Meat hunting this weekend....Recap with pics.

[D-Rock425]

Pic

[hntrspud]

Way to go guys! 

[Buckmark]

Holy crap that is a big guy, makes the deer look small....he looks tired must of been a long drag out....

[D-Rock425]

Looks like it

[h20hunter]

OK....now that I have recovered from the hunt I'll get a recap posted for you all.

So, we headed out Friday morning after a nice breakfast. We had to deal with a little low tire on the way but we managed. Man.....I'll tell you this spot a member showed us is remote, rugged, and nasty. We got turned around a little bit trying to navigate the various marked and unmarked roads but we finally made it there around two. After working out our second debacle...no tent poles...we build a tree bough lean to Bear Grylls style and got camp set up. It took some time to find enough old mans beard for bedding but with some help we got it done and called it good enough. After camp was set up we set out to the trailhead a mile or so away and dropped into the first draw that we wanted to hunt. Sure enough just as we got in the timber and started sliding down we saw our first two whitetail...both does and very skittish. We didn't even try to go after them. A few hours into the hike I was starting to get a little worried about the elevation drop but as some of you know I chose to keep silent and all opinions stayed with me. About the 4th hour into the hike we spot a lone muley doe. She is fairly close....about 600 yards or so off...just on the far side of the draw from where we were. Off we went. The BIL went ahead and knocked an arrow figuring that where there was one there could be more and he wanted to be ready. There was a small creek at the bottom and we took turns getting ourselves and gear across. It was a bit more than I expected but again, opinions stayed to myself. Once we got on the other side we must have been breathing a bit because she must have winded us. We bumped her a few times but each time we kept cool and she went back to feeding. After the first hour of cat and mouse we finally closed in for the shot. By now we were getting a little tired. As we closed the last hundred yards we had to cross some pretty good sized downed timber. Luckily, so did she. As we crossed one of the larger logs we could see her broadside feeding at about 60 yards. A little more sneaking and it was shot distance. We closed to 40 and the BIL got ready and drew. A few more steps brought him into range and he loosed his arrow. Since he was standing on a log that went about 8 feet across he was a bit higher than she was. The arrow went in just under the spine, took out a lung, some liver, and came out that opposite armpit. The barked, kicked, and of course ran back downhill and across the creek. We heard her crashing through the brush, gave her time to expire and then followed the trail. It was a fairly easy tracking job. Now, the hard part. The drag from Hell. We took turns since there were three of us. Two would drag, one would follow. Then we would rotate out a man and repeat. It took awhile but since it was the most direct route we just went the same way back as we came. It was an epic first deer and he is very pleased. Add in some fireball next to the campfire and it was pretty sweet once we got back to camp.

[h20hunter]

Here is the as she lay pic.......

[h20hunter]

Post knife work and the happy hunter.

[h20hunter]

And a little sipping beverage...

[h20hunter]

Okay....her is how it really went down.

We ate breakfast, drove over, went to set up camp, realized there were no tent poles, set up the air (leaky) mattress, got dressed, shot bows, headed out at 5 for a drive, saw two whitetail, didn't even bother going after them, drove a bit more, saw a nice muley doe standing there, he got out, took a few steps, drew, shot her at about 12 yards. She barked, fell over, and lay there. We put one more in her to speed up the process, drug her ten steps up the hill, gutter her, drug her the next ten steps, put her in the truck. Total hunt time for him was about 30 minutes.

[Elkrunner]

Sounds great...my first one was 42 yards, ran down hill and landed in the dirt road and expired.  It was the best drag ever.  Sounds similiar to that one..

[D-Rock425]

Okay....her is how it really went down.

We ate breakfast, drove over, went to set up camp, realized there were no tent poles, set up the air (leaky) mattress, got dressed, shot bows, headed out at 5 for a drive, saw two whitetail, didn't even bother going after them, drove a bit more, saw a nice muley doe standing there, he got out, took a few steps, drew, shot her at about 12 yards. She barked, fell over, and lay there. We put one more in her to speed up the process, drug her ten steps up the hill, gutter her, drug her the next ten steps, put her in the truck. Total hunt time for him was about 30 minutes.

now this I believe

[h20hunter]

The pic you posted for me D shows the true distance.....dead deer with a truck in the background.....couldn't have found a more willing deer to have gotten itself stuck with a pointy stick.

[MLBowhunting]

Right on 

[h20hunter]

Very lean deer....hardly any fat on her at all.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Looks good!