Thats all part of hunting. Sends you back next year even hungrier. Thanks for taking us along. Kill or no kill you got plenty of mountain air to make it a success!
Too bad it didn't work out, but it was enjoyable following along. I hope you had a good time, and remember this hunt fondly, as you put in a lot of hard work.
Thanks for an exciting week of hunting that we were able to experience from miles away in the warmth of our homes. Getting something better than the one already hanging on your wall is quite a challenge to take on. I admire you for your patience. Drive home safely.
Well I made it home and back to work...lots of looking back and “what if’s” going on today.
Yesterday was really a perfect day to hunt deer. Cold weather and small snow storms rolled through the day so the visibility was much better. The deer were feeding and moving all day. I never saw that 28"er or the great buck I went after the day before. My observation from last year on this ridge was that every night the deck reshuffled. I think it's more of a migration corridor than wintering grounds. I believe the bucks I hunted the day before moved on. I did see some good bucks and one big heavy 5x5 that was about a 1000 yrds away. He was no doubt a shooter but he had his GPS set on some peaceful private ground somewhere below. I watched him do the big buck jog for over a mile, even passing does without stopping. I’m going back and forth…I passed on a few bucks that I would like to be able to look at on my wall all winter but then I would never had known what the next day would bring.
I’m a little tired of hunting right now (counted last night- 25 days) but that big buck itch is still there. I’ll probably do a few days on a late Idaho archery hunt end of Nov and possibly a AZ archery buck hunt in Jan…for now I need to spend some time with the fam.
170 type buck- young deer
Side view- same buck
Another buck- good backs, crab fronts
Weather report said negative 13 degree wind chill that day