Zeke
Long Time Member
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- 10,603
LAST EDITED ON Oct-12-16 AT 12:13PM (MST)[p]I drew the muzzleloader Paunsaugunt deer tag and had a wonderful time in the field with my brother and 2 sons-in-law.
Between scouting and hunting I spent 16 days on the unit and had a wonderful time albeit a much tougher hunt than I ever imagined it would be. Scouting was fun but near worthless, in my case, since the deer began their famous migration and were in a totally different areas than I had previously ventured. I hunted 4 completely different areas and felt like we were finally in the bucks on day 6 of the hunt.
I killed my buck on the night of the 7th day at "Ultimate Muzzleloader" range with a single well placed Parker Bullet. Some of you have followed my load development and near countless trips to the range in preparation for this grand adventure. I don't like leaving the shot to chance since there's so much about hunting that is luck-based (whether we'll admit it or not).
The morning before I killed my buck I saw over 100 4x4 bucks but nothing that turned my crank. When I saw my buck that night I got as excited as ever and knew I wanted to try for him.
I watch my buck and 25 other bucks in the group feed slowly my way but the sun was now long gone and the light fading fast. As the deer fed closer I kept tabs on the range, I eventually made the decision that it was now or never since the deer were migrating hard every night and my hunt was drawing to a close.
I was sitting with my back against a pinion trunk and decided to use the shooting sticks so I wouldn't skip a bullet off the brush (let me say that I usually hate sticks but they worked well for me this time and I'm glad I'd packed then in with me). As my brother scoped down from a distant ridge on the whole scene with 16X his spotting scope, I prepared for the shot.
One shot and the deer lurched forward and was down in under 2 seconds! The awesome buck was mine and "score be damned" as my brother later said. I quickly loaded the rifle and made the long walk in the near darkness to my buck. My brother came off his perch and we met at the deer at almost the exact moment.
The closer I got the more pleased I was. 7 score-able points per side and just a whisker short of the magic 30' wide mark. I was pleased!
After caping, quartering and the long pack-out to the road in the darkness, we found the quads and made the 8 mile trip to camp where we ate dinner at 1 am and flopped into bed.
Yes, it had been quite an odyssey!
Thanks for looking,
Zeke
Between scouting and hunting I spent 16 days on the unit and had a wonderful time albeit a much tougher hunt than I ever imagined it would be. Scouting was fun but near worthless, in my case, since the deer began their famous migration and were in a totally different areas than I had previously ventured. I hunted 4 completely different areas and felt like we were finally in the bucks on day 6 of the hunt.
I killed my buck on the night of the 7th day at "Ultimate Muzzleloader" range with a single well placed Parker Bullet. Some of you have followed my load development and near countless trips to the range in preparation for this grand adventure. I don't like leaving the shot to chance since there's so much about hunting that is luck-based (whether we'll admit it or not).
The morning before I killed my buck I saw over 100 4x4 bucks but nothing that turned my crank. When I saw my buck that night I got as excited as ever and knew I wanted to try for him.
I watch my buck and 25 other bucks in the group feed slowly my way but the sun was now long gone and the light fading fast. As the deer fed closer I kept tabs on the range, I eventually made the decision that it was now or never since the deer were migrating hard every night and my hunt was drawing to a close.
I was sitting with my back against a pinion trunk and decided to use the shooting sticks so I wouldn't skip a bullet off the brush (let me say that I usually hate sticks but they worked well for me this time and I'm glad I'd packed then in with me). As my brother scoped down from a distant ridge on the whole scene with 16X his spotting scope, I prepared for the shot.
One shot and the deer lurched forward and was down in under 2 seconds! The awesome buck was mine and "score be damned" as my brother later said. I quickly loaded the rifle and made the long walk in the near darkness to my buck. My brother came off his perch and we met at the deer at almost the exact moment.
The closer I got the more pleased I was. 7 score-able points per side and just a whisker short of the magic 30' wide mark. I was pleased!
After caping, quartering and the long pack-out to the road in the darkness, we found the quads and made the 8 mile trip to camp where we ate dinner at 1 am and flopped into bed.
Yes, it had been quite an odyssey!
Thanks for looking,
Zeke
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