Figured D8 would be insane this weekend, so figured might be worth it to check out Cummings (tehachapi) since its archery only.
Was really wet and foggy up there, had two blown stalks early in the morning. all nice forked horns, didn't see anything bigger. note to self: don't duck behind a tree to nock an arrow and expect the buck to still be there.
anyways was only a half-day hunt, so started to head out of the ranch after not seeing anything else.
right at noon, we round a corner and see two bucks go over the edge of the road. one was a spike, the other a decent forked horn. we were about 200 yards away so they weren't very spooked. i got out and walked slowly to where they went over. well, they were nowhere to be found, and the mountain side is steep, so its hard to get a good view of the whole area. i'm thinking to myself, they have to be close! after looking around for a few minutes i catch movement to my far left. i look over to see the spike moving along this fence and he disappears behind some large rocks that were in my way. I can see the other bucks butt ahead of the spikes head, but thats it. i reposition, range the fence at 40 yards, and pull back waiting for them to clear the rocks.
this was my view. the red dot is where the larger buck was to emerge.
sure enough about 20 seconds go buy and they just stand still. suddenly the larger buck (the lead buck), jumps over the fence as he walks into my opening between the rocks. i thought he was gone, but he holds up and waits for his buddy. the fence entered my mind for a split second, but thought the chances of hitting it were slim. i didn't realize until later it wasn't a normal barbed wire fence, it had the cross weaving in it as well.
anyways i let it go, i see the buck lurch, and see blood instantly.
i start yelling, I NAILED HIM!!!!
after waiting for my dad to arrive, so i can mark the spot correctly before looking for my arrow and blood, we go check out the area. i can see where the buck dug in deep and headed down the hill. you can see the dirt torn up in the photo below. to the right of the arrow.
about 10 yards away i see the arrow sticking straight up in the air, and stuck in a log. still cant figure out how that happened.
its full of bright blood!
at this point i'm stoked. there is blood everywhere, the blood trail is out of control. blood everywhere, bright red blood, as well as lots of newly uprooted earth where he dug in with each leap.
so we start to head down the mountain slowly. i thought i nailed him, so i didn't really think of holding back. we had already given him about 15 minutes. sure enough blood trail kept strong, but no buck.... fast forward about 45 minutes and half a mile down the steep mountain.
but nevertheless we found him. ends up I hit him in the neck. caught an artery and the windpipe. which makes for a great blood spraying device, but not a quick death.
when i shot, i did hear a twang. don't know if it was my arrow, or the bucks legs when he lunged. he was pressed up right against the fence.
right next to where my arrow was in the log, there was his right antler as well. broke it off somehow, he must have went head first into the ground.
didn't get a chance to weigh him. body was pretty good size, had a lot of fat on him too. there are tons of acorns on the ground right now.
i hiked it straight back up the mountain, which i am still feeling today. legs held together from that eliptical workout. but man my lungs were feeling it, i felt sick for about 30 mins after. dad drug it down the mountain to the other side of the ranch. ended up meeting him about 2 hours later. quite a day!
here is a pic of the antler.
im thinking of getting the skull done if i can repair the antler. also missing in the photo is a 3rd piece of antler. i have 100% of it, only problem is that the smallest piece is bent out of normal shape, and i can barely bend it at all, and its pretty bent. any techniques to soften up the antler enough to glue into place?
anyways i'm stoked on getting one down with the bow. definitely another level of intensity before the shot, and another level of satisfaction when you make it happen.
Was really wet and foggy up there, had two blown stalks early in the morning. all nice forked horns, didn't see anything bigger. note to self: don't duck behind a tree to nock an arrow and expect the buck to still be there.
anyways was only a half-day hunt, so started to head out of the ranch after not seeing anything else.
right at noon, we round a corner and see two bucks go over the edge of the road. one was a spike, the other a decent forked horn. we were about 200 yards away so they weren't very spooked. i got out and walked slowly to where they went over. well, they were nowhere to be found, and the mountain side is steep, so its hard to get a good view of the whole area. i'm thinking to myself, they have to be close! after looking around for a few minutes i catch movement to my far left. i look over to see the spike moving along this fence and he disappears behind some large rocks that were in my way. I can see the other bucks butt ahead of the spikes head, but thats it. i reposition, range the fence at 40 yards, and pull back waiting for them to clear the rocks.
this was my view. the red dot is where the larger buck was to emerge.
sure enough about 20 seconds go buy and they just stand still. suddenly the larger buck (the lead buck), jumps over the fence as he walks into my opening between the rocks. i thought he was gone, but he holds up and waits for his buddy. the fence entered my mind for a split second, but thought the chances of hitting it were slim. i didn't realize until later it wasn't a normal barbed wire fence, it had the cross weaving in it as well.
anyways i let it go, i see the buck lurch, and see blood instantly.
i start yelling, I NAILED HIM!!!!
after waiting for my dad to arrive, so i can mark the spot correctly before looking for my arrow and blood, we go check out the area. i can see where the buck dug in deep and headed down the hill. you can see the dirt torn up in the photo below. to the right of the arrow.
about 10 yards away i see the arrow sticking straight up in the air, and stuck in a log. still cant figure out how that happened.
its full of bright blood!
at this point i'm stoked. there is blood everywhere, the blood trail is out of control. blood everywhere, bright red blood, as well as lots of newly uprooted earth where he dug in with each leap.
so we start to head down the mountain slowly. i thought i nailed him, so i didn't really think of holding back. we had already given him about 15 minutes. sure enough blood trail kept strong, but no buck.... fast forward about 45 minutes and half a mile down the steep mountain.
but nevertheless we found him. ends up I hit him in the neck. caught an artery and the windpipe. which makes for a great blood spraying device, but not a quick death.
when i shot, i did hear a twang. don't know if it was my arrow, or the bucks legs when he lunged. he was pressed up right against the fence.
right next to where my arrow was in the log, there was his right antler as well. broke it off somehow, he must have went head first into the ground.
didn't get a chance to weigh him. body was pretty good size, had a lot of fat on him too. there are tons of acorns on the ground right now.
i hiked it straight back up the mountain, which i am still feeling today. legs held together from that eliptical workout. but man my lungs were feeling it, i felt sick for about 30 mins after. dad drug it down the mountain to the other side of the ranch. ended up meeting him about 2 hours later. quite a day!
here is a pic of the antler.
im thinking of getting the skull done if i can repair the antler. also missing in the photo is a 3rd piece of antler. i have 100% of it, only problem is that the smallest piece is bent out of normal shape, and i can barely bend it at all, and its pretty bent. any techniques to soften up the antler enough to glue into place?
anyways i'm stoked on getting one down with the bow. definitely another level of intensity before the shot, and another level of satisfaction when you make it happen.
