Hirshey's Washington Deer 2015

[hirshey]

Hello all! 

Gosh, it is nice to be on the other end of that crazy fire season and back in the woods on my own terms. Sorry for the absence for the majority of this summer, but living in my little cabin in the woods and fighting fire from Alaska to my backyard (literally... constructing fuel breaks at my parent's home this summer, and prepping friend's cabins in Oregon on my days off) gave me little time to check in.

As of October 14th, I called it quits for the season and turned in my gear in Naches, Washington and John Day, Oregon. Shortly afterwards, I made the trek back to my hometown of Chelan to pack and hike into the high country for the general season opener. My friend Jeff (the gentleman that accompanied me the morning of my moose success last season) and another individual hit the trail late in the morning of the 16th with a goal of making it just shy of 9 miles into a high alpine basin. The sun was shining, and we made the journey chasing the rays of light through the treetops until we arrived at our location up with the Pikas for the evening with just enough light to set up camp and get in some last minute glassing. The three of us were all smiles as we retired for the evening with alarms set for 5 AM.




 

[hirshey]

The beeping of two wristwatches ensured we were up and moving with adequate time to make the last mile push to the crest of the ridgeline, gaining our last bit of elevation (1000 feet) to watch the world wake up. We arrived in plenty of time, and started up the jetboil for morning caffine fixes and an array of oatmeal to fuel our bodies for the grueling day ahead.

The three of us sipped coffee, enjoyed oatmeal, and came up with the game plan for the day; Jeff was to head west/north along the ridgeline and my other friend (a person who had never hunted before but was coming along for the adventure and to learn) were to head south/east. We'd meet back at camp at the end of the day and report on what we discovered. (sorry, not a lot of photos on this one because too many are of the basins and mountain ranges seeing as we were on top of the world for most of this hunt)

[trophyhunt]

Sweeeeeeet, hirshey is baaaaack!!!! Can't wait for the story and pics,  we are all very happy you made it back safe and sound!!!

[hirshey]

As the day progressed, we slowly made our way along the ridgeline glassing both sides, pausing to take in the expansive views and analyze each sub-draw and basin as we progressed. By mid-afternoon we had seen some impressive sets of tracks following the ridgelines, presumably bucks making their migration to greener pastures, but we had seen very little in regards to creatures on the hoof. There was evidence of one summer-killed deer in a bedding area adjacent to a small spring, but aside from that these deer were ghosts. 7 miles traversed and nothing to show for it yet, aside from some grouse sightings from both parties.

[hirshey]

We had about 2 hours of usable daylight left, so to not be traversing some technical terrain by headlamp, we crossed back through one alpine basin with the notion of gaining about 1,500 feet in elevation to make it to a small saddle where we could drop back down to a trail and enjoy about a mile of trail walking back to camp for the day. As with any plan, all bets go out the window when you start getting into fresh sign... so about 400 feet in elevation above the valley bottom, we started finding that magical location deer were residing. Instead of continuing up to the saddle, I looked at my friend and explained that we'd gain about 100 more feet of elevation and then contour for an hour or so... Jokingly, I asked him if he was afraid of the dark, because chances were we'd be making most of our trip back by headlamp.

[2MANY]

I'm scared.

[jackelope]

Welcome back, Hirshey...looking forward to the rest of the story.
 

[hirshey]

As we continued across the whitebark pine-dotted hillside, we flushed three grouse from their resting place. After the third, I sheepishly looked back at my companion and shook my head... how are you supposed to be sneaky with THOSE things giving you away every 50 yards? I turned and continued to progress across the hillside when it hit me: the strong, unmistakable scent of deer. I looked back at my friend and whisper, "do you smell that?? DEER!". I grab a small handful of dirt and let it fall from my fingertips... the winds were upslope/upvalley; those deer should be right below us.

[h20hunter]

Wearing out my refresh button....keep it coming.

[hirshey]

We crept across the hillside, with an emphasis on looking below and in front of us. My path across the hillside forced a decision; above or below a pine I'd been progressing towards... I chose the upslope route. Not fifteen feet after that pine, a small window through the timber presented itself ahead and downslope of me with the view I'd been waiting for all day: a mature buck... broadside... looking right at me! 

[X-Force]

 

[h20hunter]

Ugh. Gotta clock out and hit the road.....won't get to refresh for about an hour! Killing me!

[hirshey]

I looked at my friend and motioned to stop, whispering with vigor "DEER! BUCK! SH**!"

My range finder was in the top of my pack, and I wanted to be sure of the distance before I even raised my rifle barrel in his direction, so I waited an agonizing amount of time before he looked straight forward. I slid my bag carefully off my back and retrieved my range finder. 260. Not where I wanted him just yet, even though my new baby (Kimber Mountain Ascent .270 with Zeiss scope) is sighted in to be dead on at 200. I wanted him under 200. I whispered to my friend that I was going to take my range finder and rifle, keeping a pine in between me and the buck, and sneak downhill a bit to close the distance. He was in position to watch the buck, so I started my slow trek.

[h2ofowlr]

 

[Karl Blanchard]

I already know how it ends