OPENING MORNING SANDIAS
- Thread starter coryb
- Start date
L
lonewolf75
Guest
Congrats. We've seen quite a bit here in 2c, tough getting close on them.
NMWapiti33
Active Member
- Messages
- 150
Good job man!!! Glad it worked out!!!
coryb
Active Member
- Messages
- 293
LAST EDITED ON Jan-04-14 AT 10:19AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-02-14 AT 08:21?PM (MST)
LAST EDITED ON Jan-02-14 AT 04:58?PM (MST)
Here is the buck I shot in the Sandias on opening morning.
After scouting the southern end of the mountain for months we made a last minute change to hunt the west side of the mountain. NMWapiti33 put me in contact with a friend of his, Steve, who was looking for someone to shoot a buck that had been wounded during the youth hunt last month. He has been going up everyday since and has found the buck almost everyday in the same spot and taken many pictures and videos of him. The buck was hit in the front left shoulder and has since been limping although in the last week he has been chasing does and going about business as usual.
Several days before season a lion hunter ran dogs through the area and the buck disappeared. We went up two days before season and saw other bucks but no luck finding the one we were looking for. I was disappointed as I had really become excited to shoot this buck. The day before the hunt Steve sighted the buck again and we thought we could make it happen.
On opening morning we walked to the spot we had been glassing from and found a herd right away. After a few minutes we had glassed several bucks in the herd and decided to make a stalk. My brother in law, Willie, set up on a trail to the west of the herd and I circled wide to the east. As a was crossing the ridge to drop in on them all I could see was the does and they were starting to get itchy. I was about 100 yards above them when they started to walk up the canyon, away from Willie. I thought I had blown it and decided to make some quick ground to at least turn them towards Willie before it was too late. I hadn't gone far when this guy jumped up from under a tree at 35 yards. He was behind the tree and all I could see was the tips of his antlers. I quickly ranged some points in the clearing behind him and got ready. He started walking quartered away and heading left towards the opening and I drew my bow while he was still behind the tree. Once he hit the opening I grunted and he kept walking. I grunted louder 3 times and he just kept walking. Just as he was at the end of the clearing and I was getting desperate I yelled at him and he stopped just before leaving the lane.
I let it fly at 42 yards and his side exploded with blood. He bolted straight away from me but made an immediate u turn when he encountered some boulders and headed straight for me. I thought he was charging me and I fumbled to nock another arrow as he flew past me at 6 yards. He made it about 80 yards and hit the ground after leaving a highway of blood up to 15 feet wide. All of this happened before 7:30 am.
As we were dressing him we had deer walking up to within 100 yards including a much bigger buck than this that Willie made an unsuccessful attempt to get to.
This was not the buck we were after but it turned out he was also wounded and had a completely ruined front right shoulder with a puncture wound through his shoulder, out his armpit, and into his ribs. The entire shoulder was bruised and discolored.
The other buck is still on the hit list as are the other big bucks we saw, so hopefully one of the other 3 of us with tags can get it done too.
LAST EDITED ON Jan-02-14 AT 04:58?PM (MST)
Here is the buck I shot in the Sandias on opening morning.
After scouting the southern end of the mountain for months we made a last minute change to hunt the west side of the mountain. NMWapiti33 put me in contact with a friend of his, Steve, who was looking for someone to shoot a buck that had been wounded during the youth hunt last month. He has been going up everyday since and has found the buck almost everyday in the same spot and taken many pictures and videos of him. The buck was hit in the front left shoulder and has since been limping although in the last week he has been chasing does and going about business as usual.
Several days before season a lion hunter ran dogs through the area and the buck disappeared. We went up two days before season and saw other bucks but no luck finding the one we were looking for. I was disappointed as I had really become excited to shoot this buck. The day before the hunt Steve sighted the buck again and we thought we could make it happen.
On opening morning we walked to the spot we had been glassing from and found a herd right away. After a few minutes we had glassed several bucks in the herd and decided to make a stalk. My brother in law, Willie, set up on a trail to the west of the herd and I circled wide to the east. As a was crossing the ridge to drop in on them all I could see was the does and they were starting to get itchy. I was about 100 yards above them when they started to walk up the canyon, away from Willie. I thought I had blown it and decided to make some quick ground to at least turn them towards Willie before it was too late. I hadn't gone far when this guy jumped up from under a tree at 35 yards. He was behind the tree and all I could see was the tips of his antlers. I quickly ranged some points in the clearing behind him and got ready. He started walking quartered away and heading left towards the opening and I drew my bow while he was still behind the tree. Once he hit the opening I grunted and he kept walking. I grunted louder 3 times and he just kept walking. Just as he was at the end of the clearing and I was getting desperate I yelled at him and he stopped just before leaving the lane.
I let it fly at 42 yards and his side exploded with blood. He bolted straight away from me but made an immediate u turn when he encountered some boulders and headed straight for me. I thought he was charging me and I fumbled to nock another arrow as he flew past me at 6 yards. He made it about 80 yards and hit the ground after leaving a highway of blood up to 15 feet wide. All of this happened before 7:30 am.
As we were dressing him we had deer walking up to within 100 yards including a much bigger buck than this that Willie made an unsuccessful attempt to get to.
This was not the buck we were after but it turned out he was also wounded and had a completely ruined front right shoulder with a puncture wound through his shoulder, out his armpit, and into his ribs. The entire shoulder was bruised and discolored.
The other buck is still on the hit list as are the other big bucks we saw, so hopefully one of the other 3 of us with tags can get it done too.
crazeymaez
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,513
Great job,got it done quick,the scouting paid off.
RioHuntNutt
Active Member
- Messages
- 831
Congrats , what a great buck and awesome story! I seriously got all jacked up reading this....Wished I had a tag for sure but since I don't this is the exact type of read that helps fuel the fire!Happy New Year and again big time congrats...Thanks for sharing it....
elkmuzzleloader
Active Member
- Messages
- 772
Congrats on a great buck and a cool story to go along with him.
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