Chiwawa Late Rifle Permit Update

[Hunting Cowboy]

Hello!
Having spent the past week in a splint and on crutches nursing a possible ruptured tendon, ruptured ligament, or fractured bone in my foot, my son and I headed off to try and fill my late season rifle tag. I am scheduled for an MRI next week so we were determined to do our best tag out this weekend. As a precaution, I brought along the crutches and splint just in case, although I had no plans to use either.

We left our house Friday morning (11-9-07) at 2:30 am which put us in position at first light. When we arrived we were disappointed to find the area was saulked in with fog. We were hopeful it would burn off before too long.

We decided to alter our game plan electing to drive a route that was not too heavily affected by the weather.
I generally prefer still hunting and glassing even though this unit lends itself well to using the road system to cover a lot of ground. Unfortunately, walking/hiking was not in the cards this trip for obvious reasons. Driving and locating likely finger ridges and draws to glass and watch for animals would be our primary method.

[Hunting Cowboy]

The first 45 minutes started out fairly slow. We did spot two small groups of doe but no bucks. After an hour or so we finally spotted a lone two point. Things began to pick up as we were beginning to see more and more doe.

As we rounded a bend, we began to get back into the fog. We had maybe 100 yards of visibility, but it looked like it wanted to lift. We decided to pull off at a wide spot in the road and have a snack. We did some glassing eventually continuing on down the road. A short time later, we spotted a doe. Andrew stopped the truck. As we were watching her, her fawn stood up next to her. Then I noticed a small little four point get up a slowly begin to walk down an old skid road. The deer were about 173 yards below us on a steep hillside. (Andrew ranged it) I grabbed the rifle and got out. As we sized up the buck we pretty quickly decided pass on taking him. We watched him for a few more minutes. Andrew jumped back in the truck ready to move on. I decided to walk or more accurately “Gimp” ahead of the truck a little ways and continue to watch the buck as he meandered down an old cut in the hillside.

As I continued to glass, out of nowhere another buck materialized in my glasses standing just below the two doe. He was peering at me from behind a bush. In comparison to the smaller 4x4, this buck was taller, wider, and showed more mass. We also now counted a total of six doe.

[Hunting Cowboy]

This is where things got interesting. I signaled to Andrew that there was another buck. The interesting difference here is that these bucks were very calm, unlike almost every other buck we had seen. 

As Andrew caught up to me, we continued to work our way around a bend up ahead to get a better angle. The sun was now breaking through and was directly in my face and the buck was in the shade. Andrew helped me keep an eye on him. Finally, after sizing him up as best we could, he quietly and slowly began to creep down the hill. After some discussion, we decided to take the buck. He finally stopped down the hill a ways facing away from me.  And, as they often do, he ended up under a snag blocking any chance of a shot. 

By now he was 270 yards away. After another period of time, he moved slightly offering a 277 yard shot. My first shot was low. He appeared confused after the report of the rifle. He turned and slowly walked down the hill. My next shot was a quartering away shot at 315 yards. I hit him a bit too far back breaking his hip. (I was aiming for the far shoulder) He stumbled and Andrew saw him react as if he was hit hard. I saw him roll into a brush pile. We moved as best we could down the steep hillside. I was heading for where I last saw him stumble. As I came up to a point where I could see the brush pile I noticed that he was lying as if he was bedded in the lower road. I was approximately 80 – 100 yards above him when I finished him off.

As I made my way up to the buck it was obvious that I had broken his hip and had ruptured the femoral artery.

We’re not sure what he scores, but given our circumstances this past week, we don’t care. We’re extremely happy and relieved. There is no doubt that if we found ourselves in normal circumstances, I think we may have tried to hold out for a bigger buck. We took care of the carcass today and I caped him readying the cape for the tannery. We’ll mount him sometime later this winter.

I want to thank a bunch of you for your assistance in helping us with our research of this unit, you know who you are! I will post a couple of pictures because I know we all like to see those bucks! Enjoy!

[FWilliams]

congrats, great news. I was wondering how you were doing .  that damn fog can really be a nuisance up there.


Fred

[Hunting Cowboy]

I'll post a couple of more tomorrow....... He's not a monster but he is a 4x4 w/eye guards migration buck obviously rutting. Enjoy!

[hogsniper]

congrats mike...that is awesome that you gotta connect on a nice buck and also do it with your son....i was worried about your foot an all but everything worked out....Congrats again...Justin

[skagitblacktail]

Congratulations on a nice buck Mike.  Haven't heard any reports from Dale and his son-in-law on the late Alta hunt.

[Bearhunter]

Glad to see everything worked out for you.  How was the pack out with the bad foot.  You said he was on an old skitter road, did he die on it?  I cant tell you how many times we have lost site of bucks because the fog will come rolling in at an unoportune time.  Congrats again, and cant wait to see the pictures.  james

[Hunting Cowboy]

Fred, Justin, Brad and James, thanks guys! I'm so glad Andrew was able to be there.

James, I shot him on the hill side on Tyee Ridge. Luckily there was a road below us. Given the condition of my foot, we lucked out in that respect. But I shot low on the first shot (277 yds), broke his hip trying to angle for the far shoulder on the 2nd shot (315 yds). At that point he stumbled near a bunch of brush. When I got down to just above that brush, I saw him "bedded" in the middle of the lower road. He was bleeding out, but he was alert and he looked as natural as he could look if you did'nt know he was hit. It was an odd sight. He must have been hit hard cause he could have dove off the side of that road and we'd have plaved hell getting him out of there it is so steep. I put him down at that spot at about 80 - 100 yds.

Andrew went back up and got the truck and found a connecting road to bring the truck in on. I do have to say that I thought he was a bigger buck, but next to that smaller 4x4, he looked so much larger which played a part to sway our decision to take him. We had a blast! Here's a pic from Coopers.....I have a few more to post later. Thanks.

[boneaddict]

Way to be tough enough to endure and to get your trophy.  I know many that would have just eatin' the tag.  Congrats.

[Slider]

WOW!!! Nice Buck!!! Congrats

[actionshooter]

Nice buck!  Did ya grab a burger at Coopers   

[MichaelJ]

Great buck man!  We stopped there the day before you and got our picture taken aswell!  Way to stick it out!

Michael

[Ridgerunner]

Good job on sticking it out and tagging a nice buck.

[Hunting Cowboy]

Thanks Boneaddict, Slider, actionshooter, and Ridgerunner! It was a lot of fun despite being hobbled!
Boneaddict, wish I was with you....Man you seem to have a knack for finding some big ole bucks!
Here'e a couple more...thought I'd better include my right hand man, he sure was a lot of help!

[PacificNWhunter]

Nice buck, now rest up for next year!

[Hunting Cowboy]

Great buck man!  We stopped there the day before you and got our picture taken aswell!  Way to stick it out!

Michael

Thanks Michael! You did pretty well with your hunter! Nice job and congratulations for helping him get his buck!

The picture below is just after the shot!

[Muleyslyr]

Right on!!  Glad to see things worked out for you.  Sorry wasn't able to connect with you before you left....looks like you did just fine anyway.  Congrats....love all the pics, thanks for sharing.

[Bearhunter]

Good looking pictures.  Sure wish I had a tag this year .  Jeremy will be over the day after Thanksgiving I was hoping to go if the baby had come by now, but looks like he will have to probably go solo like I did last year.  How longs it been since you did a deer mount?  Probably looking forward to doing one for yourself I bet!!

[huntingnut]

Congrats on a nice buck, way to go on sticking it out.

[Hunting Cowboy]

How longs it been since you did a deer mount?  Probably looking forward to doing one for yourself I bet!!

James,

Yea, it's been a while since we mounted one of ours. I did'nt renew my Taxi license last year so I can only do family mounts. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to it. Last one of ours I did was my sons in 05. Not a big buck, but his first 4 pt. I'll post the picture. Does Jeremy need some help with his hunt? Hows the vidiography going? I want to check it out. Keep us updated on the rugrat  !!

[Ellensburg]

Nice buck! I have the same deer decal on my truck 

[MikeWalking]

Congratulations, Nice looking Deer.

I really appreciate the pictures and comments.  I'll be headed that way as soon as I clock out Thursday night. (Hurry up and be Thursday already )

Of course the more I look at the maps the more I change my mind HA!  I'm checking the Weather sites 5 times a day...can't hardly wait.

[Bearhunter]

Mike, Im sure he wouldnt mind some company over there at all, would be nice to have someone pack the camera, but it probably wont be me with my situation.  What did you have in mind.  The videoing isnt going to good, no kill shots on video but lots of after the kill filming, maybe the entiat will prove better.  No baby yet, keep you posted.  James

[Hunting Cowboy]

I really appreciate the pictures and comments.  I'll be headed that way as soon as I clock out Thursday night. (Hurry up and be Thursday already )

Of course the more I look at the maps the more I change my mind HA!  I'm checking the Weather sites 5 times a day...can't hardly wait.

MikeWalking; We expect to see some great pics! Do you have this same tag? I think this week should be awesome up there. Keep us posted! Good Luck.

[MikeWalking]

Yep.  This was a last minute decision really. Haven't hunted in more years than I want to admit. Just bought a 2004 Jeep in May after to many years of bikes and bus passes (no, no DWIs or the like, just cheap ) And it hit me!  I know what I can do now! Got so carried away with road trips I almost let the season slip by. I did see a lot of Montana, gotta drive the Beartooth again!!!

Haven't made the jump to Digital yet but I can talk Sis into getting my pics on line.

Geezz quitting time Thursday seems like a year away........Buck Fever? 

[GoldTip]

Good job on a dandy buck.  Thats a tough go with a hobbled foot, but you got'r done.  Congrats.

[jkononen]

atta boy stewart! nice buck. good to see. my bro's along with the elk tags, drew the entiat tag for archery and are leaving on monday. I'm so jealous. hopefully they can get something else to hang on the wall. I'm going tomorrow up highway nine. if i shoot something i'll stop by class and show you.

[Hunting Cowboy]

Thanks Goldtip and joe! Let me know how ya did blacktail hunting, joe, did ya see anything? Keep us posted on your brothers Entiat Archery Tag progress!

[HuntinFool]

Hey mike its Ky i got your PM i have been in montana hunting with a friend for a week.  While i was gone my dad had the week off and went up on the entiat side and saw one buck that was a 28" 3 point but real heavy and tall, and then went up another day to a different area and saw a 26" 4 point that he thought would go 170ish.  He got his buck mount back and our taxidermist knows the entiat pretty well and from what my dad saw and talking to the taxidermist some of the big boys have slipped through the entiat without ever getting shot.  On the 18th it rained all day but the hills around wenatchee had snow on them not a whole lot but enough to probably push some of the deer.  I saw pictures of another entiat deer that was 30" wide and im not sure what it would score but it was the best buck i heard of getting taken so far. 

Anyways good looking deer and im glad that you filled your tag.

Ky

[Hunting Cowboy]

Hey mike its Ky good looking deer and I'm glad that you filled your tag.

Ky

Ky, thanks man.....Much appreciated. I know we talked about holding out for a bigger buck. I would have liked a 150 -160 class muley. I think given different circumstances with my foot injury and all, I would have passed on this buck. We saw several 3 and 4 points but this was the heaviest we saw. We saw one with deeper forks but not near as heavy. The circumstances ended up being right for the situation we were in. Don't get me wrong, we're thrilled with this buck and are enjoying our good fortune.

Andrew and I had quite a discussion before deciding to try for this guy. We knew he was heavier than the buck he was with,  Although he's not extremely massive, but when compared to the other 4X4, he just looked a lot bigger. I have to admit that we were fooled a little bit by the contrast of the two bucks at 175 yards, which is the distance they were when we first ranged them. We figured his width was about 22 inches which we over estimated. We also knew he wasn't real tall. In fact, a little shorter than we were hoping for. His front and back forks were not very deep either.

On the plus side, he was the biggest buck we'd seen both in antler size and body size. And as I said, we liked that he was heavy. Also, being a 4x4 with eye guards that are over 2 inches long (One measures 2-1/2 inches) didn't hurt. Having a road below us was a plus in our case as well....although he damn near went over the edge into a steep basin. But the final decision came down to the fact that I had a Dr. appointment scheduled for the following week and we were unsure of whether or not I'd be in a cast or recovering from surgery costing us our last weekend of hunting. We ranged the shots at 277 yards (too low). 315 yards (hit a bit too far back), and 80 -100 yards (finishing shot).

All in all we had a blast. I want to thank you and your dad for all of your help (along with a few others). We really enjoyed meeting you guys..... I'm impressed with the standards you've set for yourself for being a young guy, I take my hat off to ya for setting high goals and sticking with it. It worked out for ya last season!

Here's to the end of another season  Happy holidays!

Update on the foot..... Not a broken bone or a ruptured ligament or tendon. It is a "strained" tendon requiring Ibuprofen, heat, Ice, elevation in the evening. (It sucks to get old!) Although still black and blue, the swelling is down. In short, I am recovering!

[MichaelJ]

Hey mike its Ky i got your PM i have been in montana hunting with a friend for a week.  While i was gone my dad had the week off and went up on the entiat side and saw one buck that was a 28" 3 point but real heavy and tall, and then went up another day to a different area and saw a 26" 4 point that he thought would go 170ish.  He got his buck mount back and our taxidermist knows the entiat pretty well and from what my dad saw and talking to the taxidermist some of the big boys have slipped through the entiat without ever getting shot.  On the 18th it rained all day but the hills around wenatchee had snow on them not a whole lot but enough to probably push some of the deer.  I saw pictures of another entiat deer that was 30" wide and im not sure what it would score but it was the best buck i heard of getting taken so far. 

Anyways good looking deer and im glad that you filled your tag.

Ky

Ky whats up man?  How was montana?  I know I talked to a guy I know and he said he was up Preston Creek Tuesday and was seeing quite a few big bucks moving down out of the snow...  I'm sure you're right that some big boys were down low, but there's always the few that don't come down until really forced... You've seen that 30" buck?  Is he pretty tall/massive?  I'll give you a call tonight...

Michael

[johnsc6]

nice buck mike, I'll have to stop by and see your new addition when completed

[Guy]

Congratulations! That's great.

[WAmuleyHunter]

not a bad decent buck HC. There is a bunch of people this year that couldnt hold out or find the big mature bucks up the entiat.  lots of basket 4x4's 18-20 inches wide.  But there were some big guys out there......  I saw a picture claiming to be a 30 inch inside spread buck.... i highly doubt it.  and i havent heard of anything else. Heard of a big buck killled out of the entiat, saw a picture, and then held it in my hands, claiming to be in the "180's" it turned out to be a high 160 class deer.  Looks like we are going to get some big snow this coming week, so i am sure after that there will be a big push of bucks coming in.

[HuntinFool]

Hey Garrett i saw that same picture from sean down at hooked on toys.  The deer looked nice but didn't look like it had a 30" inside spread.

[WAmuleyHunter]

Hey man, hope your turkey day was good.  Ya, and the forks didnt look huge. but nice deer anyways, definitly not 30 inch inside spread.

[Wea300mag]

Way to go Mike, glad you could get it close to the road given your condition.

[stew]

Mike congrats on your buck. It will probably be nice to do a mount of your own. Scott Stewart

[Hunting Cowboy]

Scott......Finally found this site, huh? Nice to hear from ya. Appreciate it! I left ya a PM.