Travis Bertrand's (Drhorsepower) semi-live hunt in Arizona

[Slim Jim]

Good luck brother! Stick him

 

[Hardstalk]

Oohh ya! Just what i have been waiting for. Get em dude!

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Got 40 yards from his honeys. I knew he was in there somewhere so I waited,Waited for him to get up. I was worried about wind. It was a steady 5 mph. It stopped, changed directions for a second and that was all it took. Next thing I hear is snorting and seeing white butts. They went 2 miles on another mountain. Headin over there now to try and relocate them.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Not horney as in antlery,
but the other horney

I know Robby, I'm just joshin'

They are still horny for sure.

 

[Slim Jim]

Dam wind. Is it getting cold? The forecast shows the temps dropping.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Yes it is, supposed to be a low of 19 tonight. High of 43.

I relocated the buck, they aren't in a desirable stalking position though. Going to watch them for a little bit

 

[Travis Bertrand]

 

[Slim Jim]

Go get em Dr!
Getting thru that thorn brush without making any noise is a challenge

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Well I stalked him twice today, the first time I mentioned, the second was just to see what would happen. The wind wasn't in my favor completely but doable. By the time I made my way around the mountain, they fed up the hill a little bit so I came out below them and the wind was blowing straight at them. They smelled me again and took off...

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Every day I'm getting closer...

 

[RosinBag]

I would bet on Travis closing the deal on filling his tag.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

I would bet on Travis closing the deal on filling his tag.

Hopefully it's the change in your pocket and nothing more

 

[shaun]

Keep plugging at it man

 

[Travis Bertrand]

What a day! Tell story after I get some food and family time. No buck but a great story!

 

[Matt Cashell]

Can't wait Travis,

But go ahead and get some time with the fam.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Well, a friend called last night after I posted here, he told me his dad is itching to get out and had me give him a call. His dad killed a 138" whitetail a few weeks ago so of course I gave him a call. He was excited to get out again so he took me into coues country. Immediately we found deer, those little guys are hard to spot but luckily they were moving and rutting HARD! The best buck we saw all morning was approximately 70" so I went after him. My goal was ANY coues buck so I'm not picky! I looped around them and the wind picked up blowing straight towards them so the stalk was over before it began. It wasn't 1 minute later when he called me on the radio and said he found another buck around 80" or so. Even better I thought. By the way, all day I have a grin ear to ear because these little boogers are so awesome! I snuck over the hill after him, taking my time, moving slowly and getting updates on radio. He told me I'm within 50 yards so I turned the radio to what I thought was the lowest setting so I could still hear because it was thick and windy and he can come any way because he was pushing does hardcore. One of the last updates from him before I acicidently muted radio went something like this," he's pushing that doe hard right now, he's trying to mount her... Yup he's on top of her.... Ummm they are breeding right now!" It was priceless! That would have been picture worthy. So I'm working my way down there and I thought he told me they are heading up my way so I sat there. The buck came directly at me! I ranged the bush before he got there that was beyond him at 30 yards. He was well within that. He walked towards dead on and saw me. We made eye contact and it might as well been an adios wave. He screeched and all I saw was one leap and he was gone!

Second part of day coming soon.

 

[RosinBag]

Good work Travis, knock one down tomorrow.

 

[shaun]

Awesome man glad you are in them! I shot my coues under the same circumstances except when he saw me at 35 he froze and tried to make out what I was

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Awesome man glad you are in them! I shot my coues under the same circumstances except when he saw me at 35 he froze and tried to make out what I was

We're you at full draw by then?

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Ok so I might it back to our glassing point. And he's telling me the story on his monster he killed this year. He tells me about a buck that was around 102-103 Inches that he shot at and hit his right antler. He says he walked over and picked it up as well. About 2:00 I saw a buck get up and chase a doe down a ridge and back up, he looked like a nice one. I got to looking at him harder as something wasn't right. I saw his right antler was missing. I called him on the radio with no response. I was about ready to walk across the hill and tell him I found his buck when I heard him coming my way. When he arrived I told him and you should have seen his face! He was excited to say the least. We quickly relocated him and got a gameplan. I made my way on downwind side of the ridge he was on thinking the whole time that I wanted this buck bad, not only for me as he was a nice buck but also for him. So he can wrap his hands around the rest of the deer he wanted during rifle season. I dropped my pack and put my balaclava on, inched my way to the bowl they were in. They were heading right to me! But like earlier, decided to go the other way and back up to me. I had a few shooting lanes and waited patiently. We don't know if he busted me or just wanted to chase his doe but he pushed her a few ridges over when I was within 75 yards. We tried to get on a few other bucks with minimal daylight with no avail.

All in all. This was one of the better days of the trip. Spent time in awesome country with awesome people. Can't ask for much better than that!

I'm heading out with him tomorrow as well. Stay tuned.