2015 OTC mule deer down

[robertsjd]

posted a few photos of him back in october with no story figure id add better photos and a story with him .

Saturday the 17th ended with a grand total of 3 deer spotted 0 bucks
sunday the 18th more of the same total of 5 deer 0 bucks
monday the 19th a change of pace  ... sike 7 deer 0 bucks
  monday evening we decided to switch gears and head to an area none of us have ever even been too but somwheres we have talked about trying for the next years high buck so atleast wed get an idea of what we were in for the next year ? so if we didnt see anything atleast we were scouting for the following season. monday afternoon ish 1:00 pm ish ? we hit the trail head and just started hiking up and wandering around talking and just shouting out ideas of what looks good and accessable . so we kinda headed in a direction of a big bowl up high that looked really attractive we spooked up a doe and saw 2 more wayyy up high from us so we got to an area and decided to hang out on a good looking over look until dark with nothing else ever comming out we headed back to the truck and decided to hit it again the next morning tuesday the 20th. when we made it to the truck there was 3 guys setting up camp at the trail head . just rolled in before dark so we BS'd with them for about 15 mins introduced our selves and talked about game plans for the following morning and then we were off .

tuesday the october 20th
 back at the spot we left off the night before on our way up we came across several sets of tracks extrmeley fresh with one hog of a buck track . bsin our way up thinking man id love to see that thing up here on the hoof ! wonder what caliber of bucks live in this nasty mess ! about 4 hours later we finally made it to target area . the older gentleman in our group ' 47' , mind you im 24 and my buddy is 27 ' says okay this is it were good right here ! hahaha so we sat down busted out some snacks took the packs off got water out .. started glassing and talking taking in the view i kid you not .. not 5 mins into out snack ' BOOM' i about pissed myself it was so close 'then BOOM... .we all stare at eachother speachless ... not knowing exactly where it came from ' you all know how echos work ' we kinda bummed and also wondering who the hell else climbed up this mountain 5 miles in 2200 ft elevation gain so we decided it had to be one of the 3 fellas we met the night before ? they were extrmeley nice guys and we wanted to go offer a hand packing it down and just to put our eyes on a legal deer would nice too. so thats what we did . about 300 yards into our trek to him my buddy spots deer about 500 yards away . we all stop and hit the dirt . it was 3 does .... but i spotted 2 more deer about 50 yards from them ?? and they were sparring !!!!! i say bucks ! bucks ! after further investigation of these two deer i come to realisation they are both legal .... then above them i notice another deer moving down towards them... my heart drops..... by far the biggest deer ive ever seen with my own two eyes ....i drop the binos and grab my spotter set up the tripod and get a better look at this guy ....  to put a number on him would be hard 170 ? 180? idk ? wide 5x4 w eye gaurds just a stud buck ... i lay down crank my scope up to 25x chamber a round ask my buddy for a range and he whispers 509 ... im seriously questioning myself on this one ... i realyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy wanted to take a shot ... it was perfect shot ... but this season ive had my issues at long range ... hit a bear bad at 400 and couldnt find him ;// im shooting a 7mm with 162 grSST benchmark barrel muzzlebreak with some action work and a jewel trigger . topped with a zeiss HD5x25 this thing was dead to rights .. but just when i thought maybe i was gonna take a shot ... my buddy says DONT SHOOT A HUNTER... i pull my eye off the scope look up and sure enough the feller that shot 10 mins before this is walking to his down deer just 200 yards from us directly inbetween me and the bucks .... i tried whisteling and clapping and tried getting his attention but no dice i had no choice but to pack everything up and head to him ... with him not knowing we were there to take the shot at this buck ... he pushed them over the next rigde ... so we get up to him and bs with him and he tells us his story and THE BIG ONE WAS HIDDEN I DIDNT SEE HIM UNTIL I SHOT ! anyways we take off after them again ! congrats to him and a beauty of a 4x4 ! we split up one went ridgeline one went low i went middle . i meet my friend that took the ridgeline at the top hes telling me he had a bad shot on the 3x at 300 yards walking through thick trees he decided not to shoot. about that time we hear that heart stopping ground thump of hooves comming up from our right . james pushed 3 deer up to us .. 2 does and a 2x1 they walked right infront of us .. up and over the next ridge .... we catch our breath and go in the direction they went . we make our way to a big meadow right before the crest of the ridge ... we strip our packs chamber a round and start cresting .... i catch movement to my left ... a doe with a deers nose in her hind end ... i see horns 1...2...3.. boom ... that fast ... i knew it wasnt the big one but it was a legal deer and put an end to my 1 year dry spell of no tags notched ... i jump with excitment ... then start to scarmble with my buddy with i catch more movement down to my right ...5 more deer running every where ! then i see him ! running straight down hill ! the big daddy my buddy takes a desperation shot at him ... with no luck we watch him gallop into safety and out of sight ..... kinda kicking myself for not looking around longer but my buck was 60 yards away and side hilling it towards us ... perfect shot on a beautiful legal deer i couldnt resist .... i want to thank everyone that helped me along the way this season . and a GIANT GIANT shout out to the nicest fellow hunters ive ever come across .the 2 brothers and thier father back at the trail head ... they hung a lantern and sat in their chairs until we made it down the mountain ... i shot at 3:40 and got to the truck at 11:30 ... they gave us all food and even had a rum N coke ready for us ... but the life saver was the lantern ... they hunt it so we had something to aim at and know where the trucks where ... i have a garmin GPS with onxmaps so we woulda have been okay but those guys were truly amazing thanks again Darin with Vander vuer taxidermy in wesport i beleive cant thank you and your group enough . sorry for the long post guys ! happy holidays and cheers to 2016 !

[muleyslayer]

Congratulations! Sounds like a well earned trophy, and you made some friends along the way. That's what it's all about!

[Wacenturion]

 

[Watimberghost]

Great buck and write up! Love hearing of hunters helping hunters

[400out]

  nice write up!! Congrats on a good buck!

[robertsjd]

Thanks guys . Was a very rewarding amazing hunt . And yes hunters helping fellow hunters is awesome to hear about . These guys were extremely nice can't thank them enough ! Thanks everyone for the kind words glad you enjoyed the write up

[mkcj]

Great story, great picture's AND Great Buck! 

[Taco280AI]

Nice buck and pics 

[Skyvalhunter]

Congrats on a fine animal, sounds like a good time.

[Mark251]

Great buck!  Congratulations 

[Muleyslyr]

Good work. Pics look cool too.

[johnnyaustin44]

Nice buck and good write up. Congrats.

[fishnfur]

Great hunt story.  Thanks for posting it.

[scudmaster]

Good story and great buck.  Congrats!!!!

[robertsjd]

thanks everyone really appreciate it ! busted my butt last year and  this year ... so this deer was really really rewarding it was an awesome season extremely happy to be able to take this deer !