Layemdown
Active Member
- Messages
- 119
I got lucky and drew a good tag for once. This hunt was a blast. Having never been to the area I spent the first few days scouting. I decided to save my scouting until the hunt because there are no deer in this area early in the year.
We hunted hard for 9 days. People had told me to be patient, so I was. I knew what I wanted, and I somewhat knew what was expected for the area. I saw several smaller bucks which is evidenced by my pics. Some of them were starting to rut.
It took me all week to talk myself into crossing this river and going to where I had seen very few deer, even though some other people had told me to go over there. We crossed one evening and didn't see very many deer, but we did see a decent 4x5, I had him at 75 yards, but decided to pass. The next evening we did the same thing, but in a different area. We crossed a river and headed up this canyon with little access and no other hunters. We were about a mile from the road and I spotted a herd of deer running up and away from us at about 500 yards; I saw a smaller buck, then I saw what I knew was the biggest buck I had seen all trip. I guess him at 26+, he was going away, and one view was on the skyline, both things that make them look bigger. But I felt confident in my judging.
They went over a hill and I could only hope to see them again. I kept heading up the same canyon hoping they had stopped in the next draw....As I came to where I could see most of the draw...nothing.....I decided to range the far hillside anyway...367 yards....I only went a little further and I spotted them on the same hillside I had ranged but in a place that I couldn't see just a few steps ago. I pulled up my binos and instantly found the big one I had been looking at. I could tell he was tall and well beyond the ears, I couldn't see points, he was standing broadside looking right at me. I sat down, got on my stix, found him in my scope, turned my 14 power up.....and I couldn't relax, I had been running up this canyon and I was breathing hard. So I took my eyes off the scope, took a few deep breaths, found him again in my scope, still standing there looking at me.....BOOOOMM!! Buck Down!!! He took a few steps and hit the dirt. I made sure he stayed down, and then started celebrating. My dad had taken a higher path to see if he could see them. The wind was blowing so hard he didnt' even hear me shoot. So we hooked up, took some pics, did some more celebrating, and drug that pig down to the bottom of this canyon and rolled him out on the chariot. Notice the waders in the last few pics.
Overall, the hunt of a lifetime, 27 inches wide, and by far my biggest to date. I'm glad my old man could be there with me.
Layemdown
"Vegetables are not food, vegetables are what food eats!!"
We hunted hard for 9 days. People had told me to be patient, so I was. I knew what I wanted, and I somewhat knew what was expected for the area. I saw several smaller bucks which is evidenced by my pics. Some of them were starting to rut.
It took me all week to talk myself into crossing this river and going to where I had seen very few deer, even though some other people had told me to go over there. We crossed one evening and didn't see very many deer, but we did see a decent 4x5, I had him at 75 yards, but decided to pass. The next evening we did the same thing, but in a different area. We crossed a river and headed up this canyon with little access and no other hunters. We were about a mile from the road and I spotted a herd of deer running up and away from us at about 500 yards; I saw a smaller buck, then I saw what I knew was the biggest buck I had seen all trip. I guess him at 26+, he was going away, and one view was on the skyline, both things that make them look bigger. But I felt confident in my judging.
They went over a hill and I could only hope to see them again. I kept heading up the same canyon hoping they had stopped in the next draw....As I came to where I could see most of the draw...nothing.....I decided to range the far hillside anyway...367 yards....I only went a little further and I spotted them on the same hillside I had ranged but in a place that I couldn't see just a few steps ago. I pulled up my binos and instantly found the big one I had been looking at. I could tell he was tall and well beyond the ears, I couldn't see points, he was standing broadside looking right at me. I sat down, got on my stix, found him in my scope, turned my 14 power up.....and I couldn't relax, I had been running up this canyon and I was breathing hard. So I took my eyes off the scope, took a few deep breaths, found him again in my scope, still standing there looking at me.....BOOOOMM!! Buck Down!!! He took a few steps and hit the dirt. I made sure he stayed down, and then started celebrating. My dad had taken a higher path to see if he could see them. The wind was blowing so hard he didnt' even hear me shoot. So we hooked up, took some pics, did some more celebrating, and drug that pig down to the bottom of this canyon and rolled him out on the chariot. Notice the waders in the last few pics.
Overall, the hunt of a lifetime, 27 inches wide, and by far my biggest to date. I'm glad my old man could be there with me.
Layemdown
"Vegetables are not food, vegetables are what food eats!!"
They look like bighorns!
