Well Just got back late last night. 2 buck tags filled and 8 antlerless tags notched. Me and Ray left on the morning of the 8th "4 a.m." and arrived late the night of the 8th. The day of the 9th was spent scouting a few areas and since bow hunting season was still open. Ray got to hunt a day early with his bow. Several close encounters but no lopes on the 9th. The morning of the 10th was opening day of rifle season. We got into the area and put a stalk on a bunch of goats. They busted us and left over the next ridge. Ray followed them why I split off and went after another bunch in the distance. A little while later I heard Ray shooting up on the ridge. I got a text message on my phone 2 down. He filled his buck tag and a antlerless tag. After some other guys busted the group I was after, I headed back towards Ray. I got a little distracted and filled one of my antlerless tags, a fat doe at 244 yards. After getting them all packed back to the truck we headed to a new area. Ray was able to shoot another doe in that area. So we had 1 buck and 3 antlerless tags filled by the end of the morning. The evening hunt was a little slower but I did manage to get another doe, shot was right at 100 yards. So we had 5 tags punched the first day. Lots of work that night and a few hrs of sleep, we were up and headed out on the morning of the 9th. Before light me and ray split up and took off. The wind was screaming 20-25mph. I got onto a bunch of does with a small buck, but wanted to hold off the longer shots at the does, to try and find a bigger buck. I left them alone and went to a different area. I got to the top of this big bowl and to my surprise as soon as I got there a buck came screaming by chasing a single doe. I took off my pack off and got into the prone position. As they were on a full run I tried to make them stop by howling with my voice. The wind was screaming and I don’t know if they even heard me. Just as I thought they were gone. The doe came to a stop at 411 yards. The wind I guessed to be around 20 mph and almost full value. So I adjusted for the wind and elevation and touched it off. The buck dropped like a stone! Man was I pumped! I knew he was an outstanding buck with great mass and a huge sweep to his horns. I watched the buck for a minute or so in my scope and then stood up and started down the hill towards him. When I got to about 200 yards I noticed movement and the buck got to his feet. I about had a heart attack, but realized he was not going any place. I gave him one more shot at around 200 yards and he was done. The first shot had hit the buck in the right lung and out the liver. I could not believe how tuff the buck was to get back to his feet, after a well-placed shot like that. The 2nd shot was a high shoulder shot. I had my buck down! Then I got a text that Ray had another doe down. So after getting them out, we had 3 antlerless tags left. One for Ray and two for myself. That evening we were able to get back into a group of lopes and I was able to fill my last 2 antlerless tags with side by side shots at about 175 yards. After getting them taken care of, we headed into another area and Ray was able to fill his last antlerless tag. 10 lopes in 2 days and a lot of work later, we were done and headed back home. It was 17hrs each way and we did it in 5 days. That was a lot of driving and a lot of work but a great hunt. I got to break in my new Sako A7 in 270wsm pushing 140g accubonds. The new gun shoots like a dream! I am very happy with the way it shoots and the overall feel of the gun. Thanks to Ray for inviting me on the trip. Here are a couple of my pics from the trip. I got pic’s of my first 2 does and my buck, but just went right to work on the last 2 and didn’t get pic’s of them. I will be posting the pics from my phone in just a sec.
