Hirshey's Hunts 2018

[DOUBLELUNG]

Tagging along, top quality as always!

[kellama2001]

Yay!! It's Hershey's hunts thread time! One of my favorite annual threads, you are an inspiration Hershey! 

[mfswallace]

Yep

[Wunderlich33]

Hirshey's stories are always entertaining

[hirshey]

Alright! Where were we...

[trophyhunt]

YES!!!! 

[hirshey]

Jeff and his friend Dan arrived long after the sunlight had given its final farewell to the slopes of Central Washington. We exchanged our greetings and ensured Dan and Jeff were both properly packed and outfitted for the adventure at hand before taking to the luxury of the mattresses and sheets we wouldn't be seeing for the next week.

The aroma of coffee roused the troops, and we enjoyed a nice breakfast with my parents before loading all our gear in the vehicle for the three hour drive to the hillsides we were set to attack. We shrugged into our packs and looked up at the terrain we were set to conquer. "Are we really doing this again???" I grinned, as we started our way up the slopes. A few hours into the trek, Derrick had found multiple chalky sheds that exemplified the types of animals we were hoping to find. Were any of those shed's previous owners still alive? If not, here's hoping they were prolific in spreading those genes!

[hirshey]

As always, the year between these types of treks seems to suppress the memory of the effort required for the task. We all finished the big push with just enough daylight to make a trip to filter water and set up the tipi. We celebrated the completed climb with Mountain House meals and Mtn Ops Slumber cocoa spiked with Bailey's. The cocoa was a big hit, and a big hitter: Jeff fell asleep on top of his sleeping bag that first night. 

 

[hirshey]

The morning routine is always the same, although the instigator seems to rotate; a few logs are loaded into the tipi's stove, the JetBoil fires up to heat water for coffee, cocoa, and breakfast as the folks remaining in the sleeping bags slowly emerge from their cocoons. This morning was no exception to the norm, and we were soon outside and packed up for the day's adventures. Jeff and Dan planned a stalk along a steep peak that provided good glassing opportunities into our basin, and an extended hunting opportunity along a steep razorback ridge that seemed to continue in perpetuity. Derrick and I would gain a small sub-ridge in the basin that offered good shooting lanes into an area frequented by our mule deer targets. We arrived at our intended destination just as the sun started highlighting the nearest peaks and started our work picking apart the hillsides. Within the first hour, we had glassed up a few does and a small buck. I moved across the ridge to better glass the draw below us and was immediately rewarded with the sound of antlers interlocking. Wide-eyed, I looked back at Derrick and motioned "BUCKS!".

[hirshey]

Derrick moved silently to my side as I tried talk him into the animal's location. One doe and small buck were not impressed with the behaviors of the other animals, and quickly moved downhill and out of sight. We could tell one of the bucks was at least a heavy framed 3x4, but the timber prevented any further inspection. We continued to glass the area, trying to get eyes on his sparring companion to no avail. The 3x4 (at least) bedded down in an area we didn't have a shot on from our current location, and couldn't ascertain any additional information on his antler configuration. As I stated earlier, the intent was to get Derrick and Jeff into bucks so I wasn't even carrying a rifle on this trip. "What do you think of that buck?" I asked Derrick. "I don't know, I couldn't really see much..." he responded. "I kind of hate to tag out on the first day... I think I want to be like Jeff and hold out until the bitter end!"  ...   Part of me wanted to tell him to give me the gun and that I'd pursue him, but that wasn't the right answer. "Ok, well do you want to wait a little longer to see if we can spot his sparring partner? He's big enough I don't think that small buck that left would have considered a battle with him."

We glassed for another 30-45 minutes with no luck, so decided to retreat back to the other side of the sub-ridge and continue to gain elevation and slowly sneak over and glass the side where the buck had bedded. Two hours later, we had gained all the elevation offered by the sub-ridge and hadn't even seen the bedded buck. Shucks! I felt like we missed a really great opportunity, but continued up the mountain until we met up with Jeff and Dan. They had watched a few bucks bed on our hillside and thought a respectable buck bedded on a small bench about 300 yards from where we last saw our buck. We had also not been as sneaky as we thought, as Jeff and Dan noted that we had pushed a small buck and doe that had been above us in our morning trek. He decided to try to make a push on the bedded buck, while we waited in one of the most prolific escape routes those animals seemed to use, but we call came up empty-handed... not even a doe was found the remainder of the day, and we discovered cougar tracks were much more abundant than deer on most game trails. We headed back to camp, questioning what we would do with the following day.

[hirshey]

The next day ended up being a recovery day for me and Derrick; we took a wide, slow swing around the basin and ended our journey at the location we'd glassed up the bucks the day prior. It was around 11AM when we decided to take advantage of the solar heating and close our eyes. I smiled as Derrick softly snored, and continued to will the slopes to reveal the bucks we knew had called this "home" the day prior. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, and after taking turns napping into the afternoon, we took our time slowly descending back to camp for Jeff and Dan's evening report. They had glassed up a few bucks in a very distant basin, but had also come up without any major events to report aside from the high volume of cougar sign the area was producing. We agreed to make an early ascent of the basin to facilitate a long attack on the basin where Jeff and Dan had seen bucks. It was going to be another BIG day.

[Birdguy]

Love these posts and who doesn't! Awesome as always Hirshey!!!!

[hirshey]

The morning sun rose over the eastern terrain about the same time we conquered the majority of elevation we were to gain for the day. The four of us picked our way across the slopes through the scattered slash and brush, stopping to note the large bear tracks and various cougar tracks interweaving with our own. We were all disappointed at the limited deer sign in the vicinity, but were certain our luck would change in this far away basin. After all, there's always more deer over the next skyline, right? 

The sun warmed the hills and the dotted, gnarled pines offered the only reprieve from the heat by the time we arrived at our destination. We worked carefully across the landscape to various glassing points, each time turning up a few more deer. (the largest being a mid-range aged 2 point with eyeguards) Dan's feet were dotted with hotspots and blisters from the past few days' efforts, so we formulated a plan to best suit the health of the group. It was decided that Jeff and Dan would work across the ridge towards the head of the basin, assuring a position where they could glass all the terrain and escape routes. Derrick would set up on the open south-facing slope with worn game trails in a position with many viable shooting lanes. I would descend into the basin towards the lower end and start pushing up the bottom. We had a good idea where the 2-point had bedded, so I'd work up the basin in a fashion that if I alarmed any of the animals, they'd want to ascend towards Derrick or Jeff. A few hours into the endeavor, I was approaching the location where we'd last seen the buck. I pulled my InReach out of my pocket to text Jeff and let him know my current position when I noticed the green flashing light of a new message. "Abort! Don't go any further up the drainage! I found some bucks!"

[hirshey]

I paused, and wrote a message in return:

"Abort the plan? Where do you want me to go?"

"Come straight up the hill!"

.... easier said than done, as I had lost 1,500 feet to complete this plan.

I turned to the slope and started to ascend. Within 50 yards of that message, I ran into the first group of deer: four does. I knew they were part of the group with the buck we'd seen earlier, so I avoided eye contact and pretended not to see them, sliding across the hill to allow them time to make a decision as to where they wanted to go. They moved precisely as we'd thought, and I watched as they picked up the 2 point and moved towards where Derrick had planned to be positioned. I looked at the time, and my position on the slope and texted Jeff "You should make the stalk without me if you're going to do it".

[hirshey]

Jeff greeted me partway up the slope as I whispered, "You don't have much time! If you're going to get on those bucks, you should go without me... I'm beat!"
He insisted on waiting to make a stalk until we all regrouped. Somehow, Derrick ended up at the perfect location to intersect us on our travels. He'd seen the 2 point, but hadn't been able to confirm eyeguards from his position, so made the wise decision to not shoot. We worked across the terrain to a position where we could see the two bucks Jeff had glassed up. Neither were the bruisers we had all dreamed of for the last year, but they were both legal bucks. They were exactly where bucks should be: at the head of the basin, high in the rocks with very limited opportunities for an attack, and a perfect view of the entire basin. After much discussion, it was decided Jeff would make a stalk; he had about an hour to get it done before we lost all the day's light. Jeff worked down the basin and into a small fold of the hillside with skill and speed. We had identified a single, bright larch to use as a marker for him as he made the approach; this was the elevation he should start sidehilling for the most ideal shot on the bigger of the two bucks. As many I'm certain can sympathize, the marker looked much different when Jeff arrived on scene; he disregarded it as not THE larch and continued his ascent. By the time he realized his mistake, the light was turning the hills a pastel orange hue. He worked into a position he was hoping would allow a shot on the buck, but it wasn't meant to be; the pair saw each other seemingly simultaneously, and both bucks took their leave hastily. It turns out, 75 yards in fading light is simply not ideal.

We messaged Jeff and set up a rendezvous location, and set out to meet him for the long trek back to camp. We all met by headlamp under a clear autumn sky, and picked our way across the countryside, unsure of what our plan for the morning should entail. I couldn't help but regret not pushing Derrick to pursue that buck on opening morning.