mountainmac1
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-18-11 AT 09:35PM (MST)[p]My brother Chad has been in a wheel chair since he was the age of 4. He has a disease called distonia that has caused him to be in a wheel chair. Despite this, he has the greatest attitude of anyone I have ever met. Two of his favorite things in life are Sports and Hunting.
We decided to try our luck up in the Raft River Mountains in Northern Utah. I had been there several years ago with a buddy on the general rifle hunt. There was a zoo of people, but because he is disabled, the DWR gives him the opportunity to hunt before the general public.
4:00 AM the alarm sounded, it was game time. We drove 2 1/2 hours north towards Park Valley. When we got to the parking lot it was a cool 32 degrees and windy. A cold front had rolled through the night before and the mountain tops were dusted with snow. We got Chad loaded into the Ranger and we were on our way.
Within the first 20 minutes of day light we had seen about 15 does and a small 2 point funnel up and over the top of the mountain. We crested the top of the mountain and head down the back where all the deer were heading for their beds. 150 yards below the road was a 3 point with 5 does. He was sniffing the does with his head cocked back like he was in the rutt (which we thought was a little strange). We decided to pass on him to see if we could find a bigger deer. We knew we may have made a mistake on passing on him because this area gets a lot of hunting pressure and there are very few deer that get to be larger than a 2 point.
By the time the morning was done we had seen about 40 does and two 2 points. We decided to start a fire and heat some soup up for lunch. Chad decided this was his chance to get a nap in, so he fell asleep for 2 hours. We took a couple shots with the rifle to make sure it was still dialed in and we were on the trail again.
We drove to another area that we hadn't been before that looked like prime deer country. We bumped a group of 5 does out of there bed but no bucks. We went to the top of the canyon and found another 10 does and another 2 point buck. Chad said if we see that three point again I want to shoot him. So we started to head back towards our truck and trailer.
On our way back we were seeing deer everywhere but no decent bucks. We pulled up above the sage brush flat where we had seen the 3 point earlier that morning to find him with the same 5 does. We moved slowly to the edge of the cliff looking down on the sage brush flat and got chad in position. We got the scope zoomed in on the buck. Clicked the saftey off and booooooooom!!! followed shortly with a whack. We knew the buck was hit hard. He ran down the hill and piled up about 70 yards from where he was shot. We all started yelling and giving high fives. We went down the hill and pulled him back up.
We arived home 22 hours after we begin with a buck in the bed and smile on our faces.
There have been several people in the past that have reached out to help Chad like Mike from www.ireviewgear.com, if you haven't checked out this website you need to when you are looking to buy some new hunting gear. They do a great job on breaking down outdoor gear. Mike is one of the most genuine guys I have ever met.
Curtis from Monarch Taxidermy helped Chad out a few years ago with donating a elk mount for him. Curtis is a phenominal taxidermist and even a better guy. If you hunt in Utah you need to need to check him out when you are looking to mount your next animal.
There were several others that offered to help Chad on this hunt like one_dryboot and legacy. It goes to show there are a lot of great people out there that are looking to make a difference.
For all of you that have helped, thank you very much. Chad doesn't take this for granted as hunting it is one of the few things that he gets to enjoy. Chad is already looking forward to next years hunt.
Good luck to all the hunters going into the field this weekend.
We decided to try our luck up in the Raft River Mountains in Northern Utah. I had been there several years ago with a buddy on the general rifle hunt. There was a zoo of people, but because he is disabled, the DWR gives him the opportunity to hunt before the general public.
4:00 AM the alarm sounded, it was game time. We drove 2 1/2 hours north towards Park Valley. When we got to the parking lot it was a cool 32 degrees and windy. A cold front had rolled through the night before and the mountain tops were dusted with snow. We got Chad loaded into the Ranger and we were on our way.
Within the first 20 minutes of day light we had seen about 15 does and a small 2 point funnel up and over the top of the mountain. We crested the top of the mountain and head down the back where all the deer were heading for their beds. 150 yards below the road was a 3 point with 5 does. He was sniffing the does with his head cocked back like he was in the rutt (which we thought was a little strange). We decided to pass on him to see if we could find a bigger deer. We knew we may have made a mistake on passing on him because this area gets a lot of hunting pressure and there are very few deer that get to be larger than a 2 point.
By the time the morning was done we had seen about 40 does and two 2 points. We decided to start a fire and heat some soup up for lunch. Chad decided this was his chance to get a nap in, so he fell asleep for 2 hours. We took a couple shots with the rifle to make sure it was still dialed in and we were on the trail again.
We drove to another area that we hadn't been before that looked like prime deer country. We bumped a group of 5 does out of there bed but no bucks. We went to the top of the canyon and found another 10 does and another 2 point buck. Chad said if we see that three point again I want to shoot him. So we started to head back towards our truck and trailer.
On our way back we were seeing deer everywhere but no decent bucks. We pulled up above the sage brush flat where we had seen the 3 point earlier that morning to find him with the same 5 does. We moved slowly to the edge of the cliff looking down on the sage brush flat and got chad in position. We got the scope zoomed in on the buck. Clicked the saftey off and booooooooom!!! followed shortly with a whack. We knew the buck was hit hard. He ran down the hill and piled up about 70 yards from where he was shot. We all started yelling and giving high fives. We went down the hill and pulled him back up.
We arived home 22 hours after we begin with a buck in the bed and smile on our faces.
There have been several people in the past that have reached out to help Chad like Mike from www.ireviewgear.com, if you haven't checked out this website you need to when you are looking to buy some new hunting gear. They do a great job on breaking down outdoor gear. Mike is one of the most genuine guys I have ever met.
Curtis from Monarch Taxidermy helped Chad out a few years ago with donating a elk mount for him. Curtis is a phenominal taxidermist and even a better guy. If you hunt in Utah you need to need to check him out when you are looking to mount your next animal.
There were several others that offered to help Chad on this hunt like one_dryboot and legacy. It goes to show there are a lot of great people out there that are looking to make a difference.
For all of you that have helped, thank you very much. Chad doesn't take this for granted as hunting it is one of the few things that he gets to enjoy. Chad is already looking forward to next years hunt.
Good luck to all the hunters going into the field this weekend.
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