Congratulations fellow N. ID Hunter. It can at times that we are hunting unicorns and not mule deer up here.First I must thank @Jim Carr for keeping me motivated on big bucks in North Idaho. I was beginning to think there were no big bucks here. I grew up here hunting elk and whitetails, Mule deer was never on the menu. Then we started Rokslide and @robby denning #thelegend talking me into hunting these white-faced devils.
Long story short over the last five years I have dedicated an obscene amount of time trying to kill a big buck up here. Very low MD numbers to start, bad genetics, brush, fog and predation make it a very tough hunt.
This year was shaping up to be a bust as well. But two days ago I saw a VERY big buck but the fog decided I didn't need him. So as luck would have it today was clear as a bell. I knew I needed to be at the first glassing spot at daylight. Which is fun because of the 6-mile walk in. I made it to the spot right at daybreak with a fresh three inches of snow. For the first two hours, I saw nothing but Moose. At about 9 I saw a couple does and a three-point. Then I heard a buck grunt below me which is funny because the last MD I heard grunt was the buck with Robby right before I shot him. Anyways, he was in a larch thicket and I was not able to see anything. About an hour later I was glassing and spotted a doe, then another than to many to keep track of about 600 yards away. I'm thinking there has got to be a buck in there somewhere. Then like usual, a buck appears like he has been there all along. But he won't stop chasing does and when he does stop he know how to put a tree or brush in front of him. This goes on for 30 minutes. Finally, he gives me a hard quartering away shot at 640 ish yards and I pull the trigger and he is gone. I scanned with the binos then the spotter, nothing and the does act like nothing happened. I keep looking for about 30 minutes then I watch a little three-point start herding does. If he is herding does that buck is dead... that what I told myself anyway. I make the trek over there and it didn't take me long to find the blood trail. It was a red carpet. The buck still made it a 100 yards down this little valley. When I walked up to him there was no ground shrinkage. Nope, he won't score well and I give no shits. This is the old nasty buck I have been looking for the last five years. I am beyond happy!!
Sidenote. I don't know what to think about the 230 Atips. They seem to be quite explosive. Although I was running them at 3200 FPS our of a 300 terminator. I will run the numbers tomorrow
The buck was tooth aged at 7.5 years old. That's a lot of hard winters and dodging predators in North Idaho.
Fun fact. For MLB players born on Nov 21st in Donora,PA Ken Griffey Jr is second in hits, batting average and RBIs....
