My 2011 Eastside Archery Hunt.

[highside74]

So it started Sunday morning with an alarm going off at 3:15am. Just enough time to shower grab some coffee and be to my buddies place to pick him up and head east for a day of scouting before Monday's hunt openner. We saw a couple shooter buck and a number of does during the day and got familiar with some new country. Monday's openner saw cold temp's wind and snowy condition's. Our plan was to jump off the top of 2 seperate ridges that run a large draw holding alot of deer and meet at our waypoint about 1 mile below to be picked up by another friend later and brought back to my 4runner. At 1st light we head in our own direction's to begin our hunt. The condition's are iffy at best. With my hat pulled over my ears and my gator pulled over my face and my hood pulled on I headed up the road to my point of entry to the ridge that I was going to walk down. In those condition's it took me over an hour to just get down and over to the ridgeline that I was going to hunt. What I didn't know was that the ridge I was going to hunt actually crosses a large ranch. So some 2 hour's after I start I run into another hunter and a fence line. He tell's me he is one of the people hunting the ranch and that I wouldn't be able to go any farther. So I take a rest and ponder my next move. I start to see deer and a skid road that skirt's the opposite side that I came from so I decide to head back around and over to that skid road. I spot a 3x decent but not spectacular buck up above me with some does and I move back around and start working up a finger on the opposite side of him keeping my self hidden. This is the worst climb ever. The snow is powder and I have zero traction. Every step bring's a slip. It was 10x's the work it should have been. On my climb I ran into two guy's coming down that finger. Since they were in better position and cleary going to bump into those deer I got there attention and motioned that there was a buck in that draw that they needed to be looking for. I was disgusted. All that work and they were going to blow the deer out of that draw. Since I had already started my climb up the side toward my truck and I was so beat ever muscle in my leg's were cramping I decided to go for my truck and give my buddy a call. Back to my truck and a message to my buddy I sat and tried to recover. I was not even close to being in good enough shape for this hunt.  hunt. My buddy called to say that he was at the bottom and the other guy's were on their way to get him and they will meet me for lunch at the bottom. He say after the wind stopped he started seeing alot of deer and a dandy 4x4 160 class buck with some trash. This buck got up after he went past and he didn't see him until he was 100 yards past. Oh well maybe next time. On my way out I see some does and a 3x small buck on a hillside 200 yards of the road. The more I glassede the more I saw. I called my buddy snd told him that I was going to watch this unfold and to start without me. What started as some does and a 3x turned into a 3x a 4x3 shooter 2 2x's and 20 plus does on in one spot 300-400 yards wide. I watched these deer for over an hour until something blew all the deer out and over the top except the 4x3. He didn't move from next to a tree on the edge of an openning for 5 minutes. The he moved across the opening to the edge and stood there stair up hill for five minutes in the direction the other deer went.  After that he turnd around and watched where he came from for two minutes then he finally went up the hill toward the other deer. I was amazed at his patients. All the other deer freaked and he stood still. The evening was nothing special. We saw deer but nothing to shoot.

Day to started 45 minutes late, a drive to a new area and more snow. A  Dogde with no chains blocking 2 other trucks and myself as we were tryng to climb up the mountain. An hour or so later we were on our way. I spot 2 does and a buck as they come across and down. We stay slow and give the does space to continue their path. unfortunetly We we were just 10 seconds to fast and we barely beat the does to the bottom of the draw as it crossed the road. They spun and took the buck with them. I don't think he was a shooter but it was fun. 45 minutes later and I'm stairing down hill 70 yards at a buck. I turn to my buddy and say grab your bow as I bail out the door. He gives us at least 2 minutes to try and make him a 3 point but all we could come up with was a big 2 and an eyegaurd that was not an inch in our opinion so off we go. Let me tell you my 4runner is a beast. we climbed into country only us had been in the snow. Ever corner we just new we were going to see something. All the tracks end over the edge. So we turn back to work another road system. This also brought us to areas not traveled yet by hunter's in recent day's. I was plowing fresh snow. I came to a spot wuth a large rock on the inside that I didn't want to go around but my buddy got out and worked me around it without a problem. Not much further and we came to what we thought was close to the end over a large basin with a number of finger's to examine. He was feeling banged up from his trek yesterday and a number of bad fall's. Both on the mountain and the frozen road below. So I walked a couple hundred yards down the skid road looking over the edge until I spot a shooter 400 yards out and down bedded with his back to the hill above. I crap my pants and run to grab my buddy and plan a stock. I work my way down a finger ridge and work my way through the snow fallin once and sliding a little as I look back to my friend with my bino's for guidance. A little tweak to my angle of decent and I find myself 53 yards away from a nice 3x3 with good eyegaurd's. I anchor and air one out. A little far back but he is hit hard and he moves over the edge and out of sight. I move after him and find him70 -90 yards away and standing broadside looking like he is feeling the effect's of my first arrow. I reach for my range finder that I had grabbed from my buddy becaus mine was not reading correctly in the cold weather I guess and realize that like mine his was not teatherd to me like I have mine and I dropped it in the snow as I prepared for my first shot. So without a range finder I guess 70 and wiff. He now is moving down hill further into the bottom and he stop's again after covering 80 or so yards. He really doesn't want to move. I headed up to get the range finder and head back toward the buck just in time to see him walk out of sight into the brush toward the bottom of the draw. Feeling sick to my stomach and vowing never to hunt for the rest of the year I sit and wait for him to come back into sight. 20 minutes later and no buck so I start my climb out. Something told me to glass from my new angle into the bottom and after 2 minutes I find him piled up nose down in the snow. I yell to my buddy he's dead and he tell's me to come back up and we will get the pack's ready for our work to come. Mind you there is 8-10 inches of snow on the ground it's 33 degree's and raining right now. This is gonna be rough, but worth it. As we make our way down I get to about 80 yards and see that he has his head up. Oh no! He lay's it down and pick's it up a few more times as i pnder wether or not to shoot him and risk him going even further down or let him be and expire. I decide to move across and down below him so that even he run's hopefully he see's me and goes up and not down. As I move into sight of him again he makes one last attempt at getting up and slides down the snow and piles up into some bushes 15 feet from me. I knocked and arrow and finished him there.

Not the way we draw it up as we lay in bed and dream of our hunt's. But I'm proud of my 2011 Mule deer and I had a great time in the mountain's.

[BENCHLEG]

verry nice story and thanks for sharing.  bow kills are always special.

[highside74]

A few more pic's.

[CountryslickR]

Nice buck! and congrats!

[BENCHLEG]

looks like you were ready? nice ride.

[highside74]

looks like you were ready? nice ride.

Thanks. I love it. When the chain's went on Tuesday I was unstoppable. We were equiped with a chainsaw, axe, shovel, ropes, more chain, snatch block's and my winch that goes on the front or the back. I can't believe how much confidence having a well equipped vehicle gives you up there.

[deerslyr]

The newer runners come with an e-locker in the rear right? Great buck too congrats.

[highside74]

The newer runners come with an e-locker in the rear right?

Yes it has an E-locker also.

[deerslyr]

Wish i woulda had your set up this weekend, ended up gettin stuck in the crazy mnts of MT for 4 days before I found a crazy ole cowboy who wanted 50 bucks 

[wsucowboy]

Good looking buck, congrats 

[Camp David]

Very nice buck 

[coachcw]

congrats !

[mulehunter]

Lucky. Good thing your not a Passer. Important u get to whack one.  Cuz few my friend been trying no luck.  Congt.   

[patton1]

Congrats!

[scottfrick]

Good looking buck!!! Congrats