C
champafairy
Guest
After checking out all the great archery bucks and bulls that were posted here in September I was dying for my muzzy hunt to get here! I couldn't wait to get to our honey hole where my husband, Micah, and I had been watching some great bucks this summer. We didn't go there at all during the archery hunt and when we finally got there a couple days before the muzzy hunt we were ultra bummed to see all of the damage that had been done to the wilderness area by ATV's. Trails had been made into the deepest reaches of the area and all of the deer were gone!
The hunt started and over 3 days of riding horses, scouting, and spotting we only saw about 20 does and 2 velvet spikes. We were hunting hard, saddling up at 4am and not getting back to camp until 10pm or later. I was super bummed! I finally decided if I could even just see another spike I'd knock it down. I'd all but given up and that's when it happened.. The biggest buck I'd ever seen in my life jumped up from underneath a tree on the hillside we were riding past. I saw it and told Micah to stop! I barreled off the horse, got my foot stuck in the stirrup, ate some dirt, jumped up and got an awful shot off as it was running away. Well, he stopped and Micah was saying 'Hurry! Hurry! Reload! Reload! He's just standing there!' Well, I couldn't have reloaded if the muzzle was a foot wide, I was shaking so bad! Finally I managed and, wouldn't you know it!? He was gone.
Hiked for hours trying to get sight of him again but that was just wishful thinking.
I had a doe pronghorn hunt that started on Saturday so we packed up camp and headed home. I've never missed a deer before and I'll tell you what, it's not a good feeling! We wasted Saturday watching an alfalfa field and decided Sunday we'd give the pronghorn hunting a rest and head toward the winter range to see if the bucks had headed out there.
On the way out we ran into some of Micah's friends, aaron84, rackman and rackman's boy, Matt, who said that they hadn't seen any good bucks, only a coulple of two-points. I was all about shooting a two-point so they led us to where they had seen them. We hiked up a rocky hill where we could spot from. Aaron84 decided to climb to the top of some boulders to see what was on the other side and came back a couple seconds later and said, 'get your gun! there's a four-point over here.' I scaled the boulders up to where he was and, sure enough, the four-point was on the opposite hill about 80 yards away. Got off a great shot as he was quartering away and dropped him where he stood.
The best part of the whole hunt was seeing how excited rackman's boy Matt was! I'm so glad that I missed the first buck so that I was able to hang out with Matt and be a part of his first hunt! Coolest kid ever, I think that this grin says it all!! Thanks Micah, Aaron, Randall, and Matt for making this my best hunt to date! Hope you all enjoy the pics!
The hunt started and over 3 days of riding horses, scouting, and spotting we only saw about 20 does and 2 velvet spikes. We were hunting hard, saddling up at 4am and not getting back to camp until 10pm or later. I was super bummed! I finally decided if I could even just see another spike I'd knock it down. I'd all but given up and that's when it happened.. The biggest buck I'd ever seen in my life jumped up from underneath a tree on the hillside we were riding past. I saw it and told Micah to stop! I barreled off the horse, got my foot stuck in the stirrup, ate some dirt, jumped up and got an awful shot off as it was running away. Well, he stopped and Micah was saying 'Hurry! Hurry! Reload! Reload! He's just standing there!' Well, I couldn't have reloaded if the muzzle was a foot wide, I was shaking so bad! Finally I managed and, wouldn't you know it!? He was gone.
Hiked for hours trying to get sight of him again but that was just wishful thinking.I had a doe pronghorn hunt that started on Saturday so we packed up camp and headed home. I've never missed a deer before and I'll tell you what, it's not a good feeling! We wasted Saturday watching an alfalfa field and decided Sunday we'd give the pronghorn hunting a rest and head toward the winter range to see if the bucks had headed out there.
On the way out we ran into some of Micah's friends, aaron84, rackman and rackman's boy, Matt, who said that they hadn't seen any good bucks, only a coulple of two-points. I was all about shooting a two-point so they led us to where they had seen them. We hiked up a rocky hill where we could spot from. Aaron84 decided to climb to the top of some boulders to see what was on the other side and came back a couple seconds later and said, 'get your gun! there's a four-point over here.' I scaled the boulders up to where he was and, sure enough, the four-point was on the opposite hill about 80 yards away. Got off a great shot as he was quartering away and dropped him where he stood.
The best part of the whole hunt was seeing how excited rackman's boy Matt was! I'm so glad that I missed the first buck so that I was able to hang out with Matt and be a part of his first hunt! Coolest kid ever, I think that this grin says it all!! Thanks Micah, Aaron, Randall, and Matt for making this my best hunt to date! Hope you all enjoy the pics!
