Pafarm
Lil-Rokslider
Well I’m happy to say three years later and who knows how many miles hiked I punched my first tag myself. A 13 day solo backpack hunt. I had two buddies go with me but had a seperate unit. Solo hunting I will say is not for the weak. It was a straight up grind honestly. The first few days were very eventful. Saw a few good bucks just wasn’t able to make a play. A huge storm rolled in Monday evening October 13th. I spend the next two days socked in and loosing hope. I did some still hunting to make the best of it but didn’t see a thing. On Thursday October 16th everything cleared up. However deer movement was almost non existent. With only two does spotted in the morning my hopes were falling. Just like anything else I kept telling myself it just takes one. That evening I glassed up a buck 1.7 miles away in a straight line. He was in a very good spot but a brutal long stalk. He bedded and I said I have to go and try. As darkness closed in I hiked as fast I could going down 2k feet and then up 1500 over 3.3 mile stalk. I got setup for the shot I had planned at about 400 but he wasn’t where I last saw him in the burn. Learning from failed past stalks I told myself sit still I know he has to be here. Well he rolled up right infront of me at 134 yards. I lost my pap and hunting buddy this summer and swear he sent him to me. This stalk should have never worked out but it did. My buddy helped me pack him out a brutal long way. We did 31 miles in two days with over 5500 feet of gain/loss. He my favorite throphy because of the work and perseverance that came with him. I learned a lot in the past three years and it felt good seeing it all come together. The backcountry has a special place in my heart and didn’t see another soul in there.
