GLEDEASY
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Here are the links to the other parts of my HAC
Part 1
Part 2
The month following my elk hunt I found myself going back to the daily grind but with the general season rifle deer hunt approaching it was time to head back up to the cabin. My little brother and wife both had tags. It had been a dozen years since my brother last harvested a deer and this was my wife?s first tag so I was hopeful for both to fill their tag.
My wife was 21 weeks pregnant with a baby girl, our third child. With the time I had spent on the mountain I had not found a buck that was worth keeping an eye on. Because of these two things we decided to hunt an area that wasn?t too high or steep in elevation.
Opening day we saw a handful of bucks a few ridges away, so the three of us tried closing the distance. As we got closer two bucks jumped up ahead of us, the biggest being a 3 point. Both were stopped facing away starring back at my brother. As my wife and I waited for the buck to turn my brother finally decided to take the 3 point.
As we were taking care of the buck my wife wanted to take my spotting scope to go glass for deer. It didn't take long before she came back saying she had found a buck bedded. I asked if it was a buck she wanted to go after, which it was, so I left my brother to go help my wife. When we got to the spot she had seen the buck I ranged him at almost 600 yards away. The country was open but I wanted to limit her shot to 200 yards if possible. We got to 240 when the buck stood up. Since the buck was surrounded by does we waited for a shot. Few minutes went by when some deer spooked towards us from the right. In the bunch was a nice 3x4 and stopped in the middle of the other deer we had been watching. Now the blood was really pumping, but I still wanted to make sure of a good shot. Unfortunately, the moment didn't happen before they headed over the ridge and we were unable to get on them. We finished and packed out the first buck and headed back for the cabin to get the meat hung.
That evening was uneventful in the hunt. There were multiple people in the area and we didn't see anything until it was too late to make a move.
The first day took its toll on my wife. She wasn?t very motivated to hike back up the hill in the rocky terrain, and I didn't blame her. We actually slept in and tried something a little different since the area was still somewhat unfamiliar to me. We didn't see much but eventually found a canyon to look over. I had quickly looked over the hillside and didn't see anything. As we sat and talked my wife expressed to me how much she wanted to get a buck. Right at that moment is when a buck appeared in my binoculars. ?Go get your gun? I told her. She replied, ?Are you serious?? ?Yes, go get it!? I put my spotting scope on the buck so she could look at it and determine if she wanted to shoot it. The buck was bedded and unaware that we were there, so we had ample time to talk over things. Putting all the factors together it was determined that this buck was a go.
I ranged the buck at 360 yards and even though I wanted to limit her to a 200 yard shot I knew we weren't going to be able to get any closer. We were in no rush so we found a spot where we could get a good and steady rest. I looked on my drop chart turned the turret 4 ? MOA and told her where to aim. I honestly wasn?t sure how this was going to turn out, but was excited to see the outcome. With the camera rolling Kelli touched off a round and I watched as the buck went down in his bed!
Kill Shot
Hike up to the buck
Looking back at where we shot the buck, on the rock cliff
Kelli's first buck
I was nice enough to pack it out for her
We were both really excited for what had just happened. It was a great experience for just the two of us to share. She made a great shot, and with that shot has harvested an animal further than any I have.
2013 has turned out to be a memorable year for hunting and with one tag left it's still not over!
Part 1
Part 2
The month following my elk hunt I found myself going back to the daily grind but with the general season rifle deer hunt approaching it was time to head back up to the cabin. My little brother and wife both had tags. It had been a dozen years since my brother last harvested a deer and this was my wife?s first tag so I was hopeful for both to fill their tag.
My wife was 21 weeks pregnant with a baby girl, our third child. With the time I had spent on the mountain I had not found a buck that was worth keeping an eye on. Because of these two things we decided to hunt an area that wasn?t too high or steep in elevation.
Opening day we saw a handful of bucks a few ridges away, so the three of us tried closing the distance. As we got closer two bucks jumped up ahead of us, the biggest being a 3 point. Both were stopped facing away starring back at my brother. As my wife and I waited for the buck to turn my brother finally decided to take the 3 point.
As we were taking care of the buck my wife wanted to take my spotting scope to go glass for deer. It didn't take long before she came back saying she had found a buck bedded. I asked if it was a buck she wanted to go after, which it was, so I left my brother to go help my wife. When we got to the spot she had seen the buck I ranged him at almost 600 yards away. The country was open but I wanted to limit her shot to 200 yards if possible. We got to 240 when the buck stood up. Since the buck was surrounded by does we waited for a shot. Few minutes went by when some deer spooked towards us from the right. In the bunch was a nice 3x4 and stopped in the middle of the other deer we had been watching. Now the blood was really pumping, but I still wanted to make sure of a good shot. Unfortunately, the moment didn't happen before they headed over the ridge and we were unable to get on them. We finished and packed out the first buck and headed back for the cabin to get the meat hung.
That evening was uneventful in the hunt. There were multiple people in the area and we didn't see anything until it was too late to make a move.
The first day took its toll on my wife. She wasn?t very motivated to hike back up the hill in the rocky terrain, and I didn't blame her. We actually slept in and tried something a little different since the area was still somewhat unfamiliar to me. We didn't see much but eventually found a canyon to look over. I had quickly looked over the hillside and didn't see anything. As we sat and talked my wife expressed to me how much she wanted to get a buck. Right at that moment is when a buck appeared in my binoculars. ?Go get your gun? I told her. She replied, ?Are you serious?? ?Yes, go get it!? I put my spotting scope on the buck so she could look at it and determine if she wanted to shoot it. The buck was bedded and unaware that we were there, so we had ample time to talk over things. Putting all the factors together it was determined that this buck was a go.
I ranged the buck at 360 yards and even though I wanted to limit her to a 200 yard shot I knew we weren't going to be able to get any closer. We were in no rush so we found a spot where we could get a good and steady rest. I looked on my drop chart turned the turret 4 ? MOA and told her where to aim. I honestly wasn?t sure how this was going to turn out, but was excited to see the outcome. With the camera rolling Kelli touched off a round and I watched as the buck went down in his bed!
Kill Shot
Hike up to the buck
Looking back at where we shot the buck, on the rock cliff
Kelli's first buck
I was nice enough to pack it out for her
We were both really excited for what had just happened. It was a great experience for just the two of us to share. She made a great shot, and with that shot has harvested an animal further than any I have.
2013 has turned out to be a memorable year for hunting and with one tag left it's still not over!