Today was a good day…

[HunterGatherer]

Still need to sort through my pics and do a proper post but this old boy had MASS …

 

[Alpineelk]

Congrats. Whoa looks like a goodie. Would like to see a full pik

 

[WBT]

We need more pictures and a story!

 

[robby denning]

Subscribed! Love the picture of the hooves

 

[HunterGatherer]

I first spotted this buck in Nov 2021 and haven’t seen him since- although I have looked for him every year, through multiple archery and rifle seasons, with no luck. I was sure he had been killed by now since he resides in a very heavily hunted OTC unit and with recent winter kill events, 2 years of 99% fawn mortality rate, I knew there was also a good chance that he had succumbed to the cruel Idaho winters as he must be getting old and tired by now.

I’ll be honest, when I jumped him off his bed yesterday morning it didn’t even cross my mind that he might be the one that I had been looking for for so long. It was only a few minutes into legal shooting hours and I didn’t get a good look at him at first. He bounded down a draw into steep, cliffy country stopping just long enough for me to crack off a quick shot but I held off as I wanted to be sure he was a good buck.

I had been hunting almost every day for 15 days looking for a mature buck and had only seen a very small handful of deer. Like I said , deer numbers are way down in this area with huge gaps in the age class that would provide mature bucks. I passed on a few smaller bucks and had one good buck shot virtually right in front of me as I tracked him over a mile about a week ago.

When he dropped into the burnt timber and cliffs I was certain he would disappear. Rather than follow his trail, I contoured around the opposite side of the draw, more of a ravine really, and searched the snow covered slope opposite me for movement. Taking my time to be quiet and moving slowly to avoid further spooking him, glassing, moving a few steps and glassing more, for about 20 minutes. To my disbelief, I finally noticed a buck standing stone still, silhouetted by the thin layer of snow on the north face of the ravine. A quick look through the binos confirmed that it was the buck. He was standing very close to the edge of a side drainage that I knew if he wrapped around just another 20 yds I would have no shot so I didn’t take a lot of time to judge him. I could tell he had big mass and that was enough for me.

Sorry, going to have to split this into a few posts as I have some things to take care of this morning…

 

[Bradvr]

In for the rest of story.

 

[HunterGatherer]

Before I get on with the hunt story … I just finished caping the buck out and he is even older than I thought. The only deer I’ve seen firsthand with teeth this worn were dead heads.
Only three teeth left in the front



Molars worn down to nothing. Someone that knows a lot more than I do about muleys told me that if that 4th molar back from the front is shorter than the 1st three, you’re looking at an old buck. The 4ths on this deer were worn down so far they were no longer single teeth but multiple pieces floating around in the gums. I’m surprised the buck had the huge body that he did. I’m not a great judge of weight on the hoof but he had to be in the neighborhood of 300#. I can usually pack a buck out, bone in, in one trip. This one took me three trips including the cape and head.

 

[AndrewMT34]

Looks like a great mature deer. I'm excited to see full photos.

 

[HunterGatherer]

So back to the story…

Like I said, the buck was very close to taking a few more steps and disappearing, so I was anxious to make a shot happen asap. Not a good frame of mind to make a good shot. I took a quick range and had him at 318 yds. “ Eight inches of elevation drop” I said to myself, and chose holdover rather than twisting the turret in the interest of time. With no natural rest available on the ~60° slope I was sitting on I had to use my pack standing upright for a rest. I got as stable as I could, When I got in the scope I made a quick parallax adjustment to bring the buck into focus, dialed up the magnification and tried to steady myself as well as I could. I was breathing too heavy and had to pull out of the scope twice and take a few focused breaths. Back in the scope now, I put the crosshairs on the buck who was unbelievably still standing dead still.

As I squeezed the trigger slowly and the rifle went off I felt everything thing slide and lost sight of the buck in my scope, unable to see the impact. I cursed myself for not taking time to set my tripod up for a better rest but as I looked up from the scope I could see the buck sliding and tumbling down the snowy slope. He was trying to regain his footing but couldn’t. He just kept picking up speed, going end-over-end more than once.

Down, down he went as I tried in vain to get him in the scope for a follow up shot. It reminded me of those sheep hunts where this often happens. After 2-300 yards he slid out of sight. I jumped up and moved as quickly as I could across the face to get a batter vantage point to see him - to see if he had stood up. After five minutes of glassing, repositioning and glassing again, I couldn’t see any movement but also couldn’t see the buck.

 

[Plainsman79]

I’m in. Always like listening to story’s of hunts with long history.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Listen sir, you are dangerously close to being called a tease. For the love of God man post some whole pics!!






On a serious note, congrats on the deer sounds like a heck of a day. In for the rest of the story AND PICS!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HunterGatherer]

I hurried back to my pack, grabbed my loose items and began angling down the slope in a way that I could keep an eye on the bottom of the drainage but also contour around to where the buck had been mid-slide so that I could look for blood and follow the slide down the slope, hopefully to his resting place.

To keep my footing I had to put on my microspikes and was really wishing I hadn’t left my trekking poles in the truck. It took about 20 minutes to work my way around the ravine until I came to the slide. It looked like a bobsled track in the snow with a bright red stripe down the middle. I was relieved to see so much blood, confirming that I hadn’t just blown out a leg or made a non-fatal shot.

I continued to descend, marveling at all the big overturned rocks and logs with big tufts of buck hair still stuck to them. When I was about 100 yards from the bottom of the ravine I pulled up my binos and glassed the bottom and was relieved to see a leg sticking up out of the tangle of slide Alder and willows.

When I finally got down to where the buck slid to a stop my jaw dropped at the sheer size of his body - the biggest-bodied mule deer I have ever laid hands on. I had to grit my teeth to yank him out of the tangle to get a look at his antlers, and then my jaw dropped again . “ THE MASS !”, I literally said out loud. He had that look of a buck somewhat past his prime- heavy all the way through, compact, but shorter tined than a 6-7 year old peak growth buck. I knew he wasn’t a great scoring buck, no 200”er for sure but it didn’t matter to me. I love these old, crusty, black-horned mountain bucks. I’ve always wanted one like this and here he was, finally in my hands.

 

[Plainsman79]

Before I get on with the hunt story … I just finished caping the buck out and he is even older than I thought. The only deer I’ve seen firsthand with teeth this worn were dead heads.View attachment 958932
Only three teeth left in the front


View attachment 958933
Molars worn down to nothing. Someone that knows a lot more than I do about muleys told me that if that 4th molar back from the front is shorter than the 1st three, you’re looking at an old buck. The 4ths on this deer were worn down so far they were no longer single teeth but multiple pieces floating around in the gums. I’m surprised the buck had the huge body that he did. I’m not a great judge of weight on the hoof but he had to be in the neighborhood of 300#. I can usually pack a buck out, bone in, in one trip. This one took me three trips including the cape and head.

Not trying to take away from your story at all. But as a reference this was a mule deer I killed a few years ago. It was lab aged at 11.

 

[StupidLightweight]

Gnarly buck. Congrats and thanks for the story!

 

[HunterGatherer]

I must have spent a full half hour, maybe more, just sitting with him, taking pictures and enjoying the moment. I sent a satellite message to a friend with my location for safety’s sake and slowly started to dress the buck. He still had good fat reserves since the rut was barely underway and I took my time to get every ounce of meat and to skin out his gorgeous cape.

I could have sat there all day but I knew I had a hellacious solo pack out ahead of me since he had slid down at least another 200 feet in elevation from where I had shot him, which was already about 1000 ft lower and over a mile away from the truck.

I loaded up and packed out the first load, consisting of the two bone-in hinds, the “loose meat” - backstraps, tenders and neck meat, plus all my gear. I actually had the thought of trying to one-trip the pack out until I lifted my pack with that load and realized I’d be lucky to get him out in two trips.

I got the first load out through the brushy, off trail route that I thought would be the shortest distance but the steepness of the climb meant taking 3-4 steps, then resting. I had to drop the hinds and cache them 1/2 way out to avoid complete exhaustion. I made it back to the truck with the loose meat and dumped all my gear, including rifle and optics into the truck, resituated my pack, grabbed trekking poles, and headed back in for the fronts and head.

Once I got the second load on my pack I realized it was only a few pounds lighter than the first load, even without gear.


The trekking poles made a big difference on the second steep climb out of Hell. I dropped the load at the truck, and went back for the hinds I had cached. I got back to the truck with the last load at just after 6pm. I had shot the buck at 8:14am. What a pack out ! Out of water, legs rubbery, and already cramping, I headed for home with a big ol grin on my face. “Today was a GOOD day.” I said.

Thanks for reading

 

[PNWGATOR]

Congratulations on a beautiful buck and thank you for taking the time to share your experience. You EARNED that buck!

 

[Chris in TN]

That's an incredibly nice buck and a great story to boot. Congratulations.

 

[LoH]

What a story... what a monarch, sounds like you honored him. Congratulations.

 

[Macegl]

Absolutely spectacular, score means nothing when it comes to a deer like that. Thanks for sharing with us all.

Just curious do you have any pictures at him from 2021?

 

[Huntr]

Awesome buck and story. Congratulations!