Post by: brew on October 29, 2012, 09:20:49 PM
My new hunting partner, Devon, called me this summer to let me know he found an outfitter (YJ Guide Service) that had a 4,000 acre ranch outside of Davenport that was offering unguided hunts on the property. I haven’t rifle hunted Washington in over 20 years (just archery hunted) so I said we should check it out. Devon went over Labor Day weekend to scout it out and brought back a video that showed 5 legal bucks in 45 minutes of the only afternoon he was able to be there so things were looking good. Opening day was Saturday and our hunt was the following Tuesday through Thursday. The outfitter of YJ, Craig, told us that the opening day he had a one day free lottery hunt for handicapped hunters and if we wanted to come over early we could help out. All three of our hunting party jumped at the chance to go over early and help those hunters out however we could. We arrived in camp on Friday afternoon and did a little scouting and we saw 14 deer and of those 8 were legal bucks (3 pt min) by 5 pm. We all hung out Friday night talking with the handicapped hunters swapping hunting stories and bigger lies as the nite went on. Were able to sleep in the next morning as Craig and his guides took the select hunters to their areas. We got up and ate a nice breakfast that Craig’s wife Melodie had set out and waited for the sounds of gunshots. Of the 5 hunters three took deer that day with the other two having shot opportunities. We were happy to help with the hauling out, gutting, hanging and skinning the deer these hunters shot. Of the three one was a 3 pt whitetail and the other two were whitetail does. One of the hunters, Bob, was blinded by an ordinance loading incident while he was serving in the Navy and his 12 year old son was able to harvest his doe for him. We took great pleasure in helping that young hunter hang and assist him in skinning his first deer…that pretty much made the trip for us. That night we had a great steak dinner with all the trimmings while all the hunters shared their experiences of the days hunt.
Sunday morning started the same for us…sleeping in while other hunters tried their luck on the property. A nice 4x4 muley with double eye guards was taken along with doe. We ate breakfast that Melodie prepared then helped haul game out on our quads
Monday morning we went to town to eat and by the time we got back to camp another hunter shot and hung a nice 4 pt whitetail (the story is posted on the site). That afternoon we helped Craig put grain into his feeders and put up a couple more blinds. Within 20 minutes of leaving camp to help load the feeders one of my hunting partners missed a big 3 pt muley twice at 200 yards…..ouch ! rained like a mother scooter that nite
Tuesday morning was extremely windy and we only saw a few deer that morning. My other hunting partner missed a 4 pt whitetail cuz his gloves got caught on his trigger guard before he could get the shot off. I was able to sneak to 58 yards of 6 deer in a draw because of the wind but they were only does and a boone and crockett spike. That evening due to the wind I set up on a food plot and had 14 does and a spike within 50 yards of me for 45 minutes. While exiting the plot at last light I had 6 mule deer follow me out and my hunting partners were coming back on the hill above me…looking at them they were frantically signaling me and when I figured out what they were saying I looked behind me and had a huge whitetail buck making his way across the cultivated wheat field 250 yds behind me. Checking my watch it was 1 minute before legal light but didn’t feel comfortable with the shot.
Wednesday morning we were making our way back to our hunting area and looked across the cut alfalfa field and saw Craig’s truck. We kept going but little did we know he was trying to signal us as he counted 85 deer in the winter wheat 300 yards to our west. We hunted that morning with only seeing a ton of does and non-shooter bucks. That afternoon Craig took us out on the quads to show us different spots on the property where the deer where coming/going. Basically it was in the mornings set up here because the deer are coming from here…in the evenings set up here cuz the deer are moving to here. I sat on the “money hole” which was a thick draw at the back of the property and the rest of the hunters sat on the winter wheat about a mile and a half between me and camp. We got set up about 3 and legal light was 6:45…at about 5 holy hell broke loose from the winter wheat field behind me…..i never saw a deer that evening and kept wondering how I’d pissed Craig off as to why he recommended me set up on the “money hole” while all kinds of powder was being burned in the wheat field behind me. I got back to my quad at 6:50 and turned on my 2-way radio and found out that 2 bucks were down. I told my hunting partner Tim to hang tight and I would head back to camp, drop off my stuff and be back to haul his deer out and the 16 year old girl’s buck she had shot also (pic on the site also). While driving my quad out I saw my other hunting partner, Devon, who also said he had shot at a 3 pt whitetail. I picked up Devon, headed back to camp and ran into Craig who was headed out to get another buck that his semi-pro guide Colton had shot on the opposite hill side. I told Craig that deer where down everywhere and it was a cluster….Devon went with Craig to help Colton and I headed back out into the winter wheat to get the other deer. We were able to load each buck and strap them onto my quad and haul them out of the fields. By this time Colton’s buck was hung back at camp but we couldn’t find the buck Devon shot at. 11 pm and a nice 4 pt whitetail and two monster 3 pt muley’s on the meat pole (story and pics on the site)
Thursday morning…alarm was set for 5 but didn’t go off….i woke at 6 and knew I was already behind the eight ball-top it off I lost a contact lens trying to get ready for the morning and was half hung over….opened a fresh set of contacts and was ready for the day-kind of. I walked out of camp, across the road and headed up the draw beneath the cultivated wheat field. Immediately saw a muley doe and side-hilled up while she still stood and looked at me. Finally at 45 yards she walked away from me. I kept up the hill to the edge of the field and skirted the outside edge. Saw a whitetail doe and 2 yearlings about 100 yards out but they fed the opposite direction. Kept to the edge and saw 3 other whitetails in the draw and one was a shooter but small basket rack at 135 yards-watched them for 10 minutes hoping they would keep working down and not up over the top…wasn’t going to shoot him as I was only 20 mins into legal light and I knew bigger bucks were around. I worked my way around the edge and within 30 minutes saw 3 muley does in the bottom of the draw. Watched as they fed up over the top and walk within 10 feet of 2 other whitetails that were bedded down. One of them had a branched rack and watched him for 15 minutes trying to put a third point on him. They were bedded in some brush so I couldn’t make out his rack. Got set up on the shooting sticks and he finally got up at 175 yards but couldn’t make out his rack until he was skylined. He was a shooter but I knew houses were on the back side of the ridge wasn’t going to shoot. Worked my way down another 150 yards and glassed the end of the ridge….OH MY GOD ! all I saw was horns…at first I thought it was a muley buck bedded on the end of the ridge at 400 yards-sun was behind him and all I saw was antlers…he was bedded and all I could see was his butt and his neck sweeping up behind him. Worked my way another 100 yards down the ridge and set up on him at 309 yards. Saw he was a whitetail and all horns….Craig said the only deer on the property that was off limits was a huge whitetail that he wanted left for breeding purposes….all I knew was this was the largest whitetail buck that I have ever seen in the wild…..took me 10 minutes of looking at it to determine that it wasn’t the buck Craig had shown us pictures of-but he was a dandy. Didn’t feel comfortable with the shot and knew I could get closer as he was bedded facing away from me…..worked my way down to some other jack pines but doing so lost some more elevation. Took out the range finder and bam-223 yards. My 7 mm mag was dead on at 200 so I knew it was showtime….getting set up to shoot and my pocket starts buzzing…..grab my phone and it’s the wife----“what are you doing” she says….in a muffled voice I’m telling her I’m looking at the biggest whitetail buck I’ve ever seen in the woods- “are you going to shoot it”---yes if I can get off the phone! Ok, call me and let me know what happens- I hang up the phone and take a rest on the pine tree…..all I can see is his butt, shoulders and neck. I line the crosshairs up right behind the shoulders to anchor him and touch off the 160 gr partition…boom goes the dynamite and all I see is a flash of fur. I think I miss so I reload and step out of the trees. All I see is deer thrashing around on the ridge. I make record time down the hill and up the other side. He is still trying to get away and at 30 feet put one behind his shoulder….down. from where he layed if you took two steps either way he would have went straight down a cliff on three sides of him. Was able to get a hold of Craig on his cell and let me tell you there is not a better sight than a quad coming over the hill 3 miles from camp when you’ve got a buck down
That night Devon shot a 3 x 2 muley so all three of us came back to the wet side with meat. I’m not a shill for YJ Guide Service-actually I hope you don’t hunt with him as we can keep it all to ourselves but him and Melodie are good people and I wish them success. They run a great camp and want people to succeed. I am definitely going back next year and will be bringing the wife as they are a family friendly business.
Honestly when Craig showed up with the quad to pack my deer out I got pretty emotional because I never thought I would ever shoot a quality buck like I did…..Thanks Craig, Melodie and Colton and everyone else with YJ Guide Service. I would also like to thank Gary the owner of the property and G & R Farms for all their support for making my hunt a true success
the first pic is a true " as they lay" pic. like i said i was fortunate to shoot him in his bed and 6 feet either direction was disaster....the second pic is my buck and the third pic is of the 3 they shot wednesday evening....the beauty of these bucks is that Craig has trail cams set up all around the property and all of these deer were never caught on camera meaning they all came off adjoining properties....not the deer they have been scouting all year long...plenty of bucks left
Thanks again to Craig, Melodie and soon to be "pro staff guide" Colton
Post by: Ridgerunner on October 29, 2012, 09:32:38 PM
Post by: brew on October 29, 2012, 09:40:28 PM
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Post by: Kowsrule30 on October 30, 2012, 10:50:47 AM
Post by: oldleclercrd on October 30, 2012, 11:18:54 AM
Post by: brew on October 30, 2012, 08:26:34 PM
nice story and pics. Those 2 muleys are definately related.don't know if they're related....but they're definately both toads....the one on the right is wider but the one on the left has some awesome eyeguards that palmate down and a bigger body....it was all me and the father of the 16 year old girl who shot the buck could do to lift it onto my quad. I'll try to post a pic of the eyeguards...his left on is palmated and his right curls around above his eye...very cool
Post by: Fowlweather25 on October 30, 2012, 08:58:05 PM
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Post by: brew on November 02, 2012, 08:14:34 PM
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Post by: Jonathan_S on November 04, 2012, 04:35:26 PM