Thanks a bunch for all the comments and kind words.
DeerKing, you're pretty quick buddy! I guess I need to start giving you a little more credit. LMAO!
Ponyboy, good luck with the sheds. I'm not sure where you are at but I would assume quite a ways South of me. It is not uncommon for us to have bigger bucks dropping in January. Just keep a close eye on the bucks you've been watching and you will most likely be rewarded. Good luck!
Here is a little more on the story of how these sheds ended up in my family room. Wow this ended up longer than I expected!
I was actually glassing the buck from about 800yds when he dropped the first side (left side). He was walking down through a ravine full of oak brush and his antlers kept getting tangled up. About half way through the brush he got his left side hooked up pretty good and as he walked forward his head was pulled further and further back and suddenly the antler flipped off and stuck base first in the snow! Man was I excited! That was at about 10:30 AM. I drove down the road and told a buddy of mine what had just happened. The buck feed over onto the top of the ridge so we decided to swim, I mean hike up and get the shed. It was pretty crazy really. I remember carefully sneaking up the draw so we wouldn't spook the buck. He could see us but didn't seem concerned in the slightest. As we got closer he would put his head down and feed for a bit and then check us out once in a while. He seemed to know we were not a threat. We walked forward carefully for 10yds or so and then we would stop for a few seconds hoping not to spook the buck out of the area and that he might drop the other side close by. I'll never forget reaching down and picking up the buck?s antler as he stood there and watched me. I wonder what was going through his head right then? I picked the antler up and checked it out and then we stared at each other from only 100yds for a minute or so. It almost seemed like the buck was taunting me in a way. Kind of as if he was saying ?Go ahead and pick up my sheds buddy cause that's all you're getting. This time of year is the only time you'll be seeing me within rifle range.? I sure hope I can prove him wrong this year when the hunt comes. ;-)
Anyway, my buddy and I hiked back down the mountain and watched the buck through our spotting scopes for the rest of the day until it was too dark to see. He never dropped the other side. When I pulled up at first light the following morning I spotted the buck bedded only about 150yds from where I had last seen him the night before and he had no head gear at all. Since there was a good amount of snow were he was at I decided I would go up and get on his tracks where I had last seen him the night before and then slowly follow it along until I found the shed. When I finally got to where I had seen him the night before I was exhausted. I sat down to rest for a bit and after looking around for about 5 minutes eating snow and catching my breath I realized the antler was sitting right in the brush only 20yds below me! I guess the buck must have dropped it just after I left the night before and it slid down the hill on top of the crusty snow then flipped up into a bush. I'm very lucky I decided to sit and rest right there! If I would have just followed his tracks I'm not sure I would have convinced myself to go that far back to look for it. I guess I would have eventually but I'm glad things happened the way they did and that I didn't have to stay and search for it very long. I wasn?t really dressed for the occasion. As you can see in the picture below my hikers and full of snow and I'm just a little wet!
Let me tell you something.... Having snow packed in your shoes for a couple hours is NOT GOOD! I only got 3 open wounds from frostbite out of the deal. They have pretty much fully healed now and the feeling is coming back nicely?
Below are a couple pictures of the day that I picked up the second side. I didn't have my camera when I picked up the first side. Dang! Looking at the pictures I think you'll see why I mentioned before that we decided to swim I mean hike up and get the shed. From the truck to where the shed was had to have been at least a 2500 foot elevation change and it is STEEP stuff! The snow was pretty crusty for the most part but at times when you fell through it was nearly waist deep and tough to get out of the hole you made. When I got home and realized I had a pretty good case of frostbite on both my ankles my wife wasn?t very impressed. For the next few weeks she kept my sores doctored up good with gauze pads and cream and stuff. Almost every time she changed the wrap she would look at my ankles and cringe and ask me ?So was it worth it??. Of course I told her no but to be honest with you it really was.
Blood drops in the snow.
Can you see the antler? I almost didn't even notice it!
Steep stuff!!!!
Ahhhh.... Oh, I just noticed something. I'm all wet and my ankles are kind of cold...
Hope you like the pictures and the loooooong story!
NvrEnuf
