M
muleymort
Guest
So i was happy to draw a NE general season tag this year, drew northern last 2 and it was hard hunting and few deer. Went to a place i hadn't been in a couple of years, had my life long hunting partner with me, my old man, and to start we were seeing a few animals. Saturday we couldn't hunt long, and we didn't make it out again til tuesday. What a day 12" of fresh snow and deer elk and moose everywhere. Saw a great buck from a long ways away and made a 2 hr hike to try to put a move on him. When we got up to the quakey basin he had been in we were seeing deer everywhere but not the big guy. We did see some other bucks though and a couple i thought i would take. We had limited time so decided to leave the area undisturbed and come back in the morning. Well mother nature kept us from getting to our trail head until 7 on wed morning and by the time we got into our canyon their was shooting up in the same basin. We decided to head up there any way and when we got there saw 2 guys that were obviously following some blood. As they were walking back and forth and kind of ruining that whole area i started glassing a lower area and was seeing deer bedded all over. As i was looking i would turn and watch these guys and then look back, the last time i did this i saw a deer standing in front of some pines that hadn't been there before. I glassed him for a sec, pointed him out to my dad and my dad said i think thats a buck. So i looked again as he turned his head and saw he was an ok 3, bigger than anything i've taken. So i ask my dad to back me up, take aim, fire and he drops. Never moved again. After a high 5 and i calmed down we decide my dad will stay where he can see him and i will go and start the work. Once i got over there, no easy task, i pulled his head out of the snow and saw he was a 3 by 4, and a big bodied deer too. I was exstatic. I had told my 2 year old son i was going chasing bucks and was going to bring him one home. Well i tried to take some pics, but it was too cold for my camera so i didn't get any and as i start to take off my jacket and get out my knife i hear someone walking up above me. A guy yells did you find my deer? I said no, i shot one, he asks 4 point, i say yeah a 3 by 4. He says yeah thats my deer. Says he has been tracking it for 4 and a half hours and starts saying you're not gonna take my deer are you? He takes me shows me some blood drops the size of peas about 20 yards from where i shot this buck and says see it's my deer. We go back and look and the deer has 2 wounds. One tore through the very front of his breast, didn't hit bone just ripped through flesh and hair. The second right through the shoulder and through the vitals. Easy to see which was mine and which was his. He keeps saying you're not gonna take my deer are you, tells me his dad killed a bigger one in the basin that morning and was working on it and that this was his first deer. My dad gets there listens to the story and says well bud it's his let's go. I was fuming, but was done arguing and started gathering up my pack and gun. The guy keeps saying come on man don't be upset, what can i do to make you feel better about this? We just left after i told him i was leaving angry and there was nothing he could do about it. The killer is 2 days later my dad calls and says he read an article that basically came down to the guy that puts the animal on the ground is the one who gets it. He tells me sorry i probably screwed you out of that deer. So i don't even have pics of the biggest buck I'VE killed and i just have to get over it. On the plus side we saw a ton of animals, some trophy bulls both elk and moose, and over all really enjoyed the hunt. But the eternal battle rages on. I have to say it only makes sense that the guy that puts it on the ground gets the animal. Some situations may be grayer than that but in this case the deer was 1000 plus yards from the guy and i don't believe he would've ever seen the deer again. Heres to next year i guess. I hope the other guy spends a little more time at the range this year so some other guy doesn't have to kill his second deer for him too!