ashersdad
Well-known member
I missed the opener because my wife just had to see the Cowboys get their butts kicked by the Seahawks.
So on Tuesday after work I couldn’t take it anymore and loaded up the truck and headed for Wyoming. After a few hours sleep at a rest stop somewhere in Idaho, I made it to the trailhead early afternoon on Wednesday. I got packed up and ready to go. Because there’s no water where I was heading I had to pack in a lot (384 ounces to be exact) so my pack was pretty heavy. If Santa is on this site, please bring me a Mystery Ranch for Christmas.
I headed up and got to where I wanted to camp right before dark. Just under 4000 feet of elevation gain from the trailhead. Got camp set up and did a little glassing. Saw a few deer but the smoke was terrible and made visibility poor.
Next morning I got up and spotted two small bucks but nothing else in the two basins I could see from camp. So I started hiking the ridge line stopping to glass each new basin. I ended up seeing quite a few bucks but only one small 4 point and a nice bull moose.
The next morning I got up and started glassing. I immediately spotted 2 deer on the far hillside and after getting the spotter on them I saw that it was the same small bucks from the day before. After more glassing I spotted 2 deer above the small ones on the far ridge line almost to the trees. One was a decent 4 point and the other was a 4 point on one side and freak on the other side with a 5-6 inch drop tine. I got a little excited and thought he was a cool looking buck. I quickly ranged them at 460 yards but they were headed straight away and only 20-30 yards from the trees. I got set up hoping he would turn and give me a broadside shot. Right then he heard the 2 small bucks who had fed up behind him and he whirled around and butted heads with the closest 2 point.
After butting heads he was broadside. I had a dead rest with no wind and I squeezed off a shot. At the shot the 2 small bucks turned and ran down the canyon directly towards me. As they were running towards me I thought I could hear something crashing. I lost track of the 2 bigger bucks after the shot and figured they had ran into the trees.
I grabbed my pack and headed over to check for blood. When I got over I searched and searched but couldn’t find any sign. After an hour or so I decided to go back and pack up camp and come back and continue my search.
After packing up camp, I came back and kept thinking about the crashing sound I had heard. I noticed a little chute down the mountain that wasn’t visible from where I shot. As I pulled up my glasses I could see the deer about 500 yards down the chute caught up in some little trees. Sweet!!
I hiked down to him and saw that I had hit him perfect right behind the shoulder. When I pulled up his head I noticed he had broke off the drop-tine. Crap! I looked for it for awhile but I knew it was going to be a warm day and being by myself I knew I had to get to work.
I boned him out completely and packed him out. Wow! What I would have given for a horse or a buddy. It took me 7 hours to pack him out. I don’t know how heavy the pack was but it completely kicked my butt. In the end, it ended up being one of the funnest solo hunts I’ve done.
So on Tuesday after work I couldn’t take it anymore and loaded up the truck and headed for Wyoming. After a few hours sleep at a rest stop somewhere in Idaho, I made it to the trailhead early afternoon on Wednesday. I got packed up and ready to go. Because there’s no water where I was heading I had to pack in a lot (384 ounces to be exact) so my pack was pretty heavy. If Santa is on this site, please bring me a Mystery Ranch for Christmas.
I headed up and got to where I wanted to camp right before dark. Just under 4000 feet of elevation gain from the trailhead. Got camp set up and did a little glassing. Saw a few deer but the smoke was terrible and made visibility poor.
Next morning I got up and spotted two small bucks but nothing else in the two basins I could see from camp. So I started hiking the ridge line stopping to glass each new basin. I ended up seeing quite a few bucks but only one small 4 point and a nice bull moose.
The next morning I got up and started glassing. I immediately spotted 2 deer on the far hillside and after getting the spotter on them I saw that it was the same small bucks from the day before. After more glassing I spotted 2 deer above the small ones on the far ridge line almost to the trees. One was a decent 4 point and the other was a 4 point on one side and freak on the other side with a 5-6 inch drop tine. I got a little excited and thought he was a cool looking buck. I quickly ranged them at 460 yards but they were headed straight away and only 20-30 yards from the trees. I got set up hoping he would turn and give me a broadside shot. Right then he heard the 2 small bucks who had fed up behind him and he whirled around and butted heads with the closest 2 point.
After butting heads he was broadside. I had a dead rest with no wind and I squeezed off a shot. At the shot the 2 small bucks turned and ran down the canyon directly towards me. As they were running towards me I thought I could hear something crashing. I lost track of the 2 bigger bucks after the shot and figured they had ran into the trees.
I grabbed my pack and headed over to check for blood. When I got over I searched and searched but couldn’t find any sign. After an hour or so I decided to go back and pack up camp and come back and continue my search.
After packing up camp, I came back and kept thinking about the crashing sound I had heard. I noticed a little chute down the mountain that wasn’t visible from where I shot. As I pulled up my glasses I could see the deer about 500 yards down the chute caught up in some little trees. Sweet!!
I hiked down to him and saw that I had hit him perfect right behind the shoulder. When I pulled up his head I noticed he had broke off the drop-tine. Crap! I looked for it for awhile but I knew it was going to be a warm day and being by myself I knew I had to get to work.
I boned him out completely and packed him out. Wow! What I would have given for a horse or a buddy. It took me 7 hours to pack him out. I don’t know how heavy the pack was but it completely kicked my butt. In the end, it ended up being one of the funnest solo hunts I’ve done.
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