Part 1, prep work
After the call from WDFW I immediately come here to find out what the heck being able to hunt Sept 1st - December 31st meant and to get ideas. I think I got about 800 good ideas . Alot of people offered to help but Josh was by far the most helpful. I started studying google map and looking at pictures of big mature bucks trying to set the bar. I found out I truly dig mass and width (who doesn't). My original plan was to hunt chinook pass starting in September, this thought was quickly disappeared after hearing about Migrator bucks and wintering grounds .
The plan at this point became to hunt those wintering grounds. The problem here is that I had to wait until the end of November and I am not a very patient guy! I starting heading out scouting in October so i got used to the roads and lay of the land. The problem with this is the deer weren't in yet so I didn;t know what to expect from them. I made 3 scouting trips without my rifle and saw; 18 does, 1 forky, a spike and a mature WT buck. Not what I was hoping for but I knew it was early.
In late November I started taking the rifle along. I started higher in the mountains but still wasn't seeing the deer in the numbers I was hoping. I was starting to get a little dismayed as I know I was going to back into a time crunch with Christmas in Texas starting on the morning of the 17th. Just before the first snows really hit, about 2 weeks ago, I hit an area I had heard was holding some bigger bucks. After sitting on a ridge for the early morning I started hiking over the next ridge. I got to the top and as I was climbing over a fallen tree I caught antlers out of the corner of my eye. I froze and glassed the spot. A big mature buck and about 15 does. looking around some more I found 2 more mature bucks and one was enormous. They were at around 300-320 yards across a ravine and I wanted to make sure he was a shooter before I made my next move. At this distance I couldn;t tell alot of details with my Binos so I had to use the rifle scope on the confirmed deer (please dont judge, no spotting scope, yet). He was broadside to me but his head was facing away. I know looking through a scope there can sometimes be some ground shrinkage but I still think this is the biggest buck I have ever seen. He had width about 6 inchs 3-4 inch's beyond each ear and HUGE mass. He was a typical 4 point and absolutely a shooter in my book! I decide to take the shot and rest my 30.06 up against a branch. I start the breathing process and take the shot.... I miss clean but the buck doesn't go anywhere. I decide against another shot for 2 reasons; This is a shot I have never taken before (the rest was also more wobbly then expected) and I only brought 2 more rounds with me. I know if i expended the rounds without a killing shot, I would regret the 4 mile hike back to the truck maybe even seeing a shooter when i don;t have the ability to take the shot. I decide to back out and get to the ridge above the deer. The friend I took up with me lead the way. Unfortunatlly the path he took was to direct and he took it to quickly. Once we crested the ridge there were the does, but no mature buck.
At this point I was pretty low on time and needed some help to track down a big buck. Rob had told me on chat one night that I needed to hold out for a real "hog". I returned jest and informed him that if I did that and couldn't find one that he would have to come help me. He agreed. I took him up on his offer...
We started hunting Tuesday and did not see alot of deer until we got a little higher up. Few bucks but nothing big. Most of you know I blewa stalk on a 170 class deer with fading light. We decided to sleep in our cars and headed back up the next day. We started hunting before light and say alot of deer but no shooters. Some interesting deer; a REALLY tall 3 point with his third point being crabby, a giant 2 point with his right antler broken off. Alot of spikes and a few smaller 3 and 4 points. around 2:30 we decided to relocate and were coming down the hill. At the last draw prior to exiting we spotted a few does. After watching them for awhile we notived a nice 4 point buck. After watching him for awhile Rob noticed he was limping. That did it, I got out of the car and decided to shoot him. Shot was around 300 yards up a ravine. I set up the 30.06 shooting 180 gr federal on shooting sticks and took my time setting up. I waited a few minutes watching him in my scope and I noticed something below him. Rob asked why I hadn't shot and I told him I saw a bigger one. He found it in his binos and I asked which one I should shoot. His instant response was "shoot the big one"! I crept a little closer in, set up the shot and fired. I connected breaking his from leg and puncturing his lung. He took off up over the ravine. Climbing the ravine was a pain, about a foot of snow and a terrible incline. We followed the blood trail over the top and found him piled up. Rob took care of the pictures (around 100 of them) and I field dressed my first deer. The locals had called the WDFW so the Warden was waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. Nice guy, he gave me a ride back to my car
. He said the biologist wanted to see the deer so we dropped by on our way out of town. I hope Rob will post so more pictures and some stats of the deer (he knows more about this then I do).
I had the time of my life each and every minute of this hunt. My wife was absolutely great, letting me to spend random days/nights out in the woods. I hear some of the pictures from the hunt will be used in the hunting regs next year and Rob says a NW magazine is interested in publishing the story (I hope he will post more about this as well). Charlie is going to do the mount for me and I am VERY excited to see it finished (my wife isn't, any tips on this guys?).
p.s. The story is slightly vague due to the fact that it will be shared at length in an upcoming magazine. The pictures below are the ones I have on my computer in Texas. Thank you all for you time/support!
