Post by: Wea300mag on October 17, 2013, 06:03:56 PM
I waited until Monday to head to the Eastside to try and stay away from the mass of hunters. On Tuesday morning, two hours before first light, I started my hike. When shooting light arrived, I was still trucking along focused on getting to my "special spot" as quick as I could. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed an odd shape about 30 yards below me. On second look it was a nice looking chocolate bear. The bear was much quicker at getting away than I was at shouldering my rifle, but that turned out to be a good thing. About 30 minutes later, still trucking along and very focused on traversing my last 1.2 miles, this buck jumped out of its bed, ran about 25 yards, stopped, and turned broadside. One shot from the Tikka T3 7mm with 150 grain bullet did the job. The area was very steep so the buck did cartwheels and belly rolls for about 50 yards. All I could see were legs in the air followed by horns in the air as the buck tumbled down through the rocks and land in some mud.
When I reached the deer, I found the damage was minimal but it was a bit dirty. Further inspection of the horns made me think I had trailcam pics of this deer from earlier in the summer and that was confirmed when I returned home.
I believe this deer was migrating down due to the snow since my trailcam pics were from about 1.2 miles away and 1000 feet higher in elevation. While quarting the deer I noticed a LOT of fat, by far the fattest one I have ever seen, 2" thick on the backside.
It took me 2 trips (5.3 miles each way) to get him out with the second trip being Wednesday morning.
Post by: BullMagnet76 on October 17, 2013, 06:06:18 PM
Post by: deerhunter_98520 on October 17, 2013, 06:07:50 PM
Post by: ELKBURGER on October 17, 2013, 06:08:38 PM
Post by: nw_bowhunter on October 17, 2013, 06:29:46 PM
Post by: X-Force on October 17, 2013, 06:32:37 PM
Post by: bearhunter99 on October 17, 2013, 06:33:37 PM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on October 17, 2013, 06:37:54 PM
Oh we'll nice buck anyways! :tup:
Post by: Hunting Cowboy on October 17, 2013, 06:44:47 PM
Post by: The Weazle on October 17, 2013, 06:52:35 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on October 17, 2013, 07:07:45 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 17, 2013, 07:11:56 PM
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on October 17, 2013, 07:19:10 PM
Post by: Bearhide on October 17, 2013, 07:41:51 PM
Post by: Sitka_Blacktail on October 17, 2013, 07:58:26 PM
Post by: huntnphool on October 17, 2013, 07:59:51 PM
Post by: Turner89 on October 17, 2013, 08:06:24 PM
Post by: hambone on October 17, 2013, 08:25:44 PM
Post by: MLBowhunting on October 17, 2013, 08:28:11 PM
Post by: elkoholic1 on October 17, 2013, 08:56:16 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on October 18, 2013, 11:45:31 AM
Sweet that you got before and after photos!:yeah: Nice buck
Post by: Broken Arrow on October 18, 2013, 11:51:43 AM
Post by: Wea300mag on October 19, 2013, 08:05:23 AM
You could have passed on that BFLS buck, and waited for a bigger one! :chuckle:
Oh we'll nice buck anyways! :tup:
It's hard to pass any large framed buck with a WA general season tag. :chuckle:
Post by: JLS on October 19, 2013, 08:12:48 AM
Very nice buck!! High amount of fat was likely due to the fact he wasn't in full rut yet when they lose the majority of their body fat. Congrats
Agreed. Very nice deer.
A lot of bucks begin to move into transitional range in October. They aren't into full rut, but they are no longer hanging out in their summertime haunts.
High mountain forage must be very high quality on good years, because I've killed very high elevation bucks before that looked like a side of beef when they were skinned out.
Post by: cowboybilly on October 22, 2013, 10:52:14 AM