marley
Very Active Member
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- 2,571
The past 5 years haven’t been great for finding the big bucks of the past so I didn’t have high expectations of finding anything real big this year prior to my CO muzzy tag. About three weeks before my hunt I found this buck 5 miles away as the crow flies. With the distance and heat waves I really couldn’t tell what he had other than a giant frame.
One week before my hunt I went in from a different direction that put me two miles from where I had seen that buck hoping to turn him up again. I was pleasantly surprised to see him again no more than 200 yards from where I had seen him two weeks prior. This time I could see what he had and it was a dream buck. It was encouraging to see that he hadn’t moved.
I decided that I needed to babysit him until opening day. I hiked in there every single day for the week before my hunt and throughout the week of my hunt and never turned him up again. Total heartbreaker. The two bucks he had been hanging out with were there but he vanished on me. I turned that place upside down from every angle I could.
On the 2nd to last day of my hunt I bedded a really good bull for the unit about two hours before dark 2 miles in. I didn’t have an elk tag but my nephew did and had been struggling to find a bull. I told him to get his butt to me as fast as he could. About an hour and a half later he showed up at my glassing point wearing “hey dudes”.
-“Sage where are your boots?”
- “you told me to hurry.”
We had about 30 mins to close 1000 yards of distance between us and the bull. At 210 yards, my nephew used my muzzy to drop this bull back into his bed when he stood up. This will always be a great memory for me with my nephew. He had worked his butt off this season. You couldn’t smack the grin off his face.
On the last trip of packing out his bull, a decent buck rounded the top of the hill 60 yards from me. I really wish he wouldn’t have. My body was screaming at me and I had a moment of brain fog and shot the buck. I should’ve let this buck walk for many reasons but I still had a great hunt and I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with my nephew.
I really need to find that ghost bucks hidey hole. This isn’t the first time I’ve lost a big buck in this same area. I named him “Keith”. If you’ve seen the movie “IF” you’ll understand the name.
One week before my hunt I went in from a different direction that put me two miles from where I had seen that buck hoping to turn him up again. I was pleasantly surprised to see him again no more than 200 yards from where I had seen him two weeks prior. This time I could see what he had and it was a dream buck. It was encouraging to see that he hadn’t moved.
I decided that I needed to babysit him until opening day. I hiked in there every single day for the week before my hunt and throughout the week of my hunt and never turned him up again. Total heartbreaker. The two bucks he had been hanging out with were there but he vanished on me. I turned that place upside down from every angle I could.
On the 2nd to last day of my hunt I bedded a really good bull for the unit about two hours before dark 2 miles in. I didn’t have an elk tag but my nephew did and had been struggling to find a bull. I told him to get his butt to me as fast as he could. About an hour and a half later he showed up at my glassing point wearing “hey dudes”.
-“Sage where are your boots?”
- “you told me to hurry.”
We had about 30 mins to close 1000 yards of distance between us and the bull. At 210 yards, my nephew used my muzzy to drop this bull back into his bed when he stood up. This will always be a great memory for me with my nephew. He had worked his butt off this season. You couldn’t smack the grin off his face.
On the last trip of packing out his bull, a decent buck rounded the top of the hill 60 yards from me. I really wish he wouldn’t have. My body was screaming at me and I had a moment of brain fog and shot the buck. I should’ve let this buck walk for many reasons but I still had a great hunt and I’m thankful for the time I got to spend with my nephew.
I really need to find that ghost bucks hidey hole. This isn’t the first time I’ve lost a big buck in this same area. I named him “Keith”. If you’ve seen the movie “IF” you’ll understand the name.
Still pops a consolation buck that many folks would tag on day 1.
mtmuley
