Hunting Season Wrap Up

[keithb7]

Today was my last opportunity to get out hunting for the season. I met up with a good buddy. The weather was absolutely stellar. A crisp cold clear day. I left home at 5am in my other Mopar, my truck. We unloaded in the dark in a remote area and headed for the hills. Some fresh snow allowed for easier tracking. Plenty of deer were passing thru the area all night it seemed. 

 

We spotted 4 mule deer about 1,000 yards away in a massive clear cut. Too far to be able to count points even. We needed a spotting scope but did not have one with us.  Only legal deer to shoot are 4x4 mule deer currently.  We needed to close the gap and get closer. 

 

We were able to get within 400 yards. Holy smokes what a hog! Biggest mule deer I’ve ever seen. What a rack he had! They get that big because they’re smart. He kept his 3 girlfriends close to the edge of the dark thick timber.  We were as silent as possible but needed to get closer. A 270WIN in my hands, 400 yards does not work. 300 yards max, I’d have pulled the trigger. 

 

Then the buck got a whiff of us and got outta town. Immediately. Into the dark thick timber. Up a steep wooded knoll.  No shorts fired. We tried to outflank him, and headed into the timber. It was thick! So much blowdown. It was a real mess in there. We split up. Hand and fist we fought our way through a plethora of obstacles.  There was no way to be silent. Everything had 6” of snow on it too. Imagine the game “Pick-Up Stix”, life size. Blown down trees everywhere. 

 

We found fresh tracks again, however we were unable to outflank him. He and his harem were long gone. We tracked them again for a while. They were now in their backyard. Dark, steep, thick woods for miles as far as we could see. There was no way we were going to get another opportunity. 

 

We relented and talked about how big he’ll be next year. We’ll be back. 

Our gear ran flawlessly. The weather perfect. The whiskey was good. Got home at 7 pm. A great day had by all. Fall 2020 we’re going to try and find that big buck again. 

 

A few pics I thought you may enjoy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2019 by keithb7

[Plymouthy Adams]

why you want to shoot a fellow who is stringing three ladies at the same time......envy?   My oak tree  has some of the largest acorns around and yesterday evening this big buck with a huge rack was enjoying a few of them...couple evening earlier couple doe walked nervously across the yard...they could not see me but was fully aware I was nearby.  This is about as close to deer hunting I normally get.  Sat out last night with a fire in the pit on the patio and listened to the coyote yipping in the distance.  

Edited December 9, 2019 by Plymouthy Adams

[Tooljunkie]

Some nice country there. My buddy’s daughter got a deer early in the season when they werent so timid, i think she got 100 yards from her  truck When one trotted out. Was only a few minutes of hunting. 
last few days have been cold and windy,makes hunting miserable.