Free: Contests & Raffles.
This is a great tag, enjoy your time!Shoot me a PM if you’d like to chat.Al
Well I’m not the best story teller , but I’ll take a stab at it a bit. After putting in for this tag for many years and finally drawing it - I could not wait for the season to get here and when it did I was committed to hunt the whole 20 day season looking for the buck the tag deserved. Went over 2 days early and set up camp on the upper west Chewuch rd . I brought my 30’ travel trailer and was set up for a solo hunt for the whole time as my hunting buddies were all in Montana at the same time. I hunted the first 7 days or so hiking in 5-6 miles everyday , having perfect weather and seeing lots of animals- probably saw 40-50 bucks the first week or so. Then a big weather change was coming - going to get super cold and a good bit of snow. Well the good bit of snow turned into getting 36” of snow in 48hrs and temps down around zero once it stopped. The first day of heavy snow I was still able to hike in - with very limited visibility I was still able to get on some deer , but still not what I was looking for. And then by the end of the day there was 36” on the ground - there was no more hiking - I tried a couple times , but that much snow is no joke! And then the zero degree temps hit and everything in my trailer failed - batteries died, no water and propane furnace failed. Only heat was a small fake fireplace in it that I could run off the generator and would get temps up inside to 40-50. First day of the 36” of snow I got stuck 3 times and spent most of the day digging myself out and kind of navigating a couple roads the best I could. Was able to get to some spots that I could glass up pretty good numbers of deer. So I think I’m on day 10 or so and I made the biggest mistake of my hunt - right around 4:45 I spotted a huge buck ( 5x6 and I would say definitely over 190 )and about 300yrds out with a bunch of does . I made the poor decision to put him to bed and figured I would get on him in the morning and be able to deal with him during the day. Instead of at night by myself 3’ of snow and temps at zero. As you can guess - that never happed - I looked for that buck the next 2 days in the limited areas I could get to. Now I think day 12 - I was done and ready to get the hell outta there! With no water and no heat and not being able to get around , I was ready to be done. So once again - I spot this buck right at 4:45 . He was at 330 yrds pushing does and I decided this was it. Settled in for the shot with my 300WSM and it was over , he didn’t even take 1 step! Just went straight down and sunk into the snow. And boy did the work start then. Made it across the 330 yards in the 3’ of snow - probably took about 45 minutes to reach him. So I decided I was going to cape him and in the process of breaking the head free I snapped my fixed blade knife in half and had the finish the whole parting out process with my havalon. 3 loads later to my truck ( definitely cannot pack as much in that kind of snow ) I got my last load out at 10:30 pm. Should I have taken the big buck and dealt with him at night - yes! But am I happy with this buck - 100% and it was a hunt I will never forget and did it 100% on my own
Quote from: Sakko300wsm on April 02, 2023, 08:08:51 AMWell I’m not the best story teller , but I’ll take a stab at it a bit. After putting in for this tag for many years and finally drawing it - I could not wait for the season to get here and when it did I was committed to hunt the whole 20 day season looking for the buck the tag deserved. Went over 2 days early and set up camp on the upper west Chewuch rd . I brought my 30’ travel trailer and was set up for a solo hunt for the whole time as my hunting buddies were all in Montana at the same time. I hunted the first 7 days or so hiking in 5-6 miles everyday , having perfect weather and seeing lots of animals- probably saw 40-50 bucks the first week or so. Then a big weather change was coming - going to get super cold and a good bit of snow. Well the good bit of snow turned into getting 36” of snow in 48hrs and temps down around zero once it stopped. The first day of heavy snow I was still able to hike in - with very limited visibility I was still able to get on some deer , but still not what I was looking for. And then by the end of the day there was 36” on the ground - there was no more hiking - I tried a couple times , but that much snow is no joke! And then the zero degree temps hit and everything in my trailer failed - batteries died, no water and propane furnace failed. Only heat was a small fake fireplace in it that I could run off the generator and would get temps up inside to 40-50. First day of the 36” of snow I got stuck 3 times and spent most of the day digging myself out and kind of navigating a couple roads the best I could. Was able to get to some spots that I could glass up pretty good numbers of deer. So I think I’m on day 10 or so and I made the biggest mistake of my hunt - right around 4:45 I spotted a huge buck ( 5x6 and I would say definitely over 190 )and about 300yrds out with a bunch of does . I made the poor decision to put him to bed and figured I would get on him in the morning and be able to deal with him during the day. Instead of at night by myself 3’ of snow and temps at zero. As you can guess - that never happed - I looked for that buck the next 2 days in the limited areas I could get to. Now I think day 12 - I was done and ready to get the hell outta there! With no water and no heat and not being able to get around , I was ready to be done. So once again - I spot this buck right at 4:45 . He was at 330 yrds pushing does and I decided this was it. Settled in for the shot with my 300WSM and it was over , he didn’t even take 1 step! Just went straight down and sunk into the snow. And boy did the work start then. Made it across the 330 yards in the 3’ of snow - probably took about 45 minutes to reach him. So I decided I was going to cape him and in the process of breaking the head free I snapped my fixed blade knife in half and had the finish the whole parting out process with my havalon. 3 loads later to my truck ( definitely cannot pack as much in that kind of snow ) I got my last load out at 10:30 pm. Should I have taken the big buck and dealt with him at night - yes! But am I happy with this buck - 100% and it was a hunt I will never forget and did it 100% on my ownAt those temps in those conditions I wouldn’t have worried one bit about killing the buck and just coming back for him in the morning. Sounds like some serious life threatening conditions.
Way to go! Those hunts are so weather dependent and it’s hard to get everything to line up right. Too mild of weather and it’s tough, too much weather and it’s tough! Out of 20 days you may get a few really good days.
Good job man !!! One hell of a experience
Beautiful buck, and a great story!!
