antlerrick
Very Active Member
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Just got back from my hunt on the Henry Mountains for a management buck. The stipulations for this hunt are one side must be 3 points or less, not counting the eye guards..
When I drew the permit, and began contemplating what kind of hunt this would be, I decided that I wanted 4 things with my buck and in this order. The first was not a want, but a requirement..lol..
#1 One side had to have only 3 points
#2 I wanted to take a buck with lots of mass.
#3 I wanted a buck with high antlers,
#4 and last but not least, a decent spread..
We arrived on Saturday night, and right as a storm rolled thru..we took a drive and was in rain, hail, and snow, and only seen 7 deer in 3 hours..???.. Sunday our rides turned up a lot of deer so things were looking up.. We made a plan to be where we had seen the most bucks and anticipated the opening morning as we went to bed. We headed our of camp with a 1/2 hour ride ahead of us to get to our planned area. It became light enough to see about 1/2 mile from where we were headed, and I ride right up along side a 26" 3 x 4 and a 29" inch buck my son had seen the night before. Lloyd Jacobsen of the Iverson Bull fame, was also checking out this buck. He asked my son if we were going after him in the morning as he was helping a friend with some tough health issues, and my son told him to go for it and told him "I really don't think we can get my dad to shoot a deer tomorrow".. Anyway I drove away from that buck and Lloyd and his fried with the tag were right up the road. I told them to smoke the buck as we rode by, which they did about 5 minutes later! That made me feel good to know the gentleman had the opportunity to take a great buck.
Seen a lot of deer that day but nothing I would want to pull the trigger on and end my hunt so quick..I took about a mile hike during the middle of the day and my new knee decided it didn't like me much and by the time I got back to the wheeler, I could barely put any weight on it????? Don't know what I did but it pretty well was going to restrict me to spotting and stalking from the roads.
The next morning just at light be find a great buck lying about 75 yards from the road. He was probably 32" wide, a sweet basket shape, and quite high. I could see a great 4 on his right side, but could only see a great split on his lower fork and a bladed tine on the back. He stood and started walking away and I really thought he was my buck. He had everything I wanted, but my son got out my scope and then blew my excitement by telling me not to shoot. I looked thru the scope and the buck had a 2 inch split, not a blade on his back tine...I couldn't quit thinking about that monster buck..We run across 4 smokers that evening that we so fun to see, but so frustrating when you had to just watch them walk away.
Again another day of lots of bucks but again I held my cool, and was very patient. Wednesday morning we took a short hop into an out of the way area, and seem 4 more big bucks that were serious trophys! As we headed up, our neighbor in camp who also had some serious health issues was behind us. We saw a number of management bucks and passed on a good looking 27 inch 3 x 4, went down the road and turned around about a block away, and as we came back, our neighbor dumped that buck as we pulled up..
Today my son and my step brother and his son were going to have to leave in the afternoon so I hoped that today would be the day.. We seen bucks on every ridge as we cut across the road across the side of the mountain. Seen about 15 bucks in the first mile, but only a couple of smaller management bucks and the rest were 4x4's.
We pulled over to glass and I found a small four point in front of us and asked my son if he had seen it. He looked over at a distant ridge and I told him he was looking the wrong way..He suddenly yelled to get my gun as there was a huge buck heading up the ridge and he was sure he was a 3X something. He grabbed the Swarovski and verified he was legal.. We were looking in the direction of the sun and I couldn't see the buck. He finally ran over to where I was and pointed me in the right direction. I finally caught movement and my son told me to take the shot before he topped the ridge. I picked out the buck and touched off, and dust blew up in front of me and I just caught a glimpse of the buck lurching ahead. I told him I thought I missed but he said I had taken out both front shoulders. We watched for about 10 minutes and then headed up the hill to find him..
29 inch ourside spread...
Great Height and Mass...
Tons of character
26" main beams.. The far rear time is 18 inches long.
My Hunting Party!
I couldn't have asked for a better finish to a great week. I held out for what I wanted and finally found an exceptional buck.
This hunt was a lesson in patientence, persistance, frustration (from watching monster bucks just walk away) and yet was very enjoyable and rewarding...
Hope you all enjoy the story and photos!
Rick
I finally met BigMoosie on the hill and had a good visit...I haven't heard whether he took a buck or not!
When I drew the permit, and began contemplating what kind of hunt this would be, I decided that I wanted 4 things with my buck and in this order. The first was not a want, but a requirement..lol..
#1 One side had to have only 3 points
#2 I wanted to take a buck with lots of mass.
#3 I wanted a buck with high antlers,
#4 and last but not least, a decent spread..
We arrived on Saturday night, and right as a storm rolled thru..we took a drive and was in rain, hail, and snow, and only seen 7 deer in 3 hours..???.. Sunday our rides turned up a lot of deer so things were looking up.. We made a plan to be where we had seen the most bucks and anticipated the opening morning as we went to bed. We headed our of camp with a 1/2 hour ride ahead of us to get to our planned area. It became light enough to see about 1/2 mile from where we were headed, and I ride right up along side a 26" 3 x 4 and a 29" inch buck my son had seen the night before. Lloyd Jacobsen of the Iverson Bull fame, was also checking out this buck. He asked my son if we were going after him in the morning as he was helping a friend with some tough health issues, and my son told him to go for it and told him "I really don't think we can get my dad to shoot a deer tomorrow".. Anyway I drove away from that buck and Lloyd and his fried with the tag were right up the road. I told them to smoke the buck as we rode by, which they did about 5 minutes later! That made me feel good to know the gentleman had the opportunity to take a great buck.
Seen a lot of deer that day but nothing I would want to pull the trigger on and end my hunt so quick..I took about a mile hike during the middle of the day and my new knee decided it didn't like me much and by the time I got back to the wheeler, I could barely put any weight on it????? Don't know what I did but it pretty well was going to restrict me to spotting and stalking from the roads.
The next morning just at light be find a great buck lying about 75 yards from the road. He was probably 32" wide, a sweet basket shape, and quite high. I could see a great 4 on his right side, but could only see a great split on his lower fork and a bladed tine on the back. He stood and started walking away and I really thought he was my buck. He had everything I wanted, but my son got out my scope and then blew my excitement by telling me not to shoot. I looked thru the scope and the buck had a 2 inch split, not a blade on his back tine...I couldn't quit thinking about that monster buck..We run across 4 smokers that evening that we so fun to see, but so frustrating when you had to just watch them walk away.
Again another day of lots of bucks but again I held my cool, and was very patient. Wednesday morning we took a short hop into an out of the way area, and seem 4 more big bucks that were serious trophys! As we headed up, our neighbor in camp who also had some serious health issues was behind us. We saw a number of management bucks and passed on a good looking 27 inch 3 x 4, went down the road and turned around about a block away, and as we came back, our neighbor dumped that buck as we pulled up..
Today my son and my step brother and his son were going to have to leave in the afternoon so I hoped that today would be the day.. We seen bucks on every ridge as we cut across the road across the side of the mountain. Seen about 15 bucks in the first mile, but only a couple of smaller management bucks and the rest were 4x4's.
We pulled over to glass and I found a small four point in front of us and asked my son if he had seen it. He looked over at a distant ridge and I told him he was looking the wrong way..He suddenly yelled to get my gun as there was a huge buck heading up the ridge and he was sure he was a 3X something. He grabbed the Swarovski and verified he was legal.. We were looking in the direction of the sun and I couldn't see the buck. He finally ran over to where I was and pointed me in the right direction. I finally caught movement and my son told me to take the shot before he topped the ridge. I picked out the buck and touched off, and dust blew up in front of me and I just caught a glimpse of the buck lurching ahead. I told him I thought I missed but he said I had taken out both front shoulders. We watched for about 10 minutes and then headed up the hill to find him..
29 inch ourside spread...
Great Height and Mass...
Tons of character
26" main beams.. The far rear time is 18 inches long.
My Hunting Party!
I couldn't have asked for a better finish to a great week. I held out for what I wanted and finally found an exceptional buck.
This hunt was a lesson in patientence, persistance, frustration (from watching monster bucks just walk away) and yet was very enjoyable and rewarding...
Hope you all enjoy the story and photos!
Rick
I finally met BigMoosie on the hill and had a good visit...I haven't heard whether he took a buck or not!
