Tough but fun

DidIDraw

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Just finished a late ML deer hunt.
It was tough with full moon, warm temps, and deer that had been hunted three times already this year.

Only found 7 bucks over 6 days of hunting. Only two were 4 points.

Found this buck at last light on the 3rd. It was WAY up on the mountain but was skylined so I could see antlers through the spotting scope. Used the last few minutes of light to plan a route to get a shot.

Started climbing the mountain at 4:50 in the morning. Bright moon made it possible to do much of the climb without light. I did turn on the headlight when I smelled something I didn't recognize (what do cougars smell like :). Made it up the mountain in 1.25 hours (about 2300 vertical).

Snuck quietly to where I thought I needed to be and came upon a nice bull elk - maybe 340ish. Beautiful but not helpful. As light came up I realized I was too high. Snuck down 400 yards and started looking for deer. Found them at 350 yards with little chance of getting closer to the buck as there were 35 does/fawns around.

They finally caught my scent and moved over the ridge. I slowly followed. They had dropped onto a steep face with lots of cover. I thought they would might circle back after a while so I made a loop and got the wind right to wait. 45 minutes later the first does started showing up but after waiting another 20 minutes no buck.

Decided to sneak down the ridge to see if he held up on a face 300 yards below. Walking was noisy on rocks and I jumped him at 50 yards. He ran up the face across a small draw and looked back. 175 yard shot and I had my buck.

A little over a mile and about 2000 vertical feet down to get him out. Downhill with a load is tough.

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