Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: HookedOnQuack on November 17, 2012, 02:31:45 PM
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just got back from our annual Idaho trip and shot my biggest whitey to date. my bro and i left last friday and were the last ones to roll into camp. friday afternoon was spent hanging a climber stand and checking on 2 ladder stands that we left from last year. both still standing so that was a good start and there was good fresh sign in the snow around all 3. Saturday and Sunday i hunted the morning from my climber that i had shot deer in the 3 previous years but no luck, so Sunday night i decided to switch it up and hunt 1 of our ladder stands that hadnt been in yet. I ended up seeing 6 does that night and had a good feeling about going there the next morn even with my success from the climber stand. Monday morning i convinced myself to go where the deer were(ladder stand) and saw 7 more deer of which 2 were twin spikes that crossed just in front of the stand. Monday night i took a guy from camp who wasnt seeing much to another spot where we constantly see deer activity and after a late start i didnt have enough time to go back to the ladder stand so i hauled a$$ on the quad back towards camp and our other ladder stand that we hung last season but didnt get to spend much time in but saw deer when we were there. Got up into the stand just after 3 and had a lil over an hour before dark. About 4 i decided to try the grunt tube and bleat can. Soon after i thought i heard something to my right and as im trying to find out what i heard i glance back to the left to see an average buck crossing the clearing i was watching. :bash: I quickly grab the grunt tube to try and stop him to get a better view of his rack and he instantly takes off when i grunt. :dunno: Totally not what i was expecting, so as i am sitting there trying to figure out what had just happened i glanced to my left in a small shooting lane there is another buck standing there broadside and i could tell he was a way better buck than the first. My first thought was when i grunted the smaller buck must have thought it was te bigger buck looking for a fight and wanted nothing to do with it. So as i turn in the stand it made a god awful creaking noise and the buck bolted but only into some trees at the edge of the clearing about 80 yards away. By this time it was around 415 and was getting pretty tough to see especially under the dark trees. I clicked off the safety and tried getting a better judge of his rack, after a couple minutes without getting a great look i put the safety back on as it was only Monday and had the rest of the week to hunt and the rut hadnt really perked up yet. Then he lifted his head up and i finally got a good look at him and could tell he was a perfectly symmetrical 4 point with good eyeguards and off the safety went. He was quartered away and not the greastest shot angle but when i squeezed one off he piled up like a sack of bricks! :IBCOOL: I usually like to give them plenty of time to expire but after watching him for 5 minutes and knowing that he went straight to the ground i figured he was done and climbed down to walk over to him. I get to within 25 yards and he still hadnt moved an inch when to my surprise he lifts his head, looks over his shoulder at me and bolts! :yike: A few jumps later he is out of sight and i am left standing there dumbfounded so i continue to where he went down and there was very minimal blood which confused me even more. By this time it was almost to dark to see so with the poor blood trail i decided to head back to camp and give him some time. Back at camp my dad and another member of camp convinced me to let him be for the night just in case. Man was this going to be a LONG night as this is the first animal that i havent been able to immediately retrieve. Next moring the search begins and he was only 30-40 yards from where he first piled up! my best whitetail to date also. my bro went to that same stand that night and bagged his buck and when we left Friday morn we had 8 of 12 tags filled, overall a great camp!
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Congrats! great looking hunt!
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:hello: One organized , well groomed hunting camp... :tup:
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Looks like an amazing hunt! Idaho is in my future....been planning it for awhile.
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Congrats on a successful hunt!
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Those are some good looking bucks!
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looks like a good trip for all. Nice bucks.
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Very nice, great looking deer! :tup:
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Looks like a great hunt!!! :tup:
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Good job guys
Thanks for sharing
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That's a pile of bucks .... nice looking animals... :tup:
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Very nice bucks. Good work
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I love Idaho! Hunted it once down out of Pierce and didn't see many deer but the trip was still one I'll always remember.
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holy bucks :yike: You guys knocked them dead :tup:
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That's a great haul of deer right there, congrats to all of you! :tup:
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nice group of bucks, congrats to your camp :tup:
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Nice! :tup:
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congrats on some dandy bucks !
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Great bunch of bucks :tup:
