Well here's a quick recap of our 2011 season, late whitetail tags in eastern WA...
I ran Samantha over on opening weekend to scout it out a little and hopefully get a tag or two out of the way, wasn't sure how tough it was going to be filling four tags? We didn't see much prior to opening morning, but had a little 4X4 feed by at daylight. Samantha took a crack at about 300 yards and missed. The buck followed two does up over the ridge and about 5 minutes later the does came back over with no buck??? Well, maybe you hit him and he went over the ridge and died or layed down or something? We swung a loop up over the ridge and ended up spotting him bedded in the tall grass at 323 yards. We got her all set up, but all we could see was the tops of his antlers sticking out of the grass. Long story short, we got tired of waiting for him to stand up so Samantha decided to take a head shot. She routinely shoots the .30-378 Weatherby Mag. at 300 yards, so I told her it was just like shooting at the range, though shooting in the field is usually less forgiving. She missed the first shot, regrouped and got him on the second shot. When we got over and finally found him, he had never even moved, he was still curled up in his bed. We don't normally head shoot stuff (we're not that good), but that was all she had.
One down, three to go...
Melissa, Amber and I headed back over the second weekend, hopefully the bucks would be a little more rutty. Well, not so much, but that's how hunting goes sometimes. The first evening we spotted a legal buck from the rig as we were pulling in. He wasn't in a great position to shoot, so we opted to wait and see if he'd feed towards us in the evening. We watched him til dark and Amber really wanted a crack at him, but he went the wrong way when he got up offering no shots. The next morning found us on the same point, glassing the surrounding ridges. Just when we decided there were no bucks around, out pops Amber's buck from the night before. He was hanging with some does at about 333 yards. We got Amber set up behind the .257 Weatherby Mag., and after several "zoom the scope out I can't find him, zoom it back in now, whoops back out he's gone again"... she finally takes a shot. The buck just keeps on doe watching, so she gets set up again and takes another shot. This time he walks up the ridge aways and gives her another shot. At that shot, he walks back down the ridge to the does again and gives her a really good broadside shot. She is finally starting to calm down a little and takes him right behind the shoulder on that shot. I can see he's hit, but he walks another 30 feet and stops again. Not knowing how well he's hit, I tell her to shoot one more just like that last one. Boom - down he goes for good. Amber's got her second buck, first branched buck.
Two down, two to go...
Nothing more that night and the next morning there are a couple other guys getting out of their truck headed in where we were planning on hunting. We come up with plan B and head around to the upper end of the draw we had been hunting and figure we'll just work our way down the draw and see what happens. We aren't but a hundred yards from the truck when we both spot a deer in the draw. Turns out it's a legal buck and Melissa gets ready for a shot. It feeds up behind a tree and then disappears up into the bruch instead of coming back out. While we were debating on whether to move or not, out steps another buck down where we originally saw the first buck. I'm trying to see if it's legal while Melissa gets on him. He steps into the brush and I can't see his head. I suggest we reposition so we have a better angle to see him in the brush. As we're just about repositioned, I see a third buck pop out in the same spot (200 yards), but he must have seen us moving cause he's staring right at us. I can see he's legal and tell her to hurry and take a shot, as he don't look like he's going to stick around long. You don't have to tell her twice... BOOM! I can see she hit him from his back kick, but not sure where he's hit. He runs about 30 feet and stops next to a tree offering her a second shot. At the second shot, he disappears up into the timber and as I'm scanning to see which way he goes, I see him take a few steps back down the hill and drop.
Three down, one to go...
I hunted that last evening and again the next morning in a nasty wind/snow storm, passing on a small buck the last morning. I've found tags aren't all that bad if you put plenty of BBQ sauce on them! We saw 14 legal bucks total, but all four of us getting our bucks, given the circumstances, was probably a pretty tall order to fill?
Oh well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad...
Thanks for all the input and suggestions.
Enjoy!
