Chiliwist Whitetail Hunt

[Mxracer532]

Well - I'm here to share that I ended up with tag soup.  Lots of ups and down in the last 20 days but nonetheless couldn't get it done.   Put in time in all corners of the unit and finally spent the last week on a mature buck that got me excited.  We had him patterned finally in the last 5 days but was slow to start rut activity that we witnessed.  Around the same time each evening and each morning he would cross a series of cams.  He was smart - waited until just before first light to leave, and last night to come in.  For 4 straight nights he was pretty dang consistent with his travel.  On the night of 11/19 he spent 4 hours on cam interested in a doe between the hours of 1:00AM to 4:00AM and then he would exit.  I couldn't get out until the afternoon of 11/20 (idiot mistake) and at 1:57pm, the same time I shut my truck door, he popped up on my cam. I am 800 yards away and traveling through over a foot of new snow.  It's going to take me some time and I am on day zero of P90X.  I go to grab my cell phone to double check it is on silent, and a cam notification pops up.  He is running away from the cam, straight north.  My thought, damnit! He heard me, which I thought was odd.  Since he was pretty consistent with his pattern, I continued to walk toward a spot I wanted to sit that evening.  I climb up a small hill covered in snow drift, and I am thigh high in snow at this point.  I get on the bench to catch my wind; I am completely gassed.  I set my gun down to think about my next move and start to wipe away though fog on my binos.  I look up and there he is! On a hillside scaling a ridge pushing a doe! He pushed that doe for 30 minutes on that bench, out of sight, and completely unbeknownst to me; I thought he was gone! I get a range, 450.  I get behind the gun, 475 waiting for him to rest since this hill is pretty steep.  He is at 500 and not stopping - I have no shot and he walks over the ridge.  The doe left her fawn so I figure I will go set up where the fawn will not see me and I will wait until he returns at his normal time, for the 5th consecutive night. 90 minutes go by and the I start to feel the emotion behind my season is nearing the end. BUT THEN I look right. 5 whitetails does walk through a thicket looking behind them to my right 120 yards.  My leg starts to shake! It's go time!  Nothing. 2 minutes later, 3 WT does, walk through the same thicket, looking behind them. My other leg starts to shake...it's GO TIME!! Nothing. Nothing but a very long walk back to the truck and some real frustration I am heading home empty handed.  I shut my notifications off on my cam although couldn't help myself, he came back last night at 9:00PM for one last goodbye and hasn't returned since.  I had not hunted whiteys in 28 years since my first buck kill when I was 8 years old.  I appreciate the hell out of the animals, and I cannot wait to do it again.  There is a lot of frustration when you have 26 points on a hunt, but you know what, the sun came up today. My kids woke up and told me they loved me. My wife was tickled pink I wasn't leaving the house again so I could help wrangle our 4 amazing kids.  Today is a new day and life goes on...but, I will remember this buck for a long time.

That sucks, but you absolutely have the right attitude. Glad you had a great hunt.

[Berin Denson]

Well - I'm here to share that I ended up with tag soup.  Lots of ups and down in the last 20 days but nonetheless couldn't get it done.   Put in time in all corners of the unit and finally spent the last week on a mature buck that got me excited.  We had him patterned finally in the last 5 days but was slow to start rut activity that we witnessed.  Around the same time each evening and each morning he would cross a series of cams.  He was smart - waited until just before first light to leave, and last night to come in.  For 4 straight nights he was pretty dang consistent with his travel.  On the night of 11/19 he spent 4 hours on cam interested in a doe between the hours of 1:00AM to 4:00AM and then he would exit.  I couldn't get out until the afternoon of 11/20 (idiot mistake) and at 1:57pm, the same time I shut my truck door, he popped up on my cam. I am 800 yards away and traveling through over a foot of new snow.  It's going to take me some time and I am on day zero of P90X.  I go to grab my cell phone to double check it is on silent, and a cam notification pops up.  He is running away from the cam, straight north.  My thought, damnit! He heard me, which I thought was odd.  Since he was pretty consistent with his pattern, I continued to walk toward a spot I wanted to sit that evening.  I climb up a small hill covered in snow drift, and I am thigh high in snow at this point.  I get on the bench to catch my wind; I am completely gassed.  I set my gun down to think about my next move and start to wipe away though fog on my binos.  I look up and there he is! On a hillside scaling a ridge pushing a doe! He pushed that doe for 30 minutes on that bench, out of sight, and completely unbeknownst to me; I thought he was gone! I get a range, 450.  I get behind the gun, 475 waiting for him to rest since this hill is pretty steep.  He is at 500 and not stopping - I have no shot and he walks over the ridge.  The doe left her fawn so I figure I will go set up where the fawn will not see me and I will wait until he returns at his normal time, for the 5th consecutive night. 90 minutes go by and the I start to feel the emotion behind my season is nearing the end. BUT THEN I look right. 5 whitetails does walk through a thicket looking behind them to my right 120 yards.  My leg starts to shake! It's go time!  Nothing. 2 minutes later, 3 WT does, walk through the same thicket, looking behind them. My other leg starts to shake...it's GO TIME!! Nothing. Nothing but a very long walk back to the truck and some real frustration I am heading home empty handed.  I shut my notifications off on my cam although couldn't help myself, he came back last night at 9:00PM for one last goodbye and hasn't returned since.  I had not hunted whiteys in 28 years since my first buck kill when I was 8 years old.  I appreciate the hell out of the animals, and I cannot wait to do it again.  There is a lot of frustration when you have 26 points on a hunt, but you know what, the sun came up today. My kids woke up and told me they loved me. My wife was tickled pink I wasn't leaving the house again so I could help wrangle our 4 amazing kids.  Today is a new day and life goes on...but, I will remember this buck for a long time.

That sucks, but you absolutely have the right attitude. Glad you had a great hunt.

Thanks MX - great hearing from you man!  Hope you are well and had a great hunting season this year!

[boneaddict]

Thank you for the follow up, and I was hoping for a photo. Thank you for that too.  Honestly this memory will be just as good as any.  Sorry it didn’t work out. Good attitude though!

[NWBREW]

Awesome write up and beautiful buck. It sucks. You didn’t get a chance to put your tag on him but we all know that’s how hunting goes sometimes. Boneaddict is right, it’s the memories that count. I have many many memories like that. Many hunters will never have the opportunity to even see a buck of that caliber in the wild so congrats on that for sure.

[pd]

Sir, I feel your pain.

Remember what Tolkien taught us (voiced by Gandalf):  "...But that is not for them (us) to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Nobody can doubt your effort.  Congratulations on a hunt well done.  At least you have beautiful memories and trail cam photos.

[WildBear]

Great write up and one hell of a hunt and Buck. My interpretation of success is not just notching a tag. Congrats on the experience. Thanks for sharing

[Berin Denson]

Few more photos from the journey

[bearhunter99]

That’s a beautiful buck!   


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HikerHunter]

Wow, beautiful buck and great effort! That's why is called hunting and not killing. If some didn't get away then it wouldn't be quite as fun.

[Skyvalhunter]

Surely there were others withe the tag also

[HereDuckyDucky]

Thanks for sharing. The Chili has some nice whitetails, and it seems like they're making a bit of a comeback post Carlton Complex. Glad you got to experience it (even if you didn't pull the trigger).

RW

[hunter399]

Thanks for sharing. Awesome hunt.
I've had similar experiences, also have had permits I couldn't seem to harvest. Always a fun time trying.