LAST EDITED ON Nov-13-10 AT 01:01PM (MST)[p]Got back yesterday from my deer hunt south of Boise. Hunted hard for six days before finally connecting with a great buck. It was a true DIY. I slept in my truck, moved from location to location, and hunted by myself. A special thanks to Mark, Dan, Gordan, Swamp and Ed who provided tips and suggestions for my hunt. The deer were rutting when I showed up on the 5th and were going heavy by this week. When I got my deer, I was watching a group of doe's who were watching something else that I couldn't see. I crawled through the snow and sage down a hill side to look into a draw and saw my buck and another large buck going at it. Their antlers were locked and the dirt and snow was flying. After several minutes, the other buck gave up and started running off. My buck chased him at least 300 yards before stopping. When he started back to the doe's he had a severe limp. I managed to sneak closer into some junipers and took a 300 yard shot. When I looked at the front leg, he had a hoof literally ripped off. The guys I talked with weren't seeing many bucks. Every buck I saw had a doe with him including the spikes and small bucks. What was unfortunate is there seemed to be very few small bucks. That forkie season will be the death of 40 at some point down the road. I don't have a dog in the fight, but if the Game & Fish here pulled something like that, I'd be raising hell as would many other resident hunters. I didn't get any field photos as I shot right at dark and was 5 - 6 miles from the truck. If anyone ever draws the tag, feel free to pm me. I'll be happy to provide what info I can and more than anything tell you what not to do...
