| Big Game Hunting > Deer Hunting |
| Good Memory Bucks |
| << < (23/28) > >> |
| bigmacc:
--- Quote from: HntnFsh on February 15, 2022, 12:57:04 PM ---Don't jinx yourself! --- End quote --- Good point :tup: :chuckle: :chuckle: |
| bigmacc:
About 30 years ago or so my pardner killed one of the prettiest bucks I have ever seen, bar none. Its a buck that he had mounted, the only buck he has ever had mounted and he's killed some real dandys over his years. My pard and I went into an area we figured may be "the spot" during a season that had been on the slow side up until this particular day. The weather had been a mixed bag up high for a couple weeks but the last 4-5 days had been what migrations were made out of. It dumped snow heavy for about 24 hours straight or so at elevations above 6000 feet in fact at about that level we had snow that we were pushing with the bumper of a 72 ford bronco. Then the temps dropped and the wind started blowing, oh the wind, right out of the north, perfect recipe to start some deer moving. We had a spot that we figured would be perfect but it was about an hour or so drive from camp then about 4 miles or so on foot but we figured it may show some life. It was the spot that I've told stories of before, the family found it, studied it and learned it back in the early 1900,s, actually it was about 1918 when my great grandma and grandpa stumbled onto it during one of their "hunting hikes" :chuckle:. I remember sitting in this spot back in the 1960,s and when everything aligned for a migration to be triggered it was nothing to see 3-400 deer move through before 10 o'clock. My dad remembers when he was a boy seeing a thousand move through during a day of sitting by a stump with grandpa. My pardner and I agreed, lets get there. We got to the spot a couple hours before sunup, then we waited. It is a series of benches maybe 400 yards across that looks down into one of the 5 best migration corridors around in my opinion. At least it used to be. By about 9 or 10 o'clock :dunno: we had seen 2 big groups move though about 300 yards below us consisting of around 80 deer total. Then by noon we had seen another 50 or so in one big bunch, only about 5 or 6 bucks total if I remember right and those were all spikes and 2 points. This didn't really surprise us because of the timing. This is the place I may have told a story of where I seen 800 or so move through over a couple day period and never saw a horn, all does, fawns and yearlings, the bucks showed up a few days later. Anyways, I decided to walk over to my pardner (I was about 300 yards away) and discuss maybe giving it a few more days. I got there, we were standing on the bench, looking down the hill, BS,n and coming up with a plan to use in a few days, we were standing there talking for about 15 minutes. We turned around to head for the trail when my buddy put his hand up, I knew to stop, don't move and to keep my mouth shut :chuckle:. I seen the direction my buddy was looking, I slowly looked in that direction, in about a 10 foot by 10 foot opening about 70 yards uphill was a buck and just that fast he was dead. We walked up on him and we both were amazed at his coloring, his hair was almost a light brown/tan like an antelope, he had two throat patches and his antlers were almost a antique white/light tan color. He had a classic mule deer head and face along with one of the best roman noses I have ever seen. If some of you seen the roman on that buck I killed a couple years ago before I pulled the picture, it was classic, this nose made him look like a greenhorn :chuckle:. We gutted him, propped him open put him under a tree and went back to get help. We came in the next day and cut him up, took out 4 pieces plus the head and cape. We got back to camp and weighed all the pieces, 211 lbs, we figured if we put him back together with his guts and all the garbage we left on the hill he would have easily went over 320. A game fella took a look at him and figured him about 7-9 years old, right in his prime, just a pretty buck. My buddy and I and other family members will still go into this spot from time to time, we don't see nearly the amount of deer because of the way the seasons are set and the fact that there just isn't that many deer left over there, just a fraction of a shadow but we still go in there because oh my god there are some memories of some big bucks there, this was and is one of them. When we do go in there we always look behind us in that little open patch, haven't seen a deer there since :chuckle: Forgot,......... 6 on one side, 7 on the other, 29" wide and the back tines were 23 1/2" tall, just a specimen of a mule deer. |
| O. Nerka:
Thanks for another good story bigmacc! With all of the fires in the Methow recently have you noticed a difference in deer behavior regarding their migration paths? Do they show a bias to avoid recently burned stuff or use it more? |
| MtnMuley:
30 1/2" back tines? |
| bigmacc:
--- Quote from: O. Nerka on February 16, 2022, 04:30:32 PM ---Thanks for another good story bigmacc! With all of the fires in the Methow recently have you noticed a difference in deer behavior regarding their migration paths? Do they show a bias to avoid recently burned stuff or use it more? --- End quote --- Its hard to tell, there just aint that many deer left there to really get it figured out. I guess thats why they put collars and electronics on them, back in the day they used to just sit around in a vehicle, with a clicker/counter and counted how many deer crossed a piece of pavement in a 5 day period, sometimes 2-3000would cross a particular road north of town, then you had a report that another 2000 had crossed a particular road 20 miles to the south.. Or they would post up some college kids in different spots(migration corridors), pack them a lunch and give them a clicker/counter and you had your counts. All of it a lot more accurate than the way its done nowdays, just my opinion. As far as fires, they been going on since the beginning of time, the only thing thats changed is how the fires are fought and how the forests are managed (My Opinion). Wildlife AND deer are, oh well, I won't go on. |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |
| Previous page |