Disclaimer....for those of you that like long stories read away...for those of you that don't just skip to the third from last paragraph and click on the pics hahahaha.
The War
After 6 days of scouting during the summer I turned up 3 great bucks. Only problem was they were all running together and were never seen again. Poof gone. Hunted all around them during the first three days of archery season hoping they'd turn up. Nope gone.
After not finding anything to notch my tag on during the first three days of archery season I turned my attention to elk for the rest of September. As October 15th grew closer so did the anticipation that I have a tag I needed to take seriously, being that the odds of drawing the tag is around 7%. I hunted hard for 5 days walking into areas between roads that I knew no one else was making the trek into, and everyday it was the same story, nothing big enough. To add insult to injury my dad comes up for one day with his girlfriend who has a cow elk tag and sees a monster mulie right off the road that could care less about them. I tried to push him out of his little hole and continued to go back to where he was seen.....nothing.
I came home, took a much needed break and headed back up early Monday (22nd) morning with plans to stay up at least another 5 days. Monday the wind was blowing over 40 mph ALL day. I was able to turn up a few bucks but still nothing that even really tempted me. Monday night brought hurricane force winds that shook the camper and resulted in about 3 hours of sleep. Up again early on Tuesday and I spotted one single doe, got fogged in, and the snow started to roll in as well. I stayed out all day with nothing more to show for it than a few does and a 2 point.
My dad told me he was going to take Wednesday off and come and hunt with me for 3 days as he had Thursday and Friday off as well. Wednesday morning brought snow and wind....miserable. I hopped on the four wheeler with basically no plan as I had already been seemingly "everywhere" and had no ideas left. I get done with the morning hunt after seeing more small bucks and does only to be sitting in my camper by the heater when I get a call from my dad. He's screaming at me to come down the main road that there's a "dandy" in the bottom. I hop to my feet, throw on my boots and take off. After getting down the road he's still not the monster I've been dreaming of but about 28" wide with good back forks and crab clawed front forks. At this point, honestly, I'm ready to be done. This tag is great but being miserable in the wind and rain and not seeing the deer I expected to see is taking its toll on me.
These deer tolerate us getting close, let us glass them for a while, and still couldn't really care. The big buck is facing dead away and I can shoot him in the neck but would like a good mount and would prefer to not have a hole right there so I wait...and wait...and wait. Finally the buck decides he's had enough and trots dead away for about a hundred yards. I'm prone and have been laying there for a while dead solid. He turns a little bit to where he's quartering away and stops. I shoot....and miss. I still don't know how I missed but I did. I was actually confident about the shot and didn't jack another shell in like I usually do. When my dad told me I missed I was shocked. I fired a second shot in desperation and missed that one as well. A done deal turned into....still hunting. To add insult to injury I made a 300 yard shot on a running coyote later in the day. I was honesty "hoping" the gun was off.....nope.
The next morning I decided I wanted to hunt "the canyons" just because I didn't have another plan and although I hadn't seen a deer in there all season I would shoot, it just looked like it "should" hold a big buck. Right away I spotted a buck across the canyon from us that was smart enough to be a big 'ol boy. After trying twice to get around on him I never saw him again. Although my dad, of course, saw him staring me down. How I wasn't able to see him I don't know. Just my kind of luck I guess! After following him into another canyon only to get there and have him not be there I glassed up 5 more deer and saw what looked to be a big 3 point. They were about a half mile away and I told my dad I was going to go for a walk and see how big he was, and maybe run into something else on they way. After getting over there I crept to the edge where I knew they would be and sure enough deer started to stand.
Three of the five deer were now standing and looking at me from about 200 yards. Two little bucks and a 23" wide 2 point with brow tines. I kept thinking there's no way that was the "big" buck I saw and settled my crosshairs on him a handful of times "practicing" in my head. I figured I was steady but wanted to find a way to get prone knowing there were 2 more deer to appear. About the time I started to move I watched the big 3 point emerge from the sagebrush bottom not knowing what the other bucks were so nervous about. Getting back into a sitting position I saw him standing broadside and looking at me. Knowing I didn't have much time I got the rifle up in time to see him turn his head and take a step like he was leaving. Admittedly, I rushed the shot. As soon as I felt the recoil I knew it was a non lethal shot. I heard the bullet hit but knew better. I shot once more and missed before all the deer went behind a rise. I sprinted to where I could see them again and only saw four deer crest the far ridge. I knew my buck was in front of me somewhere but couldn't see him. A few moments later I heard a crash and watched him stand in some more tall sage. I again sat down, and again shot, and again... I missed.
Somewhere between another sprint and yelling at myself over how stupid I was and to calm down I watched the deer bed again. I stopped, took some deep breaths, and slowly put more rounds into the rifle. I knew if I screwed this up he might be gone for good. I got about a hundred yards from where I saw him last and stood there glassing into the 6 foot tall sage brush hoping to find a hole to sneak a bullet in. Right then he stood. I dropped back to a sitting position, settled the crosshairs and shot. He immediately turned downhill and started spinning. He spun probably 6 times before stopping broadside. Again I fired and again he started to spin. He spun 3 times before stumbling to the ground.
Thinking he's done I said my thanks and started the walk up to my buck I got so close I could smell him, but not see him. I rounded a sage brush to see him laying there with his head down watching me. This being a "trophy" hunt I didn't want to shoot him in the neck like I normally would to end the suffering. Knowing he was all but dead, but still suffering I got close to put a bullet through the heart. I got about 3 feet away when all of the sudden he gained life and jumped to his feet to face this predator. As I stumbled backwards he lowered his head underneath a sage brush and gave me a grunt as if to scold me. Thankfully he didn't come after me but instead turned broadside where I again put a round into his lungs. Again he did not drop but instead took it like a man and slowly laid down before finally giving up the ghost. Completely in shock of what just happened I took some deep breaths and thought about just how tough this old buck was, how thankful I was to get him, and I how crazy some of my hunting adventures have turned out to be in my life. Absolutely unbelievable. If nothing else there's something to be said for MAKING SURE your animal is down for good. I knew he wasn't dead and was going to finish him off but I definitely didn't think he had enough left in him for what took place! He's not the monster I dreamed of but I'm still very happy with him. I think big 3 points are just plain cool! Enjoy the pics.
