The clan headed east for opening weekend in hopes of bagging the big one. The big one eluded us, but we had a BLAST.
Our focus was to get the boys on deer and hopefully add more after they got theirs. Weather was surprisingly warm. I saw 73 on Saturday on the temp gauge :jawdrop:
Here's a pic of my son Austins first deer. It's a 3x4 or if your an easterner, a 9 pointer
Jim from our party had seen him bed down and showed us exactly where he had been. Lucky for us, he was still there. I ranged him at 168 yards downhill. He was lying in his bed in a patch of rose brush. All we could see was his back right ear and main beam. Austin had about a 2 foot window to shoot through. Got the shootin sticks set-up and I readied myself to back him up if need be. He shot and I was looking to spot the running deer. I put my scope where the deer was. He was still there. My first split second thought was he missed and the deer didn't know what was up. Then I realized the deer was dead. SWEET!!!! High fives, hugs and smiles were in order. I'm not sure who was happier, me, Austin or Jim.
Here's another shot. Wished I had cleared the grass out of the way before the shot:
I then had to "inform" my son that now the work starts. We prepared the deer for packing him uphill back to camp. Did I say uphill. Yeah UP FRIGGIN HILL.
Here's a shot of me before heading down to pack him out:
Here's me after the first load. There are not shots of the second load, because I died LOL:
The next day, I spotted a group of deer heading across the other side of the canyon, so I dropped down and headed up a draw ahead of them, in hopes of heading them off. I had spotted a decent 4 point with the group. They dropped into the draw I was in but were below me and headed up the other side. So I sidehilled to try ad intercept them. I crested the crown of the hill and there they were at about 60 yards. I had an ass shot, but opted not to take it, mainly because it's a poor shot and there were a lot of does right by the buck. They rounded the hill out of sight and I followed. I expected to catch them on the hillside, but they were't there. I sidehilled to another draw and expected to catch them there. They were no where to be seen. So I sat down to catch my breath and have a drink. After about 10 minutes, I spotted the same group side hilling now on the other side of the canyon. *censored* I think. They are directly across from me at 400 yards. I can't find the 4 point, but there is a small 3 point . Hmmmmm what to do. Lets see, he's below camp, the pack out won't be TOO bad. OK, I'll shoot. First shot goes low, so I aim higher, this time I hit him. He walks downhill a little and lays down. I watch him for 20 minutes to see if he rolls over. NADA, so back down to the bottom and up the other side. I crest the hill and spot him in his bed at 40 yards. I shoot, he gets up and the next shot does it's job
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Here's one of me and my son:
My dad at the ripe young age of 71 shot a pretty decent 4 point. And my nephew shot a nice 2x3 whitetail. Again if your an easterner, it's a 3x4
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Here's the final tally:
Here's a couple shots of the country we were hunting:
Here's a shot of my bro trying to spot a whopper:
All in all, we had a GREAT hunt. Can't wait to do it again next year !!!!! Note to self, get in shape PRIOR to next season LOL
