So this year I got lucky and had all of general season off except for opening day. I drew a late season buck tag for the Palouse so I want really planning on tagging out during general season so I could hunt the late season.
Monday morning I spotted several bucks one of which looked pretty nice. I was 600-700 yards away when he got up right at first light. He was fairly distinctive because his eye guards were different lengths. I got an ok look at him but didn't think he was worth making a move on as it was my first real day to hunt. He moved about 100 yards down the hill and bedded down in some brush. I tried relocating him with my spotting scope for the rest of the afternoon but couldn't.
I decided to move down the ridge I was on so that I would be almost directly across from where I thought he was. I did this on the chance I had misjudged him which I've been known to do. About an hour before dark there were deer moving all over but he hadn't come out. With about 15 minutes of shooting light left he came out about 250 yards below me.
As soon as I saw him through my spotting scope with good light I knew I had misjudged him. Looking at him he had the largest body I've ever seen on a deer. His rack was solid and I think I thought he was smaller then he turned out to be because of how huge his body was.
I shot him while in the prone position out at 250 yards and he rolled about 100 yards down hill. Once he came to a stop he stood up so i shot him one more time and he ran about 50 yards and expired. I was able to follow the blood trail with ease and found him dead in the creek. My first shot had been true and taken out both lungs. Once I saw his rack up close I knew I had defiantly under judged him.
Where my buck had died was in a creek bottom a few feet wide with 10-15 cliffs on either side. I had to quarter him out and tie game bags to rope so my dad and a family friend could pull them up.
This is the best whitetail I have ever been fortunate to harvest. Overall the season went way to quick, but was still amazing.
The hill he was bedded on.
