Post by: KwackWacker on September 14, 2009, 03:59:53 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi260.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fii17%2Fkwack_2007%2Ffcdeer035.jpg&hash=e1be690f42316cbbfb225224de850cbc6d6710de)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi260.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fii17%2Fkwack_2007%2Ffcdeer016.jpg&hash=4f55e3f876eda0d1d97d7e36ab21820e7532417d)
Post by: hogsniper on September 14, 2009, 04:00:59 PM
Post by: ELKBURGER on September 14, 2009, 04:01:18 PM
Post by: huntnphool on September 14, 2009, 04:04:56 PM
Post by: Whitenuckles on September 14, 2009, 04:05:05 PM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on September 14, 2009, 04:05:57 PM
Sigh... those 50+ rifle tags are going to ruin this hunt :puke:
Post by: bearpaw on September 14, 2009, 04:08:09 PM
Post by: spikehunter on September 14, 2009, 04:17:17 PM
Post by: MtnMuley on September 14, 2009, 04:18:30 PM
Post by: WAPITIHUNTER on September 14, 2009, 04:20:43 PM
Post by: Huntbear on September 14, 2009, 04:29:19 PM
Post by: ELKBURGER on September 14, 2009, 04:35:07 PM
Post by: tlbradford on September 14, 2009, 04:35:28 PM
Post by: 10Key on September 14, 2009, 04:39:18 PM
Post by: Buckmark on September 14, 2009, 04:52:15 PM
Post by: RPM on September 14, 2009, 04:55:40 PM
Post by: littlebuf on September 14, 2009, 04:57:58 PM
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2009, 05:00:45 PM
Post by: GUHunter on September 14, 2009, 05:06:05 PM
Post by: klickriverchromer on September 14, 2009, 05:21:44 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on September 14, 2009, 05:32:22 PM
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,33447.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,33447.0.html)
Post by: MichaelJ on September 14, 2009, 05:37:35 PM
Michael
Post by: dontgetcrabs on September 14, 2009, 05:41:24 PM
Like Michael said "with a bow in that country is freakin sweet"
Post by: rezboy on September 14, 2009, 05:48:58 PM
I've heard there are quite a few elk out there as well. Has anybody seen any around that area? The animals that are coming off there look like freaks!
Post by: hornhunter on September 14, 2009, 06:24:21 PM
Post by: Gobble on September 14, 2009, 06:27:18 PM
Post by: ThePascoKid on September 14, 2009, 06:31:16 PM
Post by: sirfunkeybut on September 14, 2009, 06:32:12 PM
nice buck, why the orange?
They require you to orange out on the YTC
Post by: Wacenturion on September 14, 2009, 06:50:38 PM
Post by: MuleySniper on September 14, 2009, 06:55:01 PM
MS
Post by: boneaddict on September 14, 2009, 07:09:39 PM
Post by: littlebuf on September 14, 2009, 07:17:11 PM
nice buck, why the orange?
They require you to orange out on the YTC
after i read yakima training center i got it :DOH:
Post by: markts on September 14, 2009, 07:21:48 PM
Post by: mtn.goat on September 14, 2009, 08:15:54 PM
Post by: alecvg on September 14, 2009, 08:24:05 PM
Post by: bowhunter1972 on September 14, 2009, 08:30:22 PM
Post by: LongTatLaw on September 14, 2009, 08:40:19 PM
very nice!
theres many many much older hunters on this website that have never killed a buck like that...and by that I mean ME :'(
nice
Post by: 270Shooter on September 14, 2009, 08:43:02 PM
Post by: Wyoming08 on September 14, 2009, 09:02:12 PM
Post by: Birdguy on September 14, 2009, 09:10:02 PM
Post by: shoot-em-dead on September 14, 2009, 09:11:43 PM
Post by: finnman on September 14, 2009, 09:15:49 PM
Fine stalk and shot on a great buck!!!! You should be proud!!!!
Post by: KimberRich on September 14, 2009, 09:34:02 PM
Post by: Cascade on September 14, 2009, 09:34:59 PM
Post by: kirkl on September 14, 2009, 09:52:04 PM
WDFsux, theres been 50 rifle tags out there for the past few years and that place always produces a few dandys. not always a gimme come rifle season. know a few people that have eaten tags or get fogged in for the whole season.
Post by: rosscrazyelk on September 14, 2009, 09:53:08 PM
Post by: OneHorn on September 14, 2009, 10:15:15 PM
Post by: hard hunter on September 14, 2009, 10:20:14 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on September 14, 2009, 11:36:33 PM
Post by: Track-er on September 15, 2009, 06:17:34 AM
Mike
Post by: runniNgunnin on September 15, 2009, 06:32:00 AM
Post by: C-Money on September 15, 2009, 06:37:50 AM
Post by: WVT on September 15, 2009, 07:21:53 AM
Post by: NWBrute on September 15, 2009, 01:34:25 PM
Post by: KwackWacker on September 15, 2009, 03:54:55 PM
Spent 15hr days behind the glass....when I went to sleep at night all I saw was sage. Very few deer seen, tons of miles of shale road. Flat tires and testing out the skid pate was'nt uncommon. Every morning was harder to get up the the promise of shining white antlers fresh out of velvet in the sage was enought to keep me going. Finally the area my dad (my favorite hunting partner) and I wanted to hunt was open. Did'nt sleep the night before. Got to the creek we knew the deer would be on just before light. At 5:45am it was light enough for my 15/60 swarovskis to pick up the group of bucks in the cheat grass. "I got em" I said to my dad, as soon as I saw them it was obvious that this buck was far better than anything we had seen in all the hours of behind the glass. Even in the dim light my heart skipped a couple beats. There was 5 other bucks with him ranging from 100" to 160"..he made them look small. We watched the bucks for 4 hours from the truck. They moved about 1.5 miles up a large basin where the began rubbing their horns in some buckbrush in a rockslide. Finally they disapeared. The stalk was on. Enitially we thought they had bedded down. We had waited for the thermals to come up off the river means there was no prevailing wind and we went for em. Unfortunatley the draw was deeper than we thought an still at 10am 80degrees they up feeding and we bumped them lightly. They trotted off into a bigger draw. As they did that a couple of dirtbags slamed on their breaks down below and turned of into an old jeeptrail grown over with elephant grass and proceeded to climb the hill right torwards us and the now spooked deer. Luckily they drove right past the deer...out there when the deer hear a rig they lay down. After the truck left we started to glass hoping to catch a shine in the thick sage we predicted the deer being in, sure enought this time dad spotted the monster's white horns sticking up in the sage.....oh what a sight that was!! We determined he was facing away from us ...we had the wind right but we were 500yrds above him on a 1000' above him elevation wise. Dead quiet, and nothing but dry bunch grass and open hillside between me and the deer of my lifetime. My heart starts to race as I type this just thinking about it again! No more boots now....2 layer of socks put on and once again the two of us were on the stalk...surley we could never get within that 60yrd mark!.......I told myself each step was a yard closer..each step I just knew the buck would hear. We would stop every 20yrds...it was deathly quiet, the horse fly that was buzzing me sounded like a apache helicopter, and at the time in a wierd way it seemed like the deer would hear the fly!.....Each time we would stop we would range him 130yrds.......100yrds my heart beated faster with each gain. I could'nt look at those big white horns that got closer with every step...I kept my eyes to the ground frantically searching for a soft dirt spot or a rock to step on instead of that dry grass that sounded like ripping a piece of paper when you steped on it...each louder step I cringed just knowing those horns would whip around and the buck of my life would be gone........80yrds now we were so close 92 degrees sweat in my eyes and my bow felt as if it would slip from my hands...could'nt swallow, cottonmouth. 68yrds now he was in range..."lets get a little closer" around 10 more steps and a flock of ravens fly over and you know what they do when they see something below them...they started sqwacking......the buck knew something was up then surley they could'nt see him something was behind him...I saw his antlers moving around quickly..he was going to get up!!....I kneeled down, already had an arrow knocked since 68yrds...my my release!!! My hands were shaking sooo bad I could'nt get it on the loop!! It seemed like minutes but was only a couple seconts...I drew as he stood...dad ranged him over my shoulder..."52!" he said....down hill shot, sage on his heart, 52.......all flew through my mind with speed......all the hours of practice everynight in those summer evenings all came down to this....before I even knew I was aiming the arrow was gone....white fletching in light grass...my arrown disappeared and for a millasecont it was like I had missed and then thwack!!! a hole apperead in the bucks vitals....he ran 80 yrds and fell within sight.....and all 4 other bucks were running too!!! They had been laying in a old washout 5' from the ground surface how we did'nt spook them!!!!....He was dead we screamed and yelled and shook hands....and as we celebrated a tear came to my eyes a emotion I had never felt before....the buck of a lifetime was dead...and I killed him with a bow w/ 400" of blaze orange on and 40 miles from home!!!!
What a hunt,
Craig Mitchell
Post by: jackelope on September 15, 2009, 04:01:20 PM
Post by: GoldTip on September 15, 2009, 04:03:33 PM
Post by: jdb on September 15, 2009, 04:09:11 PM
Post by: 270Shooter on September 15, 2009, 04:11:24 PM
Post by: Buckmark on September 15, 2009, 04:15:08 PM
Post by: buckhorn2 on September 15, 2009, 04:25:29 PM
Post by: ing on September 15, 2009, 05:38:28 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on September 15, 2009, 06:03:22 PM
Post by: ELKBURGER on September 15, 2009, 07:10:39 PM
Post by: DeerHarvester on September 15, 2009, 07:28:48 PM
Post by: boneaddict on September 15, 2009, 07:33:53 PM
Post by: fishunt247 on September 15, 2009, 07:45:50 PM
Post by: PolarBear on September 15, 2009, 07:47:06 PM
Post by: alecvg on September 15, 2009, 07:51:50 PM
Post by: Hunting Cowboy on September 15, 2009, 07:53:39 PM
Post by: dontgetcrabs on September 15, 2009, 08:43:10 PM
Post by: IronMike on September 15, 2009, 08:52:46 PM
Post by: jackelope on September 15, 2009, 08:59:08 PM
Post by: bobcat on September 15, 2009, 09:20:28 PM
I predict it will be harder to draw an Alkali permit next year.
Post by: Ellensburg on September 16, 2009, 12:18:14 AM
Post by: Guy on September 16, 2009, 02:39:26 AM
Great story and photos too. Thanks!
Post by: Jeffrey on September 16, 2009, 08:28:04 AM
Post by: gutsnthegrass on September 16, 2009, 09:43:27 AM
Post by: Fish4Fun on September 16, 2009, 11:41:05 AM
Post by: Let er Fly on September 16, 2009, 11:57:14 AM
Wow what a buck and what a write up. I knew with that area being shut down last season some big bucks were going to come out of there, but two have two bucks now of this size bow hunting. Nothing else can be said, but you deserve it man! Congrats and if your dad has the tag as well hopefully you can still find a way to bag one more.
Post by: jackelope on September 16, 2009, 12:13:10 PM
Post by: 270Shooter on September 16, 2009, 12:16:27 PM
Post by: colockumelk on September 16, 2009, 12:58:18 PM
Great story! Send a copy of that to Eastmans! I'm sure they would love to publish that. Great Buck! Congrats to you and your proud Papa
:yeah:
Really good write up. Definately send that with some pictures.
Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 16, 2009, 01:20:45 PM
Super job!
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on September 16, 2009, 03:46:28 PM
I'm at a loss for words. (that doesn't happen very often!)
Congratulations on a well earned dandy pig of a buck the hard way!
-Steve
Post by: KwackWacker on September 16, 2009, 05:14:09 PM
STICKY the WRITEUP!
How would I go about doing that??
Post by: vfilbert on September 16, 2009, 09:25:03 PM
Post by: blacktailhunter on September 16, 2009, 09:31:49 PM
Post by: TopOfTheFoodChain on September 16, 2009, 09:58:28 PM
That was one of the best write ups on here..:yeah: absolutely
Post by: PacificNWhunter on September 17, 2009, 01:37:06 PM
Post by: rosscrazyelk on September 18, 2009, 08:09:41 AM
Post by: coachcw on September 18, 2009, 09:46:26 AM
Post by: Hillbilly270 on September 18, 2009, 11:30:46 AM
Post by: rosscrazyelk on September 18, 2009, 06:56:19 PM
Post by: JBar on September 18, 2009, 07:10:01 PM
Post by: KwackWacker on September 19, 2009, 08:09:29 AM
Post by: 270Shooter on September 19, 2009, 04:09:16 PM
He scores right at 177"Damn I'm good :yike:
Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 20, 2009, 09:46:11 PM
Post by: Redmist on September 20, 2009, 11:43:06 PM
Post by: Skinner on September 21, 2009, 07:49:07 AM
Post by: Watimberghost on September 21, 2009, 03:49:58 PM
Post by: blindpig on September 22, 2009, 05:43:30 AM
Post by: Hornseeker on September 22, 2009, 07:17:15 AM
Post by: KwackWacker on September 22, 2009, 03:54:08 PM
Post by: coachcw on September 22, 2009, 05:10:47 PM
Post by: swanny on September 25, 2009, 05:25:54 AM
Post by: sirfunkeybut on September 25, 2009, 04:12:34 PM
He scores right at 177"
Incredible buck man. I was wondering if you or anyone else had a heard of another buck being taken out there. I heard of one that scored 204. If not then it must have been yours. My friend seen a pic of it on the guys wife's cell phone.
Post by: 270Shooter on September 25, 2009, 04:19:23 PM
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,33518.0.htmlHe scores right at 177"
Incredible buck man. I was wondering if you or anyone else had a heard of another buck being taken out there. I heard of one that scored 204. If not then it must have been yours. My friend seen a pic of it on the guys wife's cell phone.
This one?
Post by: cascademountainhunter on September 25, 2009, 04:37:25 PM