Well this hunt did not go as expected. I made plans to hunt with Greg/MRO at a daily rate when they finished up with other clients. In the meantime he gave me some places to start hunting.
First evening I did not see a deer after glassing a huge canyon system that looked amazing and supposedly held a good deer that had survived several archery stalks earlier in the year. The next morning I caught a glimpse of two smaller bucks before they bedded out of sight about 1.5 miles away. I recognized them as the “buddies” of my target buck. I decided to move in closer for the evening hunt and commit to their little bowl in case the big one was already bedded in their or I just missed seeing him that morning. On the way in there I saw a big buck track that looked fairly fresh..a good sign in such deerless country.
I sat on my perch glassing into thick brush strewn with large boulders where I had last seen the two small bucks. The sun set and still no signs of life. Soon the wind died and it was completely still and quiet. I heard a deer walking on the ridge directly behind me and it was getting closer. I could not see from where I was sitting but I heard it get closer and closer. Then I heard a hisssss of that deer taking a piss! I figured I better take a look because this thing was right on top of me now! I slowly got out from under my tripod and tried to make no noise as I eased up a few rocks with my rifle in hand. Suddenly there he was: staring into my eyes at 20 yards! All I could see was his head and antlers and he was not the target buck, but looked pretty good. I put him in my scope and my first thought was to pass, he’s only at his ears. He gave me 1-2 seconds to think and spun around to leave. As he jumped off the side of the ridge my instinct had apparently taken over and my gun went off with my crosshairs on the back of his neck. I saw for tumbling and knew it was a hit. “What did you just do!!! You killed a dink on first day you idiot!!” I had some serious doubts about my split second decision to shoot this deer. Thankfully he had ground growage!!! I am thrilled with this buck and Greg actually had video of him in the summer in a canyon about a mile away where he had been living. I’m told he was definitely a shooter for this year.
Pictures don’t really capture his mass..he’s got 42” of mass and rough score is 188”. Pretty thrilled and he’s a better deer than the one I was hunting for in there. My only regret is not having the chance to grind it out and spend time seeing the unit. But I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth!!
His head and body were massive which led to some major hesitation at first glance. 26” ear to ear. Glad I didn’t have much time to think or I may have passed on him which would have been a mistake!
