every year for the past 22 years I have hunted my spot on the side of a mountain in BC's region 2. Hunting Blacktails is really some of my favorite hunting.
I hunted that place solo for 14 years before I took anyone else with me. As I get older though, it's nice to have company in deer camp and have included a trusted handful of family and friends with my spots.
This year I took a friend's wife who is same age as me. She got her hunting credentials 3 years ago and I started mentoring her last year at her husband's request. They are good friends and I was happy to oblige. She has been really eager to harvest her first big game animal and I've been trying to help her do just that.
Tracy is a highly motivated , shortstack fireball of a gal LOL Really fun to be around and gets along with everyone. She is also super pumped to have people to hunt with and extremely determined. So I invited her along for my 22nd annual trip to my deer camp in region 2. She was so excited , she was making plans in august and doing as much shooting as she could. Come Oct 1st when we left my driveway for the 4 hour trip, I knew she was ready for what was coming hehe.
So Oct 1st was a driving day and we arrived at camp with enough daylight to set up our camp arrangements and hike in to spot 1 and set up a 2 man ladder stand against a 2 foot wide old growth douglas fir. Back to camp to prep our gear for the morning hunt , followed by dinner and a campfire and early to bed by 9pm.
Oct 2nd we woke at the 5am alarm to steady rain. Blacktails only move out of necessity when it's pouring rain. It kills thier hearing advantage and will stay put till the dripping sounds stop.
So we hung around camp and hiked in late, getting to the stand at 9:30 am. Was mostly and uneventul hunt, saw 5 does with a couple fawns over 3 1/2 hours. We didn't hunt the evening and opted to do some camp imrpovements and firewood prep and off to bed by 9pm
Oct 3rd , alarm at 5am.....6celcius no rain..... clear skies..... perfect. We get our stuff together and hike in to the stand, arriving 1/2 hour before legal shooting light.
We saw lots of deer over the 4 + hours we were in the stand. They would come in singles or in small groups throughout the morning. At 11:30 a pair came right in to the stand and one of them was a nice fat spike buck. I had hoped it would angle down and into Tracy's shooting lanes but it stayed to the right of the stand so I took the shot. 1st deer of the trip down. Nice fat little guy and easy to get off the mountain LOL 2 hours later we had him down by the creek and all cleaned up. Then back to camp for a much needed dinner and bed time. The body was sore and used up after the days events
Oct 4th we wake at the 5am bell to another beautiful clear sky and get ready for another full morning in the stand. Arriving in the dark we could hear activity as hooves struck the exposed rock of the mountain terrain. I was hopeful this would be tracy's day and I was not wrong.
At 7:30 am, a lone doe appears on the rock bluff above us, directly out from the stand. She mills around and I look away to check the right side of the slope. I look back and I don't see the doe, I see a buck and Tracy is already on him as he slips behind a large rock feature that hides him completely for about 15 yards. Then he suddenly appears on a ledge about 70 yards and presents a perfect broadside. I had kinda hoped she would read the situation and let him pass LOL But then again she didn't realize what would happen. It's all part of the learning experience hunting mountainous terrain though and when that deer presented the shot, she didn't hesitate for a second. Her .243 savage barked and down it went, right on the spot but it was twitching for a minute for so and had landed very near the edge of a 30ft drop and sure enough, over it went and then slid another 25 yards on the mossy slope. No big deal, except for how far down it ended up being. We had to take it up about 150 yards of mountain slope before we could drag it down into the valley where camp is.
With the help of a honda rope winch we managed to make work of it in reasonable time though we were both absolutely beat by the end of the day
Tracy was one happy gal getting her first deer and I was sure glad to be part of it.
Oct 5th..... we were both beat up and with 2 deer in the meat cooler we decided to take it easy and let a friend and his daughter who ahd arrived the night before, hunt the treestand that morning. I decided to spend the day scouting my other spots to see what sign was around. At 9:30 a shot was heard up the valley and I knew they had one down so I headed back to camp and hiked in with the rope winch. Sure enough it was needed and they pulled a fat 2 pt down to camp and left that evening.
Don't know of anyone here remembers CGN member MD that used to post lots but hasn't been around in a few years..... he arrived in camp in time to set up and have supper with us. We discussed the other spots I had not shown him and about the ample sign I found earlier in the day. We made plans that he would hunt spot 2 the next morning and Tracy and I would head back up to the stand.
Oct 6th. Mixed bag of sun and cloud but no rain and we make good time getting to the stand in the dark.
The day breaks, the wind is kinda wrong but we stick it out. The deer are acting a bit cagey, our scent has been spread around getting deer out so some of them only go as far as where we have walked and then turn and go back the way they came. I was starting to think we should have given the stand a rest for a few days.
Then at about 9:30, I catch movement off to my right and deer begin to appear between the trees heading straight towards me saddling the slope. One..... two..... then three..... all young bucks. Tracy knew what to do, we had discussed what to do if more than one buck presented at the same time. They came in within 30 yards of the stand and then angle down into the draw in front of us. Tracy was already lined up waiting for the lead buck to enter her shooting lane and when it did I heard her rifle pop and followed up with mine as I caught the third buck before he was aware of what was happening.
It was one of those High Five moments for 2 hunters sitting in a treestand on the side of a mountain LOL.... a double..... it's only happened to me twice before in 22 years. So the work began and again the new honda rope winch was an absolute life (and limb) saver getting those bucks off the mountain and into the game cooler.
MD who had hunted spot 2 that day , saw 10 deer but no bucks. He opted to hunt the treestand spot the next day as we were now tagged out.
Oct 7th we packed up everything while MD hunted the morning in the treestand. He did see a dozen deer or so and a single buck but with the trees and terrain as it is, it didn't present him with a shot. We left camp around 2pm and safely made the journey home. Dropped off Tracy and pulled in my driveway, plugged in the game cooler , had a shower and lights out LOL
Up this morning at 7, checked the cooler, holding nice at 36F ...... Tracy arrived at 9:30 and off to Frank's Custom Meats on Hwy 97 north of 100 mile house. Total weight combined, 390 lbs on the hooks. Not bad at all
Some great memories were made this trip and I could not be happier with my decision to mentor Tracy, it's been a real pleasure to see her success this season. She is all fired up now for the group bull moose hunt we have drawn with her brother for Nov 1st to 15th. Should be a lot of fun
Good luck wherever you are and whatever you are hunting this season!!!
I'm having a blast this year !!
I hunted that place solo for 14 years before I took anyone else with me. As I get older though, it's nice to have company in deer camp and have included a trusted handful of family and friends with my spots.
This year I took a friend's wife who is same age as me. She got her hunting credentials 3 years ago and I started mentoring her last year at her husband's request. They are good friends and I was happy to oblige. She has been really eager to harvest her first big game animal and I've been trying to help her do just that.
Tracy is a highly motivated , shortstack fireball of a gal LOL Really fun to be around and gets along with everyone. She is also super pumped to have people to hunt with and extremely determined. So I invited her along for my 22nd annual trip to my deer camp in region 2. She was so excited , she was making plans in august and doing as much shooting as she could. Come Oct 1st when we left my driveway for the 4 hour trip, I knew she was ready for what was coming hehe.
So Oct 1st was a driving day and we arrived at camp with enough daylight to set up our camp arrangements and hike in to spot 1 and set up a 2 man ladder stand against a 2 foot wide old growth douglas fir. Back to camp to prep our gear for the morning hunt , followed by dinner and a campfire and early to bed by 9pm.
Oct 2nd we woke at the 5am alarm to steady rain. Blacktails only move out of necessity when it's pouring rain. It kills thier hearing advantage and will stay put till the dripping sounds stop.
So we hung around camp and hiked in late, getting to the stand at 9:30 am. Was mostly and uneventul hunt, saw 5 does with a couple fawns over 3 1/2 hours. We didn't hunt the evening and opted to do some camp imrpovements and firewood prep and off to bed by 9pm
Oct 3rd , alarm at 5am.....6celcius no rain..... clear skies..... perfect. We get our stuff together and hike in to the stand, arriving 1/2 hour before legal shooting light.
We saw lots of deer over the 4 + hours we were in the stand. They would come in singles or in small groups throughout the morning. At 11:30 a pair came right in to the stand and one of them was a nice fat spike buck. I had hoped it would angle down and into Tracy's shooting lanes but it stayed to the right of the stand so I took the shot. 1st deer of the trip down. Nice fat little guy and easy to get off the mountain LOL 2 hours later we had him down by the creek and all cleaned up. Then back to camp for a much needed dinner and bed time. The body was sore and used up after the days events
Oct 4th we wake at the 5am bell to another beautiful clear sky and get ready for another full morning in the stand. Arriving in the dark we could hear activity as hooves struck the exposed rock of the mountain terrain. I was hopeful this would be tracy's day and I was not wrong.
At 7:30 am, a lone doe appears on the rock bluff above us, directly out from the stand. She mills around and I look away to check the right side of the slope. I look back and I don't see the doe, I see a buck and Tracy is already on him as he slips behind a large rock feature that hides him completely for about 15 yards. Then he suddenly appears on a ledge about 70 yards and presents a perfect broadside. I had kinda hoped she would read the situation and let him pass LOL But then again she didn't realize what would happen. It's all part of the learning experience hunting mountainous terrain though and when that deer presented the shot, she didn't hesitate for a second. Her .243 savage barked and down it went, right on the spot but it was twitching for a minute for so and had landed very near the edge of a 30ft drop and sure enough, over it went and then slid another 25 yards on the mossy slope. No big deal, except for how far down it ended up being. We had to take it up about 150 yards of mountain slope before we could drag it down into the valley where camp is.
With the help of a honda rope winch we managed to make work of it in reasonable time though we were both absolutely beat by the end of the day
Tracy was one happy gal getting her first deer and I was sure glad to be part of it.
Oct 5th..... we were both beat up and with 2 deer in the meat cooler we decided to take it easy and let a friend and his daughter who ahd arrived the night before, hunt the treestand that morning. I decided to spend the day scouting my other spots to see what sign was around. At 9:30 a shot was heard up the valley and I knew they had one down so I headed back to camp and hiked in with the rope winch. Sure enough it was needed and they pulled a fat 2 pt down to camp and left that evening.
Don't know of anyone here remembers CGN member MD that used to post lots but hasn't been around in a few years..... he arrived in camp in time to set up and have supper with us. We discussed the other spots I had not shown him and about the ample sign I found earlier in the day. We made plans that he would hunt spot 2 the next morning and Tracy and I would head back up to the stand.
Oct 6th. Mixed bag of sun and cloud but no rain and we make good time getting to the stand in the dark.
The day breaks, the wind is kinda wrong but we stick it out. The deer are acting a bit cagey, our scent has been spread around getting deer out so some of them only go as far as where we have walked and then turn and go back the way they came. I was starting to think we should have given the stand a rest for a few days.
Then at about 9:30, I catch movement off to my right and deer begin to appear between the trees heading straight towards me saddling the slope. One..... two..... then three..... all young bucks. Tracy knew what to do, we had discussed what to do if more than one buck presented at the same time. They came in within 30 yards of the stand and then angle down into the draw in front of us. Tracy was already lined up waiting for the lead buck to enter her shooting lane and when it did I heard her rifle pop and followed up with mine as I caught the third buck before he was aware of what was happening.
It was one of those High Five moments for 2 hunters sitting in a treestand on the side of a mountain LOL.... a double..... it's only happened to me twice before in 22 years. So the work began and again the new honda rope winch was an absolute life (and limb) saver getting those bucks off the mountain and into the game cooler.
MD who had hunted spot 2 that day , saw 10 deer but no bucks. He opted to hunt the treestand spot the next day as we were now tagged out.
Oct 7th we packed up everything while MD hunted the morning in the treestand. He did see a dozen deer or so and a single buck but with the trees and terrain as it is, it didn't present him with a shot. We left camp around 2pm and safely made the journey home. Dropped off Tracy and pulled in my driveway, plugged in the game cooler , had a shower and lights out LOL
Up this morning at 7, checked the cooler, holding nice at 36F ...... Tracy arrived at 9:30 and off to Frank's Custom Meats on Hwy 97 north of 100 mile house. Total weight combined, 390 lbs on the hooks. Not bad at all
Some great memories were made this trip and I could not be happier with my decision to mentor Tracy, it's been a real pleasure to see her success this season. She is all fired up now for the group bull moose hunt we have drawn with her brother for Nov 1st to 15th. Should be a lot of fun
Good luck wherever you are and whatever you are hunting this season!!!
I'm having a blast this year !!
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