doubt it would have happened! I couldn't hear myself walk! I made my way up and topped out on top. From where I topped out, the deer was abuot 125 yards West and just off the top, still bedded down. I slowly made my way across the top, inch by inch. I finally got to where I thought I was within 50 yards of the deer when I was crouch walking behind a tree and came out to see a 2 point looking up at me about 30 yards away! I froze! The wind had been swirling and he knew something was up but hadn't pegged me. I waited a moment, actually seemed like an hour, for the deer to look away and sank back behind the tree. I sat there for about 5 minutes peaking over until the 2 point had moved out of eyesight and crouch walked over the the next tree. Past this next tree gave a window that I may be able to see the big buck. Just as I was crouching crawling past the tree, I looked down and 25 yards down from me stood a 3 point, broadside, staring right at me. Again, I froze! I was in a crouching posistion with the deer staring right at me. Right at that moment, the 4x stood up right behind him to see what the hype was. Problem was, I could only see his head and antlers. The 3 point continued to stare at me for at least a minute, and I'll tell you what, I couldn't have held out in that posistion much longer!! Felt like my knee was about to give out! Finally, he looked back toward the south and I was able to kind of fall over on my side to take the pressure off my knees. The larger buck was still standing in his bed and I knew any second, they were going to bust! Finally the 4x moved out but stopped right behind the 3 point presenting me without any shot! Now I'm thinking, I'm 25 yards from these bucks, they know somethings up, and they're going to head down the hill and I'll never have a shot, but than the 3 started to walk, well at that same moment, the 2 point began to move right to where the 3x had been. I had a split second where I had a deer length gap between the 2x and 3x presenting me with a broadside shot of the 4 point and I took it! The cloud of smoke from the 50. Knight exploded out of the gun and as it dissapated, I could see my buck starting to bound down the hill, but I could also see a red mark the size of a baseball right behind his lower shoulder and knew it was a down deal! He ended up going abuot 15 yards and was dead before he hit the ground! W
Was one of the most exciting, nerve-wracking, stalks I had ever done but was unforgettable!! I continued to run my streak with spotting deer on the hunt for the rest of the group but never was able to locate one my dad wanted. All said and down, we saw 42 separate bucks and had an incredible hunt!
The buck ended up being about 27 1/2" wide but due to the poor back forks, didn't score well. But as we all know, it's not about the score!
We also picked up quite a few sheds. Below are what myself and father found. We also had another 10 or so that Mike had found and had already left.
Sunday evening, prior to the hunt starting Monday, I took off on my own to go explore a bit and do a bit of glassing. I came out on a point, parked, and hiked out to the end to point. On the way out, I cut 3 bucks tracks meandering through the area, only to find where I jumped them about 50 yards further. With it still being the day before the hunt, I didn't want to spook them so continued out to glass. On the way back, I hopped on the tracks to get an idea of where they were heading. I tracked them for a few hundred yards and noticed they were slowing down. Ahead of me was small knob so I slowly snuck up to the top to peak over and low and behold, about 100 yards out were 3 bucks. One was a 3x4, the other a small 20" 4x4 and the third was a very tall 4x4 with week crab claw fronts. This buck was a nice buck, still in velvet, but wasn't what we were really after. However, this was just a glimpse of what the rest of the hunt would hold for us!
The next morning, we headed out to a spot we've previously hunted that held a series of buttes. The day before, my father had found some fresh buck tracks so it was perfect for a small push with one of the us waiting on the butte. Well the push came and went with no action so we decided to do it again to the next butte. Just about to the end of the the push, I looked off to the East off a small cliff and 80 yards below me were 2 does an a buck(3 point) and he was looking right at me. I slowly backed off to get prepared and when I returned back over to the cliff, the buck and 1 doe had bolted leaving one of the does staring to the South at the other 2 wondering what was going on! I quickly scanned the surronding country and about 250 yards out caught movement! Turned out to be 4 more bucks. A 2 point, couple of 3's and a average 4x. We watched them for a bit to make sure ol' big wasn't with them and one of our hunting partners headed over to where I was. On the way, pushing a doe and a fawn and than the previous 2x and doe. So here it was, opening morning and already had seen 5 bucks!
We headed back to camp to regroup and decided to work a small ridge near camp that had held some buck tracks. On the way over, I kept saying that the South side of the ridge looked good but we ended up working the North and West sides of it. After no deer, I moved up to the top of the ridge to go look at the South side. As soon as I peaked over, 100 yards below me stood 2 bucks. Both in velvet, a 2 point and spike, saw me and started heading east along the ridge. I was about to move on when I saw a larger buck with them heading out of the trees. I hightailed East along the top of the ridge to try and getting above them. About 400 yards down the ridge, I popped back over the edge and low and behold, they were right below me. The larger buck of the group was an decent 4x. Nice forks, tall but not real wide. He was only about 50 yards below me and would have been no problem but again, wasn't quite what I was looking for. Well, by the end of the day, we had seen 18 bucks and were very enthused of what lay in store for us!
The next morning, we headed out to another ridge that we had hunted in the past as well. Once out there, we did a small push with no luck. I decided to head out to the end of the ridge to do some glassing. On the way out, I cut 2 monster buck tracks moving down the ridge line. I decided we didn't have much else going on so I got on the tracks and made my way down the ridge. They ended up bailing off into the bottom of the canyon which was littered with fresh tracks. From there, with them walking, it was next to impossible to distinguish the buck tracks I was on. At this point, I was about 2 miles, hiking distance, from the car, and decided I would follow the bottom of the canyon West. I planned on following the base of the ridge for about 2 miles where it than had a side canyon working it's way back up to the top of the mesa we had been on. My father and hunting partner came over on top to glass ahead of me to make sure I didn't push anything. Well, before I could even start moving, our hunting partner, Mike, says "I've got a big buck!" About 200 yards to the West, was a small butte/outcropping. Was only a couple hundred fee high and gradual. The buck was bedded down on the West end of the butte about halfway up. After about an hour, consisting of my father going back to the car to get the heavy duty optics, we determined it was a nice 4x, weak back forks, but the widest buck we had seen. I had not yet seen the deer or could from my vantage point so had to take what my father said and make a decision. They were thinking it was about 28" wide or so and compared to all the bucks we had seen, was definately the widest.
We decided to see if we could make a stalk on it based on the width. Only problem was that he was bedded in a location that made it next to impossible to approach withouth being seen. We decided that the only option would to climb the butte on the East side, cross the top and see if I could get a shot from above. I took off all my packs to make me as stealthy as possible and was about to move when Mike says, "Just an idea but you may want to take your shoes off...". I thought, why not. I had a thick pair of wool socks on so off came the shoes, and the ankle braces with them. I slowly started to make my ascent on the butte, and I'll tell you what, if it weren't for the shoeless idea, I doubt it would have happened! I couldn't hear myself walk! I made my way up and topped out on top. From where I topped out, the deer was abuot 125 yards West and just off the top, still bedded down. I slowly made my way across the top, inch by inch. I finally got to where I thought I was within 50 yards of the deer when I was crouch walking behind a tree and came out to see a 2 point looking up at me about 30 yards away! I froze! The wind had been swirling and he knew something was up but hadn't pegged me. I waited a moment, actually seemed like an hour, for the deer to look away and sank back behind the tree. I sat there for about 5 minutes peaking over until the 2 point had moved out of eyesight and crouch walked over the the next tree. Past this next tree gave a window that I may be able to see the big buck. Just as I was crouching crawling past the tree, I looked down and 25 yards down from me stood a 3 point, broadside, staring right at me. Again, I froze! I was in a crouching posistion with the deer staring right at me. Right at that moment, the 4x stood up right behind him to see what the hype was. Problem was, I could only see his head and antlers. The 3 point continued to stare at me for at least a minute, and I'll tell you what, I couldn't have held out in that posistion much longer!! Felt like my knee was about to give out! Finally, he looked back toward the south and I was able to kind of fall over on my side to take the pressure off my knees. The larger buck was still standing in his bed and I knew any second, they were going to bust! Finally the 4x moved out but stopped right behind the 3 point presenting me without any shot! Now I'm thinking, I'm 25 yards from these bucks, they know somethings up, and they're going to head down the hill and I'll never have a shot, but than the 3 started to walk, well at that same moment, the 2 point began to move right to where the 3x had been. I had a split second where I had a deer length gap between the 2x and 3x presenting me with a broadside shot of the 4 point and I took it! The cloud of smoke from the 50. Knight exploded out of the gun and as it dissapated, I could see my buck starting to bound down the hill, but I could also see a red mark the size of a baseball right behind his lower shoulder and knew it was a down deal! He ended up going abuot 15 yards and was dead before he hit the ground! W
Was one of the most exciting, nerve-wracking, stalks I had ever done but was unforgettable!! I continued to run my streak with spotting deer on the hunt for the rest of the group but never was able to locate one my dad wanted. All said and down, we saw 42 separate bucks and had an incredible hunt!
The buck ended up being about 27 1/2" wide but due to the poor back forks, didn't score well. But as we all know, it's not about the score!
We also picked up quite a few sheds. Below are what myself and father found. We also had another 10 or so that Mike had found and had already left.
