LAST EDITED ON Oct-11-16 AT 10:42PM (MST)[p]There are a few pics in the general forum under packing out, but I am looking for something to do to help me further procrastinate some work stuff so I figured I'd share my hunt here. I live in region G. This year was a contrast to last year. Opening day last year I saw 13 bucks on opening day, by 1:30 in the afternoon. Three of those were shooters.
This year I saw 8 small bucks in four and a half days of hunting. Preseason confirmed that the bucks were there, and there were plenty of fresh tracks around. They were just timbered up and nocturnal. It also was pretty warm.
I'd still-hunted a bedding area all day on the 26th, but didn't see anything of interest. Except for elk of course, the area was crawling with elk!
I was working back down toward the truck. The air had cooled and it was getting nice and crisp. It was almost dark when I spotted the telling white smudge of a muley?s rump at the bottom of a steep clear cut, right next to the dark timber. I put some glass on it and determined it was a shooter. He was feeding behind a small pine and by the time I pulled up (it was about a 150 yard shot) I only had his chest behind the shoulder and rump visible. I'm not a great freehand shooter, but was able to finally steady enough for a confident shot. I took the shot. He stepped forward behind the tree and I could just see his rump. After about 6 seconds or so, he ran down into the timber.
I donned the trusty headlamp as it was pretty much dark at this point and worked down to the edge of the timber. I felt sure of the shot. As I got down on the edge of the timber I heard crashing through some deadfall. It worried me. A healthy deer would normally stot or bound, so I assumed it was my deer. I waited for some time and continued down. I then heard a deer bound off. Now I was really concerned.
While nice for hiking out in the dark, I found my little LED headlamp was fairly useless. I searched or hair and blood where I thought he was when I took the shot. Nothing. I went to where I heard the deer run through the deadfall and searched. It was a tangled up mess. I couldn't find any blood and determined the best course of action was to back out for the night and come back up in daylight.
I didn't sleep that night. My thoughts just kept going to big racks and dead deer. I worried that I'd mortally wounded him, but that he had run off without a blood trail. I figured I would find him eventually, but worried about the meat.
I went up about an hour after light to allow the sun to come up and brighten things up. I went back and again looked for blood or hair. Nothing. No sign in that tangled up mess of deadfall. No fresh tracks that stood out as big, anywhere. I looked and prayed for a good hour and was discouraged. I sat down and thought it through and decided that I'd made too much of an assumption. Maybe it wasn?t him that ran through the deadfall and bounded away. Maybe it was another deer that was in the timber with him that I hadn't seen.
I decided that in the darkness and with the excitement of the shot that I may have been mistaken about exactly where he had been at the time of the shot. I decided to start working further over, past where I thought he had been. I worked over in a line search from the edge of the clear cut into the timber 80 yards or so. After five minutes or so, I noticed a gray bump further over. Glassing it confirmed that it was him. I was ecstatic.
I expressed my thanks and dressed him out, opening all four quarters completely to expedite cooling. The bullet entered a little far back, nicking the paunch, cutting a 6" chunk of the liver off, destroying a lung, nicking the heart (leaving a 3/4" hole there) and lodged in the far shoulder.
I then went back home and loaded some of my goats, saddles and panniers; as well as some butchering supplies. The goats are always game for a hike in the woods, so they were pretty happy to be on the mountain. I saddled up the two big ones and took a younger one along for the stroll.
They don't really know deer, so were hesitant on the approach. Once they got close and got a good whiff, they lost interest. I finished quartering the deer out and then boned out the rest.
The hind quarters went in the panniers of my three year old goat (the strongest of the group). The front quarters went into the panniers of the other. I thought they might balk, as this is the first time they packed meat. They didn't blink twice about being loaded up. The rest of the boned out buck went in my pack.
We cut to the logging road and started down to the truck. They acted as if they didn't have a load; running ahead 50 yards and then stopping to eat as I came up. When I was past a ways, they'd run to pass me and stop for a snack again. Can?t wait for an elk for them to pack.
Ah... there he is!
Packing out.
Home and a break from butchering for a pic.
All the meat was fine. Threw the tenderloins and a roast on the smoker. Oh yeah...!
This year I saw 8 small bucks in four and a half days of hunting. Preseason confirmed that the bucks were there, and there were plenty of fresh tracks around. They were just timbered up and nocturnal. It also was pretty warm.
I'd still-hunted a bedding area all day on the 26th, but didn't see anything of interest. Except for elk of course, the area was crawling with elk!
I was working back down toward the truck. The air had cooled and it was getting nice and crisp. It was almost dark when I spotted the telling white smudge of a muley?s rump at the bottom of a steep clear cut, right next to the dark timber. I put some glass on it and determined it was a shooter. He was feeding behind a small pine and by the time I pulled up (it was about a 150 yard shot) I only had his chest behind the shoulder and rump visible. I'm not a great freehand shooter, but was able to finally steady enough for a confident shot. I took the shot. He stepped forward behind the tree and I could just see his rump. After about 6 seconds or so, he ran down into the timber.
I donned the trusty headlamp as it was pretty much dark at this point and worked down to the edge of the timber. I felt sure of the shot. As I got down on the edge of the timber I heard crashing through some deadfall. It worried me. A healthy deer would normally stot or bound, so I assumed it was my deer. I waited for some time and continued down. I then heard a deer bound off. Now I was really concerned.
While nice for hiking out in the dark, I found my little LED headlamp was fairly useless. I searched or hair and blood where I thought he was when I took the shot. Nothing. I went to where I heard the deer run through the deadfall and searched. It was a tangled up mess. I couldn't find any blood and determined the best course of action was to back out for the night and come back up in daylight.
I didn't sleep that night. My thoughts just kept going to big racks and dead deer. I worried that I'd mortally wounded him, but that he had run off without a blood trail. I figured I would find him eventually, but worried about the meat.
I went up about an hour after light to allow the sun to come up and brighten things up. I went back and again looked for blood or hair. Nothing. No sign in that tangled up mess of deadfall. No fresh tracks that stood out as big, anywhere. I looked and prayed for a good hour and was discouraged. I sat down and thought it through and decided that I'd made too much of an assumption. Maybe it wasn?t him that ran through the deadfall and bounded away. Maybe it was another deer that was in the timber with him that I hadn't seen.
I decided that in the darkness and with the excitement of the shot that I may have been mistaken about exactly where he had been at the time of the shot. I decided to start working further over, past where I thought he had been. I worked over in a line search from the edge of the clear cut into the timber 80 yards or so. After five minutes or so, I noticed a gray bump further over. Glassing it confirmed that it was him. I was ecstatic.
I expressed my thanks and dressed him out, opening all four quarters completely to expedite cooling. The bullet entered a little far back, nicking the paunch, cutting a 6" chunk of the liver off, destroying a lung, nicking the heart (leaving a 3/4" hole there) and lodged in the far shoulder.
I then went back home and loaded some of my goats, saddles and panniers; as well as some butchering supplies. The goats are always game for a hike in the woods, so they were pretty happy to be on the mountain. I saddled up the two big ones and took a younger one along for the stroll.
They don't really know deer, so were hesitant on the approach. Once they got close and got a good whiff, they lost interest. I finished quartering the deer out and then boned out the rest.
The hind quarters went in the panniers of my three year old goat (the strongest of the group). The front quarters went into the panniers of the other. I thought they might balk, as this is the first time they packed meat. They didn't blink twice about being loaded up. The rest of the boned out buck went in my pack.
We cut to the logging road and started down to the truck. They acted as if they didn't have a load; running ahead 50 yards and then stopping to eat as I came up. When I was past a ways, they'd run to pass me and stop for a snack again. Can?t wait for an elk for them to pack.
Ah... there he is!
Packing out.
Home and a break from butchering for a pic.
All the meat was fine. Threw the tenderloins and a roast on the smoker. Oh yeah...!
