brand new to hunting

[Firstbuck]

A little background, I have a little backpacking experience but no hunting experience and no one to learn from. I was introduced to firearms a year ago and this summer I purchased a Weatherby Vanguard S2 in .270 win  to explore an interest in hunting. Passed hunters ed and read/watched everything I could and gone to the range with multiple times to practice shooting. I also have a friend and his wife who started hunting a year ago with no success, we went out a couple times for black bear but so far its been mostly hiking in the woods with guns with a visit at night to the tent by a bear. Quite exciting at the time especially as it was my tent the guy started sniffing! Needless to say its been hard with very little success.

For modern deer I scouted out an area through google maps and determined it was huntable public land and took three days off to go hike around with zero expectations looking for blacktail on the westside. I'll also mention that I've been creeping on everyone's posts for a while now and will not deviate from the set precedent of story telling. teaser alert.

[kirkl]

Just an FYI, the story telling is pathetic on this site. So feel free to deviate from it.

[klikboom]

Feel free to not be a diva and keep it short and sweet with a picture of a dead animal.

[Firstbuck]

As the people ask so it shall be.
Day one.
Wednesday morning got to the gate and I saw no shooting signs posted. Disappointment starting to set in, I call the DNR and ask if that meant modern firearm was out of the question. I was redirected to a manager and was informed that the signs only meant no target shooting so off I tightened my boots hoisted my pack and rifle and went hiking up the gated road thick forest on either side.  I don't traverse more than 400 yards before a little forkie blacktail shoots across the road in front of me. I stand there dumbfounded for a second, "did that really just happen." I slam my wide open mouth shut and run to the point where the buck ran into the wood but it was too late he had just vanished. So I keep hiking and hiking up and down off trail and on trail with deer sign everywhere. Tracks and scat of deer and bear. Eventually around 2 I get 4 miles up the main road and a couple ruffed grouse fly out of the brush and over my head into the trees, the thump of their wings just blasting against my ear drums. I consider harvesting one, but decide not too since using my .270 just didn't seem right or even safe. After that other then seeing a line of 4 other grouse run away through some low trees that was the end of my day and 9 miles of hiking.

Day 2
More hiking 11 miles this time, no sightings of deer or grouse.

Day 3
Hike around in a different part of the forest this time. Starting to get pretty discouraged at this point and finally meet a guy called Scott working on some trails. He informs me that hunting is not allowed in that area...."but I'm on DNR land I say! I went out of my way to call the DNR and confirm it was free to hunt modern firearm!" Scott says, well yeah but you actually have to go 3-4 miles up the road before its actually ok. "alright, well thanks for letting me know I was in the wrong," I reply and start hiking up the road with more discouragement setting in. I don't go more than 100 yards before Scott pulls up in his truck and says hey let me show you something on the map. He whips out his phone and highlights an area on the mountain slope I should target. I could either hunt from the bottom or the top but that I was less likely to bump them if I dropped down on them from above. 
Motivation renewed I move to the designated area and start moving slowly down the slope. It is deadly silent with zero birds chirping, deadfall all over the ground and dry crunch leaves announcing my every move. Yet there are plenty of tracks going downhill along my path. Excellent. I move slow a few steps at a time and it takes me an hour to drop down to a point where I think I have gone too far and bumped any deer downhill... I sit with my knees up in a relaxed upright fetal position on a rise caused by a tree stump on the slope and decide to give a couple grunts. I wait 5 minutes and give another couple deep grunts. I let another two go by and as I am about to grunt call again I see movement downhill between two tightly stacked trees. My heart rate sky rockets as a rack comes into view. 1, 2, 3 points on both sides I can hardly count at this point my hands start shaking. I range him... My hands are shaking so bad, 36 yards it reads.... I unsling my rifle and rest my elbows on my knees and take a look through the scope, the deer gets to a point where it can see between the trees and we make eye contact. I don't shoot as the only option is a brisket shot. Neither of us moves for a couple minutes...
I'm in a bad shooting position so I start inching my heels to the right to twist my torso and rifle for a more natural point of aim.
I slowly start twisting my torso, as he stares at me trying to smell the wind. Yet the wind was my ally and instead carried his rutty scent up to me. I get in a good position and he starts taking steps to my right and I lose sight of him as he begins up the game trail to get a better look at me.
I shift my positioning to where I expect him to round a tree and he steps into view. My hands still shaking I clench them a couple times and breath in and out. In and out. I range him...26 yards...up comes the rifle and I aim behind the shoulder and pull the trigger. Boom, shoot I forgot to put in my earplugs, he whirls around and runs back down the same path he took he goes 5 yards as I cycle the bolt. I panic and think I missed and take a hasty follow up shot as hes running. At this point I sit down and call a couple friends and wait the requisite 30 minutes to let the buck bed down. I'm elated there's plenty of blood everywhere, upset that I took a stupid second shot, so happy that three days of work is likely to pay off. Its a weird range of emotion...
I start tracking the buck and start seeing that at least one hit is a lung shot, I lose the trail a couple times but keep getting back on it before I round a tree and there he is. Bedded down, his head twists as he looks up at me but doesn't run. Hes broadside to me, I quickly end his suffering.

Its now 5, I don't finish quartering him up until 7 and it was not a pretty job. All my shots hit, first one went through one lung that went through and shattered the bone in the opposite leg. The second stupid shot was in the gut. and the third went through both lungs. Its pitch black, but I figure I'm ok but shoot my gps unit won't turn on. Fortunately the prior two days of hiking have allowed me to learn the area pretty well and I pick my way down the mountain to a clear cut next to a road. and from there that's all she wrote. I'll keep him on ice for the next few days before freezing.

If Scott happens to read this I want to say thank you for all your help and the small amount of stuff you were able to teach during our short interaction. It allowed me to harvest my first animal, and set a pretty high bar for future blacktail hunts. I'm planning a European mount and may even include the TTSX bullet lodged in bone I found while cleaning up the meat earlier this weekend.
Thanks for reading and if anyone is interested in hunting with/teaching a rookie I'm willing to learn and backpack.

[Firstbuck]

and the buck turned out to be a 5x5.

[Bango skank]

Looks like youre well ahead of the curve.  Thats a great start to your hunting career.

[KFhunter]

that's a dandy buck and a fantastic write up, way to get it done 

[clearwater]

Wow. That's a great buck and a great story to go with. Good work


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[Natures Way]

nice buck!

[lokidog]

As said, great story and nice deer.  Twenty five plus years of Blacktail hunting and I haven't shot one with a rack like that.  Hard to get better from there.   

[kirkl]

dandy buck.

[deerhunter_98520]

Great writeup and an great blacktail! I have a feeling your hooked now  welcome to blacktail hunting there's nothing like it!

[pianoman9701]

Cool buck, man. What a great first deer on your first year. Wow!

[cowboycraig]

EPIC! Think you started hunting a Pro!

[dmv9]

AWESOME story. GREAT first buck!