Back from unit 87 deer

[chipc]

Several of you who were kind enough to help me out asked for a post - hunt report so here goes: It was a fun hunt. Miles and miles to roam and 0 other hunters. The ranchers are generous in giving permission but access was restricted by snow, mud, deep loose sand and "NO ATV" rules(I'd much rather hike but access to general areas like junk hill and bradley on existing 2 tracks would have really helped- its about a 4 mile hike in otherwise). So, we hiked our a** off for 6 days. We covered several key areas and saw some deer but not a lot. Glassed up a really nice 170 type buck the first morning in the tall sage. I could just see his head and rack. I crawled within 100 yards trying to get a decent shot. He busted me and exploded out of there. I got one quick shot and missed. Finally, on the second to the last day I killed a decent 24 inch 4x4. Heavy with really good back forks but weak fronts. We saw about 30 deer per day 3 or 4 of which were bucks. I shot the second biggest one we saw. I expected to see far more and bigger deer but thats the way it goes.I did a ton of homework but With only 7 days in an area I'd never been maybe we missed where they were. Overall it was a good hunt. We worked hard (3 mile up hill pack out was hard on this old man )but that makes success that much more rewarding. I'm not sure I'd spend max points if I could do it again. Not sour grapes at all, I'm just sayin'. Thanks again to those who helped me. I've always tried to help and its great we can help each other. Thanks again. Chip

 

[chipc]

I should add that I spoke with Keith and Dee Burgess at the Pathfinder and the Raymonds at the Ferris mountain Ranch. All of them were mystified at the lack of deer. Dee Burgess told me that there are normally 100 + deer on their hayfields every evening. There were about 20 the nite were were out there. The only 2 other hunters we saw were both on the road. One was leaving with nothing and the other was scratching his head like we were. So, maybe it wasn't our lack of skill :>)

 

[Triple_BB]

Maybe not a huge surprise. They were saying at the spring meetings deer numbers were down significantly in most areas in central WY. Which was prompting tag reductions in most area's except for 89. This years drought didn't help matters...

 

[chipc]

Its interesting though, in respect to the drought, that both the mature Buck Deer and the mature doe Antelope I killed were absolutely rolling in fat. The deer had a solid inch of fat over his whole body. The Antelope was similar.

 

[DougW]

Chip-congrats on the buck, and thx for the great story. I hunted that unit a few years back with similar results. Chk ur inbox on my elk stuff-

Doug

 

[elks96]

I agree, 87 is not worth max points. I had the tag in 2006 or 2007... It was a fun hunt and an awesome area, but I could not find a buck that broke the low 170s. I worked my butt off, for example, the one day my hunting partner and I when to the top of the mountain on the west end. Got to the top just as the sun rose and hunted across the top. We worked the top a long way, and dropped back down and saw a good buck that went right back up we trailed that buck all the way to the top again.

In all honesty, I shot a 22"4x4 on the last day at last light. I had a friend who lives in WY to show me around and I spent 10 days up there in the archery season and 7 days of the rifle season. Since that time i have killed the biggest buck of my life in an area that does not require any points... Figures, but if I was to hunt it again I would not use max points... Elk on teh other hand would be awesome.

 

[MnMike]

Congrats on your hunt. Any pics to share??

 

[chipc]

Thanks Mike,
I'll see if I can figure out how to post a picture.

 

[chipc]

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/9595photo_(2).jpg

By request, my unit 87 deer.1st attempt at posting a picture. We'll see if it works !

 

[chipc]

F**K it. If you want a pic send me your e-mail. I'll be happy to send you one. Chip

 

[nripepi]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-06-12 AT 07:26AM (MST)[p]Here it is. Nice Buck! You cannot have any weird characters/spaces in the file name. Renamed and saved the file.

 

[chipc]

Thanks Nino !

 

[MnMike]

Nice deer. Thanks for posting!!