The Pink Shirt rides again and meat bucks on the table...................

[mtnwrunner]

Just got back from 3 days in the high country of central Idaho. My two brothers, one from Alaska, one from Washington state and another good buddy from Juneau came down to hunt mule deer and we'll be going after elk for the next 10 days or so.
Overall had some pretty good weather although we had two days of HUGE wind---40 to 50 mph. All our tents held up but it was tough sleeping. Saw a ton of bucks----nothing huge as I think they are still way high and somewhat nocturnal but this was mainly a meat hunt and we went 4 for 4. Nice thing about Idaho is that we can get two tags so we usually go after a smaller buck and now we can concentrate on elk and muy grande.
Mark, my buddy from Alaska and I spiked out on one ridge and my two brothers spiked out on another ridge about a mile away or so. Plan was to meet up in a day and half and compare notes.
Opening day (10th) found us glassing right after daybreak and we located a group of deer with several nice bucks. We planned our stalk, got into position about an hour later found us on a large rock pinnacle. Mark made a great shot at 187 yards with a 40 degree downhill angle using a 6.5 x 55 in a tikka T3. We processed the buck, hung it in the trees next to the creek and planned to pack it out the next day. Very big bodied deer.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Later that day, we spotted another buck towards evening not too far from our spike camp. After another hour stalk, we found ourselves on another rock pinnacle above the buck with another steep downhill shot and I made the 287 yard shot with a 30-06 Ackley in a tikka T3 lite. We knew it was gonna be a late night but Mark has been a meatcutter forever and make quick work of the buck. We again hung it in the nearby trees next to the creek and humped up the 1000 foot climb to our camp---we were going to make the pack out the next day with our meat, camp and meet my brothers at noon. Nothing like kidney fat and tenderloin at 2200 hours.

 

[mtnwrunner]

We ended up meeting our brothers right at noon and compared notes. They too had been seeing lots of bucks but no wall hangers and we told them what we had seen so we made the plan to go back in and pack out the rest of my buck and spend the evening glassing.
On our way out, I spotted a lone deer up on the ridge about 800 yards from our vehicles and low and behold it was a nice buck so my brother Dave managed to make a quick 213 yard shot with his 30-06 tikka t3 and it was just before dark. Another late night but after a couple whiskeys, a meal and reliving the day-----you all know what that feels like.

 

[mtnwrunner]

And last one was a morning hunt this morning with my brother Jeff needing to fill his tag. After an hour of glassing we located 4 more bucks in a group of deer about 100 yards away. The stalk was planned and we closed the distance to 540 yards. One shot from a tikka t3 lite in a 30-06 Ackley put the buck in the freezer. It was a very interesting buck as its right side had been damaged during growth or maybe a genetic issue. We all four were there so the pack out was an easy two miles. The EXO packs worked great but the last two days had made us all a bit tired. We packed up our camps and headed to the house to take care of the meat and now we are off for elk and muy grande.

Now---a lot of folks including my fellow hunting partners give me crap about my "pink" shirt but the proof is in the pudding---it is just plain lucky. And it is not pink--it is just faded.

Randy

 

[efnm]

Man, epic thread. I really appreciate you sharing that with us.

Thanks and rock the pink.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Thanks and rock the pink.[/QUOTE]


Ummm.......................I think that I am gonna use that------thanks!

Randy

 

[CaseyU]

Nice work. That's some good cooking. Congrats on a successful hunt!

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[realunlucky]

No doubt the shirt brings the hurt on animals. Great trip cannot wait for the elk report

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[Ryan Avery]

The pink shirt rides again! Nice work red beard

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

That is some cool country. Been thinking of heading over there and giving it a try one of these years. Looks like you decided not to hunt around the new home base, but I doubt you would have that kind of luck around there these days.

 

[Elkhunter777]

I was there and it's PINK!
But a great hunt!

 

[mtnwrunner]

I was there and it's PINK!
But a great hunt!

Yeah, he was there alright-------kind of...............

Randy

 

[daddie63]

Congrats Randy. Sounds like a great hunt for everybody.

 

[mcr-85]

Nice job Randy. I was just going to get ahold of you and see if you'd been hunting yet. Good luck with the elk and finding some big bucks.

 

[PNWGATOR]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing Randy. Looks like you guys had a blast and best of luck chasing muy grande and the elk!

 

[Idaho CTD]

Did you get two elk tags too Randy or just two deer? My buddy and I drew elk tags and I missed opening of deer season for the first time in 20+ years helping him pack out his bull he shot the night of the 9th. I was excited for him but pretty bummed out that I didn't get to go deer hunting opening day. I'll go the end of the month when they are rutting. I'm headed up by McCall this weekend for my second elk tag and I just picked up a extra elk tag in the sale they had this morning for 66-1X. I drew a cow tag in UT for late December through the end of Jan. too.

Good Luck with the elk hunting and the search for the elusive muy grande.

 

[robby denning]

Stackin' 'em up Randy, stackin' 'em up. Great thread. Love mule deer hunting. This thread is the essence of open country mule deer hunting. Love it!!!

Tell us your Kidney fat/tenderloin recipe?

Often, not always, only have aluminum cookware in the backountry and no butter/oil, so I often don't cook the tenderloin

 

[Juan_ID]

Looks like a good time! Congrats on the tags filled and good luck filling the rest!

 

[mtnwrunner]

Stackin' 'em up Randy, stackin' 'em up. Great thread. Love mule deer hunting. This thread is the essence of open country mule deer hunting. Love it!!!

Tell us your Kidney fat/tenderloin recipe?

Often, not always, only have aluminum cookware in the backountry and no butter/oil, so I often don't cook the tenderloin

Robby, I only have my Optimus backpacking setup and all you have to do is melt the fat (slow) so that you have about 3/4 inch of liquid and put the tenderloins in or any other meat. I cube it so that it fits in my small pan and it fries nice. The other night we added it to our mountain house and it was to die for. And I usually have some seasoning but I forgot it this time.

Randy

 

[Wileycoyote]

Dropping em like flies! Sucks to be a deer around you Muy grande better stay in hiding or he won't be with us anymore! Nice story lots of fun times, congrats to all.


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