Sorry for being delayed in the thread update
First, I want to thank my wife for holding down the house and dealing with our 2 year old son at home the whole time I was gone. Pretty lucky to have a wife that would do that. I would also like to thank the forum members who reached out and stayed in contact with me throughout the summer and the hunt. Some real stand up guys on here and don’t know how I can repay them back for giving up that much info on their preferred unit.
I spent a awesome 15 days straight in the unit and would see multiple small bucks (very small 4x4s and under, TONS of 2x2) everyday. The weather wasn’t the perfect mule deer rut weather. Minimal snow and even at the top of the high ridge there was maybe 12-15 inches total. Never really got super cold, coldest I saw at camp was about 18 degrees and would get in the mid 30s - 40s almost everyday.
I mainly hunted the 25-mile side and spent a few days in the entiat side as well. Really early in my hunt, I passed two very nice bucks, not knowing I wouldn’t see any bigger ones after that. They were not the giants I was looking for but respectable bucks. In general season, there would have been no hesitation. It was hard to pass in the moment but I was thinking I would turn up some other big boys as the season went on. That’s hunting!
I did it all from road hunting, still hunting, days and days of glassing, hiking ridges, and walking miles on decommissioned roads. Just never turned up the “big crusty”. It was neat to see lots of deer everyday and to watch to bucks rutting. You can just about walk right up to some of them.
On the last night I had to hunt, I took the biggest smaller buck I was able to find. He’s not a dink and actually has some mass to him. But with no 2023 meat in the freezer, I was happy to take him. He had a huge body on him and noticeably bigger body than the other small bucks around.
The pack out was fairly easy. 650ft of elevation straight up. Did bone in and did 2 trips. I killed the deer about 345pm and was done by 730pm. So back to the wall tent in time for dinner!
Overall, a great hunting trip. This was new area for me. So to find deer and kill deer in the new area was also a plus to me. Got to spend 2 weeks in the mountains and a few days with my brother and good friend. Just didn’t get the big guy that everyone wants. He is probably standing in my favorite bowl that I glassed the most right now. Probably just a 190” tank of a buck.
Thanks again for all the support, that’s what makes this site great!
Josh
