LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-06 AT 11:08PM (MST)[p]
Finally archery season had arrived. I had put many hours into scouting this area and I was ready. Opening morning found me overlooking a saddle which traditionally sees a lot of deer activity and travel, including one buck in particular that I had my eye on during the preseason. By 9:00 am everything had bedded down and up until then I had seen 19 does and fawns and one 16? 3 point which was not in my opening day plans. So, I decided to hunt the rim overlooking the drainage I was perched on, hoping to catch something bedded down below me. I was on my second peek when I spotted a buck up and feeding. I dropped down QUICKLY! When I peeked back over the rim I saw that the buck was actually a forked horn and bedded nearby was THE BUCK that I so badly wanted to take home with me. Unfortunately he was bedded facing directly uphill in my direction, so the waiting game was on?at least the wind was in my favor. Finally he gets up and starts to feed and pose for a few photos.
After about 20 minutes they both decide to bed down?out of sight between two logs?PERFECT. I let them get settled in and make my move. 15 minutes later I am sitting 17 yards from their beds, my Scott release hooked to my loop and my Full Metal Jacket ready to do its job. A little voice inside my head says, ?That forked horn is going to give you some problems.? I tell the little voice to be quiet. Guess who gets out of bed first?of course?the restless youngster! So far so good, he is up and feeding, unaware of my presence. Uh oh, he is looking in my direction; I can just see the tops of his antlers. He can't see me but I think he can see the top of my limbs/cam which is resting on my boot, which is attached to my leg which has long ago gone to sleep; so he circles downhill of me to get a better view of this strange object. He still can't see me but he is definitely acting nervous by the way his antlers are moving.
FINALLY big brother decides to get up. SHOWTIME! I can see the tips of his antlers; I wait for him to look away from me, draw and slowly stand up?arrrrgh his vitals are covered by I bush that I could not previously see! The forked horn bolts. Big brother takes about 5 bounces down the ridge and pauses for just a second. I estimate the yardage, pick a spot and release?..
My range estimation during the fracas was not good?.my arrow hits the buck high above the spine and he bonds off as if nothing has happened. I watch the two bucks as they slowly work their way out of the drainage and into the thick junipers. Other than the blood spot above his shoulder he seems to be acting fine. I follow their trail and what minimal amount of blood there was slowly peters out to nothing. I AM SICK! I seriously felt like packing up right then and going home. Luckily I had two good friends to cheer me up. I went back a couple of times to find some sign of the buck but could find nothing.
Overall our trip was a successful one, with everybody tagging out, multiple lessons learned and all of the REALLY big bucks making it through our hunt. I guess that is how they get to be that big, eh?
Here is a picture of the ?management buck? that I killed at the end of our hunt?a big bodied mature buck with some FUNKY genetics?no he is not a raghorn bull!
Finally archery season had arrived. I had put many hours into scouting this area and I was ready. Opening morning found me overlooking a saddle which traditionally sees a lot of deer activity and travel, including one buck in particular that I had my eye on during the preseason. By 9:00 am everything had bedded down and up until then I had seen 19 does and fawns and one 16? 3 point which was not in my opening day plans. So, I decided to hunt the rim overlooking the drainage I was perched on, hoping to catch something bedded down below me. I was on my second peek when I spotted a buck up and feeding. I dropped down QUICKLY! When I peeked back over the rim I saw that the buck was actually a forked horn and bedded nearby was THE BUCK that I so badly wanted to take home with me. Unfortunately he was bedded facing directly uphill in my direction, so the waiting game was on?at least the wind was in my favor. Finally he gets up and starts to feed and pose for a few photos.
After about 20 minutes they both decide to bed down?out of sight between two logs?PERFECT. I let them get settled in and make my move. 15 minutes later I am sitting 17 yards from their beds, my Scott release hooked to my loop and my Full Metal Jacket ready to do its job. A little voice inside my head says, ?That forked horn is going to give you some problems.? I tell the little voice to be quiet. Guess who gets out of bed first?of course?the restless youngster! So far so good, he is up and feeding, unaware of my presence. Uh oh, he is looking in my direction; I can just see the tops of his antlers. He can't see me but I think he can see the top of my limbs/cam which is resting on my boot, which is attached to my leg which has long ago gone to sleep; so he circles downhill of me to get a better view of this strange object. He still can't see me but he is definitely acting nervous by the way his antlers are moving.
FINALLY big brother decides to get up. SHOWTIME! I can see the tips of his antlers; I wait for him to look away from me, draw and slowly stand up?arrrrgh his vitals are covered by I bush that I could not previously see! The forked horn bolts. Big brother takes about 5 bounces down the ridge and pauses for just a second. I estimate the yardage, pick a spot and release?..
My range estimation during the fracas was not good?.my arrow hits the buck high above the spine and he bonds off as if nothing has happened. I watch the two bucks as they slowly work their way out of the drainage and into the thick junipers. Other than the blood spot above his shoulder he seems to be acting fine. I follow their trail and what minimal amount of blood there was slowly peters out to nothing. I AM SICK! I seriously felt like packing up right then and going home. Luckily I had two good friends to cheer me up. I went back a couple of times to find some sign of the buck but could find nothing.
Overall our trip was a successful one, with everybody tagging out, multiple lessons learned and all of the REALLY big bucks making it through our hunt. I guess that is how they get to be that big, eh?
Here is a picture of the ?management buck? that I killed at the end of our hunt?a big bodied mature buck with some FUNKY genetics?no he is not a raghorn bull!
