Hirshey's Hunting Season 2016

[hirshey]

The first year Jeff hunted in Idaho with me, the first snow heralded an unforgettable moment; the low, melodic calls of a wolf that seem to resonate through your entire chest cavity. As the hillside across from us was erased to white, that wolf howled and I called in return. Another joined, and again I answered. The snow waned but our excitement didn’t, and we made a hasty move across an opening, which shut them up for good. Jeff hadn’t forgotten that moment, or the handful of big, old deer we’d seen on the rocky, hard-to-access, unforgiving ridge. From that point on, Jeff had used Google Earth, photos we had taken, and other mapping programs to design a dream hunt he was certain was going to end in success. After three years of salivating over that hillside, today would be the day Jeff would attack Wolf Mountain. I, however, had a different opinion of the rocky, steep, nasty hillside; I wanted no part in it. My mother and Storm took advantage of the good weather and started their treks back to Washington and Oregon, so that left Jeff, Derrick and I to our own devices. Derrick is never one to shy away from a challenge, but he could sense my nerves as well as my aching muscles going into the final three days of hunting, so he played the dutiful fella and conquered that same hillside, yet again looking for the fella that could usurp my big 3.

[bankwalker]

I'm gonna have to report this post to moderator. The anticipation is to much 

[hirshey]

Derrick had some business to tend to prior to hiking, so he insisted he’d catch up. I certainly don’t consider myself a slow hiker, so perhaps you can imagine my dismay when after each switchback I look back to see this dark, mysterious figure gaining on me at every turn. I smiled as I was overtaken, calling Derrick my Dread Pirate Roberts. He didn’t get the reference, so perhaps I’ll explain: in the movie Princess Bride, a band of hooligans kidnapped the princess, and at every possible turn, her mysterious and handsome rescuer (The Dread Pirate Roberts, or Wesley) gains ground on them. Just as the little bald man exclaimed, I also was thinking, “inconceivable!” at every turn. Anyhow, I digress.
We steadily gained elevation and glassed over some two points and small three points, but still weren’t seeing any mature bucks tending the does. Sliding into position at our first glassing point, the blue skies allowed for sunlight to soak our clothing, giving at least some semblance of warmth for the first time in a few days. The moment was contrasted bizarrely by the hail that showered us from nonexistent clouds.

[hirshey]

An oddity

[7mag.]

Now you're quoting lines from "The Princess Bride", are trying to make us old guys fall in love with you?   

[hirshey]

We steadily gained elevation and glassed over some two points and small three points, but still weren’t seeing any mature bucks tending the does. Sliding into position at our first glassing point, the blue skies allowed for sunlight to soak our clothing, giving at least some semblance of warmth for the first time in a few days. The moment was contrasted bizarrely by the hail that showered us from nonexistent clouds. We spent the remainder of the day picking apart the entire basin, and ended with a count of roughly 12 bucks including that big 3, a dozen bighorn sheep, 3 bull elk on a different hillside, and countless does. The big 4 had disappeared, and our 3 point was still King of the Hill. Shucks! We arrived back at camp the same time the dark creeped across the landscape, and Jeff slid in around an hour after dark; that ridgeline hadn’t lived up to its hype, as it turned out. Jeff did manage to find a full curl bighorn, a multitude of does, and a few small bucks, but Mr. Big was still eluding us at every turn. With two days left of hunting, I decided tomorrow would be my last day with a tag in my pocket; the big 3 or the new king of the mountain were taking a trip back to camp in my pack, I just didn’t know which I’d encounter first.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Now you're quoting lines from "The Princess Bride", are trying to make us old guys fall in love with you?   

She already has a suitor, duh. 

[hirshey]

The morning hadn’t made its presence known yet when I stirred and started the fire. The Jet Boils fired up, but not without protest; one actually blazed around the sides, and the smell of singed hair wafted through the tent… I lost an inch on some of my front layers… oops! Eventually, the aroma of brewed coffee and spiced oatmeal replaced the scent, and I coaxed my companions out of bed by headlamp. We were going to take the ascent on a little earlier today to shake things up. The 4,000 foot elevation gain occurred without anything extraordinary as we crested the last rise before viewing our basin. We glassed the usual haunts, and spotted a few bucks but the distance and early morning light made it difficult to confirm size. We glassed to the adjacent ridgeline as well, and spotted a fairly nice four point pushing a few does. After discussion, Jeff decided that buck was a Day 11 buck for him; he was going to go after him. We parted ways with a few high fives and “go get ‘em’s”. Derrick and I continued to close ground on our targeted area.

[hirshey]

I’d spent enough time sneaking around this basin to know where I wanted to set up this morning; a small group of sandstone rock outcroppings dotted a sub-ridge in the basin. I could use the terrain to my benefit, and then the rock as I gained my last bit of elevation to overlook my area. If I slid slowly to the left, I’d have full view of the basin and most likely remain undetected. I had sat at this location twice already, so I knew the path well. But this time, things were different. With Derrick following behind, I turned to advise him to watch the horizon as we approached the rock; I could already see one doe feeding at about 200 yards. Another two steps, and I froze. Sliding my pack off my shoulders, I didn’t even bother with the rangefinder… I knew he was under 100 yards. The buck was pushing a doe from right to left up the slope gaining my ridgeline. With his concentration elsewhere, I made my move… I laid down, supporting my rifle against my shoulder, my elbows planted firmly in the gravelly hillside providing a solid rest. I looked over my rifle to make sure the barrel was clear of the small rock in front of me, and as I did that, the buck made another push at the doe. He was no longer in primo position for my stance, so I crawled 4 feet up the hillside and reset. The safety was off, and the crosshairs were behind his shoulder as I gently squeezed…

[hirshey]

Now, to backtrack slightly… as we made this last approach, Jeff had been stalking on his deer. After closer examination, he decided he’d wait one more day, so was on his way to rejoin us. I had initiated the conversation with both Jeff and Derrick that if I made a single, good, ethical shot… we could wait to go see my deer for 15-30 minutes to see if another buck we had not seen was still in the area. These deer had proven to not shy from shots, just from sight. So I had told Derrick if I harvested one, we could celebrate, but it had to be a QUIET celebration.

[hirshey]

The recoil of my .270 WIN was handled easily by my positioning, but I still fell prey to my bad habit of looking over the scope immediately after the shot. The shot felt good, but there were two deer running across the hillside to the right… one doe and one buck, right? …wrong. As I put another bullet in the chamber and retrained my sights on the animals, both were does. I put the rifle on safety and scan back to the left, where my buck had dropped. I kept my scope on him for a few moments, but all four legs were straight as a board and pointing towards the sky… he wasn’t going anywhere. I eject the shell from the chamber, put the rifle back on safety, and lean it against the rock, grinning and looking at Derrick. He sneaks to my position, and for the second year in a row, gives me a big hug while those muscular arms shake… turns out he got buck fever watching me shoot TWO years in a row! With a shaky voice, he congratulated me and asked which buck I shot, because he didn’t have a visual. “Well, I shot the king of this mountain…” I smiled. “With 6 days of close encounters, I figured that 3 point shouldn’t come home with anyone except me.”

[hirshey]

We waited and watched, as the rest of the deer went back to their daily lives. Small 3 and 4 points took up right where that 3 point had left off, and another (albeit younger) career 3 point strutted around the head of the basin. When Jeff arrived, he shared his congratulations and we made a plan. He was going to circumnavigate the peak on the back side of the basin, and pop up in one of the small saddles up top. We’d give him 20 minutes, and then go start on our buck. If we did push animals out, hopefully he’d be in position to see what they were. Finally! I got to go examine my fella!

[hirshey]

As he lays... but this was no angle for such a handsome dude!

[hirshey]

Cleaned up

[hirshey]

"Bring in the deer model!"