publichunter1
Active Member
- Messages
- 168
Well I rode over from WY in my first ever Idaho Rifle deer opener. My other hunts this year had gone too smoothly so I should have expected something. The first issue happened after I pulled out of the driveway yesterday. I had been tipped off to the location of a nice buck and was headed his way. Only to get a text that one of the guys in the elk hunting group was going after him. No problem right? This is why we have A, B, C, etc. on to B.
I arrive early enough to go find a camping spot on NF and do some glassing. I wind my way up the little muddy road on top of more tracks than I wanted to see as it was still raining. I notice some bigger ruts just before coming around a corner to see a truck pulling a camper and trailer with atvs had slid off the road and into the draw. Not only that but his wife was stuck in a 2wd SUV, the tow trucks were stuck, and apparently another truck and camper was off the road in front of them. On to plan C.
I drive in on the next road to the south and get to where Plan C was only to find 10+ trucks and no room to park. Wait was there a plan D? Of course there was, “Start New”.
Opening morning I packed in a couple miles to a knob I picked out on OnX the night before. Daylight finally comes and sure enough about 350 yards away stood some does, 4x4, 3x3, and a forky. The sage was tall so I was just getting settled when a truck comes over the hill behind them and they scatter. Keep in mind this is a walk in only area.
I chased the 4x4 over a few ridges before he disappeared into the timber. I hear a shot a 1000 yards or so below me. I glass in that direction to see another truck with a guy and a rifle shooting where the other deer had came from.
Props to the game warden, he showed up after about 30 minutes and has so far handed out 5 citations. It was fun at least finding some deer but I would rather have been hauling meat to the truck. I went up on top the rest of the day and glassed only seeing some doe, a spike and a forky.
I went back in this morning after sleeping through a rainy night in my car. I decided to wait closer to daylight and slip through to glass more going in. I was in about a mile where the hunting really starts and slowly wandering down the trail with my headlamp on when I run into two sets of eyeballs in the sage. We just sat and watched each other for a few minutes until I turned back to the trail to see a nice buck cross at 15 yards. I checked the time and still twenty minutes to shooting time. We stared at each other for about 10 minutes before they went over the ridge in front of me. I stayed put until legal time came and followed down the trail.
When I crested the hill I spotted tails going up the next ridge in front of me. I spotted the buck through my Binos, cranked up my scope, and got on him. He was standing straight away with no shot. He went further up the ridge and just before getting to the top stopped to look back. The sage was too tall so I had to freehand the shot and when the gun went off deer went in every direction and I couldn’t tell which was what.
I saw one run over the ridge to the right and followed as I saw antlers. I found his track and no blood. I went back to where they were standing when I shot and tried to follow each set of tracks with no blood. I started gridding as I couldn’t believe I missed when I saw a magpie land on the tallest sage nearby and kept looking down. I walked over and there he lay 20 yards from where I hit him with no blood trail.
I sent pics to some friends and one responded the face looked like a hybrid. I had thought he was just a unique color until that point when I inspected the tail to confirm it was a mule deer/whitetail hybrid. It only made the buck that much more special. Another blessed hunt.
I arrive early enough to go find a camping spot on NF and do some glassing. I wind my way up the little muddy road on top of more tracks than I wanted to see as it was still raining. I notice some bigger ruts just before coming around a corner to see a truck pulling a camper and trailer with atvs had slid off the road and into the draw. Not only that but his wife was stuck in a 2wd SUV, the tow trucks were stuck, and apparently another truck and camper was off the road in front of them. On to plan C.
I drive in on the next road to the south and get to where Plan C was only to find 10+ trucks and no room to park. Wait was there a plan D? Of course there was, “Start New”.
Opening morning I packed in a couple miles to a knob I picked out on OnX the night before. Daylight finally comes and sure enough about 350 yards away stood some does, 4x4, 3x3, and a forky. The sage was tall so I was just getting settled when a truck comes over the hill behind them and they scatter. Keep in mind this is a walk in only area.
I chased the 4x4 over a few ridges before he disappeared into the timber. I hear a shot a 1000 yards or so below me. I glass in that direction to see another truck with a guy and a rifle shooting where the other deer had came from.
Props to the game warden, he showed up after about 30 minutes and has so far handed out 5 citations. It was fun at least finding some deer but I would rather have been hauling meat to the truck. I went up on top the rest of the day and glassed only seeing some doe, a spike and a forky.
I went back in this morning after sleeping through a rainy night in my car. I decided to wait closer to daylight and slip through to glass more going in. I was in about a mile where the hunting really starts and slowly wandering down the trail with my headlamp on when I run into two sets of eyeballs in the sage. We just sat and watched each other for a few minutes until I turned back to the trail to see a nice buck cross at 15 yards. I checked the time and still twenty minutes to shooting time. We stared at each other for about 10 minutes before they went over the ridge in front of me. I stayed put until legal time came and followed down the trail.
When I crested the hill I spotted tails going up the next ridge in front of me. I spotted the buck through my Binos, cranked up my scope, and got on him. He was standing straight away with no shot. He went further up the ridge and just before getting to the top stopped to look back. The sage was too tall so I had to freehand the shot and when the gun went off deer went in every direction and I couldn’t tell which was what.
I saw one run over the ridge to the right and followed as I saw antlers. I found his track and no blood. I went back to where they were standing when I shot and tried to follow each set of tracks with no blood. I started gridding as I couldn’t believe I missed when I saw a magpie land on the tallest sage nearby and kept looking down. I walked over and there he lay 20 yards from where I hit him with no blood trail.
I sent pics to some friends and one responded the face looked like a hybrid. I had thought he was just a unique color until that point when I inspected the tail to confirm it was a mule deer/whitetail hybrid. It only made the buck that much more special. Another blessed hunt.
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