Chiwawa Late Rifle Permit Update

[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.