My season (since everyone else is posting theirs too)

[BULLBLASTER]

I guess I’ll share my season since lots of other people are and I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve shared much. I had a WA rifle tag and a Colorado tag, but panicked and bought an Idaho tag just before they sold out hoping I could make at least a couple trips over.


Wa had been really going all summer with my camera checks. I had eyes on a 5x4 that I was after last year as well. But there were a couple others I’d hang my tag on also. Opening morning I got to my glassing spot an hour before light and tried to take a nap but the coyotes and excitement kept me up.

Once light hit I had 2 does in the draw closest to me. They meandered out of sight and I turned my attention to the further draw (700-900) yards out. I immediately started seeing bucks out there first was the biggest 5x5 I had seen this year, but he was moving too fast toward his bedding area and I knew I couldn’t cut the distance. Then another couple bucks followed his trail, again too fast to make a play. Half hour or so later I looked back left and could see 3-4 more deer. Got them in the spotter and saw a doe and smaller bucks, just then my target 5x4 moved out.

It only took me a couple seconds to confirm it was him and I grabbed my rifle and rangefinder and took off. Knowing exactly what I needed to do to cut the range to 300-400 yards. Slowed to a creep as I got toward the ridge top to catch my breath. Peaked over and saw all the deer. A quick look in the binos and the big one was there!  Moved a bit to get a prone shooting position, ranged and dialed my scope for the 340 yards, got behind the gun and quickly found the buck with long brow tines. Put the crosshairs in the lungs and squeezed my shot, immediately resulting in the meat slap! I watched the bullet impact the point of aim. Quickly cycled the bolt and got back on target and spotted the target buck standing and looking at another deer wobbling in the brush. Uh oh...

Wondering what in the heck just happened I got on the wobbly deer and intently watched to see what buck it was. It turned its head and I saw some substantial antlers but still no idea what buck it was. In a couple seconds it turned broadside and went down. It was bittersweet watching the buck I wanted to shoot calmly walk off and disappear knowing I had just killed a different one. I decided to give it some time and go back to collect my pack and spotting scope and then go retrieve it.

Walked over and found the buck laying right where he went down and was pleasantly surprised. Looking back I had seen trail camera pictures of him over the summer but for some reason didn’t pay any attention to him. And when I was shooting I was assuming it was just the small bucks and target buck and hadn’t realized this one was there. In the end I am very pleased though. He measures out at 137 and change with a 19 inside spread.

[greenhead_killer]

great buck! thanks for sharing

[coachcw]

Sure Don't mention all our fun chasing buCk elks !

[BULLBLASTER]

Sure Don't mention all our fun chasing buCk elks !

this is the deer thread! But since you asked.

Before the wa rifle deer season I spend archery elk season with coachcw and his son hunting on Jakes bull tag. That one could be a thread of its own, but was a awesome hunt with lots of action and bull encounters. We got into the typical trouble of ending up way too far rom the truck and also got to fight some bees too (they definitely won!) we even developed a brand new calling strategy that is really the bees knees for calling in the tatonka bulls but I am sworn to secrecy and can’t share it here.   

On day 7 Jake connected on a 6x5 bull! It was perfect except the 1600 foot climb back to the truck.

Corey and I headed for a cow unit the next day and all we found was giant bulls but almost got some shots at cows.

[fishnfur]

Great season!  Success at every turn.  Next time I shoot the wrong buck, I'm hoping it's more like your's.   

[BULLBLASTER]

Next up was Idaho. I had a regular deer tag that I bought on an impulse because they were close to selling out. This was to be a weekend adventure with Jon. We contemplated and discussed making a run south to some new units we want to try out sometime but the weather and knowledge paired with short time to hunt kept us close to home in areas we know.

The morning we were set to leave Jon decided to sleep in  so I took off without him, he would meet me later that morning. I got over to an area I know fairly well and picked up some deer first thing. Was Into deer the first couple hours of the day but only does. And I got side tracked by moose.

I met Jon around 930 and we headed out to another glassing point and picked up 5-6 bull elk feeding on an open hillside. Kicking ourselves for not having an elk tag we watched them for a bit then made a plan to still hunt some open timber during mid day. A couple hours and a couple miles zig zagging through some bedding areas turned up nothing except for a spike bull elk with a shot off rear leg... we walked up to 10 feet from it numerous times. 

After a couple hours watching that spike and trying our best to find someone with an elk tag ( mid day the woods are void of hunters apparently)  we reluctantly decided we should leave this area and head toward a new area for the evening.

That spike bull had us pretty bummed out with the whole hunt and for whatever reason I decided i wasn’t really into it and told Jon I wish we could just don’t a buck and get it done with. Not 2 minutes after I said that I turned a corner in the truck to see a deer standing next to a rock slide. Jon and I threw our binos up and noticed it was a small buck. Looked at each other and Jon said “there’s your chance to be done” I got out and closed the bolt on the 375 HH, grabbed a rest, and shot. The buck bolted into the brush and kicked a couple times and was done. We hiked up there and claimed our prize.

On our way out we continued to look for an elk tag holder and failed to find one.
I was and am definitely glad to fill my tag on a short trip with bit a short time to dedicate. And any day spent with Jon is sure to be action packed and full of adventure.

[blackveltbowhunter]

Looks like a great season. Congrats

[dvolmer]

 

[BULLBLASTER]

Next up and my last deer tag for the year was Colorado. Coachcw and I left and headed down 5 days before the season started to meet with the rest of the crew. We ran into some nasty weather and crappy roads in Montana and Wyoming and stopped for the night in Sheridan. Woke up and finished the drive the next day, so we got into camp a day after everyone else. Once we got there we stopped at the rifle range and confirmed our guns are still on and then began scouting.

Both deer and elk were loaded into the sage country so spotting them wasn’t all that hard, but finding the older bucks proved difficult the first couple days. One morning we spotted a nice 4 point that I was going to happily chase but season was still 3 days out so we kept him in mind and continued our scouting. Seeing so many elk everywhere.

The day before season opened be got side tracked watching a very large bull go over a mountain so we drove around the other side to see if we could get more idea what he was up so as there was some elk tags in camp. Never saw the bull again but did locate a doe group with a cool buck around 1.25 miles away. Watched them and tried to get some pictures but they didn’t turn out well. I guessed the buck to have a 155-160 inch frame with lots of extras

. When I showed the pictures to Karl and other guys in camp they were worried I was making a mistake and severely over judging the buck. I knew in my mind that was the buck I wanted to chase on the opener.

Here comes opening morning. And our camp scattered to their target places after deer and elk. Coach and I headed after the “spike buck” got to our parking spot early and didn’t see anyone around so waited until we could see and started our hike (about a mile) up to a point we could get a shot if the buck was in the same place as before. A few hundred yards out from the truck I looked over and saw some other hunters paralleling us moving pretty quickly. Now I’m not the type of person to encroach into a spot someone else is obviously hunting. These guys parked away from the gate and out of sight of the gate in the dark. We had no idea they were even there, but I sure wasn’t going to give up on the buck we had found.

Corey was glassing his way in and told me to go ahead and get up to the knob and see if the deer were out. As I approached the top of the knob and looked across toward the snowed hill the deer were on I immediately spotted them. The buck was chasing does all around. I continued to slowly sneak up the knob to a flat shooting position and laid out my gear (bipod, rangefinder, rifle,etc) set up the spotter and confirmed the buck was the same one and that I was still calling him a Shooter after the other guys in camp put some doubt in my mind.

Got my range and dialed the scope for the 730 yard slightly up hill shot, looked back and Corey was still a couple hundred yards below me so I took the time to double check conditions and dope and do some dry fires on the buck. Everything was rock solid and I was calm. Once Corey got up to my position the buck and does had bedded down, I pointed them out to Corey and he said it’s go time. I asked if I was shooting while he’s bedded? Corey responded “you got this, he won’t know what hit him and will never get up”.

Again I double checked ranged, conditions, and dope. Dropped a round into the chamber and got behind the gun. Settled in and sent a round. Watched in the scope as the bullet hit just high of the point of the shoulder. Deer rolled but his head was still up. Corey called my shot just high and right but still solid hit. Reloaded and sent a second with the corrections Coach called. This one did him in and rolled him over and he slid down the hill a few feet. That’s when I got a bit excited and jumped up and ran in a circle. 

We negotiated our way to the bottom of the draw below the steep face the deer was on and Corey told me I need to go get the deer and bring it down so he could check it out. The exact same thing he told me last year in Colorado.    I downed a hit of c4power and headed up the face and got to my buck. I was very excited to find the 8x7 buck laying in the snow. He was everything I pictured and explained to the crew except he had some extras on a front fork I hadn’t seen.

I took some pictures and send some text messages and then took the buck down to coach where we proceeded to “meat him out” (technical term)  and load him into my backpack to head out. On the way out I told Corey that I should have given him the option to take this buck since it was his birthday, but he saw through me and said it’s easy to say that after I already shot it! 

We got packed out and to the truck just in time to find Karl sitting on the side of a road waiting for someone to come pick him up. (You’ll have to read his story now too) and then go help pack out a bull elk. It was a productive morning for our group.

This buck ended up with a gross score of 158 and change. I was about 10 inches high on my estimates but still my largest mule deer and happy as can be!

[BULLBLASTER]

This picture is the exit side where both bullets came out. Entrances were 4-5 inches apart. Front of shoulder was first shot and behind shoulder was second.

Also a picture of where he died from the shooting position.

[BULLBLASTER]

Thanks for reading and dealing with my crappy story telling and tremendous typos and autocorrects.   

Coachcw needs to make a post of his buck too! 

[lokidog]

Nice deer!

[Karl Blanchard]

#makehuntwagreatagain

And for the record, bullblasters original pics REALLY sucked and that's why we all were skeptical of his buck and told him to pass   

Proud of you buddy!  You done good this season and hope you make it down in 2019!

[grundy53]

Sounds like you had a great year. And got to spend quality time with some great friends.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Karl Blanchard]

Sounds like you had a great year. And got to spend quality time with some great friends.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I'd go as far as saying he got to hang out with some of the coolest people there is 

[BULLBLASTER]

Sounds like you had a great year. And got to spend quality time with some great friends.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I'd go as far as saying he got to hang out with some of the coolest people there is 

It really was a great time all the way around.
I’d say they were the lucky ones to have me around... but I know better and I realize what they have to put up with when I’m around!   

[jasnt]

Sounds like a great season.  Congrats and thanks for sharing

[Dan-o]

Great year.

Thank you for sharing.

I love all the nastiness going on with your Co buck!

[DeerThug]

Awesome hunts and great animals all around!

[BULLBLASTER]

Thanks all. Usually things like what happened in Colorado don’t happen for me. 

I was thinking all along that it was too good to be true and the buck wouldn’t be there on the opener. I’m glad he was tho

[go4steelhd]

Great buck!

[idaho guy]

Good job thanks for posting I like that mulie!

[bowhunterforever]

Great bucks and season

[mburrows]

Congrats on the awesome season thanks for sharing!

[BULLBLASTER]

Thanks for the comments guys.

It was a pretty awesome season and I can’t wait till next year!

#makehuntwagreatagain

[MerriamMagician]

Thats an awesome Colorado buck, love his character!! 

[kellama2001]

   Thanks for sharing your great buck and story of an awesome hunt! 

[huntnnw]

So did you guys let Chris make dinner for everyone? his specialty frozen pizza and can corn 

[Skyvalhunter]

That's awesome congrats on a fine season

[dvolmer]

Great season!!!! Those are some real nice critters!!!!

[ELKBURGER]

Great season Chris! Always nice seeing successful hunters tell their stories, good work.

[Karl Blanchard]

So did you guys let Chris make dinner for everyone? his specialty frozen pizza and can corn 

  him and that oven! Hahahaba

[BULLBLASTER]

So did you guys let Chris make dinner for everyone? his specialty frozen pizza and can corn 

Lmao! Pizza and corn... a match made in culinary heaven

[BULLBLASTER]

So did you guys let Chris make dinner for everyone? his specialty frozen pizza and can corn 

  him and that oven! Hahahaba

We did find out that 18 lb of frozen solid lasagna is a bit too much for the camp oven.

[Karl Blanchard]

So did you guys let Chris make dinner for everyone? his specialty frozen pizza and can corn 

  him and that oven! Hahahaba

We did find out that 18 lb of frozen solid lasagna is a bit too much for the camp oven.

ahahahahaha!!!! Only took 5 days to thaw 

[DOUBLELUNG]

Another great season and write up!  Thanks for sharing.

[shootem]

Great year bullblaster. 

[BULLBLASTER]

I picked up my whitetail skull from the taxidermist today. Turned out good.

Sorry for the crappy picture

[grundy53]

Looks good

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[fishnfur]

    Super nice!