Elkwhisper
Well-known member
It has been a really good week. Took a buddy out monday and filled a doe tag for him. Then on Tuesday morning I got up early and made the hour drive up to an area I have been meaning to check out. I took a walk in the dark out to a vantage point on some rims overlooking a big bowl. The wind was blowing a little so I tucked myself into a Juniper bush to break the breeze and just as it was almost light enough to strart glassing I heard a thump, thump crash as a doe crashed into the barbwire fence 5 feet from me. It scared the s#*t out of me, it was so close. About 2 seconds behind her was a small buck with love on his mind, which explained why she was scrambling.... I thought that was a good sign, but as the sun came up nothing else was spotted in that bowl, so I headed back for the truck to head to my tried and true spot.
I barely made it a few hundred yards down the road and saw a big group of maybe 20 deer out in the open between two timbered draws. A quick look through the glass showed two really nice wide 5x5's on opposite ense of the group harrasing does. They were probalby like 160" type deer but obviously pretty young bucks, with great forks but not much for mass and they just didn't have the big pot belly of an old buck. When I got the spotter out and noticed one of them had a cool little hooked sticker, I was pretty tempted to notch my tag with the rifle, but eventually decided to hold off. As I headed back to the truck I noticed another 8 deer other side of the road, with a big bodied buck chasing the does in circles.... At first I was pretty excited when I checked him out, but after closer inspection I noticed he was only a 3x4 with no brows and weak forks, but tons of mass. He was a pig of a buck and everything about him said he was a big old mature buck. He was so pre-occupied with the does, I made up my mind that I would give it a try with the bow. I was a quick stalk and he was so busy with the girls that I was able to slip in quickly and put an arrow where it counted. Once he hit the ground one of the other bucks from the other side of the road immediatley ran over and started checking his does. THey milled arround doing the mating thing for about 15 minutes while I took pics. It was a great day to be deer hunting,
And to top it off last night I had one of the most fun hunts ever with my little girl. She was so excited and we had so much fun after sneaking up on a big bunch of deer with bucks chasing everywhere and came home with a big fat doe. I know I will remember the hunt with her, long after I have forgoten about my buck.
The wife still has a tag, so hopefully we will have more to report by the end of the weekend.
Good hunting!
Dan
I barely made it a few hundred yards down the road and saw a big group of maybe 20 deer out in the open between two timbered draws. A quick look through the glass showed two really nice wide 5x5's on opposite ense of the group harrasing does. They were probalby like 160" type deer but obviously pretty young bucks, with great forks but not much for mass and they just didn't have the big pot belly of an old buck. When I got the spotter out and noticed one of them had a cool little hooked sticker, I was pretty tempted to notch my tag with the rifle, but eventually decided to hold off. As I headed back to the truck I noticed another 8 deer other side of the road, with a big bodied buck chasing the does in circles.... At first I was pretty excited when I checked him out, but after closer inspection I noticed he was only a 3x4 with no brows and weak forks, but tons of mass. He was a pig of a buck and everything about him said he was a big old mature buck. He was so pre-occupied with the does, I made up my mind that I would give it a try with the bow. I was a quick stalk and he was so busy with the girls that I was able to slip in quickly and put an arrow where it counted. Once he hit the ground one of the other bucks from the other side of the road immediatley ran over and started checking his does. THey milled arround doing the mating thing for about 15 minutes while I took pics. It was a great day to be deer hunting,
And to top it off last night I had one of the most fun hunts ever with my little girl. She was so excited and we had so much fun after sneaking up on a big bunch of deer with bucks chasing everywhere and came home with a big fat doe. I know I will remember the hunt with her, long after I have forgoten about my buck.
The wife still has a tag, so hopefully we will have more to report by the end of the weekend.
Good hunting!
Dan
