And we're off. 2B here we come!

[Baerman]

Well, it was my first year applying out of state and the hunting gods were watching over me. Beginners luck I guess but I'll take it. To make it even better I ended up drawing the second rifle season in 2B with a couple of my closest friends as well as with my best friend, my wife. It's been a long wait in anticipation and preperation for the hunt and today we finally get to start the journey. Bags are packed, lists are checked and excitement is building...as if that could increase any more. Just got to pick up the trailer and load it up.

We are planning to make the 14 hour drive straight through to start scouting tomorrow morning. Thankfully we are not going into this area completely blind. Thanks to ID Bugler and Moosie for meeting with us and giving us the lowdown on what to expect down there. We will definately return the favor for your hunt in the same area a week later. Someone is sure to take a TOAD out of there this year.

I hope we can keep everyone updated as the next ten days progress.

 

[duckhead59]

Baerman...looking forward to a great story and pics. Good luck, hunt safe and have a great time!

 

[fowladdict]

I thought I was your best friend...get your priorities straight!

 

[dzeh]

Maps

Try not to drool to much on the maps I lent you.

 

[Moosie]

Best of luck...... Keep us in the loop as the week goes on. I'm excited for you guys !!

 

[Baerman]

well this is not quite what we had hoped for but its still early. After three days of scouting we have only four forked bucks and 100 does. Nothing close to the 2b potential. We did get 2 inches of snow the last couple days and temps this am were in the single digits. We have focused on the north part of the unit so far and may try south tomorrow. Talked to a few folks who say the deer just have not migrated yet. Talked to some on the first hunt and mostly dinks were taken so far. Hopefully the cold will get them moving soon.

 

[Oak]

Stay positive. I saw a photo of a 185" buck killed during the muzzleloader hunt, so there should be a few nice ones around.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Just talked with Greg. Sounds like they have some good info that might produce some more bucks. If they have snow already that is a good sign. I told him I think it will get better everyday. The best day will be the last. It's just keeping positive and not pulling the trigger to early that should produce a good one.

Good luck boys.

 

[dzeh]

Baerman,

Hang tough, you'll connect. It is snowing here in Eagle. Like IDBugler says the days will just get better and better. Have you hiked into the area I showed you, the chaining area? The mental part of hunting is always the hardest part for me. Pick some pinyon nuts for me.

dzeh

 

[smalls]

Man, where is my head... I thought you were talking about making it to 2nd base in your thread title.

Good luck in finding a whopper!

 

[Moosie]

2nd Base ? And a Whopper ? WOW.. the 2 things I REALLLLLLY Like !!!!

Sounds like FowlAddict smoked a Smoker. Any updates on the Other Ya~hoots ?

 

[Big Fin]

Good luck guys. I will be watching this thread closely. If not for big bucks, for the comedy it will surely provide. Go get 'em.

 

[TFDeerSlayer]

Well boys and girl........has anything except snow hit the ground yet? You'll never win the big buck contest with a "snowman deer"! I know time is running out on your hunt but keep pushing. Cheers

 

[IdahoBugler]

Today is the last day. I haven't heard from them but hopefully that is because they are packing out the other 3 deer. Good luck guys I've heard the deer are plentiful and the bucks are starting to take a sniff.

 

[Beerman]

I just heard from the team, They all tagged out but nothing that will break any records. Sounds like they cut it close since it closes tonight. Baerman will probably give all the details and hopefully pics tomorrow.

 

[Moosie]

I heard the same thing. We're packing up and heading that way tonight and they are on the road back.

Nothing BIG but they all tagged out. Hope to cross paths with them tonight somewhere along the road !!!! Drive safe boyz !! (Well, and Girlz too )

 

[Baerman]

What a trip!

Days one and two:
Wow, where to start? This trip had it's highs and lows for sure but it ended as we all had hoped with our tags filled and no one was injured although some last minute excitement almost sent three of us, everyone but me, off the hill side.

What a drive! KP and myself leave Boise at 4 pm and drive through the night hoping to make it into the unit by day break. Other than some wind from both outside the truck and inside it was a realatively safe trip. Thank god the wifey wasn't in the truck on the way down. I came to understand a new definition of "hot box" in relation to butt wars. After dodging some elk along Hwy 64 a couple hours before light we make it safely to our first location that we were hoping to scout and KP was able to squeeze in a 30 min nap prior to biking into some lookout points. I was too excited to explore areas known for monster bucks.

We did find a great lookout point and saw a lot of does but no bucks. Not to worry though, we had three more days to scout before the season begins and snow is headed our way. Things are looking good. Early afternoon finds us setting up camp and getting ready for snow.




Day three:
We wake up to an inch of snow! Everything is looking great. After downing some breakfast off we go. Minutes into the hike we find a turkey then quickly get a quick glimps of a deer. It had to be a buck right? A doe would just stand there and not be so quick to leave. I'll just jump to the quick conclusion that we saw our first buck without any verification. After all it didn't really matter other than to boost confidence in the area. Again, immediately after that sighting we come across another quick glimps of a buck and below it were three doe. Thinking this is a pretty good start to the day we head down the canyon in anticipation that it would only be better. Quickly we jumped two bull elk, just rag horns but it's always exciting to see a couple of bulls running together. After that it was mostly just a nature walk. We did happen to spot our first wild horses in the area.

I never imagined that this area would be so thick! You could see deer in the open, fully knowing where they are then the second they step into the scrub oak they disappear before your eyes. We did end up seeing who knows how many does but no other bucks. Hmmm, did we put in for the right unit? There has to be some bucks around with this many does. Maybe the bucks are lagging behind in the migration.

Day four
Today we are picking up Aaron and wifey in Albuquerque at 4 pm. With a 3.5 hour drive south we figured we might as well scout from the truck and explore Rosa Road that everyone talks about. We got another inch of snow and lows in the single digits. The migration should be clicking right? Again, lots of deer but nothing great. We are starting to think this guy is going to be a shooter. Can you even tell which one he is?



By the time we needed to leave we did end up spotting about six two pointers. I'm really starting to think these giant four pointers and larger bucks are coming from the east coast terminology of adding all the antlers together. At least by the end of the day we had the whole crew in tow and twice the eyes for our last day of scouting before the season starts.

Day five
It's the last day to scout and we are getting nervous. Off we head an hour before daylight to a new area along the CO boarder. Right off the bat, Aaron spots a very elk. We set up the spotter and could not find the elk. KP takes a closer look.

Aaron, that's a heavy 5x6 buck not an elk!


Finally, after three days of scouting we find a nice buck. After looking a little closer at some maps we realize that he's in CO by a couple hundred yards. Wouldn't you go figure. Oh well, it was still a site to see and definately something we needed to see before the opener. Immediately afterwards we see a bachelor group with a couple 4x4's and a big forky that were in our unit. Nothing we wanted to shoot but things were definately on the up and up.

Opening day, day six
It was the day we had been waiting for. After hearing ID Buglers story of seeing his biggest on opening day last time they made the trip we were all ready to shoot the first big buck we saw. Aaron, not knowing the other three of us made a bet he would pull the trigger first so we decided to unload his gun and hide his ammo. Low and behold the biggest buck of his life steps out in front of him. Quickly realizing his only chance at this buck was with his knife he had to step back and watch as the buck grazed within 200 yds for over 20 minutes. Sorry Aaron, we couldn't let you end your hunt too quickly. Everyone said the season gets better as the week goes on. Think of the memory you have of that giant and how much bigger he got as he walked into the pinon trees. We decided to break up into two groups and hunt different but close areas. All of us spotted nice deer today but no one was ready to end the season quite yet.

 

[fowladdict]

As Baerman said this trip definitely had its highs and lows! After being picked up at the airport by KP and Baerman, their news of not seeing anything bigger than a three point was quite discouraging, but I hoped with the weather Colorado was getting things might change. With one day to left to scout prior to opening day I was anxious to see the landscape and some for legged critters. I was a little suprised with the denseness of the area, but right off the bat we saw two 4-pts and a big forky together so instantly our spirits were a bit better. A few minutes later as Baerman said I spotted an "elk" that turned out to be a big 6x5 muley. That buck was in the same place everyday just out of reach of our unit...he was a smart ole buck. The results of the last day of scouting definitely made for a restless night prior to opening day.

 

[fowladdict]

Opening day started out with a bang for me. After splitting up with the gang I set out on my own to a spot that I could glass as the sun was coming up. Instantly I found deer in a draw full of red scrub oak. Among the draw there were about 40 deer and several bucks, and one of those bucks needed a closer look. I estimated him to be about 500 to 600 yards away and looked pretty dang good through my binos, but I knew I needed to get a few hundred yards closer to get a better look. Just as soon as I started moving to get closer there were eyes on me from every direction and I knew it was going to be impossible to get much closer and I was right. Once one white butt started bounding away from me it took the other 39 with it right out of the draw. I wasn't the least bit discouraged knowing this was opening day and I would surely see more deer. Over the next several hours I saw nothing but lots of does and small bucks. Close to 11 am a buck appeared below me about 150 yards away. He was feeding and walking away from me not offering much of a view of his headgear. Every couple of minutes he would pop his head up and I could tell he was a good buck, but I wanted to count points and estimate the depth of his forks. Finally he turned and started heading right towards me and all I could think was "Good lord holy mass". I threw down my binos and grabbed my rifle and went to chamber a round...What the heck??? I swear I put shells in my rifle earlier in the morning. So I reached into my pocket where I put an extra three shells and loaded them up and put the scope on the buck just in time to see the butt of the buck disappear in a wash. Still confident in the direction he was headed I figured I could cut him off, but much to my disappointment there were deer everywhere that had me busted. I am sure he bounded off with one of the deer into the next county....crap. All I can say about this experience and being a relatively new "trophy" hunter it messed with my Psych big time. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, even the evening.

 

[fowladdict]

Fowladdicts Day after opening day. With visions of the buck I mistakenly passed up on opening day constantly popping up in my head I foolishly changed my game plan and told myself that I cannot sit and try "scoring" bucks before pulling the trigger and the next buck that looked good in my binos was going to have my 7mm to worry about. KP and I set out together this time while Baerman stayed with his wife. We decided to try a different area this time to give our opening day area a rest until day 3. After two hours of hunting we saw nothing but does until we found a good opening nearly 3 miles from the truck. KP spotted movement and we both threw up our binos and saw it was a buck that might be a good buck. We got into position within 200 yards of where we last saw the buck and didn't have to wait long for a doe to pop out 250 yards uphill from us. Immediately the buck came out with his nose in the does butt running away from us. I've heard time and time again to never judge a buck running away. Of course he looked 28 inches wide to me as he was running away uphill. After three rounds from my 7mm the buck disappeared from my sight, but Kyle said he saw two deer running through the trees. After several minutes the doe came out and kept looking back for her buck. We waited until the doe disappeared just in case the buck came out. After 45 minutes of searching I finally found a blood trail and KP found the buck. Unfortunately my shot wasn't golden and the buck required another shot (or two ) After getting the buck down I quickly learned why you don't judge a buck running away. He is 4 inches shy of the 28 i thought I saw as he was running away. I am still tickled with this buck and think he will look good on the man room wall.