Free: Contests & Raffles.
This year i decided to switch from archery to put in for a late season quality tag as my points have ben building up. No dice . As i was coming up with plan B my boss invited me to come along with him and a few other guys to his leased land in Asotin, boy was i stoked cause i have seen the pics and heard the stories over the years. The only problem was i had to wait until wednesday to head out cause work was just to busy. this was gonna be the longest few days of work ever knowing they were already down there giving bucks dirt naps, and i was only staying until friday cause of the phaesant opener. So wednesday finally comes and i head out about 8 am to be able to hunt the evening. make it to camp about 2:30 and by 4 had already found a legal buck but not something i wanted to shoot in the first few hours of hunting. that night in one of the back canyons another guy in our group had shot and missed and they watched the deer completely leave our ground. so the next morning we head back to the back canyon hoping the deer had returned during the night but no such luck so back to camp we go to come up with another plan. when we pull into camp 2 guys in our group that had already notched their tags are anxiously waiting for the first group to return as they had spotted a decent buck downriver. park the quads, jump in the pickup and off we go. about a mile down river and there he is about 1000 yards or so up the hillside and for those of you that know that country it is beyond STEEP! he proceeded to bed down behind a rock outcropping where only his head and horns were visible, so up the hill i go. the first rocks i come to i range him at 370 with still only a head shot so time to sneak closer. get to 250 with still only a head shot so i play the waiting game with him for about 20 minutes with no action. i finally got impatient and figured if i got to the next rocks i would be even with him on the hillside about 100 yards away but as i was closing the distance he either heard me or got my wind and was gone by the time i made it to the rocks . luckily my buddy was able to drive around the other side and caught him just as he was bedding down in his new hiding spot so back down the mountain i go. this time instead of hiking up to him we took the road up to where it reached the top peak and only had to walk across the top of the ridge. it was alot longer of a hike by way easier. got to where he should be and there he was 300 yards away looking straight down at the other members of our party who were having lunch and watching the entire stalk take place. after watching them for about 15 minutes he decided to head straight away from us without giving me a shot. finally about 325 yards he turned up the hill and gave me a walking broadside shot. i shoot and hit him a bit too far back with the .300 weatherby but take out his back legs in the process. 1 more round to finish him off and deer meat in the freezer! my first mule deer and still have a full day before i head out bird hunting which also was a major success! first time i have ever hunted both on the same trip and boy was it sure a blast.
Had a great opening day with my dad, brother and a buddy!
Pasayten wilderness DIY 2012 hunt. Hiked up Wednesday and dad shot his in 30 minutes. He gave me crap all night and I ended up shooting a even bigger buck then him Thursday night . My biggest buck ever. Family has been hunting in that spot since the 1930s. Best hunting trip ever.
2012 Blacktail
