Opening morning came with more hot and muggy temps. I slept on a bare pad all night hoping rain would come to bring some cold air and relief but it never did. I was up before my alarm getting ready while my girlfriend decided to stay and keep sleeping. A quick hike up to our glassing knob had me glassing all the suspect spots where I’ve seen bucks in the past….nothing, until about 9 then I spotted a doe 500 yards out. Ok at least there’s something still here. Then I saw what I thought was a decent sized forky at almost a mile. After looking back at the footage I think it was the buck I got.
After glassing until about noon I called it time for lunch and went to see if my girlfriend was still dying from the flu or not. She was feeling better after sleeping almost 24 hours straight but wanted to go for a quick dip to get the fever sweats off so we packed up some snacks and headed down to the pond to relax and be in closer position to where the “forky” was in case another buck showed in the same area.
There was one small glassing point that I wanted to check from on the way down before joining her so I sat there for maybe 15 minutes before dropping the rest of the way to the pond. Out of curiosity I walked over to the edge of a bluff for one last look before going swimming when what do I see but the big 3x4 I had seen during bow season walking out of the timber to feed on the edges of the water. I ran over and some jumbled crap about a big buck and she needed to come spot for me came out of my mouth. I ran back to my rifle and pack to find that he was nowhere to be seen. Until I found him clear on the other side of the lake chewing his cud. I don’t know if he swam across or what but he was now 600 yards instead of 800. Due to the timber I didn’t have a clear shot.
Once my girlfriend caught up I told her I’d be going down the boulder field to find a clear shot near a bench and to watch him from up there. I bounced my way down the boulder field keeping tabs on him as I worked closer while he chewed his cud. When I reached the bench I had a clear view at 380 yards. I double checked that he was the buck I had seen and looked to make sure there wasn’t another buck I’ve been after near by. Using crossed trekking poles and my pack under my elbow I setup for a sitting shot like I had practiced over the summer. Just as I began to squeeze the trigger he took two steps and stood behind a tree top. I waited for a minute or two (who really knows how long) I decided he would be there awhile so I broke position and scooted over a few yards. I got set back up and on him. A few breaths and I started putting pressure on the trigger….boom. I got rocked back by the recoil but was able to stay in the scope and on him as he spun a 180 and started for the timber plowing his brisket on the ground. As I ran the next round in the chamber and closed the bolt I watched his short dash end with his head catching on the ground and him flip completely over himself feet now in the air. He was down and not moving. I watched him for a few minutes to make sure he wasn’t going to get up. He laid right on the edge of the brush line in the grass.
Now the fun began, we had never ventured down to this spot in the basin as it was a cliffy brushy trip down. I went straight down the rest of the boulder field which forced me to strip to cross a very mucky section of this shallow lake. We had service so I was able to call my girlfriend and direct her to cut contour for awhile before dropping down a clear ridge. Unfortunately she went too far and got stuck in an alder/blackberry hell hole for an hour. By the time she reached me I had gotten the buck gutted, dragged in the shade and half skinned out. I went up and helped her get through a brush patch and down to the buck. When she finally met up with me the only words she had were “this better be a big f-ing buck”. We then made quick work of him and got him loaded up for our slog back up to the trail
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45 minutes later we got back to where we had first spotted him. Break time and time to load all the gear my girlfriend had ditched before she came down.
Then back to camp we ate dinner then packed up camp in the dark. It was in the 70’s at night and too warm for me to be comfortable hanging the meat overnight so we were truck bound.
This was my girlfriends first night pack and she did really well. I think this was better than if we had packed during the day just because the temps were so much more tolerable.
The area has been burnt multiple times and there is almost no shade for the entire hike in. 5 hours after we had put our packs on we finally reached the truck.
Buck on ice and sleeping mats rolled out in the truck bed it was time for second dinner and a camping shower.
We spent Sunday looking for another buck or bear but were unsuccessful at turning up either. A quick stop to hop in a favorite river spot and an ice cream at the first little store as per tradition and we were home bound.
