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Author Topic: Talking about the high hunt son's first buck  (Read 3821 times)

Offline savagehunter

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Talking about the high hunt son's first buck
« on: September 16, 2017, 08:19:09 PM »
Five years ago all my son wanted for his 16th birthday was to go on the high hunt. Five hunts later through trials and tribulations. I have managed to keep his intrest up through zero deer and one grouse. Through plans changed by fires and changing intrest and a distaste for glassing he kept at it. Opening morning 15 min after shooting light he shot his first buck. He turned 21 sept 11th. Heck of a birthday present. I figured in this thread I will tell the stories of these five hunts serial style as a tutorial of do's and don'ts for newbies like we were five years ago. I would like to thank a ton of members that were very helpful and encouraging before our first hunt five years ago. This is the best site on the Web bar none. And you guys are the reason for that. I really special thank you to Bill w for putting us on a very specific rock I'm a very specific basin. I know the rule. Don't talk about the high hunt. Well that is what I am going to do in this thread for the next year. There were 23 hunters in our 1.2 mile spot this year. Half of them hunt wa members. We met and enjoyed the company of every hunter up there. Never felt crowded and as I told my son as we sat an hour and a half in the dark the early bird gets the worm. Alot of hard work paid off with a huge bodied 4x3 as my boys first deer. We couldn't have done it without alot of help from you folks thank so much
« Last Edit: September 18, 2017, 11:52:24 AM by savagehunter »

Offline savagehunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2017, 08:21:51 PM »
Stories to come. Plus a pic of me since I was the guide

Offline Mark Brenckle

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2017, 08:38:42 PM »
Congrats to you both! Now, go get yours and complete the double play.

Offline h20hunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2017, 08:41:07 PM »
Sweet.

Offline Bill W

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2017, 08:02:51 AM »
Nice pics and good to hear that rock is still working.

Offline Bill W

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2017, 08:03:15 AM »
Back again.... TWO THUMBS UP.

Offline savagehunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2017, 08:49:57 AM »
Thank you very much bill all your sage and sound advice served us well . He says he will be going in there very year nature allows you helped another generation get hooked and not just for the game but the experience and tremendous view.

Offline savagehunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2017, 11:14:28 AM »
Thursday came way to slow. Up at 430 am this is my son's first year driving us over . His driving and his ranger served us well actually loved sitting in the passenger seat watching the miles roll by. Stopped and had a big fat breakfast then hit the trailhead around 1030 am. This was our fourth time up this trail and our packs have gotten lighter every year but I swear the trail gets longer. I'm 49 and not in top shape so an easy pace with well placed breaks and hydration are important to avoid  any complications. We got to camp about 230pm  feeling good . Outfitters had brought in a few hunters and there was a couple of other hunting camps set up but we got the same campsite we had in previous years. Pitched our golite teepee and I cannot stress the importance of a high quality lightweight tent for the high hunt. One of the most important pieces of equipment giving you a dry base with room enough for you and your gear. I picked up mine including the bug hut  and ultralight pole for 50 bucks on craigslist. Water was next on our list we use an msr pump filter given to my son 5 years ago by a kind group of hunters as a birthday gift while on our hunt. A life saver and another very important piece of gear. Unfortunately here is where we hit our first snag our 4 litre water container that had served us faithfully for 4 years had given up the ghost and was split along the seam. Lesson learned every piece of equipment should be tested for functionality before heading out. Luckily I had insisted on 2 smart water bottles each and we had our cooking pot and it was enough. We ate light and headed to bed around 630 pm knowing that if we wanted our spot we had to roll out earlier than the rest. We went to sleep not realizing 6 more camps of hunters were going to roll in that night.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2017, 11:22:43 AM by savagehunter »

Offline jackelope

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2017, 11:20:08 AM »
Nice work, man. Happy for you guys.
With that said, did you really find a shangri la on Craigslist for $50??


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" In today's instant gratification society, more and more pressure revolves around success and the measurement of one's prowess as a hunter by inches on a score chart or field photos produced on social media. Don't fall into the trap. Hunting is-and always will be- about the hunt, the adventure, the views, and time spent with close friends and family. " Ryan Hatfield

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Offline savagehunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2017, 11:39:19 AM »
Almost all my gear has come via craigslist offer up and ebay. I also picked up  a big agnes fly creek ul2 with an msr whisper lite ground cloth and an ice axe for 50 bucks on offer up I sold the ice axe for 50 on ebay so basically free. A vortex viper 20-60x80 hd spotting scope with slik tripod for 250 bucks. My hanwag boots new with tags for 50 bucks.  Traded a rem 700 that I had 225 bucks into for our two eberlestock packs. Arcteryx leaf gen 2 rain bibs 50 bucks at a garage sale. Kryptek koldo rain jacket 150 buck on ebay with tags. Sitka alpine pants 50 buck mountain pants 80 bucks. First light gen 2 wool pants and wool long sleeve 130 bucks offer up. The deals are out there but it took me 3 years to gather this stuff together as I have 5 kids and not alot of xtra cash. Making do with what you have and just getting up there is half the battle. First year we had a box store three man dome tent and my pack weighed 95 pound going in. My son's around 70. If we had gotten a deer we would have had to make two trips and would have been screwed. Hindsight is 20/20 knowing you're personal limitations is important. I do not think we would physically be able to do two trips in 2 days.
This year taught me for sure that I will have to invest more time into preparing physically because you can lighten your gear all you want but a big buck will always weigh the same. No such thing as an ultralight deer.

Offline savagehunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2017, 11:51:56 AM »
Quick note our eberlestock packs are serviceable to hunt with. They are not ideal for packing a heavy load . My son carried the whole deer and head out 140 pound of dead weight. He is 5ft6 and weighs a buck 60 . I had both guns and around 80 pounds of gear. New packs with better load carrying ability and better suspensions and padding are top of the list for next year. He was 5'6 going in now I think he's 5'5.  What a trooper man not one complaint I let him set the pace and we only stopped once on the way out. I always felt he was keeping up with me the last 4 years this year I was keeping up with him. Barely.

Offline savagehunter

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2017, 01:54:43 PM »
415 am comes too soon in the high country. It was a balmy 33 degrees and we set out for our rock him with his 308 with handloaded 165 gr sst over 4064 and me with my 6.5x284 143 eldx over 4831 sc. In five years we have not seen a shooter buck closer than 350 yards and most have been 500 plus. Bitten by the long range bug out of necessity have spent the last 3 years setting up to take a shot out to 800 yards with my gun not his. We covered the 3 quarters of a mile to our spot in about 20 minutes and sat down for the hour and a half wait til shooting light. Dried apples papaya and mango was our breakfast . In the distance we could see headlamps heading up the east slope of the toughest terrain in the valley. Turns out we weren't the first to roll out of bed. As soon as it was light enough to start glassing we settled into position. I have found it very important to find a spot where you have back support while glassing. Nothing moving and as shooting light approached I was nervous as there is usually quite a few deer mostly does and spikes to be seen at first light. Shooting light came and not one deer visible. I was getting a little chilled so I got up and went behind the rock to get out of the breeze. Glassing from around the rock at an island of buck brush that I knew held beds for the 8th time  I saw his head poking out like a jack in the box. I knew immediately he was a shooter buck and low and behold he was 208 yds away. I came around the rock and tried to whisper directions to my son on his location. Darrick was having trouble locating the buck so I decided to take the shot. The buck had left cover and was now standing in the open at 250 yards. I settled my cross hairs behind his shoulder and asked my son again are you sure you can't see him? He said there he is and I told him then you take the shot. I think a little buck fever kicked in as the first round when downrange and the buck didn't even lift his head. There were 2 does with the buck and they didn't seem disturbed either. I urged my son for a follow up shot and he changed position to a better rest. The next shot made that buck shiver like I was but he showed no effect and walked around the island of buck brush. He was headed for heavy cover but at his own pace. I told my son to put another one in him. The deer was moving right to left and my son having never shot a moving target before led him a bit too much and his third shot resulted in a flesh wound in the forleg  with no broken bone. Deer in cover. Ouch how hard is he hit? I ask my son and he says he saw solid impact on the second shot. I tell him we will wait 40 min then one of us will head up the hill and circle around above him and try and push him out of the brush if he's not dead. Longest 40 minutes ever and my son says he will climb the hill and play bird dog. Live and learn. He heads up the mountain and doesn't take his bearing and end up in the middle of an huge thicket of buck brush. Half an hour later he merges 600 yds up and 800 yard to the right of where he needs to be. Radios would have been nice at this point. I am trying to give him hand signals but he thinks I'm just waving and proceeds to head straight up to the rim rock. He is now 1500 yards away from the buck and totally lost. If I had any hair I would be pulling it out. He then follows the Rimrock south through some super hard terrain crossing waterfalls and scaling a small cliff. I'm actually starting to worry as he is wearing all his morning gear and now he is in full sun with no water on him. An hour later he is standing about 600 yards straight above where we had last seen the buck. He slides down the grade and eventually sees the log I had pointed out as reference. He's finally on point and starts probing the brush looking for the deer. I have been keeping an eye on this thicket the whole time and have seen no movement. The two does the buck was with look on with little intrest and only walk away when my boy gets within a hundred yards.  I watch as he approaches the last spot we saw the deer and minutes later I hear his triumphant war cry of buck down and my heart swells as the realization of my son's first deer has come true after so many hikes out empty handed. After tons of time and money blood and sweat it had finally happend. I was so proud of him at that moment alot of full grown men would have backed off that hill and came back for help. I yelled to him that I was headed over . He yelled back not to come the way he did. Took me 7 min to reach him
The deer lay in a bed not 10 feet from where we had last seen him . A perfect through and through high lung shot from the sst and left a golf ball sized exit with no shoulder damage. The buck had been walking dead since the second round shot.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2017, 02:26:11 PM by savagehunter »

Offline banishd

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2017, 02:08:22 PM »
awesome, congrats on success!

Offline TVHunts

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Re: Talking about the high hunt
« Reply #13 on: September 17, 2017, 02:21:20 PM »
Great story.  Way to get it done!  Congrats to both of you  :tup:
MAGA

Hey Slobbering JOE,

 STOP the freaking INVASION

Offline Mark251

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Re: Talking about the high hunt son's first buck
« Reply #14 on: September 25, 2017, 08:40:35 PM »
Great story! Congratulations  :tup:

 


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