Silentstalker
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 3,135
LAST EDITED ON Aug-16-09 AT 11:37PM (MST)[p]Hope all is well with each of you. I just returned tonight from a quick, (almost too quick) Bow hunt out on the Book Cliffs. I have had the opportunity to spend the summer scouting both on the computer and in person some of the coolest deer country around! I owe the success of this hunt to several of you! Thank you for your time and valuable info. You know who you are and it was much appreciated!
Back to the hunt, Jerry Slaugh and I had found a buck on our last scouting trip that I really wanted to shoot. I could not find him Thursday or Friday before the hunt. But I did find several other great bucks. So, I set a plan in motion where my Dad and Cory set up across a big canyon with me on the opposite side above the position I had glassed a big 4 point 2 days in a row. The idea was to have them signal me in on top of him for a shot.
Well, as plans go, the buck was no where to be seen. So, they guided me in on a great 4 point which I passed a 48 yard shot on because he was a little willowy and the shot was not just right for that distance. Right about then Cory and my Dad spotted the big 5x4 I really wanted. They guided me in on him. He was with at least 4 other bucks. I snuck right into 25 yards of the bucks. I could not get a shot at them as all I could see was bits and pieces of them through the very thick brush. I made my mistake by moving to try for a shot when I should have just sat down and waited them out.
The big 4x4 closest to me spotted me and slowly turned around and started walking away from me towards the top of the ridge. He took the other bucks with him. I quickly followed after them determined to make something happen. I came around a thick bush, and there in front of me was the big 4x4. A great buck. I had no time to range him, just draw back, set the pin where it needed to be on a perfectly broadside buck, and touch the release! Well, I shot him for 35 yards and he turned out to be 30. Right over his back. I ended up dogging this bachelor herd for the next 10 minutes getting 2 more shots off missing each due to deflecting off "unseen" branches in the brush. I was really starting to panic. Here I was within 40 yards of a 180 class buck for over 1/2 an hour and now I was down to 1 arrow. I had to make it count.
These bucks would jump and trot about 40 yards after each blown shot, then settle down and start feeding again. I snuck in 1 last time. This time another hunter approached them from the top of the ridge and bumped them right down to me. They passed by me at 35 yards. As the heaviest buck started into my opening, I drew back, and whistled. He stopped and looked at me. I quickly looked at his rack through my peep sight while at full draw and saw the good back forks and I could see 1 side of his fronts. They were forked also. I knew he was not the 2 biggest bucks but could tell he was very heavy and tall. I thought he was the other 4 point in the group. As I dialed in my pin on his ribs, he turned and started walking straight away from me. I whistled again and he stopped quartering hard to my right. I touched my release and heard the arrow bury itself inside the buck. He took off like a bolt and disappeared below me. Cory and Dad said they thought they saw him falter. After a 45 minute wait, Dad and I went and found him while Cory remained on the lookout in case he was not dead yet. We found him piled up less than 100 yards from where I shot him. To my surprise he was only a 3 point on one side but I am not the least bit disappointed. It was an incredible hunt that I got to share with my Brother and Dad.
My only regret is that it was over so soon. So much build up and thought goes in to a fun LE hunt. While this buck is not the biggest on the mountain, He is my best archery buck so far. I can barely get my hands around his bases. He is heavy all the way out to each point.
Hope you all enjoy the story and pic's. Good luck to each of you on your hunts!
Chad
Here is a pic I found tonight that I had taken of my buck the night before I shot him.
Back to the hunt, Jerry Slaugh and I had found a buck on our last scouting trip that I really wanted to shoot. I could not find him Thursday or Friday before the hunt. But I did find several other great bucks. So, I set a plan in motion where my Dad and Cory set up across a big canyon with me on the opposite side above the position I had glassed a big 4 point 2 days in a row. The idea was to have them signal me in on top of him for a shot.
Well, as plans go, the buck was no where to be seen. So, they guided me in on a great 4 point which I passed a 48 yard shot on because he was a little willowy and the shot was not just right for that distance. Right about then Cory and my Dad spotted the big 5x4 I really wanted. They guided me in on him. He was with at least 4 other bucks. I snuck right into 25 yards of the bucks. I could not get a shot at them as all I could see was bits and pieces of them through the very thick brush. I made my mistake by moving to try for a shot when I should have just sat down and waited them out.
The big 4x4 closest to me spotted me and slowly turned around and started walking away from me towards the top of the ridge. He took the other bucks with him. I quickly followed after them determined to make something happen. I came around a thick bush, and there in front of me was the big 4x4. A great buck. I had no time to range him, just draw back, set the pin where it needed to be on a perfectly broadside buck, and touch the release! Well, I shot him for 35 yards and he turned out to be 30. Right over his back. I ended up dogging this bachelor herd for the next 10 minutes getting 2 more shots off missing each due to deflecting off "unseen" branches in the brush. I was really starting to panic. Here I was within 40 yards of a 180 class buck for over 1/2 an hour and now I was down to 1 arrow. I had to make it count.
These bucks would jump and trot about 40 yards after each blown shot, then settle down and start feeding again. I snuck in 1 last time. This time another hunter approached them from the top of the ridge and bumped them right down to me. They passed by me at 35 yards. As the heaviest buck started into my opening, I drew back, and whistled. He stopped and looked at me. I quickly looked at his rack through my peep sight while at full draw and saw the good back forks and I could see 1 side of his fronts. They were forked also. I knew he was not the 2 biggest bucks but could tell he was very heavy and tall. I thought he was the other 4 point in the group. As I dialed in my pin on his ribs, he turned and started walking straight away from me. I whistled again and he stopped quartering hard to my right. I touched my release and heard the arrow bury itself inside the buck. He took off like a bolt and disappeared below me. Cory and Dad said they thought they saw him falter. After a 45 minute wait, Dad and I went and found him while Cory remained on the lookout in case he was not dead yet. We found him piled up less than 100 yards from where I shot him. To my surprise he was only a 3 point on one side but I am not the least bit disappointed. It was an incredible hunt that I got to share with my Brother and Dad.
My only regret is that it was over so soon. So much build up and thought goes in to a fun LE hunt. While this buck is not the biggest on the mountain, He is my best archery buck so far. I can barely get my hands around his bases. He is heavy all the way out to each point.
Hope you all enjoy the story and pic's. Good luck to each of you on your hunts!
Chad
Here is a pic I found tonight that I had taken of my buck the night before I shot him.
We really thought for sure he was going to get the big 5x4 we wanted. From our view way up above and on the opposite ridge, we thought he would get a shot for sure at the big boy, but it is so thick in there at ground level. Once those big bucks spooked a bit it was chaos with bucks all over the hillside moving in all directions.
