LAST EDITED ON Jul-30-10 AT 10:31AM (MST)[p]>>2006 early east side 29 inch heavy 6 by 7.<<
And I remembered writing about it!!
Here's the snippet about your buck from the Rocky Mt. Game & Fish magazine article.
The Foster Buck
Walt Foster?s bee-keeping business had done well over the years. In addition to the usual deer hunts in several states, the 54-year-old Arbuckle, Calif. resident had killed a Dall sheep in the Northwest Territories and a 9?8? Kodiak Island grizzly bear, a 67-in moose and an inland grizzly in Alaska. For him, though, drawing a Kaibab tag for the 12A-East early hunt with only one bonus point in hand was a coup of sorts.
?Everyone kept telling me the only way I'd ever get a Kaibab permit was to spend many years applying. So when I checked the drawing results, I was pumped with excitement,? he said.
After talking to two of his friends who had hunted with Adams in the past, Foster booked his hunt. He would hunt with Frank Lopez, one of the outfitter?s most experienced guides.
On the first morning, they hunted the same high-elevation area where Honzalek and Sewell had started out. They spent all day on the ridges but didn't see any deer other than does. In fact, they noticed many of the fresh tracks were headed down to the lower country. That's where they headed the second day. They drove the paved highway down off the plateau and took the dirt road south into Houserock.
?We found one decent buck. He was about 22 inches wide but had a lot of points. While we watched him, he kept looking around and finally took off. We never did figure out what spooked him,? Foster said.
The next day, Frank?s brother Al went along with them to the same area they had gone the previous day.
?We were just south of the East Side Game Trail, the road that goes all the way from the bottom to the top of the mountain. As were glassing, a big buck suddenly jumped up and took off. By the time I grabbed my rifle and put the scope on him, he was about 350 yards out and moving through the trees. My first shot was low and behind the buck. So I led him a bit more and fired again. The bullet from the .300 WSM hit him in the neck and rolled him,? Foster said.
The heavy-horned 7x6 buck had a 29-inch spread and several ?cheater? points growing off both antlers. Frank Lopez and Adams measured it and came up with gross score of 205 inches.
Foster was elated. ?I was excited before the hunt began. I was doubly so when I walked up and saw the antlers on that deer. For me, it was one of my memorable hunts,? he said.
TONY MANDILE
How To Hunt Coues Deer
