Hey guys, I officially never gave an ending to this thread. I'm sorry about that- been extremely busy since I got home.
Anyways, so I hunted high and low for the first 4 days without finding a buck on public. Lots of does and lots of hunters. On the last morning I went to a spot that many of the locals referred to as "buck canyon", saying that migrating bucks tend to pass through there very frequently.
Well I got to the trailhead well before sunrise and began my hike to a glassing knob. Right as the sun was coming up, down in a patch of Aspen's where it meets with the sage brush I saw a cow moose bedded down, and got to watch her get up, start her day and gracefully climb up into the deadfall timber. (It's amazing how they can be so graceful in their movement)
I sat and glassed for about an hour when I notice a half mile to my right is another Hunter on a different knob. Right after I see him, I look at the ridgeline in front of me and see a few deer. Through my binoculars I see that one specifically is very large, has a swayed back, sagging neck, and appears to be a very old deer. This deer also has a forked antler on each side. Not sure if he just happens to have small antlers or maybe he grew so old that his antler size regressed. Either way, as soon as I see that he is a buck, I get up, throw my pack on my back, and plan out how I'm going to get to him. Right before I leave I look to my right and see through my binoculars that the other Hunter a half mile away was giving me a fist bump in the air when he saw me get ready to make a stalk.
So I close the distance between me and the deer, and I carefully and quietly climb across the ridge, but I cannot find the deer. All of a sudden, in the sea of sagebrush 50 yards away I see a couple of big mule deer ears sticking out. Realizing I had just stalked up on a group of does, I sit still for a second to reassess what to do, when all of a sudden one realizes my presence and 10 deer get up and are off. One of those deer being the buck I was after!
I watch the deer drop down in a valley, and realize that I hadn't seen them come out so I reposition to find them again. I then see a doe in the bottom about 300 yards away as she walks through an opening in the juniper trees. I realize that the buck must not be far behind so I chamber a round and get steady.
Sure enough the buck walks out and as I'm sitting steady waiting for a shot, I start getting buck fever, something I hadn't had in years. In the compromised state I'm in, just a few seconds pass by, and I start feeling cold, my body starts shaking, my scope is fogging up, I forget how far to hold over for a shot I've practiced many times. Everything is happening all to fast and then *BOOM*...
I made a bad shot. The deer fell down, but then got right back up, ran a little ways. I followed, and then he crossed the fence to private land. I watch him on the private for a good 15 minutes, trying to assess if he's hit. In that time, I watch him feed a little, make a scrape (I didn't know mule deer did that just like whitetails do),and rub his antlers on a small tree. Shortly afterwards another doe walks by, and this buck puts his nose under her tail, and he follows her over the next ridge, deep off into the private land.
I go down to where he was standing when I made the shot. There was snow under him where he fell down, and it is as white as can be with not a single sign of blood, bodily fluids or hair. I asses the situation and despite my initial thought of not fatally hitting the deer, the evidence is pointing more towards a miss.
Despite having missed a buck, it was one of the most exciting situations I've ever been in while hunting. Finding a deer, making the stalk and getting the shot opportunity itself is like solving a hard challenging puzzle. The hunt was very challenging, mentally and physically, and I had times of being very tired and cold, but it was an amazing experience.
Thank you to everyone who gave insight and advice. The best advice that really helped was this: Bring a thermos with me when hunting and to pack an extra base layer to change into while glassing.
