Fight to the death

[boneaddict]

Blood bath, fight to the death, frickin’ cool story, I’m not sure what to title this.  I’ve been holding onto these pictures for sometime waiting for the time to share them.  It was back when my wife was pregnant with my daughter Lilly, holy cow that’s 9 years ago.  It was November 19th, one of my favorite times to be in the woods.  I had been dragging Idabooner around in the woods for several days, and he finally connected on his first whitetail ever.  Now that the tags were full, it was time to see the real big bucks.  My wife joined us and we were off.  It was just daylight and it was one of those wet gloomy mornings.  It had just snowed about 6 inches, and if any of you have been in Ferry county, you know the roads never get plowed.  We pulled into my area, and immediately there was a nice 5x5 whitetail standing in the middle of the road.  I stopped the truck and set up the scope for my wife and Dad, with the buck never moving.  He was standing in a very submissive position.  I was kind of new at this game still, and now know what that means.  Anyway, I slipped down the road trying to get closer. I took several shots of him, but I don’t remember now if any of them turned out.  I will do a big search to see if I can come up with them.   I was shooting a Canon AE1 with a 600mm sigma mirrored lens.  I had just got it.  Thinking back, I probably didn’t have it on a tripod, so probably got all blurs.  Fun thing about learning stuff on your own, and in the days of film, always a week later.  I finally went back to family.  Upon my arrival my wife says she just saw a big elk walk off the hill and cross the road.  “There aren’t any elk here Sweetie.”  “Well I just saw one.”  I picked up the scope and tripod and we got into the truck.  Bare in mind the 5x5 hasn’t moved.  We get pretty close now with the truck and all of a sudden the largest whitetail fathomable to man crosses the road and stops on the road bank.  I gram the new lens and try to focus on him through the windshield.  I don’t know whether to look at the buck or get his picture.  It is just too dark.  I have in my mind a 25 inch whitie with HEAVY beams and points throughout with about 7 points per side and the most distinguishing feature were mainbeams that turned down like the old grips of a 10 speed.  WHAT AN ANIMAL.  He trots off into the woods.  I bail out to go after him and immediately note a huge blood trail.  I’m thinking that’s weird….there is no other sign of man.  My Dad, Mr. tracker himself takes after the blood trail backtracking it while I follow it forward, ,meanwhile leaving my wife in the middle of the road.  I get nervous as non of us have tags, and I don’t want anyone to think foul play so I come back to the truck.  I’m sitting there wondering where in the heck Idabooner is.  I have to admit, my blood pressure is now maxed to unfathomable levels, and here he comes.  “You have to come see this”  I think you can get your truck to it.”   We go down the road and find this trial leading off in the woods.  I guess it could be classified as a skid road, but I am thinking we are going to be buried in here.  Not something you want to do with your pregnant wife.  I am thinking the whole way, Man what are you getting me into.  We come to a clearing and here is the most impressive fight stage I have ever seen.  Those are the pictures I am about to post.

[boneaddict]

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[boneaddict]

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[boneaddict]

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[boneaddict]

The pictures just don’t do it justice.  This area was about the size of half a football field and these bucks had tore it up.  Then it was obvious, one got a death blow into a jugular or something.  Blood squirted from the side of one of the animals.  These animal fought for a long time.  It was evident by the chip out of one of the bucks tracks it was the monster handlebar buck and another buck.   I’m thinking HOLY COW, the buck have to be like sized in order to fight, especially this much.  There is a monster out there bleeding to death.  I took enough pictures so the game department guys might believe me if I came marching in with the recovered buck.  At that time SKULLS were legal to pick up.  We beat it back to the spot where the one buck was standing and so was the monster and set off on the wounded bucks track, STILL squirting blood.  We had to cross a creek, so I carried my prego wife on my back.  I picked up his tracks and blood on the other side.  This was interesting as well.  There was a doe track here, with three bucks on her tail including the blood, and the monster I had seen of all time was behind us, not being counted now.  The bloodied buck was after the doe or had won the rights to be with the doe, and the mosnter handlbar buck had been "beaten" and was tailing behind.  The submissive 5x5 which was a nice buck to begin with, was being submissive to Mr. bloodied buck.  This was some hot doe.  The bloodied buck veered off and bedded.  We jumped him several times around and around in the jungle, with prego wife in tow.  Each time he bedded he bled more than I thought any animal could.  The big push was on now as it was warming up, and the snow was melting and it started to rain.  Could the woods get any wetter?  We tracked him and tracked him until we lost our snow.  We came to a questionable area, but the questionable deer climbed a steep hill and went over a little ridge.  We chose another track, and I think that was our mistake.  We both had in our minds that the wounded buck wouldn’t have climbed that hill.  Anyhow, my wife couldn’t go any further.  She had done as much as she could, and Grandpa and I had to call of the tracking job.  There is no doubt in my mind that that buck died and we would have found a GIGANTIC whitetail if we would have kept searching.  I went back several weeks later, but it had snowed two feet.  It then went back multiple times in the spring and gridded the area, but its almost impossible country.  I could have walked right by it.  To this day I have visions of the buck I didn’t get on film and the one I never saw.

[Geno]

Cool story Bone.

[Skyvalhunter]

Great story Bone!! Just hink that big rack being chewed on by squirrels after that. Well you did put in a good effort.

[GoldTip]

Great story and pics to go along with it. 

[boneaddict]

I had nightmares about those dang squirrels.

[hogsniper]

Awesome story bone...thanks for sharing...U wouldnt think that buck could go too far with wounds like that...Probably a big nontypical with a couple droppers...lol..Justin

[92xj]

Because so few have seen or read this story, and since it was brought up again.
I've read it mulitple times and it's just as amazing as the first time. 
To walk with you in the woods with you, to see the animals you do and be apart of the vivid stories you tell is a dream of mine.

[boneaddict]

Thats cool 92.  I was just looking for it. and THANK YOU

[cvandervort]

Gets the blood pumping just reading it...I can't imagine what that must have been like to witness in person. The only thing that would have made it any better was if an elk popped out...

[92xj]

Gets the blood pumping just reading it...I can't imagine what that must have been like to witness in person. The only thing that would have made it any better was if an elk popped out...

That would have been awesome.  I can just see Bone standing there was his jaw on the road while his wife danced around pointing her finger at him saying "I told you so, I told you so!!!!" 

[CAM38]

That's an amazing story bone.