OldMxBowhunter
Active Member
- Messages
- 170
Got Lucky and Drew My Second Ever Deer Tag This Year. As Bad as I wanted a Elk Tag I Wasn't Gonna Over Look The Greatness To be in The Mountains Come October. I Made a short Scouting Trip in August with the Family. After 5 Days of Scouting I could Only Turn Up one Good Deer on the Morning Of My Birthday. Even Though I had Only Found 1 Solid Mature Deer I felt Good About The Hunt Given All The Bucks We had See.
The Day Finally Came and We Was Headed Down For The Hunt. I could Only Work In 1 Full Scouting Day before The Opener Given A Flight From work in Mexico to Home and a 15hr Drive Straight From The Air Port But, We Made the Best of It.
Walking In Opening Morning and listening to the elk talking made the 3 mile hike very easy. We managed to get in place without bumping any animals that we knew of. We set up in a Burt timber patch between three major canyons where we had spotted the group of 7 bucks in August. The plan was to sit in place till 10am and then head to glass each canyon separately. I had set up 2 cameras in the area but, hadn't gotten a chance to check them yet. We sat without seeing anything till 8:10am. To my surprise I spotted a big Forky sneaking through the timber behind us. After getting turned around enough to glass the timber good behind him I pick up multiple bucks including a tall narrow buck I knew was 1 of the group of 7. At that moment I started to get real excited and scanned the timber real hard locating the big mature buck we had seen Before. Right then the wind decided to shift for a split second sending all the bucks the direction they came. As bad as that sucked it was awesome to know the big deer was still in the area. We seen 2 more young mule deer bucks around 11am crossing through but, that was it for the morning. After the hunt I snuck into the bottom to grab my cameras. To my surprise we had multiple good pictures of the big mature deer.
We hiked out and back in for the evening hunt with no luck. Only seen hikers and 1 small bear. The next morning we got up earlier and headed up the mountain to be in place before daylight. Normally I don't enter the timber till I can see to shoot but, I felt it would be good to be set up at daylight incase they came through earlier to get to thier bedding area. The morning was overcast with rain In the distance. We set silent watching for any movement in the timber or clearing below. 7:30 came and went without seeing even I bird. Around 8am a rain storm moved in bringing cooler damp temperatures. We rode it out and kept glassing the area. Finally at 8:30 I caught movement again in the timber behind us. I glassed the area and couldn't make out what it was. I kept Watched the few small openings and out of no where I picked up the white patch of a deer but. I glassed the deer waiting for him to pick up his head and comfirmed it was the big forky from the morning before. I slowly got turned around and set up my shooting sticks for a uphill shot through the timber. Deer slowly started to appear one by one till I picked out the big mature deer headed our way. I started looking for any openings through the timber that would offer any clear shot but, it was very difficult to find any. Before I knew it the buck disappeared and I panicked a little. After glassing the area over and over slowly I found his horns sticking out from behind a tree where he had laid down. I tried the get a good range through the timber and limbs with mixed ranges. Luckily he didn't stay laying down long and was on his feet again. The best range I could get was 167 from a old burt stump close to his position. I held on a hole looking through all the limbs waiting for him to feed in. As he passed through the hole I started squeezing till the muzzleloader surprised me and the buck dropped in his tracks. We started celebrating as the rain returned unnoticed at the time. Looking back up through the timber to my disbelief the buck was back on his feet. I reloaded the muzzleloader in a hurry and was able to get another shot into him walking away from me. He went straight over the side on a hillside completely covered in dead fall. I reloaded again in the rain and cycled around to try and relocate him down in the dead fall. After covering a long dreadful decent down into the dead falls that can not be put into words I was able to relocate him laying behind a fallen log. After taking my time I was able to get in range on him at 143 yards straight down. I took the shot in the rain and blew him over once more. We sat and watched him for about 15 minutes only to see him roll back over lifting his head in a alert position. I was beside my self at this point. It was still raining, we was In A terrible position given the location, and I was out of bullets. I finally committed to climb up out of the dead fall and hike out to return as fast as possible with more powder and bullets incase the deer was still alive when I returned. I made record time going down and getting back up making the 7 mile round trip in under 2hrs. We unloaded our packs and started climbing back down into position. After getting back to our early location we could not see the deer in its previous spot. I found the highest log in our area and climbed to the top of it. I glassed every in. of that area and picked up the tips of him mainbeams sticking out from behind a tree about 20 yards from where we had left him. I crawled down the mess of trees to get within 115 yards and took a shot through the brush for a front chest shot. The buck was finally down.
We celebrated for a short period and took some picture's right before the heavy rain, and hail set in. It was as bad as you can imagine getting him broke down and prepped to pack him straight up a 1000ft in elevation gain to get him up out of the canyon. Besides him be a huge bodied deer the wet hillside and Dead Fall made it very challenging. On our first pack up I found the biggest set of elk sheds I have ever seen in person. As a avid shed hunter you know you can not leave a find like that regardless the situation. It took us almost 3.5 hours to get everything out of the canyon but, it was finally done. Soaked to the bone and cold we hung everything up on top and hiked out for the night in the still steady rain with full loads.
The next morning we hiked back up top with dry clothes and well rested to start the pack out. It was far from easy but, we made the best of it and enjoyed every heavy step. My wife Tracy never left my side from beginning till the very end. This hunt will never be forgotten from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. We walked off the mountain tired, soar, smiling, and dreaming of the day we get to return.
[url=https://servimg.com/view/14725958/1642]
Thanks Again New Mexico For a Hunt we will Never Forget.
The Day Finally Came and We Was Headed Down For The Hunt. I could Only Work In 1 Full Scouting Day before The Opener Given A Flight From work in Mexico to Home and a 15hr Drive Straight From The Air Port But, We Made the Best of It.
Walking In Opening Morning and listening to the elk talking made the 3 mile hike very easy. We managed to get in place without bumping any animals that we knew of. We set up in a Burt timber patch between three major canyons where we had spotted the group of 7 bucks in August. The plan was to sit in place till 10am and then head to glass each canyon separately. I had set up 2 cameras in the area but, hadn't gotten a chance to check them yet. We sat without seeing anything till 8:10am. To my surprise I spotted a big Forky sneaking through the timber behind us. After getting turned around enough to glass the timber good behind him I pick up multiple bucks including a tall narrow buck I knew was 1 of the group of 7. At that moment I started to get real excited and scanned the timber real hard locating the big mature buck we had seen Before. Right then the wind decided to shift for a split second sending all the bucks the direction they came. As bad as that sucked it was awesome to know the big deer was still in the area. We seen 2 more young mule deer bucks around 11am crossing through but, that was it for the morning. After the hunt I snuck into the bottom to grab my cameras. To my surprise we had multiple good pictures of the big mature deer.
We hiked out and back in for the evening hunt with no luck. Only seen hikers and 1 small bear. The next morning we got up earlier and headed up the mountain to be in place before daylight. Normally I don't enter the timber till I can see to shoot but, I felt it would be good to be set up at daylight incase they came through earlier to get to thier bedding area. The morning was overcast with rain In the distance. We set silent watching for any movement in the timber or clearing below. 7:30 came and went without seeing even I bird. Around 8am a rain storm moved in bringing cooler damp temperatures. We rode it out and kept glassing the area. Finally at 8:30 I caught movement again in the timber behind us. I glassed the area and couldn't make out what it was. I kept Watched the few small openings and out of no where I picked up the white patch of a deer but. I glassed the deer waiting for him to pick up his head and comfirmed it was the big forky from the morning before. I slowly got turned around and set up my shooting sticks for a uphill shot through the timber. Deer slowly started to appear one by one till I picked out the big mature deer headed our way. I started looking for any openings through the timber that would offer any clear shot but, it was very difficult to find any. Before I knew it the buck disappeared and I panicked a little. After glassing the area over and over slowly I found his horns sticking out from behind a tree where he had laid down. I tried the get a good range through the timber and limbs with mixed ranges. Luckily he didn't stay laying down long and was on his feet again. The best range I could get was 167 from a old burt stump close to his position. I held on a hole looking through all the limbs waiting for him to feed in. As he passed through the hole I started squeezing till the muzzleloader surprised me and the buck dropped in his tracks. We started celebrating as the rain returned unnoticed at the time. Looking back up through the timber to my disbelief the buck was back on his feet. I reloaded the muzzleloader in a hurry and was able to get another shot into him walking away from me. He went straight over the side on a hillside completely covered in dead fall. I reloaded again in the rain and cycled around to try and relocate him down in the dead fall. After covering a long dreadful decent down into the dead falls that can not be put into words I was able to relocate him laying behind a fallen log. After taking my time I was able to get in range on him at 143 yards straight down. I took the shot in the rain and blew him over once more. We sat and watched him for about 15 minutes only to see him roll back over lifting his head in a alert position. I was beside my self at this point. It was still raining, we was In A terrible position given the location, and I was out of bullets. I finally committed to climb up out of the dead fall and hike out to return as fast as possible with more powder and bullets incase the deer was still alive when I returned. I made record time going down and getting back up making the 7 mile round trip in under 2hrs. We unloaded our packs and started climbing back down into position. After getting back to our early location we could not see the deer in its previous spot. I found the highest log in our area and climbed to the top of it. I glassed every in. of that area and picked up the tips of him mainbeams sticking out from behind a tree about 20 yards from where we had left him. I crawled down the mess of trees to get within 115 yards and took a shot through the brush for a front chest shot. The buck was finally down.
We celebrated for a short period and took some picture's right before the heavy rain, and hail set in. It was as bad as you can imagine getting him broke down and prepped to pack him straight up a 1000ft in elevation gain to get him up out of the canyon. Besides him be a huge bodied deer the wet hillside and Dead Fall made it very challenging. On our first pack up I found the biggest set of elk sheds I have ever seen in person. As a avid shed hunter you know you can not leave a find like that regardless the situation. It took us almost 3.5 hours to get everything out of the canyon but, it was finally done. Soaked to the bone and cold we hung everything up on top and hiked out for the night in the still steady rain with full loads.
The next morning we hiked back up top with dry clothes and well rested to start the pack out. It was far from easy but, we made the best of it and enjoyed every heavy step. My wife Tracy never left my side from beginning till the very end. This hunt will never be forgotten from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. We walked off the mountain tired, soar, smiling, and dreaming of the day we get to return.
[url=https://servimg.com/view/14725958/1642]
Thanks Again New Mexico For a Hunt we will Never Forget.
