Post by: AKBowman on February 19, 2010, 08:15:18 PM
This story takes place at the head of a high drainage in the Buckhorn wilderness at about 4,000 feet in 2008 just after the High Buck hunt. I had an archey tag burning a hole in my pocket and wanted to hunt the high country in a Wilderness Area but didnt want to wear HO so i hunted the 25th through the 30th of Sept.
I had spent two full weekends up in the area during the summer scouting / fishing at a near lake. I actually tried to go three times but the first trip got cut short as the trail beat me and I was forced to turn around about three quarters of the way to where I wanted to get to. Between the bugs and a lost trail and the heat I was beaten. So after 2 good scouting sessions I had a decent idea of where the deer might be during late September. I was really hoping no gun hunters would disturb the area but if they worked to get back there they deserve any opportunities that come their way.
After a grueling 6 hour hike in I was pleased to find my camp spot free of evidence of any human occupancy the weeks prior and due to the lack of flat area to pitch a tent I was pretty sure the deer hadnt been bothered during High Buck.
I had 3 main drainages within strking distance of my camp with a fourth smaller "canyon" that I could also reach. My strategy was to get high early and hunt from top down. As i said my camp was located at about 4,000 feet b/c I didnt want to eat up energy and time every morning hiking up to get above the deer. I had about a 500 vertical foot climb that took me to a lookout where I could oversee the first drainage. If I moved laterally around the side of the mountain I could easily spot a good majority of the different drainages below me as they came into view.
I spent the majority of day one spotting just pieces of two deer and getting a lay of the land. Luckily one of the deer I had seen was for sure a buck although I didnt spot any headgear I could tell by the size of the rear end that this was no doe. At camp that night after looking over the map I realized that the canyon I was planning on hunting which was furthest from camp was actually in ONP so I decided to focus on drainage 1 and 2.
Morning two found me perched on a small spine which jetted out into the first main drainage. at first light. There were sheer walls on the front side of my ridge while the back side was a gorgeous grass/flower covered hillside that rose to rock outcroppings above and wind blown dwarf fir below. The hillside was covered with white flowers that looked something like daisies and these purpleish bell shaped flowers which glistened with dew and shone in the morning mist. It was really awesome. The thing that made it really awesome was the fact that every few flowers stems were nipped off and the hillside was loaded with deer sign (bear sign too!)
As I worked my way up the ridge glassing I noticed a trail along the base of the cliffs. Upon closer inspection I noticed the trail had heavy deer sign with some hefty looking tracks. Mixed into the deer tracks were goat tracks which I thought was pretty sweet. The deer were really high!
I followed the trail around the side of the base of the cliffs staying as high as I could for the remainder of the morning. Glassing and napping the remainder of the late morning and afternoon I found myslef about two miles from my camp at 5pm. Since I was hunting solo I decided I should hunt my way back to camp until dark. It got really interesting working my way back to camp as I rounded a corner along the base of the cliff I heard a small rock slide above and in front of me. I peaked around the corner to see a Nanny and two kids clambering up the rock face. I passed by underneath them at 40 yards as they peered down at me chewing their cuds.
Morning three found me in the same spot as morning two on the rocky cpine outcropping overlooking drainage #1. Right at first light I first heard then saw a dwarf fir about 150 yards below me shaking back and forth. Interestingly enough there was very light wind but not enough to make anything like that happen. After about 5 minutes a nice 4 point buck stepped out and started feeding on the wild flowers below me and to my right. The wind was perfect and with very little cover I stood my ground and hoped for the best.
After 30 minutes the wind was still great and the deer was absolutely gorging himself on the flowers never once looking up for danger. At one point he fed for 45 seconds straight without ever stopping to look around at all! An hour after spotting the deer he was now 55 yards directly below me. I didnt really have a choice at this point, it seemed to me that this was as close as the deer was going to feed and with no cover I slumped back behind the spine of the ridge to draw my bow. I had practiced shooting at angles all summer and as I rose over the spine of the ridge I had already decided to hold my 40 yard pin just above where I wanted the arrow to hit.
As I rose over the ridge the buck was peering down the hill with a mouth full of grass and flowers perfectly broadside at 55 yards. I remember thinking to myself "pick a spot" as my 40 yard pin settled just above and behind the deers left elbow. I waited for the deer to take one step forward with his left leg which would give me just a bit more breathing room in the kill zone. I released the string (I shoot a 40" axle to axle PSE with fingers) I knew the shot was right on line. For a split second I saw the white fletching arc above the deers back just before the buck flattened to the ground like a speared hog and took off throwing dirt about 4 feet into the air with his rear legs.
All I could think was that I missed my one chance. I was pretty sure that I missed just over the bucks back. After a half hour I made my way down to where the deer was standing when I shot. I found where the earth was torn when the deer took off. No blood. I decided to follow where I thought the deers path went over the hillside into the dwarf pine. Still no blood. I figured I had surely missed high at this point but decided to work abother few hundred yards angle down the hill and then work my way back back up and over to my pack. As I got to the second set of windblown pine I heard commotion below me and thats when I saw the deer on his back with his hind legs kicking field goals in his death throws.
Hell Yes!!! I watched the deer from up hill for a few minutes to make sure he was done. As I made my way down to him I noticed half the shaft of my arrow protruding from the deers right side. The shot was about six inches high and the arrow not passing through must have kept the wound from bleeding out externally.
Two hours later I had the deer quartered and boned out and the head gear cut off and loaded in my pack. 45 minutes back to camp and 6 hours back out to the truck and I had an amazing start to my hunting season.
I ended up getting 65 lbs of boned out meat. The antlers weighed in at a little over 4 lbs making my pack a total of 113 lbs of gear, meat and horns coming out.
Good times in the high country. I know where Ill be this fall!
Lets hear your stories...
Post by: byrdman on February 21, 2010, 04:37:42 PM
I haven't a story of my own.
Post by: alecvg on February 21, 2010, 05:40:40 PM
Post by: wilsongideon on February 21, 2010, 11:09:07 PM
Post by: AKBowman on February 22, 2010, 05:20:11 PM
Post by: Huntbear on February 22, 2010, 05:25:41 PM
Post by: AKBowman on February 24, 2010, 02:13:50 PM
Hunted hard for elk with no luck. Some good close encounters. Then off to Cypress Island for 3 days with a constant 40mph wind and perfectly clear nights with full moon. Interesting country, lots of deer rubs but no sightings.
Worked to find a nice stand sight about 1/2 mile in in unit 454 near my place. First day on stand on my way out I ended up jumping a doe and button buck about 50 yards from my truck. The button buck stared at me a little too long and I sailed one through his heart from 20 yards. He jumped, flipped, got up and ran LITERRALLY 10 yards from my truck and died. :chuckle: Talk about opposiing experiences.
I did learn one thing from this years deer...for me its more about the hunt than the kill.