Matthew and I headed out to the NW part of the state Saturday morning. We were supposed to spend New Years with Momma but she gave us the reprieve to leave early since the weather looked like it was going to get bad. We had the trailer packed up with food for us and my buddies. My son brought his buddy James with us and my buddy Chris and his son Caleb were scheduled to meet us up at my camp later on in the day. As we drive up to the unit we get off the highway and immediately encounter the slick roads. The truck is sliding all around and the ruts are already 6 inches deep. We drove for a few miles on the slick roads and I decided it's time we put the chains on as there is a steep descent. It's a good time to show boys how to put chains on and play in the mud a little. We reach camp about 12:30 and only run into one other camp the whole way in which is rare. I guess most are spending New Years with their families. We see two shooter bucks on the drive in and are optimistic that we will have some good opportunities in the next few days. The boys and I went for a short scouting trip up the canyon and gathered some fire wood to bring in the new year.
Chris showed up around 8 after hunting in norther NM for elk and we brought the new year in joking and laughing around the fire. Woke up early the next morning and headed out in the truck driving and glassing. We had seen quite a few deer but can't spot the big ones we saw the day before and the other bucks we find are headed to the trees early. Many of the deer we saw were on north facing slope which made them tough to put a stalk on. Later that day my buddy Chris spotted a good sized fork from the road. Not sure how he saw it but he had some eagle eyes that day....he even left his contacts in from the day before.
Matthew and Caleb put a stalk on it and got within 60yds before it spooked. Probably the swirling winds led to the buck jumping out of his bed. Matthew drew ass the buck halted and turned back to look at the boys at 78. Not sure if Matthew paused because he wanted something bigger or the distance was a bit much but he let it go. The deer crossed the arrow and the boys went out of sight the told us on the radio they were going to try and catch back iup to them. A few minutes later they get within 45 yds. These are 16 year olds and they stalked these few like seasoned veterans. Climbing up the arroyos and using the wind and terrain. I was proud to see what he could accomplish on his own without Dad giving him direction. He's hunted this unit once before and came out unsuccessful.....mostly because he didn't want to shoot a fork. We had a nice 3x4 within 7 yds and he remembers his mistake and promised he wouldn't do that again. I tell him hunting doesn't always go as planned and anything can happen. We head back to the camp to eat some lunch and grab a quick nap after ringing in the New Year and Matthew and Caleb walk behind camp to try and find the buck we saw the day before the hunt.
They return to camp and tell us they heard the grunting and smelled the deer. They watched the deer and tried stalking but couldn't get more that 100 yds from them. We drove around trying to find the mountain they spotted the deer to get a game plan of how we could puta stalk on that would give us the best chance of a shot. We got sidetracked whe we ran into a herd of 20 deer and tried to find a nice buck in the bunch. They gave us the slip and by then it was to late to go after the big buck. Day two we drive around and see two bucks in the trucks both 3xs. The boys stayed up really late burning every stick in sight and just being boys. The next day they were so tired they pretty much slept the first hour of the hunt.
The morning is somewhat uneventful and we see mostly does with a few forks but nothing Matthew is willing to put his tag on. I keep asking if he wants one but he keeps telling me he wants them to grow up and get big before he shoots them.
Later that afternoon we hunt the area behind camp the bucks and does were rutting where they spotted them the day before. We run into quite a few deer but they are spooky and scattered. We cover the area with a fine tooth comb as we are seeing a lot of fresh track. A mile out on the main road there's a camp with two chairs pointing to our position and we're purplesed as why the guys are glassing at us. We were thinking they saw the buck and we're spotting it and patterning it. Turns out they had a hunter in the same spot and all the deer were on high alert. Matthew was bummed.....his honey hole wasn't a secret....we told him that's part of public land hunting.....but the unit is huge and we will find something. At this pint it's getting late and we need to get back to camp and head out for before the sun sets. We hightail it back to the truck and as we're driving out the boys are joking around snacking and they're attention is on anything but deer. We get about a mile from camp and my faithful spotter yells out "Matthew there's a shooter buck get out and shoot it!" Matthew jumped out of the truck drew his bow before the truck got passed him. I kept the truck going so the buck wouldn't get alarmed. The buck walked behind the tree and there was no shot. The buck is walking away as Matthew runs on the bank next to the road with his bow drawn he finds a shooting lane. Matthew let out a grunt to get the deer to stop and he lets his arrow fly. Chris, Caleb, James and I all see the arrow hit the buck in what we think is the vitals and he takes off. The truck doors fly open and we run out trying to get eyes on the deer. Chris sees it and so does Matthew....they both pause and the deer looks back and takes off again and almost instantly we hear a crash and nothing after. We gave the deer 10 minutes just in case but we're pretty sure he was down.
Short tracking job led us to Matthews first buck! Thanks to my buddies for helping out and spending good quality time together!
Chris showed up around 8 after hunting in norther NM for elk and we brought the new year in joking and laughing around the fire. Woke up early the next morning and headed out in the truck driving and glassing. We had seen quite a few deer but can't spot the big ones we saw the day before and the other bucks we find are headed to the trees early. Many of the deer we saw were on north facing slope which made them tough to put a stalk on. Later that day my buddy Chris spotted a good sized fork from the road. Not sure how he saw it but he had some eagle eyes that day....he even left his contacts in from the day before.
Matthew and Caleb put a stalk on it and got within 60yds before it spooked. Probably the swirling winds led to the buck jumping out of his bed. Matthew drew ass the buck halted and turned back to look at the boys at 78. Not sure if Matthew paused because he wanted something bigger or the distance was a bit much but he let it go. The deer crossed the arrow and the boys went out of sight the told us on the radio they were going to try and catch back iup to them. A few minutes later they get within 45 yds. These are 16 year olds and they stalked these few like seasoned veterans. Climbing up the arroyos and using the wind and terrain. I was proud to see what he could accomplish on his own without Dad giving him direction. He's hunted this unit once before and came out unsuccessful.....mostly because he didn't want to shoot a fork. We had a nice 3x4 within 7 yds and he remembers his mistake and promised he wouldn't do that again. I tell him hunting doesn't always go as planned and anything can happen. We head back to the camp to eat some lunch and grab a quick nap after ringing in the New Year and Matthew and Caleb walk behind camp to try and find the buck we saw the day before the hunt.
They return to camp and tell us they heard the grunting and smelled the deer. They watched the deer and tried stalking but couldn't get more that 100 yds from them. We drove around trying to find the mountain they spotted the deer to get a game plan of how we could puta stalk on that would give us the best chance of a shot. We got sidetracked whe we ran into a herd of 20 deer and tried to find a nice buck in the bunch. They gave us the slip and by then it was to late to go after the big buck. Day two we drive around and see two bucks in the trucks both 3xs. The boys stayed up really late burning every stick in sight and just being boys. The next day they were so tired they pretty much slept the first hour of the hunt.
The morning is somewhat uneventful and we see mostly does with a few forks but nothing Matthew is willing to put his tag on. I keep asking if he wants one but he keeps telling me he wants them to grow up and get big before he shoots them.
Later that afternoon we hunt the area behind camp the bucks and does were rutting where they spotted them the day before. We run into quite a few deer but they are spooky and scattered. We cover the area with a fine tooth comb as we are seeing a lot of fresh track. A mile out on the main road there's a camp with two chairs pointing to our position and we're purplesed as why the guys are glassing at us. We were thinking they saw the buck and we're spotting it and patterning it. Turns out they had a hunter in the same spot and all the deer were on high alert. Matthew was bummed.....his honey hole wasn't a secret....we told him that's part of public land hunting.....but the unit is huge and we will find something. At this pint it's getting late and we need to get back to camp and head out for before the sun sets. We hightail it back to the truck and as we're driving out the boys are joking around snacking and they're attention is on anything but deer. We get about a mile from camp and my faithful spotter yells out "Matthew there's a shooter buck get out and shoot it!" Matthew jumped out of the truck drew his bow before the truck got passed him. I kept the truck going so the buck wouldn't get alarmed. The buck walked behind the tree and there was no shot. The buck is walking away as Matthew runs on the bank next to the road with his bow drawn he finds a shooting lane. Matthew let out a grunt to get the deer to stop and he lets his arrow fly. Chris, Caleb, James and I all see the arrow hit the buck in what we think is the vitals and he takes off. The truck doors fly open and we run out trying to get eyes on the deer. Chris sees it and so does Matthew....they both pause and the deer looks back and takes off again and almost instantly we hear a crash and nothing after. We gave the deer 10 minutes just in case but we're pretty sure he was down.
Short tracking job led us to Matthews first buck! Thanks to my buddies for helping out and spending good quality time together!
