My first deer, and a decent buck no less. Long story

H

hobophobe

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
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Location
Saskatchewan
I skunked out last year. Saw lots, no opportunities. This season wasn't looking promising, usually have to scare it out of bed in the valley by my place and then its running shots.

Took the day off from work on nov 21 because I was so busy at work I was stressed and mad. Said eff it as I was mad at home and went out with my rwd truck north and parked a couple miles from the house on a grid that turns to a 2 season. Walked about 1/4 mile to the fairly large valley that runs past us and past this point joins up with the quappelle valley and katepwa lake. Did some sitting in a few spots. Nothing moving. Decided to walk back south a bit on the top and then duck back down and push a bit of tall grass and bush. Well I get down to the bottom and sure as heck I hear the sound of stumbling and branches breaking. On the west valley wall I see a buck, about 70 yards get up and try to head up and jump the old barbed wire fence. Luckily the snow was deep and the wall was steep. Got 2 shots off, he was quartering away though. He managed the fence and i thought I missed! Then when he landed I saw the red hanging out of him! So I hurriedly tromped through the deep snow back to my truck...which felt like a bazillion kms away, and ripped all the way back to my place where our road crosses the valley so I could track it on the west side. Half way down the 1/4 section i was regretting not getting my 4x4 quad. It was drivable but I was spinning through some deep spots pretty good. Continued next post
 
I wasn't quite sure where he jumped the fence till I spotted some innards on the fence. Then I was able to track from the kicked up dirt and light blood spatter here and there. Got to the end of that 1/4, probably 300 yards and saw he had jumped the fence again where the valley hooks west. But I saw alot of end trails on the fence this time. As soon as I stopped I knew that I'd be stuck....deal with that later. Luckily, he had expired on the other side! Excited at the beast before me but also disappointed in my gunshot. I got to work field dressing and lucky for me, the shot split him open length wise and didn't hit stomach! So did my field dressing to get rid of what was left and dragged him back to the truck.

 
hobophobe said:
I wasn't quite sure where he jumped the fence till I spotted some innards. Then I was able to track from the kicked up dirt and light blood spatter here and there. Got to the end of that 1/4, probably 300 yards and saw he had jumped the fence again where the valley hooks west. But I saw alot of end trails on the fence this time. As soon as I stopped the truck I knew that I'd be stuck....deal with that later. Walked and luckily he had expired on the other side! Excited at the beast before me but also disappointed in my gunshot. I got to work field dressing and lucky for me, the shot split him open length wise and didn't hit stomach! So did my field dressing to get rid of what was left and dragged him back to the truck.

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Crap. 3rd post was a quote of myself and wasn't supposed to be.

Anyways. Drag it back to the truck....and man am I tired. Truck is stuck. Try for 15 min to get out. No dice. So...let's tromp through deep snow back to the house a whole 1/4 section and get the quad and the kids long sled. Made it home...exhausted and hung it just in time to get my boy from daycare.
 
Man was i ever. Got it mostly cut up except the temp dropped and the neck froze up to much. I wanted to grind a bunch of that. So I just cut the neck off and front legs and bagged em in my freezer for now. Already planning and excited for next seasons. This year was great weather wise. -8 or so.

I almost always take my Greek fairfox/classic 2000 rifle with me in 6.5 swede hand loaded with 140s. Decided that day to switch it up for the sake of my luck maybe changing and grabbed my other rifle in 6.5 swede that the previous owner custom built. It throws 100gr softies real accurate at 2950fps.
 
hobophobe said:
I skunked out last year. Saw lots, no opportunities. This season wasn't looking promising, usually have to scare it out of bed in the valley by my place and then its running shots.

Took the day off from work on nov 21 because I was so busy at work I was stressed and mad. Said eff it as I was mad at home and went out with my rwd truck north and parked a couple miles from the house on a grid that turns to a 2 season. Walked about 1/4 mile to the fairly large valley that runs past us and past this point joins up with the quappelle valley and katepwa lake. Did some sitting in a few spots. Nothing moving. Decided to walk back south a bit on the top and then duck back down and push a bit of tall grass and bush. Well I get down to the bottom and sure as heck I hear the sound of stumbling and branches breaking. On the west valley wall I see a buck, about 70 yards get up and try to head up and jump the old barbed wire fence. Luckily the snow was deep and the wall was steep. Got 2 shots off, he was quartering away though. He managed the fence and i thought I missed! Then when he landed I saw the red hanging out of him! So I hurriedly tromped through the deep snow back to my truck...which felt like a bazillion kms away, and ripped all the way back to my place where our road crosses the valley so I could track it on the west side. Half way down the 1/4 section i was regretting not getting my 4x4 quad. It was drivable but I was spinning through some deep spots pretty good. Continued next post
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Congrats !!
 
Terrific story, a great deer...and especially nice as a first deer! :)

You'll never forget your first, but having an exciting tale like this attached to it makes it truly awesome. Congrats! Are you going to do a shoulder mount, antlers only, Euro or...?
 
hobophobe said:
I skunked out last year. Saw lots, no opportunities. This season wasn't looking promising, usually have to scare it out of bed in the valley by my place and then its running shots.

Took the day off from work on nov 21 because I was so busy at work I was stressed and mad. Said eff it as I was mad at home and went out with my rwd truck north and parked a couple miles from the house on a grid that turns to a 2 season. Walked about 1/4 mile to the fairly large valley that runs past us and past this point joins up with the quappelle valley and katepwa lake. Did some sitting in a few spots. Nothing moving. Decided to walk back south a bit on the top and then duck back down and push a bit of tall grass and bush. Well I get down to the bottom and sure as heck I hear the sound of stumbling and branches breaking. On the west valley wall I see a buck, about 70 yards get up and try to head up and jump the old barbed wire fence. Luckily the snow was deep and the wall was steep. Got 2 shots off, he was quartering away though. He managed the fence and i thought I missed! Then when he landed I saw the red hanging out of him! So I hurriedly tromped through the deep snow back to my truck...which felt like a bazillion kms away, and ripped all the way back to my place where our road crosses the valley so I could track it on the west side. Half way down the 1/4 section i was regretting not getting my 4x4 quad. It was drivable but I was spinning through some deep spots pretty good. Continued next post
Click to expand...
Man I feel that.
Congratulations
Shot my first buck last year.
I was alone. Man what a trip
That feeling when you realize the reason you did all this is laying in front of you.
I got another this year.
I'll remember my first harvest the rest of my life.
Seriously. Congratulations
 
Congrats, nice buck. One thing you will find out even after hunting for 50 years is that sometimes, $hit just happens. It wasn’t that bad of a shot in the end because you tracked and recovered him. Good job on you. Enjoy the meat.
 
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