So, I take the camera guys over to this ranch and we have six doe tags between us, and they both have buck tags, also. I tell them how fun it will be to not have cameras in my face all day, a joy I have not experienced for the last two hunting seasons.
Well, they show up, toting enough junk to make the carnival look small. The normal goods of tripods, lenses, audio, and whatever else they pack in those big bags that hardly fit in a full sized pickup. I explain that this is a hunt, not a TV episode. They both get a big smile and say, "Yeah, sure, whatever."
Given that I did not want to be filmed, I told them they are filming each other, and I would be a second camera, if need be. They brought their new digital SLRs, which record Hi-Def video, and they wanted to play with those and see how they would work for our kind of show.
The day went well. Troy started it with a good shot on a doe. The Loren made a stalk on a buck - his first whitetail.
After field dressing these, the deer had by then made it to the brush and were bedding in the creek bottoms.
I then told them to stand where I had historically seen a lot of deer exit from the creek bottom, and I would make a push. The hopes are that Troy could fill his buck tag, and they could each fill their remaining doe tags.
It was now Troy's turn to shoot.
As I left the set-up, they decided it would be best for me not to take my rifle, as I would be tempted to shoot something, and we are saving my MT deer tag for an episode later this month. I protested, but laid my rifle on the packs and headed around, making the big circle along the neighboring fenceline, where the bucks always seem to congregate. I knew leaving my rifle with them was a bad idea, but if I was saving my tag for a later episode, what's to lose, right?
It was very slow, bumping only one doe while getting to the fence line. As I ented the creek bottom, it was very noisy with all the falled cottonwood leaves. But, this was the best spot I knew of, so I had confidence that a few deer would be there.
Now is where filming and the sacrafices of doing such get ugly. I circled upwind of the thick brush where the deer always bed. As I did that, three bucks stood. I could not really make them out that well, so I moved forward quickly, hoping to drive them west, to Troy and Loren and cut them off from crossing to the outfitted property to the east.
The bucks must have sensed what I was up to, as they quickly started trotting up the trail, but toward me. They were going upwind, and so long as they could see me, seemed comfortable heading that direction. As I cleared the brush, I could see one of them was a real smoker. I moved to the knoll above the trail they were taking to the adjacent property. They stopped 80 yards below me and gave me the stare down.
The big guy was a lunker. At least 6 points on one side, created by a forked G2. And his tines were long and the mass was excellent. Oh, how I wished to have my rifle with me, not back with Troy and Loren. Eventually, the bucks tired of me, and continued down the trail. I watched as they crossed the fence, knowing the big guy would soon bear the tag of one of the outfitter's clients. Such is life.
I continue on my way, and headed south and west, hoping to push deer from the brush. Withing a few hundred yards, white flags are bounding in front of me. I see lots of does and a group of four bucks, with a really nice 5X5. I see the does head to Troy and Loren. The rifle sounds and the bucks escape down the thick brush and another doe bites the dust.
I tell Troy and Loren of the big buck with the forked G2 on the passenger side. They look at my with that same "Yeah, sure, whatever" kind of look. I tell them that if I were not required to hold my tag for a future episode, that buck would be dead. In fact, if I had my rifle with me, I would have shot that buck, filming or not.
We dress Troy's doe, leave it in the shade and walk back toward the ranch headquarters where we can secure a vehicle to retrieve the carnage we are leaving in our wake. On the way, Loren shoots another doe.
Loren is putting on an impressive shooting display. He has never hunted big game, and he uses two bullets from my .257 Weatherby and takes two deer in spectacular fashion. One drops like it was hit by lightning, and the other runs twenty yards after a heart shot, and cartwheels for the camera. Troy's shooting is pretty good also. But, could they shoot this well with the pressure of two cameras rolling and two camera guys giving directions while they focus on shooting? Probably.
After all this, I offer to walk to the ranch house and get the retrieval truck. Troy and Loren stay, hoping to fill the final doe tag, and possibly Troy's buck tag.
On my way back, I shoot a nice fat doe that had been grazing in the alfalfa. The brush of the creek gave me ample cover to sneak up and take her with one clean shot. Wow, we are now making progress on the harvest.
I find Loren and Troy taking pics of the early evening scenics. Troy asks if we would go retrieve all the deer, while he sits the creek bottom in hopes of filling his last tags. Sure, I will do it, as he helped pack that big elk last week, so it is the least I can do.
Loren and I jump in the truck and drive around to pick up the deer we have dressed and put in places to cool. We get to where one of Troy's does was laying and drag it to the truck. Troy comes running from the creek bottom, winded and not carrying his pack or rifle. He saw us close by and came over to ask if we can help him get his recently taken deer from the creek bottom. Uffda, the pile is getting pretty big now. Good thing the rancher had me take his flatbed.
Troy jumps in while Loren, a rep for Big Sky Brewing, decides since his hunting is over, it is time to ride on the truck bed and sip a cold Moose Drool. Troy tells me he shot a buck down where I had chased all those bucks earlier in the day.
I ask him if it was a good one. He says he thinks it is, but since this is his first whitetail buck, he is not sure. I ask how many points. He tells me it is a 9 pointer (he is a midwestern boy, who still hasn't picked up the western 4X5 vernacular). Cool.
He says nothing else, as we drive toward the place he left his pack and gun, other than thanks me profusely for arranging the day's hunt on this friend's ranch. I park and he instructs me as to where the deer is, and that he would be down in just a second. I put on the headlamp and go to where I see his pack hanging from a blown down cottonwood.
I round the corner and see nothing but tines, and lots of them. And, a big forked out G2 on a whitetail buck that is looking pretty familiar. This is no "9 pointer." I turn and shout some expletives at him and erupt in laughter. He is giggling at my expressions and soon, we are all laughing hysterically.
I will have to let Troy tell the story of the shot, as I was not there. And, he did not wait for Loren to film it. So, in my books, this buck doesn't count. For two reasons 1) I could have shot it, if they had not absconded my rifle from me, and 2) He didn't wait to get it on film. Imagine that, the camera guy shoots without the cameras rolling. WTH?
Anyhow, it was a great day. Lots of meat. Loren took his first big game animals, and Troy took a buck of many lifetimes.
A few pics to add to the story.
Loren's first big game animal.
Food for the winter.
Lucky dog.
And he couldn't get it on film.
