Nice timber buck

[rasbo]

love them dark antlers,great job on an awesome buck

[Alpinehunter]

I took friday off at work and thought with the snow level coming down maybe I could catch a buck comining down out of the high country that I hunt in september.  So I decided to head up a canyon that I had never taken before in hopes of finding some magical migration trail that had dozens of big bucks walking down it.  By 1 o'clock I had made it to my marked destination on my gps and all I had seen in the 3 3/4 miles that it took me to get there was a mountain goat. No tracks, no sign of any annual use, no rubs. It was a bust. I had my camp and had planned on spending the night but the whole time I was walking up that canyon(with no deer sign) I was thinking of somewhere else. So I decided to walk out to my truck, drive home, and hunt that spot in the morning.
Saturday morning: I parked my truck at the washout and rode my bike up the rode about a mile to where I wanted to start hunting. It was a dark morning so I had to wait about thirty minutes and then I started easing up the grade. I hunted for a couple miles through a mix of 15-20 year old reprod, strip timber and clearcuts and I had just rounded the swithback into a north facing patch of steep timber. In years past this 1/2 mile stretch of the grade had been littered with big rubs. In fact a couple times that I had hunted up this same grade I had hunted through to the top and on my way back down had found were a big buck had chased a doe all over in this same stretch of the grade in this steep dark timber. So when I rounded the switchback and made eye contact with a doe about 125 yards up the grade my first thought was, "he's here somewhere. Maybe he will just walk out in the middle of the grade and stand there so I can shoot him." And then I thought ya right. That would never happen to me.  So back to the doe. I blew my can call probobly a dozen times while she was staring at and it seemed to calm here, but the buck never came. After 20 minutes or so she finnally lost interest and walked off of the edge down into the steep timber. So I started easing up the grade and I got about 50 yards past where the doe had left the grade and I seen him coming through the timber from my left heading into the grade! Head down, nose to the ground, looking for love.  I had dreamed of this very moment a thousand times in the last ten years. I couldn't believe it was finnally happening to me. The buck of my dreams was standing 30 yards away.  I through up my gun, KABOOM!  I missed? I went into a panic.  He wheeled and headed back up the hill into the timber.  I knew that my only chance of seeing him again was if he headed towards a clearcut that borded that dark timber. So I took off running for the edge of that unit. I got there, sat down and started franticlly scanning the unit, THERE HE WAS! Standing on the last finger ridge watching his back trail, 280 yds away, one step and he was gone. I threw out the bi-pods and said a little prayer. KABOOM! The rest is history.

[TeacherMan]

He would be headed for my wall!

[CAMPMEAT]

Buckolecious  !!!!

[elkboy]

Amazing!  Well done!  And people are right... some of the best photos in a long time! 

[RB]

Awesome Buck and great story! 

[Boss .300 winmag]

Looks like finney has given up one of her big ones! 

[shanevg]

AWESOME buck!  Congrats!

[AKBowman]

That's a great buck and really good story! Enough time in the woods and it payed off for you. I bet that's a huge monkey off your back

[WaltAlpine]

 

[deadwoodbuck]

  :tup:will make an awsome mount and lots of great steaks

[Kc_Kracker]

i too willhave the moment of my dreams when a buck comes to me lookin for love  good story 

[Swatson]

What a PIG!!!!!!!!!!!  Sounds like you definitley earned him!  Good work and Congrats!

[D-Rock425]

 

[Ripper]

That is a great BT!  I agree that the pics are exceptional as well. Along with the story I did feels as though I were there witnessing the whole thing. Thanks for sharing.