My 2017 Mature Blacktail

[kendra.t17]

This is my first real post on the forum so I'd like to give you a little background about myself. I grew up in Ashford, which some of you know is on the list of small, redneck communities. I was raised in a blue collar family on a thirty acre farm with lots of cattle. I wouldn't say that I've been an avid hunter my entire life, but I've definitely been exposed to it throughout the years. My Dad and brother both hunted for awhile, but took up playing in the hills with their jeeps instead. I always remember hunters showing up on our porch steps in full camo asking my Dad if they could hunt in our back fields.

It wasn't until about 4 years ago that I actually started hunting. My boyfriend (Hank) has been a lifelong hunter and I wanted to take an interest in his hobbies, so I started spending a significant amount of my free time in the woods learning the ropes. For the first 2 years I just went with him as he hunted deer, elk, bear, sheds, and turkey and I shot a few grouse along the way.

In 2016, however, I decided that I had learned enough and it was time to lace up my boots and get it done. So, I hunted all of general season for modern firearm and on October 26, 2016 I got my first blacktail buck ever. It was then that I truly fell in love with hunting and the amount of work that goes into it. I realized that it's such an incredible experience to just simply be in the woods with God's creatures, and harvesting an animal just puts the icing on the cake.

With one successful deer season under my belt, it was time to put in the extra work during the off season to prepare myself for this year.

I am very grateful that my boyfriend was there with my first buck to show me the ropes of field dressing and proper care of the meat. This year would be different and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could fill my tag on my own and it just so happened that he was out of town hunting for mule deer. I was only able to spend 6 days up in the woods during the general season due to work, but I hunted hard and only saw 3 does. I was a little disappointed with my continued effort and the reality that I wasn't seeing deer. The stress began to hit me as I started to plan out my late hunt. I'm a firm believer in hunting for meat and I knew that in order to put meat in our freezer, no buck was going to be given to me.

With Hank back in town for the late hunt, we decided we would take time off of work and make it our goal to hunt as hard as we could to harvest any legal buck. Thursday found us glassing for the majority of the day, following tracks in the snow, and eating bear pepperoni on our snack breaks. That night, I closed my eyes with dreams of seeing does the following day with rutting bucks right on their tails.

Friday morning came and it didn't start well. I was filling up my Toyota at the gas pump around 5 AM and we ran inside to grab some drinks. While we were inside, my tank filled up and the pump started pouring gas all down the side of my truck. Not that this is important, but a few gallons of gas and some hard earned money was wasted. Not to mention that gas is one of the worst smells to have on you in the woods. We had made a plan to go hunt in a different area than the previous day and we had a good feeling about the day. When started heading down the logging road to get to our spot, and a logger stopped us and mentioned that their crew had a skyline running above that road and we wouldn't be able to get passed that point for a few hours.

We were extremely disappointed and went with plan B, heading up toward some high country. Unfortunately, we hadn't seen much for deer along the way (only a bobcat that Hank couldn't shoot - he says "it happened too quick!"  ) and we got ourselves stuck in about a foot and a half of snow. We eventually got ourselves out, only leaving enough time in the day for the evening hunt.

We decided on a specific clear cut and quickly headed that way. As we walked up to this nice cut, I immediately spotted antlers. I was only able to see the right side, but I knew he was legal. He was right behind a hot doe and as I was loading my gun he stopped and looked at us before continuing to follow the doe. He had his nose buried in the scent of the doe in front of him and went another 5 or 10 yards and stopped. He was quartering towards us at this point and this was my close encountered opportunity. I took a free handed shot at 31 yards and hit him in front of his right shoulder, hitting the lungs, and passing through his left shoulder. He went another 10 yards and piled up by a stump. Big Buck Down!

I approached the deer and was immediately overcome with emotions. My hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush that I hadn't come down from yet and tears welled up in my eyes because I felt so blessed to have been given this opportunity. It's still crazy to me how much can happen in 30 seconds or less at 30 yards.  I spent a few moments with this buck alone and thanked God for sacrificing such an beautiful animal.

Just like that, a day that didn't start out going my way ended up being one of the most memorable days of my life. No, I haven't been a lifelong hunter. No, I didn't harvest this buck completely solo. No, I didn't believe that this opportunity would ever present itself to me. And no, I still can't believe that this blacktail was harvested with my tag. But there is one thing that is true. I am whole heartedly appreciative of the hunting experience and have a genuine respect for these wild animals. The countdown to deer season starts now!!

First pic- 2016 blacktail
Second pic- 2017 blacktail
Third pic- 16/17 buck comparison

 

[X-Force]

Great write up and welcome to the forum.

Congrats on a great trophy and full freezer

[elkrack]

Great Blacktail!

[full choke]

Great buck!
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your story!

[JakeLand]

Welcome aboard! Great blacktail!!!! Looks like he was a fighter

[swisski]

Awesome buck! Great write up

[Skyvalhunter]

Very nice Kendra that's an awesome animal, congrats

[E35alex]

 

Awesome story with a great write up! Congrats on a really nice buck!!

[Old Man Yager]

Great start to your hunting career!!

[GOING2HUNT]

Great story, congratulations!

[fishngamereaper]

Nice..that buck looks like an alberta mule deer with that mountain coat...love the split ear...he probably picked a fight with an elk.

Good job

[TrailTreker85]

Great write up and what a stud for a buck.

[h20hunter]

Stud buck indeed.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Congratulations!  Two great bucks and a very nice write up.  Thank you for sharing and best wishes for your continued hunting career.

[steen]

Congrats! Both nice bucks. You're well on your way!

[Turner89]

Nice buck!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Brushbuster]

As others have said, awesome Buck & write-up!!  Looking forward to reading about your hunts in the future!  Congrats!

[wt]

Great write up on a masher buck! It will be hard to beat that one!

[kendra.t17]

Thank you all for your kind words! I look forward to hearing about all of your hunting adventures as well. Happy Thanksgiving!

[Hankbest17]

This was a really fun hunt! I  know you wanted to do it on your own, but I’m really happy i could experience it with you. Great job and great buck! Can’t wait to see what the futures holds

[savagehunter]

Great story keep em coming thanks

[fishnfur]

Sweet!  Great job two years in a row.  Hooked for life.

[lokidog]

Congratulations on putting in the work and getting it done!

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[tlbradford]

Beautiful deer.  We can tell your appreciation for the sport.  Congratulations.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

  Great buck! PM inbound for secret hot spots......

[The Fin]

Awesome Deer!!  Thanks for sharing your story.

[Watimberghost]

Absolutely a mature bt! Every bit of him looks like a true old warrior! Congrats on a great grey ghost