2021 started out with elk season as usual. I only took a few days off since I was just too busy to take my normal amount of time off. I covered my usual spots and did some calling with no luck. At noon on the 3rd day, I sat in one of the spots that I've taken several elk in over the years and had lunch. While eating I would give a cow call once in a while but didn't hear a response. After half hour or so I was done eating and ready to get up and move on when I heard branches breaking. I turned to see this guy coming out about 75yds away and as soon as he cleared the brush I fired. He went about 50yds then piled up. Super good eating, as all elk are.
Next up was my son with his first draw mule deer. I was so proud of him this year. He hiked many miles up and down steep hills and put several really good stalks on bucks but it just didn't turn out. On the last day of muzzle loader season we spotted this buck bedded down several hundred yards away. We back tracked to stay out of his view and after belly crawling to a position with a vantage we spotted him within range, feeding along some trees. Unfortunately he kept moving, not giving him a clear shot, then bedded down where we couldn't see him. There was no way of getting closer without losing our vantage point and cover, so we just waited. 2 hours laying flat on the top of a wind swept hill isn't fun but when the buck finally stood up he was ready and dropped him with a frontal shot, sending the buck rolling down the hill. He was pretty excited. Not a big buck but he did it right with a lot of hard work, patience and heart.
This is going to be a bit of a story as the hunt for this buck spanned several years with a lot of hard work and time put into harvesting him. I first saw this buck in 2018 as a 3 1/2yr old. He came cruising through my bait just before legal light ended and never gave me a good look but I knew he was a 2x3 and unique but young yet. I never saw him again that year. In 2019 I had my stand and bait in the same spot again and on Rememberance day I rattled him in and instantly recognized him even though he had grown quite a bit. One side looked fairly normal, the other had big mass. Now a 3x3, I hesitated for a minute because it was early in the season and he was still a fairly young buck. The opportunity passed me by as he took an unexpected turn and passed out of view. Later on as the season progressed I decided that if he came in again, I would take him. Fortunately it never worked out as he would only show up when I wasn't there. That spring I walked miles all over the area he lived in looking for his sheds. I even camped out over night to make the most of the time I had and with only an hour left before I had to head home, I spotted his one shed out of the corner of my eye, right in the area I suspected was his core bedding area. Here he is as a 4 1/2yr old and his shed.
Over the 2019 season I began to suspect the more mature bucks were scent checking my stand for me before coming in, as it was easy for them to circle down wind in cover before popping out into view, so I moved my stand and bait in 2020 to a spot that was unlikely to have them circle around. Shot distance was about 150 yds across a large open muskeg area. Mid August I put up 4 cameras throughout his core area and a month later when I checked them, I had him on camera coming out of his core bedding area only days after I had put the camera up. When November rolled around I checked all the cameras again and not a single picture of him. I figured he must have moved on or died but also knew I could have just missed him. We all know how "reliable" trail cams can be. Anyway, I spent many cold and long days in the stand hoping to see him but then another mature buck that I had on camera showed up and I decided I couldn't pass him up on a hope of seeing the Big 3 again. After taking this mature buck, I pulled the last cam I had over the bait and sure enough there he was, the day before, right over noon. I was pretty disappointed but in the end I couldn't complain with the cool buck I did get and I now had something to really look forward to for 2021 season. Here's how he looked fall of 2020 as a 5 1/2yr old.
Spring of this year I again went out to look for his sheds. This time I headed straight to his core bedding area and sure enough, there they were laying side by side not 50yds from where I found his shed the previous year. It was a big change and he was definitely a mature buck. The mass was pretty incredible in some places with the thickest spot measuring over 10 inches.
This August I set up 5 cams all over his turf but never got a pic of him. On Nov 1st, he finally showed up on camera. It took a few more pictures over the next few days before I put it together that it was him. The pics were all night pics and bad angles, plus he had now grown into a 4x4 so at first I didn't recognize him. Once I saw a good side profile pic, there was no mistaking it was him. I spent 5 days in the stand during early November but he never came in. Nov 15th he showed up during the day for the first time. 12:30 just like last year. Of course I was at work and super disappointed. Those cell cams are a real downer some times. Nov 17th at 12:56 he was there again and again, I was at work. While disappointed, I was also pretty excited. I had 10 days off coming up and it seemed he was on a sort of schedule now. I sat all the 19th with no sighting then at 10:30 on the 20th he just seemed to materialize out of no where. I didn't hesitate for a second as soon as I saw the mass, I knew it was him and took the shot. He's not the biggest buck by any means but I have never been more excited. There was a lot of hard work, scouting, shed hunting, packing in bait over rough terrain, slogging through muskeg, packing in the stand, etc over the course of 3 years to finally get him. Anyway sorry for the long drawn out story but he is definitely my favourite buck and will make a great shoulder mount. In the last pic you can see his head is soaked in blood. He had a pretty good head wound from fighting as well as a huge puncture wound just above his spine.
The sheds and his rack showing the growth over the years.
Next up was my son with his first draw mule deer. I was so proud of him this year. He hiked many miles up and down steep hills and put several really good stalks on bucks but it just didn't turn out. On the last day of muzzle loader season we spotted this buck bedded down several hundred yards away. We back tracked to stay out of his view and after belly crawling to a position with a vantage we spotted him within range, feeding along some trees. Unfortunately he kept moving, not giving him a clear shot, then bedded down where we couldn't see him. There was no way of getting closer without losing our vantage point and cover, so we just waited. 2 hours laying flat on the top of a wind swept hill isn't fun but when the buck finally stood up he was ready and dropped him with a frontal shot, sending the buck rolling down the hill. He was pretty excited. Not a big buck but he did it right with a lot of hard work, patience and heart.
This is going to be a bit of a story as the hunt for this buck spanned several years with a lot of hard work and time put into harvesting him. I first saw this buck in 2018 as a 3 1/2yr old. He came cruising through my bait just before legal light ended and never gave me a good look but I knew he was a 2x3 and unique but young yet. I never saw him again that year. In 2019 I had my stand and bait in the same spot again and on Rememberance day I rattled him in and instantly recognized him even though he had grown quite a bit. One side looked fairly normal, the other had big mass. Now a 3x3, I hesitated for a minute because it was early in the season and he was still a fairly young buck. The opportunity passed me by as he took an unexpected turn and passed out of view. Later on as the season progressed I decided that if he came in again, I would take him. Fortunately it never worked out as he would only show up when I wasn't there. That spring I walked miles all over the area he lived in looking for his sheds. I even camped out over night to make the most of the time I had and with only an hour left before I had to head home, I spotted his one shed out of the corner of my eye, right in the area I suspected was his core bedding area. Here he is as a 4 1/2yr old and his shed.
Over the 2019 season I began to suspect the more mature bucks were scent checking my stand for me before coming in, as it was easy for them to circle down wind in cover before popping out into view, so I moved my stand and bait in 2020 to a spot that was unlikely to have them circle around. Shot distance was about 150 yds across a large open muskeg area. Mid August I put up 4 cameras throughout his core area and a month later when I checked them, I had him on camera coming out of his core bedding area only days after I had put the camera up. When November rolled around I checked all the cameras again and not a single picture of him. I figured he must have moved on or died but also knew I could have just missed him. We all know how "reliable" trail cams can be. Anyway, I spent many cold and long days in the stand hoping to see him but then another mature buck that I had on camera showed up and I decided I couldn't pass him up on a hope of seeing the Big 3 again. After taking this mature buck, I pulled the last cam I had over the bait and sure enough there he was, the day before, right over noon. I was pretty disappointed but in the end I couldn't complain with the cool buck I did get and I now had something to really look forward to for 2021 season. Here's how he looked fall of 2020 as a 5 1/2yr old.
Spring of this year I again went out to look for his sheds. This time I headed straight to his core bedding area and sure enough, there they were laying side by side not 50yds from where I found his shed the previous year. It was a big change and he was definitely a mature buck. The mass was pretty incredible in some places with the thickest spot measuring over 10 inches.
This August I set up 5 cams all over his turf but never got a pic of him. On Nov 1st, he finally showed up on camera. It took a few more pictures over the next few days before I put it together that it was him. The pics were all night pics and bad angles, plus he had now grown into a 4x4 so at first I didn't recognize him. Once I saw a good side profile pic, there was no mistaking it was him. I spent 5 days in the stand during early November but he never came in. Nov 15th he showed up during the day for the first time. 12:30 just like last year. Of course I was at work and super disappointed. Those cell cams are a real downer some times. Nov 17th at 12:56 he was there again and again, I was at work. While disappointed, I was also pretty excited. I had 10 days off coming up and it seemed he was on a sort of schedule now. I sat all the 19th with no sighting then at 10:30 on the 20th he just seemed to materialize out of no where. I didn't hesitate for a second as soon as I saw the mass, I knew it was him and took the shot. He's not the biggest buck by any means but I have never been more excited. There was a lot of hard work, scouting, shed hunting, packing in bait over rough terrain, slogging through muskeg, packing in the stand, etc over the course of 3 years to finally get him. Anyway sorry for the long drawn out story but he is definitely my favourite buck and will make a great shoulder mount. In the last pic you can see his head is soaked in blood. He had a pretty good head wound from fighting as well as a huge puncture wound just above his spine.
The sheds and his rack showing the growth over the years.
