whiskey 1
FNG
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2013
- Messages
- 16
Headed out Thursday after work left with wife about 3pm Texas time, drove all night ( 13 and half hrs) and made the trailhead by 3:30 am and started hiking with headlamps. Every body on here said go for the bigger 4x4 in the area I didn't know so I figured I'd look for him through Sunday and then move if i needed to. Glassed that morning then moved about 5 miles in. found him Friday night and went to sleep with high hopes.
Found him Sat. morning and after the hairest stalk ( and rockclimbing is one of my hobbies) I've ever been on I was in range, sort of. The rangefinder said 69 but shoot like 47. I've never shot at that steep of an angle and shot right over him just creasing his back, blowing one more stalk at a different buck after that I proceeded with the walk of shame back to camp. Looked on the North side of the peak Sunday morning with no luck, but my wife glassed two bedded bucks on the East face, so I headed out. Made it to about 80 yds and then they got up to feed again. I slipped out on a little rock finger in my socks trying to get in range and noticed with the binos that it was the buck I put a notch in opening day.
So I'm out on this ledge, pretty exposed when the big buck walks right back up and beds down in the same spot! Now I'm in full view of him at 30 yards with no shot! He looks straight at me for a minute or so and decides I'm just a rock and proceeds to chew his cud, meanwhile I'm on one knee with a pointy rock stabbing me right in the a#$. After about 30 min of pretending to be a rock, my leg is starting to shake pretty bad and he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get up. So I go for it and draw as slow as I can. I make it all the way to full draw and he sees me and blows out like a rocket, he pauses and looks back and I settle the 40 yard pin and let'r fly. This time my aim is true and he goes 80 yards and drops, and rolls, and rolls, and rolls. Finally piles up about 200 yds away and I sit down on my pointy rock till I quite shaking all over.
I finally did it. Not my biggest mule deer but my first one in velvet. Whats left of his velvet anyway, that tumble took its toll. So now the fun starts and I finally get him caped, boned out and packed up. Now I'm not gonna lie this was my first real pack out without horses or buddies, not that I'm not in good shape I just never had the need to have to do it. But that 95 pound pack kicked my tail all 5 and half miles to the truck. Worse than an MMA fight and worse than most the hikes I did in the Marines. But I made it with my awesome wife carrying 45 pounds of camps right behind me. Gotta give her props for sucking it up and taking awesome pictures too. And thanks to all you salty mule deer hunters who share their knowledge on Rokslide and make the learning curve a little less steep. Good luck to all still holding a tag, and happy hunting.
Found him Sat. morning and after the hairest stalk ( and rockclimbing is one of my hobbies) I've ever been on I was in range, sort of. The rangefinder said 69 but shoot like 47. I've never shot at that steep of an angle and shot right over him just creasing his back, blowing one more stalk at a different buck after that I proceeded with the walk of shame back to camp. Looked on the North side of the peak Sunday morning with no luck, but my wife glassed two bedded bucks on the East face, so I headed out. Made it to about 80 yds and then they got up to feed again. I slipped out on a little rock finger in my socks trying to get in range and noticed with the binos that it was the buck I put a notch in opening day.
So I'm out on this ledge, pretty exposed when the big buck walks right back up and beds down in the same spot! Now I'm in full view of him at 30 yards with no shot! He looks straight at me for a minute or so and decides I'm just a rock and proceeds to chew his cud, meanwhile I'm on one knee with a pointy rock stabbing me right in the a#$. After about 30 min of pretending to be a rock, my leg is starting to shake pretty bad and he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get up. So I go for it and draw as slow as I can. I make it all the way to full draw and he sees me and blows out like a rocket, he pauses and looks back and I settle the 40 yard pin and let'r fly. This time my aim is true and he goes 80 yards and drops, and rolls, and rolls, and rolls. Finally piles up about 200 yds away and I sit down on my pointy rock till I quite shaking all over.
I finally did it. Not my biggest mule deer but my first one in velvet. Whats left of his velvet anyway, that tumble took its toll. So now the fun starts and I finally get him caped, boned out and packed up. Now I'm not gonna lie this was my first real pack out without horses or buddies, not that I'm not in good shape I just never had the need to have to do it. But that 95 pound pack kicked my tail all 5 and half miles to the truck. Worse than an MMA fight and worse than most the hikes I did in the Marines. But I made it with my awesome wife carrying 45 pounds of camps right behind me. Gotta give her props for sucking it up and taking awesome pictures too. And thanks to all you salty mule deer hunters who share their knowledge on Rokslide and make the learning curve a little less steep. Good luck to all still holding a tag, and happy hunting.
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way to stick with it that's not always easy mentally!
