To those who were asking last night.. (incentive tag)

[WAmuleyHunter]

i can see you smiling that big grin right now thinking about your buck!!! rob is awesome and glad you had an awesome time on your hunt man!!

[bucklucky]

Your welcome in advance 

[jackelope]

glad to see it all came together for you, Tom. thats what sites like this are all about. everybody's a new guy at some point, and questions are meant to be answered. there'll be a bunch more next year too. forget the pissing and moaning and arguing and bickering...this is what it's all about and the reason this place exists. thanks for taking us along.


now about the rest of the pics....

[ICEMAN]

Congratulations! You did us all proud!

( Don't let this hunt spoil the rest of your future hunts.....heh heh heh....  )

What a great experience!

[boneaddict]

forget the pissing and moaning and arguing and bickering...this is what it's all about and the reason this place exists

A-men to that!

[lewy]

Congrats on a dandy buck man! That deer has got everything to score well and will make a great trophy......

[Pathfinder101]

Man, that's a good-looking old warhorse of a deer.  Way to go newguy!  We may have to change your screen name

[Thenewguy]

Part 1, prep work

After the call from WDFW I immediately come here to find out what the heck being able to hunt Sept 1st - December 31st meant and to get ideas. I think I got about 800 good ideas  . Alot of people offered to help but Josh was by far the most helpful. I started studying google map and looking at pictures of big mature bucks trying to set the bar. I found out I truly dig mass and width (who doesn't). My original plan was to hunt chinook pass starting in September, this thought was quickly disappeared after hearing about Migrator bucks and wintering grounds  .

The plan at this point became to hunt those wintering grounds. The problem here is that I had to wait until the end of November and I am not a very patient guy! I starting heading out scouting in October so i got used to the roads and lay of the land. The problem with this is the deer weren't in yet so I didn;t know what to expect from them. I made 3 scouting trips without my rifle and saw; 18 does, 1 forky, a spike and a mature WT buck. Not what I was hoping for but I knew it was early.

In late November I started taking the rifle along. I started higher in the mountains but still wasn't seeing the deer in the numbers I was hoping. I was starting to get a little dismayed as I know I was going to back into a time crunch with Christmas in Texas starting on the morning of the 17th. Just before the first snows really hit, about 2 weeks ago, I hit an area I had heard was holding some bigger bucks. After sitting on a ridge for the early morning I started hiking over the next ridge. I got to the top and as I was climbing over a fallen tree I caught antlers out of the corner of my eye. I froze and glassed the spot. A big mature buck and about 15 does. looking around some more I found 2 more mature bucks and one was enormous. They were at around 300-320 yards across a ravine and I wanted to make sure he was a shooter before I made my next move. At this distance I couldn;t tell alot of details with my Binos so I had to use the rifle scope on the confirmed deer (please dont judge, no spotting scope, yet). He was broadside to me but his head was facing away. I know looking through a scope there can sometimes be some ground shrinkage but I still think this is the biggest buck I have ever seen. He had width about 6 inchs 3-4 inch's beyond each ear and HUGE mass. He was a typical 4 point and absolutely a shooter in my book! I decide to take the shot and rest my 30.06 up against a branch. I start the breathing process and take the shot.... I miss clean but the buck doesn't go anywhere. I decide against another shot for 2 reasons; This is a shot I have never taken before (the rest was also more wobbly then expected) and I only brought 2 more rounds with me. I know if i expended the rounds without a killing shot, I would regret the 4 mile hike back to the truck maybe even seeing a shooter when i don;t have the ability to take the shot. I decide to back out and get to the ridge above the deer. The friend I took up with me lead the way. Unfortunatlly the path he took was to direct and he took it to quickly. Once we crested the ridge there were the does, but no mature buck.

to be continued...

[rosscrazyelk]

Congrads on your buck.. Great deer... Any measurements you would like to share?

[huntnphool]

there was a buck standing there today same spot looking around. must have been missing his buddy!! lol

Thats probably the buck with the kickers.

[NRA4LIFE]

HOLY CRAP, I just first seen the pic.  Great job young man.  That is a hell of a buck.  Thanks also to Rob for the photos.  Can't wait to see the score on that pig.

[UBA]

Thats a great first deer. I believe i have some video clips of him feeding around.

[denali]

Man, that's a good-looking old warhorse of a deer.  Way to go newguy!  We may have to change your screen name

how about "grizzeld ole trophytaker"

just got back from Texas it was Washington cold, hope it's warmer for you.

congrats to you, and those that helped thanks

[MtnMuley]

Very nice buck newguy!  Glad you posted your hunt and enjoyed your time out there.  It's priceless.

[Pathfinder101]

Are we waiting for the rest of the story before more pics are posted?  If so, that's cool... but my attention span is starting to get sore...