It was a really fun season for me. I had a lot of action. During the early season, I saw a couple 2 points in Dewatto but they were dinks. Thursday of late buck, I passed another small 2 point at about 15 yards. Friday of late buck, I passed a spike that I glassed bedded in the timber.
Saturday of late buck was my last day to hunt. I was planning a grueling death march about 5 miles behind the gate. I was certain of seeing some bucks. There was a couple inches of snow at the gate, and I was headed high. When I got to the gate there were several other rigs at the gate and people on horses, too. I was late to the gate. I headed in anyway and passed several guys on the way in.
I got a couple miles in and headed up a spur and into some timber. I immediately cut some big tracks and started to follow them. The tracks led right up to a really fresh rub. I'm no expert, but i was pretty sure this was a buck.
I tracked him for a while but never caught a glimse of him. I hunted out of there and up the hill. There was about a foot of snow on top of the hill and no fresh tracks. I decided to head back to the timber patch where the buck tracks were.
I set up just below the road in the timber and decided to rattle. I started soft and did a few sets. I only sat about 10 minutes. I got up and gave up. I put my pack on, grabbed my rifle and took about 10 steps down the hill. I looked up and saw a buck walking towards me and he stopped behind a huge old growth stump. I threw my rifle up and waited. It took him about 2 minutes for him to poke his head out. I saw he was a decent buck and I moved to get a shot. I crunched some snow and the buck snapped his head and stared right at me. He was about 20 yards away and I could only see his face and a couple inches of his neck. I had a really tiny window to thread a bullet through the brush. I shot and he went down immediately. I hit him in the neck. I was so pumped! I had called in my first buck. He isnt my biggest buck, but definitely the most memorable. I was solo about 3 miles in, and there was about 10 inches of snow on the ground. I boned him out and started walking. I got lucky, some guy (who wasnt supposed to be road hunting behind the gate) drove me the last mile. I thanked him repeatedly and was happy for the ride. Hope you guys like the pics. I had a fun time.
