Just got home from a splendid hunt. Arrived at the compound of Dinkshooter the evening of opening day. Lucky for me grandma was in the hospital so I had her place all to myself. . . He directed me to a bedroom that he had "prepared" for me. I didn't quite figure out what he meant until evening three, when I noticed this, surreptitiously placed on a bookshelf overlooking my sleeping place.
Sunday found Dink showing me around the nearby unit and then I went off looking to see what I could find. The warm, dry weather conditions made things a bit less than ideal for finding deer. The early snowfall I was hoping for was definitely not going to happen on this hunt.
Oak showed up with his version of the hubble telescope and quickly outpaced me for deer sightings. In fact, he glassed up this guy in the early afternoon.
It didn't take me long to classify him as a shooter and we came up with a hurried plan for me to get on him. The plan involved me traveling light and fast down into the canyon, dropping about 700 feet in elevation, and and getting 400 yards closer, most of which was in sight of the deer, That would put me about 450 yards from there the deer should come out of the little aspen patch he was hanging in. In my haste, I made up a few random hand signals that we could use to communicate once I arrived in shooting position. It took about 30 minutes for me to drop down and I felt like I was about as quiet as an elephant crashing down through the aspen and shale. Once I was there, I couldn't see the deer and looking up at Oak through the binos, I saw a hand signal that looked an awful lot like a shrugging of the shoulders and Oak saying "I don't know where they went". I quickly realized I was in too much of a hurry and we didn't figure out sufficient signals to properly communicate. Oak was doing his best to tell me something and I truly thought the deer were gone due to my descent. I hung out for about 20 minutes before deciding on committing to the climb up to get back up and look for more deer. As soon as I topped out, drenched in sweat, Oak looked at me and asked "did you decide he was too small?" Turns out he was there the whole time, stepped out just as I topped the mountain and we were able to watch as he quickly fed off into an unhuntable position.
That frustration continued on for the next few days as we often tried to re-find this deer as well as hit new areas. Oak was great to have around and incredible on the glass. Dink would drop by each evening to see how the day's hunt went, wearing an apron and providing us with meals that would make Gordon Ramsey jealous. He doted over us like a mother hen. A friend from Nevada arrived on Wednesday afternoon to join in on the festivities and see what he, Oak, and I could turn up during the day. Wednesday evening and Thursday morning had us chasing rumors of a big buck but nothing to show for it but some sightings of young deer with lots of potential.
Unfortunately, Thursday afternoon Oak had to hit the road. A new buddy, Tanner, whom I met during the hunt wanted to join us on Thursday after Oak left and so we headed back up to see what we could find. Well, luckily we turned up a pretty good buck that though he wasn't as big as the buck I screwed up on on Monday, I'd be happy to put my tag on. We scooted down as close as we could get which still put us a pretty good distance away for the shot, but it was true and the buck piled up immediately.
It sure was nice to have a couple guys along for the pack out. It involved a 1300' vertical climb. Luckily, they both waited patiently for me to catch up regularly as we hiked out. I wish Oak had been able to see the end as he had worked all week with me to knock one down. Dink even had a hot meal waiting at Grandma's place for us when we got in late last night. I can't wait to hunt deer in Colorado again, it was a blast.
Sunday found Dink showing me around the nearby unit and then I went off looking to see what I could find. The warm, dry weather conditions made things a bit less than ideal for finding deer. The early snowfall I was hoping for was definitely not going to happen on this hunt.
Oak showed up with his version of the hubble telescope and quickly outpaced me for deer sightings. In fact, he glassed up this guy in the early afternoon.
It didn't take me long to classify him as a shooter and we came up with a hurried plan for me to get on him. The plan involved me traveling light and fast down into the canyon, dropping about 700 feet in elevation, and and getting 400 yards closer, most of which was in sight of the deer, That would put me about 450 yards from there the deer should come out of the little aspen patch he was hanging in. In my haste, I made up a few random hand signals that we could use to communicate once I arrived in shooting position. It took about 30 minutes for me to drop down and I felt like I was about as quiet as an elephant crashing down through the aspen and shale. Once I was there, I couldn't see the deer and looking up at Oak through the binos, I saw a hand signal that looked an awful lot like a shrugging of the shoulders and Oak saying "I don't know where they went". I quickly realized I was in too much of a hurry and we didn't figure out sufficient signals to properly communicate. Oak was doing his best to tell me something and I truly thought the deer were gone due to my descent. I hung out for about 20 minutes before deciding on committing to the climb up to get back up and look for more deer. As soon as I topped out, drenched in sweat, Oak looked at me and asked "did you decide he was too small?" Turns out he was there the whole time, stepped out just as I topped the mountain and we were able to watch as he quickly fed off into an unhuntable position.
That frustration continued on for the next few days as we often tried to re-find this deer as well as hit new areas. Oak was great to have around and incredible on the glass. Dink would drop by each evening to see how the day's hunt went, wearing an apron and providing us with meals that would make Gordon Ramsey jealous. He doted over us like a mother hen. A friend from Nevada arrived on Wednesday afternoon to join in on the festivities and see what he, Oak, and I could turn up during the day. Wednesday evening and Thursday morning had us chasing rumors of a big buck but nothing to show for it but some sightings of young deer with lots of potential.
Unfortunately, Thursday afternoon Oak had to hit the road. A new buddy, Tanner, whom I met during the hunt wanted to join us on Thursday after Oak left and so we headed back up to see what we could find. Well, luckily we turned up a pretty good buck that though he wasn't as big as the buck I screwed up on on Monday, I'd be happy to put my tag on. We scooted down as close as we could get which still put us a pretty good distance away for the shot, but it was true and the buck piled up immediately.
It sure was nice to have a couple guys along for the pack out. It involved a 1300' vertical climb. Luckily, they both waited patiently for me to catch up regularly as we hiked out. I wish Oak had been able to see the end as he had worked all week with me to knock one down. Dink even had a hot meal waiting at Grandma's place for us when we got in late last night. I can't wait to hunt deer in Colorado again, it was a blast.
