First Bucks/Euro Mounts

[RyanML]

As an adult onset hunter after 3 years of trying I was able to get my first bucks on the ground this year. The smaller buck I got in my home state of California. Got him at roughly 9300ft on a 4 day backcountry hunt with a buddy. Glassed him at 600 yards and put a stalk on to 260 yards where I took my shot from my bipod. It was a tough quartering toward shot and I hit him a little far back. Next shot I had to rest from a sapling tree and completely missed high. Third shot he was now quartering away. With the wind blowing the small tree I decided I needed to shoot off hand before he went over the ride. Lined it up and took the shot. Hit him perfectly and he went down after 20 yards. It being my first attempt at a euro mount I left the nose resting on the bottom of the pot and it broke. Still very happy.

The bigger buck was taken in Colorado 3 weeks later on a trip I was invited to by a mentor who was tired of me coming home empty handed. Little different trip than I'm used where we stayed in a hotel and hunted the morning and evenings. While sitting on a ridge this buck walked out at 265 yards. I set up and took my time. He was slightly quartering toward and I lined up my shot. Hit him and he went down after 3 wobbly steps.

While the Colorado trip was amazing there is nothing like backcountry hunting. I look forward to chasing these elusive ghosts.

 

[CMF]

Nice. If you saved the nose pieces, they easily glue back in. They almost always fall out on me. Elk too.

 

[AM_Hunter]

Congrats! Youre a lucky man, took me 8 years to kill my first deer in CA this year. That CA buck is an absolute dandy of a buck too for CA. Being that it was my first buck and a decent 3x3 I opted to shoulder mount him. Second buck i got I also Euro'd.

Did you do anything to the antlers for that color or were they just naturally dark? My bucks antlers were fairly light in color.

 

[RyanML]

Congrats! Youre a lucky man, took me 8 years to kill my first deer in CA this year. That CA buck is an absolute dandy of a buck too for CA. Being that it was my first buck and a decent 3x3 I opted to shoulder mount him. Second buck i got I also Euro'd.

Did you do anything to the antlers for that color or were they just naturally dark? My bucks antlers were fairly light in color.

Thank you! Yeah we hiked a lot of miles over the last few years without ever seeing a buck and only a handful of doe's. Found this guy with 2 other bucks in a bachelor group. He was actually skylined feeding mid day when I first glassed him. Then I noticed 2 other bucks bedded right next to him. Couldn't believe my eyes.

No I haven't touched the antlers. The base of both sets of antlers are a little faded from tape coming off. I am considering staining that.

 

[RyanML]

Nice. If you saved the nose pieces, they easily glue back in. They almost always fall out on me. Elk too.

Yeah unfortunately it broke into a ton of little pieces in my yard and I couldn't get them all. On the second buck I got a bigger pot and zip tied the antlers to the handle so it was free floating in there and not resting on any metal.

 

[AM_Hunter]

Thank you! Yeah we hiked a lot of miles over the last few years without ever seeing a buck and only a handful of doe's. Found this guy with 2 other bucks in a bachelor group. He was actually skylined feeding mid day when I first glassed him. Then I noticed 2 other bucks bedded right next to him. Couldn't believe my eyes.

No I haven't touched the antlers. The base of both sets of antlers are a little faded from tape coming off. I am considering staining that.

Hell yea man thats awesome, im already counting the days till next season lol. You hunt NorCal, Central, or SoCal?

 

[RyanML]

Hell yea man thats awesome, im already counting the days till next season lol. You hunt NorCal, Central, or SoCal?

Yeah me too. I'm in Southern California but this buck was taken in Central.


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[jzeblaz]

Awesome job man! Public land bucks in CA are all trophies in my opinion. Hard going.

 

[RyanML]

Awesome job man! Public land bucks in CA are all trophies in my opinion. Hard going.

Thank you and I agree. It was wild hunting Colorado and the guys showing me bucks that I should pass. All of them I'd take in California.

 

[jzeblaz]

Thank you and I agree. It was wild hunting Colorado and the guys showing me bucks that I should pass. All of them I'd take in California.

Oh yeah, out-of-state is wild man. Its so much fun to see how they do it in other places and what is their target standard bucks. My wife got her first buck this year and it was awesome. It was in a zone consider pretty hard to connect, so we're pretty elated.

I just saw you are in Thousand Oaks. My brother was born there and my sister went to college there. Welcome to the ranks of successful hunters. You'll learn more each time you go out and just enjoy the ups and downs. Success is so much sweeter when you've suffered a bit first.

 

[RyanML]

Oh yeah, out-of-state is wild man. Its so much fun to see how they do it in other places and what is their target standard bucks. My wife got her first buck this year and it was awesome. It was in a zone consider pretty hard to connect, so we're pretty elated.

I just saw you are in Thousand Oaks. My brother was born there and my sister went to college there. Welcome to the ranks of successful hunters. You'll learn more each time you go out and just enjoy the ups and downs. Success is so much sweeter when you've suffered a bit first.

That's awesome, congrats to your wife! Feel like most zone success rate out here is low unless you have a ton of points. Think they one we hunt is around 7%

 

[AM_Hunter]

That's awesome, congrats to your wife! Feel like most zone success rate out here is low unless you have a ton of points. Think they one we hunt is around 7%

Yea California is definitely a low percent success rate for OTC, and still low for most premium outside of the ones that take 8-20 years to get. So with that mindset a any buck really is a trophy lol.

 

[AM_Hunter]

Yeah me too. I'm in Southern California but this buck was taken in Central.


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Im also in SoCal, mostly hunt local zones. Ive hunted A-Zone and some other zones in the northern central area. Tough but fun, we may look into some D zones in Central Cali for some Sierra hunts.

 

[RyanML]

Yea California is definitely a low percent success rate for OTC, and still low for most premium outside of the ones that take 8-20 years to get. So with that mindset a any buck really is a trophy lol.

Yeah my buddy and I have begun buying points out of state for that reason. Used a point in Colorado to get the other mule deer. We'll most likely keep hunting this zone if nothing out of state turns up.

 

[AM_Hunter]

Yeah my buddy and I have begun buying points out of state for that reason. Used a point in Colorado to get the other mule deer. We'll most likely keep hunting this zone if nothing out of state turns up.

Yea ive been buying points in Colorado as well, 3 for elk and 2 for mule deer right now. Dont know when ill be able to head out there again.

If you found bucks in that zone once, im sure you can find them again. If its an OTC unit dont forget you may be able to get two tags for it. Not often you fill both tags but lets you keep hunting after you fill your first. Good luck next year!

 

[Nicpeterson]

Euro Mounts are the way to go in my opinion. I dig the look and it saves some money for more tags. Nice job on the Euros and congratulations!

I had a dark horned euro I was working on slip into the pot when I walked away. It ended up discoloring the bases and a few inches of the antler pretty bad. I ended up using Potassium Permanganate to darken the discolored areas. It worked great! When you first apply it, it'll look purple. Don't freak out.

 

[RyanML]

Euro Mounts are the way to go in my opinion. I dig the look and it saves some money for more tags. Nice job on the Euros and congratulations!

I had a dark horned euro I was working on slip into the pot when I walked away. It ended up discoloring the bases and a few inches of the antler pretty bad. I ended up using Potassium Permanganate to darken the discolored areas. It worked great! When you first apply it, it'll look purple. Don't freak out.

Yeah I agree.

Thanks for the tip! I haven't looked into getting the color right on the antlers. I assumed wood stain would work but I'm gonna order some of the Potassium. Appreciate it!

 

[hoyt-guy]

Congrats on your bucks! You had a good fall!