bjfoxhoven
WKR
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2015
- Messages
- 375
I was ecstatic to find out my lifelong friend and I were able to go on our first hunt in way to long last fall. Our plan, ridge running and rattling mature late rut whitetails (or mule deer for him since he was archery hunting). I held a whitetail rifle tag in mg pocket.
I had family hunting in some areas we’ve had success in the past. So, we planned to hunt some other areas I’ve E accounted and driven through in the past which looked quite promising. Intermix of dense new growth timber, steep canyons, some older cuts and burns were in the area too.
Night one didn’t yield much action. We found plenty of sign on the really nice ridge, but only rattled on 1 spike on the third set. He came in fast across a tiny meadow and stopped broadside at around 30 yards. This encounter gave us renewed confidence with our plan the ensuring days.
The next morning we moved a couple miles to the other spot I really wanted to hunt. We hiked in and set up overlooking a leaward side of a ridge which was covered with clumps of timber. We let the day come to life before we started to rattle. We gave that area about 15 minutes, then started to still hunt north, quartering into the wind. After a couple hundred yards (we still hunted fairly quick since our calling didn’t result in any deer), we set up in some thicker “bucky” timber. There were a handful of nice rubs all around us.
We waited 10 minutes to let the area settle as we set up. After the first rattle sequence we had a doe and yearling move through about 100 yards down the draw. We talked it over and figured we would give this spot more time than usual due to the deer and all the sign. We barley got done with the second or third rattle sequence when I head my buddy whisper: BUCK! I couldn’t see him right away due to the angle. He grunted a couple times and the buck started charging forward, I found him at this point. He came real fast, Brett grunted really hard when he got right in front of us…barely quartering towards us at no more than 30 yards. Chip shot for the 30-06. It was obvious the deer was mortally wounded at the shot, so we kinda freaked out hugging each other, whooping and yelling. It played out exactly how anyone wants a rattling sequence to go. We regained our composure after the excitement, took up the blood trail and found the buck a short distance later. The buck was bigger than I originally thought. I didn’t have time to even look at them.
I started to gut the deer while Brett got his bow ready to take over the hunter role. It was still early enough to keep hunting down the ridge. After the deer was tagged and propped open in the shade, we now proceeded forward with Brett’s bow in tow.
We made a two more sets without any luck. The last set as by far the best spot on that ridge. There was a small clump of young pines, in the shape of a kidney bean (perfect little opening in the middle for us to tuck into). We still hand the wind quartering into our face, but thermals we’re starting to pull uphill to our left when the winds calmed down. I raked a tree for a while, pawed the ground, and let out a snort wheeze. It wasn’t 5 seconds into grinding the horns together when Brett whispered: BUCK! BUCK! This buck came so fast he got through Brett’s shooting lane at 20 yards all bristled up, ready for a fight. The buck was concerned when he didn’t find the fight he heard, so he proceeded to circle us uphill trying to catch our scent in the thermal. Brett had to let down, reposition closer to me, and eventually got a quartering away shot at 40ish yards. Unfortunately, the shot was marginal. We quickly moved a few feet to watch the deer take off and do a half moon across the other side of the small draw behind us. I watched him j hook into a small patch of thick young pines. He didn’t come during the 20 minutes we sat and watched it. We talked it over and decided to go get my buck back to camp, eat dinner, and regroup with the family. Since Brett’s buck bedded so quick, I was fairly confident it was a lethal hit.
After taking care of my buck back at camp, we made a plan to sneak in on the bucks last bed from the downwind side. I made a waypoint as best I could by triangulating our location, the direction to his likely bed, and the yardage to the clump of trees. We split up about 40 yards apart on either side of the thicket and crept in. We eventually found a clump of white belly hair. The stress finally lifted and we were able to rejoice yet again! What a morning.
We could tell his deer had perished shortly after the shot. Man what a morning to double up, less than 500 yards apart and within about 1-1.5 hours from each shot. Two great deer, and even better memories that will last a lifetime. We later sent in the teeth to lab age the deer; Brett’s buck (grey patches on the neck and scars all over from fighting) was 8.5, mine was 7.5. Both the oldest deer we’ve taken. Both off public land.
Brett’s buck.
My buck.
I had family hunting in some areas we’ve had success in the past. So, we planned to hunt some other areas I’ve E accounted and driven through in the past which looked quite promising. Intermix of dense new growth timber, steep canyons, some older cuts and burns were in the area too.
Night one didn’t yield much action. We found plenty of sign on the really nice ridge, but only rattled on 1 spike on the third set. He came in fast across a tiny meadow and stopped broadside at around 30 yards. This encounter gave us renewed confidence with our plan the ensuring days.
The next morning we moved a couple miles to the other spot I really wanted to hunt. We hiked in and set up overlooking a leaward side of a ridge which was covered with clumps of timber. We let the day come to life before we started to rattle. We gave that area about 15 minutes, then started to still hunt north, quartering into the wind. After a couple hundred yards (we still hunted fairly quick since our calling didn’t result in any deer), we set up in some thicker “bucky” timber. There were a handful of nice rubs all around us.
We waited 10 minutes to let the area settle as we set up. After the first rattle sequence we had a doe and yearling move through about 100 yards down the draw. We talked it over and figured we would give this spot more time than usual due to the deer and all the sign. We barley got done with the second or third rattle sequence when I head my buddy whisper: BUCK! I couldn’t see him right away due to the angle. He grunted a couple times and the buck started charging forward, I found him at this point. He came real fast, Brett grunted really hard when he got right in front of us…barely quartering towards us at no more than 30 yards. Chip shot for the 30-06. It was obvious the deer was mortally wounded at the shot, so we kinda freaked out hugging each other, whooping and yelling. It played out exactly how anyone wants a rattling sequence to go. We regained our composure after the excitement, took up the blood trail and found the buck a short distance later. The buck was bigger than I originally thought. I didn’t have time to even look at them.
I started to gut the deer while Brett got his bow ready to take over the hunter role. It was still early enough to keep hunting down the ridge. After the deer was tagged and propped open in the shade, we now proceeded forward with Brett’s bow in tow.
We made a two more sets without any luck. The last set as by far the best spot on that ridge. There was a small clump of young pines, in the shape of a kidney bean (perfect little opening in the middle for us to tuck into). We still hand the wind quartering into our face, but thermals we’re starting to pull uphill to our left when the winds calmed down. I raked a tree for a while, pawed the ground, and let out a snort wheeze. It wasn’t 5 seconds into grinding the horns together when Brett whispered: BUCK! BUCK! This buck came so fast he got through Brett’s shooting lane at 20 yards all bristled up, ready for a fight. The buck was concerned when he didn’t find the fight he heard, so he proceeded to circle us uphill trying to catch our scent in the thermal. Brett had to let down, reposition closer to me, and eventually got a quartering away shot at 40ish yards. Unfortunately, the shot was marginal. We quickly moved a few feet to watch the deer take off and do a half moon across the other side of the small draw behind us. I watched him j hook into a small patch of thick young pines. He didn’t come during the 20 minutes we sat and watched it. We talked it over and decided to go get my buck back to camp, eat dinner, and regroup with the family. Since Brett’s buck bedded so quick, I was fairly confident it was a lethal hit.
After taking care of my buck back at camp, we made a plan to sneak in on the bucks last bed from the downwind side. I made a waypoint as best I could by triangulating our location, the direction to his likely bed, and the yardage to the clump of trees. We split up about 40 yards apart on either side of the thicket and crept in. We eventually found a clump of white belly hair. The stress finally lifted and we were able to rejoice yet again! What a morning.
We could tell his deer had perished shortly after the shot. Man what a morning to double up, less than 500 yards apart and within about 1-1.5 hours from each shot. Two great deer, and even better memories that will last a lifetime. We later sent in the teeth to lab age the deer; Brett’s buck (grey patches on the neck and scars all over from fighting) was 8.5, mine was 7.5. Both the oldest deer we’ve taken. Both off public land.
Brett’s buck.
My buck.
