A Couple More Washington Bucks

G

Goldknight

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the hunters will pipe in with the info.
 
Keep the pics coming, lets here some details, it looks like those are a couple of last minute trophies, good job boys!
 
Lets hear the scoop! That looks like a nice firing Center buck on top. It looks like lights out for that bottom buck, right between the eyes.
 
That buck on top has one of the prettiest muley capes that I've ever seen. I love that dark brown color. Beautiful deer....
Scottyboy
 
We should hear from the hunters today I hope I will bug them about it, As for that cape it is perfect and has many people drooling over it. He had many offers for it before he even got home.
But I will let him tell the story if he ever logs in.
 
RE: A Couple More Washington Bucks ( LONG)

Okay, okay, this may be kinda long but here it goes. We headed out the 23rd, after having spent the weekdays recouping from opening weekend, what a zoo. Typicaly the only reason I even go over for the opener is to take friends that have kids that want to learn to hunt, but have absolutly no clue where to go, or how to go about it. This year was no different, however the day before we were to leave, I recieved a call from that friend and was told he and his son were not going to make it because he had too much going on that weekend. This is after having made plans several months before so he would be ready. His son is the one that really wants to go, so unfortunatly his son is the one that is really missing out. I will be taking him by myself next year, with or without his father.

After turning down several small bucks that I could have taken with my bow, less than 30 yards, I recieved a call over my Motorola that "Goldnight" had a buck down. I told him I would be there in a few because I was helping a young man field dress the 3X3 that was 30 yards from me. He had no idea what to do after he shot it. I walked him through the entire process and helped him drag it over to a spot where he would be out of everyones way until his friends showed up to help him. Then I continued over to help Goldnight drag his 4X4 over to the ridge where he could drag it the rest of the way down hill. I then went back and helped the young man get his 3X3 to the same spot so he could just go down hill to his car as well. My brother and I went home Sunday with no deer, but we knew we were leaving the following Friday, and staying till the end of the season in hopes of getting some snow in the hills, and finding a couple migraters.

We started hunting again Friday and saw lots of does and small bucks but nothing we wanted to end our hunt over. On Sunday I spotted a massive 5X5 below me. He had a 4X4 with him as well as two 3X3's and a forken horn. I worked down the hill and positioned myself on the top of a finger draw in front of where I knew they would be coming by. One by One they came over the little ridge at about 100 yards. I put the crosshairs on each one as they popped up and kept passing until the 4X4 got there. He was about 25 inched wide but had heavy antlers and brow tines, with deep forks. This was not a small local buck but probably one of the first migraters coming down. I passed on him knowing the 5X5 would be next. Well he never came over the saddle. After waiting about 30 minutes, I got up and went to look for him, but he had disappeared. I just kept telling myself that that is why he is as big as he is. He has gone years evading hunters and predators with just that same sense of danger he had to avoid me.

Monday morning found me in the same spot hoping to get a glance of that 5X5 again. My brother had gone back to the same spot he had been seeing a few small bucks at so we sat there at first light talking back and forth on our radios, letting each other know what we were seeing. About 9:00 am I spotted a couple does way down below where I sit. As you can tell by the photo, it is all sage out there and wide open. The does were down below me at the bottom of this draw I sit, working in and out of a large thicket that also has a few small aspens. I put the Swarovski spotter on them and zoomed in to check out the top of their heads. Just then I noticed some movement coming out of the trees. It was a very tall and heavy 3X3. He was following the does with his nose buried and lips curled. I watched him for about a minute before he quickly headed back to the security of his thicket. I called Waid and told him about the 3 point and decided that we still had till friday to hunt, so dont go chasing him.

That evening we started hitting another favorite spot of mine, and we were not disappointed. At about 5:00 pm it was like someone opened the gates. Deer started popping out all over the place, unfortunatly they were all propeller heads. We stopped counting at 40 and saw several more before it was too dark. On the ride back into town for dinner and the World Series, Waid and I decided that if there were that many does in that area, the bucks would be sure to show up sooner or later, the only problem was without that coveted late hunt permit, we only had till Friday night

Thursday morning found me sitting in the same spot but the weather had turned to blue skies. The deer seemed to go into hiding very early, of course the full moon lighting up the hillsides like a spotlight didn't help either. At about 9:15 a.m. I heard a deer running behind me so I stood up and turned to see this deer flying down the hill from the top of this knob. I put up my binos and saw this massive buck running faster than any deer I had ever seen. Looking close I noticed it was a 6x6 whitetail, not a muley. I picked up my rifle and set the crosshairs. When he slowed down to a trot I took an ill advised, 400+ yard shot. I would never have considered this before but this thing was a monster. I knew I would probaly never have a chance like this again, having hunted over there for 30 years and never seeing a whitetail buck like this, so I readied and fired again. This time the buck stopped and turned broadside. I thought to myself, he's about 450 now, take your time, aim about 4" over his back and give it a try. ( 7mm 140 grain nosler partition ) I squeezed the trigger and "Click". What the Fu#@? I pulled the bolt back and found that in all the excitement, the third shell never loaded after I ejected the second. I locked it in and looked through the scope but the buck was gone. I headed down to where he had been standing and looked for about an hour in the area but there was no sign of hitting him.

Going into the thursday evening hunt, each day was pretty much the same, small bucks and hundreds of does. Thursday we hiked up to the same spot we had since sunday except this time I had Waid position himself on a side hill where I had been seeing at least 50 does a night come over a ridge heading to the fields. With about 5 minutes of light left Waid calls me and says, "A buck just came over following the does". I put up my binos and saw him coming down right in front of Waid at about 150 yards. I hear the shot and see the does take off running right at Waid but the buck was down. He called me in a fit of excitement, "hes down, hes down". I told him to reload and keep watching him for a couple minutes to make sure he isn't getting up. 15 miinutes later we were field dressing the buck in the bottom photo and dragging him back to the Excursion. He is a 4X4 with brow tines, and is 22 inches wide. This is his second buck and his biggest. I am very proud of him for having turned down several smaller bucks throughout the week, taking a chance that he may go home skunked. I have always told him that if you harvest a small buck, you wont get the chance to harvest a big one. Now he knows what I was always saying.

That left me with only friday morning to find one, since we would be heading home and not hunting the evening hunt. Friday I went to my same bush I sit in every year in the mornings. I was hoping to see that big whitetail again but knew the odds of that were slim to none. The morning was pretty much uneventful, only seeing 8 does and a small 2 point buck. At about 9:00 a.m. I called Waid, who was sitting a draw over from me watching for that whitetail in the bottoms and I told him that I wasn't seeing much so I was going to pack up and go over the top to check out the back bowl before any other hunters got back there. He said he had seen a couple guys working their way up a while ago so I told him I would just hang out for a few more minutes then. Just then I spotted a doe through my binos down below me next to that thicket. I put the spotter on her and watched her head away from the thicket and into a little finger draw. Just as I was about to get up again, I saw a buck come out of the thicket and chase after the doe. I recognized it right away. It was that same tall heavy 3 point I had seen on monday. I got on the radio and told Waid that I was going to go down after him. I took about 15 steps and looked through the binos to keep an eye on where they were heading, and saw the buck turn and b-line it right back to the thicket. I headed down and could not see him anywhere, it was too thick and there were too many aspens. I told Waid that I had no choice and started through. I was about halfway through it when I saw the buck pop up and start bounding away. I picked up the rifle and put the crosshairs on him but there was just too many trees in the way. I started quickly moving through , knowing that if I could get through before he reached the ridgeline, I could take a shot. I got through but he was already over the side ridge and heading up. I was thinking to myself, there is no way I am going to be able to catch this buck now, it was at least 400 yards uphill before I would be able to see where he had gone. Being the last day of the hunt, I told myself I may as well go take a look. I high tailed up the hill, sweating like a pig by now, and saw a couple does about half as high as I had just climbed and standing with them was the buck. They had gone over the ridge and started side hilling rather than continueing up. They were still about 400 yards away, and too far for me to take an offhand shot with my heart going about 180 BPM from going up that damned hill. I started paralleling them making sure they could see me, so I could cut the distance down without them thinking I was going right at them. I had just reached a barbwire cattle fence when they started to take off again. I was about 250 yards by then so I set the gun on a fence post, looked through the scope and saw brush in the view. I knew I would never get on them again so I through caution to the wind and let one fly. The bucks next stride saw him pile up in a ball when his front feet hit the ground. I rechambered and watched him through the scope for about 5 minutes. He was mine. I called Waid and he went and got the car and drove it down to a spot where we would only have to go down hill for the drag. After we got to the buck we saw that infact he was a 4X3 with 1 1/2" brow tines, making him a 5X4. The photo is nice but really doesnt do him justice. It is very heavy and tall. My tag wouldnt even go around the bases. We took some photos, dressed him and them drug him out, making sure to keep the shoulders well off the ground. Thank God my brother is horse, even though it is a pig of a deer, he picked up the head and grug him out, cape in tacked. We went into town to get fuel and liquids for the drive home and I guy came over and asked if he could take a closer look. I said sure so he picked up the head and checked it out really close. He asked me if I was going to have it mounted and I told him no, although he is big, I have much bigger ones on my wall now. He then asked me if I wanted to sell the cape. I said no, my taxidermist would want it. He then said "I will give you $150.00 for it". I said thanks but I'm sure my taxidermist will take care of me, hes done several for me and always takes care of me. He then said he would do a European mount for me and give me a little smaller cape that I could give my taxidermist. I politely declined again. The guy then gave me his phone number and told me to call him if I change my mind. I already felt good about the buck but after that I really did. He is only 24" wide but is 26" tall and is 5 1/2" arond the bases. Typically our bucks don't grow antlers as big as a lot of your states and provinces do but this deer is a pig. His rack may not show it but his body was huge. His neck was almost as big around as the rest of him, and the color is just beautiful. All in all, a nice last day "Settle For" buck;^) Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy the photos and the story. You guys are the only reason I even had my bother take a photo. All my friends always ask why I never take photos too. I guess I never thought much about it until this site came along..............rf
 
RE: A Couple More Washington Bucks ( LONG)

Great Story Man. Congrats to both of you. Did the other hunter actually shoot him inbetween the eyes? Sure looks like it.

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome... right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.
 
RE: A Couple More Washington Bucks ( LONG)

The buck was running down hill in front of him so he led it a little and ended up hitting it in the eye and it exitted the top of his head...............rf
 
RE: A Couple More Washington Bucks ( LONG)

Cool story, and again thats a great last minute deer. He sure is pretty.
 

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