Hey all,
the rut is on! Me and Charlie horse have spent the last four days riding and glassing about 6 square miles of deer country- racking up almost 18 hours behind the big Swaro's 15x.
Every mature buck I've seen is either chasing does or close to them. I've only turned up two shooters and wasn't able to get on them before they disappeared in the brush. This is typical Idaho aspen/sage/conifer/bitterbrush/serviceberry (and a bunch of other "thick" stuff). It grows big deer simply because they have so much cover to hide in. I've scouted the area since August and honestly, there aren't many big deer available. Plenty of bucks, but will be very lucky to see a real toad.
My wife Jodi is headed to the airport to pick up Tanya right now, and Ryan is driving in from another hunt later today.
We're hunting the same area Ryan and Kenton hunted last year (see http://www.rokslide.com/forums/roks...lite-buck-hunt-ryan-avery-kenton-carruth.html ) but the weather is drastically different. Instead of snow and cold, it's clear blue sky with highs pushing 60. Tougher conditions but great for glassing. We've had over 5" of rain in the last two months and that's a lot for around here. Lots of mud but makes for quiet hiking once the ground thaws.
The best buck I've seen was this morning around 9:10 AM. He was over 2.5 miles away and with the wind and mirage, was hard to get a good look at through the Swaro 25-50x, but he looked pretty good. Once I pick up Tanya, we'll head out after him. Bucks are traveling a lot with the rut coming on so not sure how close he'll be to where I saw him.
I'll be shooting my Christensen Arms Summit Carbon in 270 WSM.
Not sure yet what Tanya is shooting, but knowing Ryan, we'll probably be able to shoot into the next county if we see a buck over there.
I learn something on every hunt and this one probably won't be any different. In fact, last year on this hunt, I learned that the standard toilet plunger we use in the trailer just wasn't enough for Fuzzy Wuzzy. I broke out this industrial-sized one. Tag says it can push a bowling ball through a straw, so hopefully it will be enough for Ryan. We'll see I guess.
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Nice ones nonetheless.
. Robby you are the real MVP today!
