Bearpaw Season - Fall 2013

[actionshooter]

That's a great story.......

[Duffer]

Excellent story!

That 'young man' has filled way more tags this year than I have, even with his disability. Good for him!

[buck man]

Great stories dale! Thanks for this thread every year. Fun to get a perspective from an outfitter

[Lunchbox1981]

Tagging.  I always enjoy reading this thread. 

It's never fun missing shots but I look at it this way.  At least you are getting all your clients on game.  If I were one of them I rather say well dogon I missed a shot vice I didn't see any game.

[bearpaw]

We have two new hunters that I started hunting yesterday afternoon. We spotted about 20 bucks yesterday and passed numerous medium bucks. Right at dark we got on a group of 5 bucks, there were two shooters, one narrow high 5x5 and a wide 5x5, but they were in the brush and swapping positions with 3 other smaller bucks, one of my hunters was trying to get his crosshairs on the right buck, but with the waning light I got nervous that we could shoot the wrong buck and I told him to let them go, we don't want to accidentally shoot the wrong buck.

We went back after those same bucks at first light this morning but they were no where to be seen. We passed two medium 4x4 mule deer and several other small to medium whitetails and mule deer throughout the day. We saw 22 or 23 bucks and finally late in the evening I spotted a big mature 4x4 with wide antlers that we decided to go after. We closed the distance with the truck, then headed in on foot. When we got to where we planned to shoot and there was a doe and a different but smaller 4x4. We waited but then gave up to go look for the other bucks we had seen the night before. On the way to look for the other bucks we saw our wide 4x4, he had joined up with other deer and gone a different direction while we were sneaking in and was now in the middle of a huge wide open field, we left him and headed for the other big bucks from the night before. Unfortunately we did not find them so day 2 done and no shots taken.

We saw two mule deer bucks sparring today and saw two whitetails fighting tonight. We also saw a 4x4 whitetail with his nose on the ground tracking a doe. It appears the rut has officially started here. Tomorrow, or maybe I should say today since it's after midnight, we are going to kill a buck. 

[bearpaw]

We spotted a nice 5x6 mule deer buck early in the morning. We made a short hike to close the distance since my hunter had never shot a deer much farther than 100 yards. We cut the distance to 200 yards and set up and waited for the right shot. Finally the buck moved and gave us the perfect shot, boom, he ran about 30 yards and went headlong into a pine. Congrats to Dustin on a fine buck and a great shot.

[bearpaw]

We hunted for a while after Dustin killed his deer trying to find another buck for Raleigh. We passed 10 or 15 bucks and decided to skin the mule deer and then go for lunch. After lunch we headed out after a nice wide 4x4 I had seen several times. We spotted him and tried to move in to 150 yards but we got busted and watched him run off. 

We made a big circle around and ran into the buck again. This time at about 200 yards. The buck was slowly feeding away into a large field and unaware of the crosshairs fixed upon him. Raleigh was having trouble so I asked him if he wanted to pass on the shot but he felt confident and fired. Boom, the buck jumped and ran out into a herd of does and smaller bucks in the middle of the huge field and was even grazing at times.

We was able close the distance some but Raleigh couldn't get solid on the buck for a shot. Then they moved farther away so we backed off and circled around the field and got closer. At about 250 yards The buck was feeding with the herd, I could see a wound low on the shoulder but the buck seemed relatively unaffected. Raleigh shot again but missed and the deer ran out of range again and started feeding again across on the other side of the field. We watched a few minutes until we figured it was too late to shoot and decided to leave for the night.

At first light this morning we returned to look for the wide 4x4 buck. We searched the field but no buck, I figured he wasn't hurt badly since he was feeding after the shot. Raleigh was going to call the hunt good but I convinced him that the buck would likely live and we should keep hunting, he finally agreed and so we started hunting again. It wasn't 10 minutes and we spotted two medium sized 4x4 bucks chasing a doe around at about 120 yards. They disappeared in and out of the trees a couple times. The next thing we know here comes a buck chasing a doe right past us. We bleated and the buck stopped at 60 yards broadside, "You can take him if you want." Boom, the buck ran as fast as he could into the timber, I saw the bullet impact in my binos and knew he couldn't go far. We waited a few minutes and headed after him. We found the young buck about 70 yards from where he was shot. He's not nearly as big as the wide 4x4 and we all agreed that he's not one of the first two 4x4's we first saw chasing the doe. Raleigh said it was his best whitetail and was pleased. He plans to have a European mount done. Congrats 

[bearpaw]

My next hunter arrived late this afternoon so I asked him if he wanted to go out for the last hour. He was ready in 10 minutes and we headed out to see what we could find. The first 30 minutes was pretty slow, we only saw a half dozen doe, but then things started coming to life. In the last 30 minutes we saw numerous bucks and a real dandy heavy high whitetail buck right at dark, but it was just a little too late so we let him walk.

There are two big whitey's hanging out in this one area so we are going there first thing in the morning. If we don't see one of the big ones I doubt that we'll pull the trigger since it's the first day of the hunt.

Jim likes wide antlers, so if we see the wide 4x4 with the shoulder wound he might be in trouble again.

[bearpaw]

Morning found us waiting for the sky to lighten up. Suddenly Jim realized he was missing his rifle clip. We made a quick trip back to town and located the clip, then back to the ranch. I concentrated on the timbered area where we saw the tall buck the night before, there is also a heavy wide buck that lives in the same timber. Nothing but a couple doe and a pair of spikes so we headed for another large timbered area. Saw a few more deer but no shooter bucks. For some reason the deer weren't moving and I had a killer head ache so we decided to take lunch early and headed in shortly after 10 am. We met again at 1pm and this time Jim's wife Terry came along for the afternoon hunt.

We still weren't seeing as many deer as normal, the cold wind had them holding pretty tight. After an hour or two we spotted some doe and a couple possible shooter 4x4's in an alfalfa field. We made a huge circle out of sight around the field and then started working our way in. A doe had us pinned down for a long while, but eventually fed out of sight. Jim earned an Olympic medal for alfalfa crawling, we crawled within 200 yards of the two 4x4 bucks in the middle of that alfalfa field. We looked them over and decided to pass on them, backed off carefully, and left them in the field.

About an hour later in a different part of the ranch we spotted some doe in the brush. As we sat and watched the does we spotted two bucks sneaking through the brush. Finally the larger buck stepped out of the far side of the brush patch. Jim had his crosshairs on him, we looked him over pretty close and I could tell Jim liked him. I said he was a 4x5 and Jim asked "Should I shoot him? I replied, "You can if you want! BOOM, that buck dropped like you cut the rope he was hanging from. Great neck shot! Congrats Jim...

This was the first time that Terry had ever gone hunting with Jim, we told her she had to be initiated into deer hunting. Thus the second photo! I have to admit she is a great sport!

[ICEMAN]

Awesome!

[bearpaw]

Next hunter was Alex, he has ALS Lou Garich's Disease, his muscles are failing and he has lost his speech, he is still able to walk short distances slowly and trying to do as much hunting as possible while he still can. One of his best friends Loren and son Xander accompanied him on the hunt. He had never taken a whitetail and there were no buck tags so he purchased a doe tag so he could get his first whitetail. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to get the needed disabled permit paperwork completed so he could not shoot from the vehicle.

We tried hunting from a blind and he got a shot but missed. We also tried driving around the ranch and worked out a quick system, I would get out and set up the chair and tripod while Loren got him out of the truck. Loren helped him get his arm up and put his hand on the trigger, then he would take off the safety. Alex still has enough muscle to pull the trigger but has trouble with muscle spasms that cause him to shake at times and so we had another missed deer due to these circumstances.

Finally we found another very calm deer, I got the chair and tripod in position while Loren helped Alex out of the truck. We moved the tripod up close and Alex got the deer in his scope. Loren flipped off the safety, I whispered "Squeeze slowly and keep your eye on the deer, try to see the bullet hit the deer!". Alex settled in and pretty soon BOOM, the deer dropped and never moved, perfect shot. 

Second photo was right after the shot!

[combs338]

 

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Lots of nice bucks!

[bearpaw]

Alex needed to rest for a few days and then he did a buffalo hunt, this time his son Xander did the shooting, a clean one shot kill on a young bull.

Congrats to Xander and a very proud dad!

[JackOfAllTrades]

That's pretty darn cool!
 
-Steve