eelgrass
Long Time Member
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I thought some of you might be interested in blacktail deer so I thought I would share this years hunt in the General Forum.
It's been a tough year this year. Deer numbers are down (IMHO) and the weather hasn't co-operated much. I'd been up on the mountain 4 times staying over night to get a good evening and morning hunt in. I've seen a total of 8 deer total and three of those were together.
This buck has been living in my back yard tempting me all season, but my wife gets all teary eyed when I reach for my rifle. I need to get her away from the house more
So, I left last Friday afternoon to stay until the season closed on Sunday. I got to camp and unloaded some gear and drove to where I intended to hunt for the evening. I parked and walked in about a half mile to some cut over country. I sneaked down through the timber and started glassing. I had been there for about a half hour without seeing anything so decided to move to the top of the ridge to check the other slope. I was moving real slow glassing as more ground became visible.
I saw two deer down near the bottom about 400 yards away. One was a decent forked-horn and one......was staring right at me. How those deer can pick up the slightest movement at that distance amazes me. I guess that's how they survive. I had the wind so I wasn't worried about that.
The forked-horn was relaxed feeding. The other one was a bigger deer but I couldn't see antlers. He just looked like a buck and the more I looked the more I thought I saw head gear but the back ground was such that they blended in with the brush behind him. I was glassing off hand and that didn't help.
I backed off and moved down about 20 yards to a water bar where I could crawl up and get a steadier view through the binoculars. The bigger deer was still staring at me. Now I could see he had antlers and bigger than the forked-horn so I settled in for the shot.
I took a shot and lost sight from the recoil of my .300 Win. Mag shooting 165 gr. Hornady GMX. By the time I got back on them the forked-horn was standing there and the other buck was nowhere to be found. I either got him or he blew out in a hurry.
That's when it dawned on me. I had left my back pack in the truck! It has my deer bag, Wyoming saw, rope, camera, extra knife, and a piece of plastic to lay meat on. All I had was my gun, shells, tag, and my RELH knife.
I hiked down the steep mountain and found him right where he was when I shot. A nice 3X3. Right through the heart like I planned. (yeah right) I knew I didn't have enough daylight left to back track so I decided he would have to spend the night there. I've never done that before but the weather forecast was for mid 30's so I knew the meat would be fine. I just didn't relish the thought of leaving him for the coyotes, cats or bears.
After gutting him and tagging him I came up with a redneck buck leash. I used my belt to lash him to a sapling. (see photo) I also left my coat hanging above him.
I spent a restless night worrying but when I got back in the morning nothing had bothered him. Whew!
The rest of the morning was more like work but very enjoyable and the meat was fine. I'm looking forward to some great eating.
Right through the heart. No wasted meat. I love it!
Eel
It's been a tough year this year. Deer numbers are down (IMHO) and the weather hasn't co-operated much. I'd been up on the mountain 4 times staying over night to get a good evening and morning hunt in. I've seen a total of 8 deer total and three of those were together.
This buck has been living in my back yard tempting me all season, but my wife gets all teary eyed when I reach for my rifle. I need to get her away from the house more
So, I left last Friday afternoon to stay until the season closed on Sunday. I got to camp and unloaded some gear and drove to where I intended to hunt for the evening. I parked and walked in about a half mile to some cut over country. I sneaked down through the timber and started glassing. I had been there for about a half hour without seeing anything so decided to move to the top of the ridge to check the other slope. I was moving real slow glassing as more ground became visible.
I saw two deer down near the bottom about 400 yards away. One was a decent forked-horn and one......was staring right at me. How those deer can pick up the slightest movement at that distance amazes me. I guess that's how they survive. I had the wind so I wasn't worried about that.
The forked-horn was relaxed feeding. The other one was a bigger deer but I couldn't see antlers. He just looked like a buck and the more I looked the more I thought I saw head gear but the back ground was such that they blended in with the brush behind him. I was glassing off hand and that didn't help.
I backed off and moved down about 20 yards to a water bar where I could crawl up and get a steadier view through the binoculars. The bigger deer was still staring at me. Now I could see he had antlers and bigger than the forked-horn so I settled in for the shot.
I took a shot and lost sight from the recoil of my .300 Win. Mag shooting 165 gr. Hornady GMX. By the time I got back on them the forked-horn was standing there and the other buck was nowhere to be found. I either got him or he blew out in a hurry.
That's when it dawned on me. I had left my back pack in the truck! It has my deer bag, Wyoming saw, rope, camera, extra knife, and a piece of plastic to lay meat on. All I had was my gun, shells, tag, and my RELH knife.
I hiked down the steep mountain and found him right where he was when I shot. A nice 3X3. Right through the heart like I planned. (yeah right)
I knew I didn't have enough daylight left to back track so I decided he would have to spend the night there. I've never done that before but the weather forecast was for mid 30's so I knew the meat would be fine. I just didn't relish the thought of leaving him for the coyotes, cats or bears.After gutting him and tagging him I came up with a redneck buck leash.
I used my belt to lash him to a sapling. (see photo) I also left my coat hanging above him.I spent a restless night worrying but when I got back in the morning nothing had bothered him. Whew!
The rest of the morning was more like work but very enjoyable and the meat was fine. I'm looking forward to some great eating.
Right through the heart. No wasted meat. I love it!
Eel
