Mooretitan
Active Member
- Messages
- 249
The last few years it seems more and more the excitement level to kill animals has started to fad. Dont get me wrong I love the mountains and mule deer are some of the most beautiful animals to see. I enjoy just being out there amongst nature and really get a kick out of my kids or friends killing animals. Not sure what it is but it is there. I still want to match my skills against and old mature buck but when it comes to killing I could pass or give someone else the shot. But in the end to really experience everything the trigger needs to be pulled and meat consumed. If not its just nature watching and not hunting.
So last Friday night I was having some self talk about where I wanted to hunt in the morning. I tried my best to talk myself out of the area I knew I needed to get into. The long drive, the two hour walk in the dark, no hunting buddy to push me and whatever else I could come up with. But in the end I said man up and set the alarm. 2:00am was going to come quickly and I knew I would be getting roughly 3 hours of sleep. As the alarm went off I rolled out of bed and again tried to talk myself out of this area. Heck I even reset the alarm and laid back in bed. It wasnt like I had a region G tag or the Henry Mountains. This was just a general California zone that averages about 5-7% success rate and if you see any buck you should be happy. My days of getting excited over forkies has long passed. But as I laid in bed I started to feel embarrassed, I knew what needed to be done so I got up and got dressed. I few minutes later I was shaking the foot of boy who was up in no time. Its amazing how the slightest touch will wake him when he knows we are going hunting. The boy didn't even have a tag and was about to put in some man work just to be out in the mountains. We got out the door by 3am and would be at the trail head around 4:30
As we left the house he quickly went back to sleep and I laughed as I remembered what it was to be young. Lots of thoughts went over my mind during the drive. I was really not looking forward the 2 hour hike in. Its not really hard but 2 hours in the dark just gets boring. We reach the trail head and quickly took off into the darkness. I knew once the son came up and I was in the fresh sage of the high desert things would start looking up. Nothing like being in the mountains that just really resets the soul.
We got yo saddle right before shooting light, as my eyes start to slowly pick up objects in the morning darkness I spotted what I thought was a deer on the ridge. A quick look and I was looking at a real trophy deer for this area. Roughly 24-26 inches wide and tall with mass. I have taken a few bucks like this in the area before but for some reason the heart was not really racing. Heck in my younger days the pack would have been off and the trigger being pulled. But for some dumb reason I told myself just get a little closer. Heck 320 yards is a shot that is very doable and with the buck having us pegged down I should have set up for the shot right there. Now of it was a friend or one of my kids I would have been in serious hunt mode right now. Heck I dont know whats happening to me. Anyways as I tried to close the distance he busted out over the ridge. I was kicking myself for not being in the zone but knew the area well and hoped we could get on him. As we climbed the ridge into the next bowl I told myself I needed to get serious and get a buck on the ground. Not many men are lucky enough to have a 13 year old son who can hunt step for step with them and he earned the right to have a memory of us killing a buck together. As we reached the bowl for some reason I decided to start glassing the farthest ridge first. I usually start close and work out from there but something pulled me out to the far one this morning. I quickly caught movement of a buck working his way into the trees. A couple minutes later he disappeared into the brush. I would have never seen him. Sometimes luck in on your side. I knew he wasnt very big but felt there were probably other bucks with me so we made a plan to cover the 1000plus yards to the buck. Another 45minutes of uphill and we would be in the game. We had no clue what the backside looked like and the chances of turning anything up was slim. But I my son was all game so off we went.
As we neared the top of the mountain we started to slowly pick apart the broken terrain. We could only see roughly a 100 yards when the small buck appeared. They had us pegged again and there would be no time to second guessing or getting a rest. Off hand with my 11lb 260 would have to work. I quickly slide my ears in and through up the gun. I wasnt planning on shooting the small buck but hoped something else would come into the clearing. Everything happened in a few seconds but it seemed like slow motion when the bigger buck got into the opening. I was looking into the sun and only had a small window so I took the shot. I could see that I hit him but did not know how well. My son was all smiles, the kid loves to hunt. We made your way to the opening and quickly found blood. We trailed him about 50 yards or so and found him piled up in a tree. At 1st glance we both looked at each other somewhat confused. He wasnt the big buck from this morning. Just a 3X2 but for this area still an above average deer. I pulled the deer from the trees and gave him a couple good pats and just took everything in. I was at least 5 miles from the truck. There wasnt another person around for miles except the best hunting partner I will have. We had great views and the smell of deer and sage all around us.
We took a few pictures and got to work. I would quarter with out and pack everything out in one trip. My son got a good laugh seeing 4 deer legs sticking out of the pack. Before I loaded it on my back we sat down and told a few old hunting trips we had shared. My son said dad this is the 1st buck I watched you shoot off hand and its the 1st blood trail we followed and its the 1st buck you are taking out in one trip. We have killed lots of animals together but there are always going to be 1st time memories. I hope to always have a 1st time with him and my other kids. I loaded the pack and started the 3 hour hike back to the truck. It was all down hill but still burned the legs.
As I finish up writing this I think about how even when things in your head are telling you no follow your heart. There are not very many times just being in the mountains just puts me at ease. I also know that we have to take what we are given. I will not drawl very many high end hunts. I still put in for them but the reality is it will be far and few that I get to chase the true giants of the high country. In the mean time there is nothing wrong with pulling the trigger on a nice buck for the area you are hunting. The hunt is not always about pulling the trigger but it is part of it. I cleaned up the skull tonight and the family ate some deer steaks for dinner tonight. All in all just getting up and putting my boots on turned out to be a great decision.I will print off a nice picture of my son and me and hopefully it will remind me that its not always about the size of the rack but the store that rack tells
So last Friday night I was having some self talk about where I wanted to hunt in the morning. I tried my best to talk myself out of the area I knew I needed to get into. The long drive, the two hour walk in the dark, no hunting buddy to push me and whatever else I could come up with. But in the end I said man up and set the alarm. 2:00am was going to come quickly and I knew I would be getting roughly 3 hours of sleep. As the alarm went off I rolled out of bed and again tried to talk myself out of this area. Heck I even reset the alarm and laid back in bed. It wasnt like I had a region G tag or the Henry Mountains. This was just a general California zone that averages about 5-7% success rate and if you see any buck you should be happy. My days of getting excited over forkies has long passed. But as I laid in bed I started to feel embarrassed, I knew what needed to be done so I got up and got dressed. I few minutes later I was shaking the foot of boy who was up in no time. Its amazing how the slightest touch will wake him when he knows we are going hunting. The boy didn't even have a tag and was about to put in some man work just to be out in the mountains. We got out the door by 3am and would be at the trail head around 4:30
As we left the house he quickly went back to sleep and I laughed as I remembered what it was to be young. Lots of thoughts went over my mind during the drive. I was really not looking forward the 2 hour hike in. Its not really hard but 2 hours in the dark just gets boring. We reach the trail head and quickly took off into the darkness. I knew once the son came up and I was in the fresh sage of the high desert things would start looking up. Nothing like being in the mountains that just really resets the soul.
We got yo saddle right before shooting light, as my eyes start to slowly pick up objects in the morning darkness I spotted what I thought was a deer on the ridge. A quick look and I was looking at a real trophy deer for this area. Roughly 24-26 inches wide and tall with mass. I have taken a few bucks like this in the area before but for some reason the heart was not really racing. Heck in my younger days the pack would have been off and the trigger being pulled. But for some dumb reason I told myself just get a little closer. Heck 320 yards is a shot that is very doable and with the buck having us pegged down I should have set up for the shot right there. Now of it was a friend or one of my kids I would have been in serious hunt mode right now. Heck I dont know whats happening to me. Anyways as I tried to close the distance he busted out over the ridge. I was kicking myself for not being in the zone but knew the area well and hoped we could get on him. As we climbed the ridge into the next bowl I told myself I needed to get serious and get a buck on the ground. Not many men are lucky enough to have a 13 year old son who can hunt step for step with them and he earned the right to have a memory of us killing a buck together. As we reached the bowl for some reason I decided to start glassing the farthest ridge first. I usually start close and work out from there but something pulled me out to the far one this morning. I quickly caught movement of a buck working his way into the trees. A couple minutes later he disappeared into the brush. I would have never seen him. Sometimes luck in on your side. I knew he wasnt very big but felt there were probably other bucks with me so we made a plan to cover the 1000plus yards to the buck. Another 45minutes of uphill and we would be in the game. We had no clue what the backside looked like and the chances of turning anything up was slim. But I my son was all game so off we went.
As we neared the top of the mountain we started to slowly pick apart the broken terrain. We could only see roughly a 100 yards when the small buck appeared. They had us pegged again and there would be no time to second guessing or getting a rest. Off hand with my 11lb 260 would have to work. I quickly slide my ears in and through up the gun. I wasnt planning on shooting the small buck but hoped something else would come into the clearing. Everything happened in a few seconds but it seemed like slow motion when the bigger buck got into the opening. I was looking into the sun and only had a small window so I took the shot. I could see that I hit him but did not know how well. My son was all smiles, the kid loves to hunt. We made your way to the opening and quickly found blood. We trailed him about 50 yards or so and found him piled up in a tree. At 1st glance we both looked at each other somewhat confused. He wasnt the big buck from this morning. Just a 3X2 but for this area still an above average deer. I pulled the deer from the trees and gave him a couple good pats and just took everything in. I was at least 5 miles from the truck. There wasnt another person around for miles except the best hunting partner I will have. We had great views and the smell of deer and sage all around us.
We took a few pictures and got to work. I would quarter with out and pack everything out in one trip. My son got a good laugh seeing 4 deer legs sticking out of the pack. Before I loaded it on my back we sat down and told a few old hunting trips we had shared. My son said dad this is the 1st buck I watched you shoot off hand and its the 1st blood trail we followed and its the 1st buck you are taking out in one trip. We have killed lots of animals together but there are always going to be 1st time memories. I hope to always have a 1st time with him and my other kids. I loaded the pack and started the 3 hour hike back to the truck. It was all down hill but still burned the legs.
As I finish up writing this I think about how even when things in your head are telling you no follow your heart. There are not very many times just being in the mountains just puts me at ease. I also know that we have to take what we are given. I will not drawl very many high end hunts. I still put in for them but the reality is it will be far and few that I get to chase the true giants of the high country. In the mean time there is nothing wrong with pulling the trigger on a nice buck for the area you are hunting. The hunt is not always about pulling the trigger but it is part of it. I cleaned up the skull tonight and the family ate some deer steaks for dinner tonight. All in all just getting up and putting my boots on turned out to be a great decision.I will print off a nice picture of my son and me and hopefully it will remind me that its not always about the size of the rack but the store that rack tells
