I did!
My brother and I spent the day hauling firewood or family members, then went out and caught the 'late show', up the road. Usual story, hay field, a dozen or more does, and, now that the snow is starting to hit the higher country, several bucks making the rounds. The mulie rut is started here, and the usual show is going on, with different actors showing up in different areas around here, on a rotation basis, it seems, as the bucks wander from doe group to doe group looking for one that will stand.
He went low, to watch the field, where he had seen two very legal bucks that morning. I went high, up into a stand of timber that has series of very well traveled game trails through it, in hopes that I would either see a deer or at least push one out towards my brothers position.
Weather has been crap most of the week, rainy, wet, and generally not worth being out in if you didn't have to, but that made all the twigs and grasses out there pretty soft too.
That was to work in my favor, to be sure.
So, anyway, I went wandering about, on the high ground. We only had a half hour to go until sunset, so we were pretty much out hunting just to stave off the feeling that we 'should have', after the days work. I hoofed it up the sidehill and when I got about as high up as I figured I felt like (not very) I started wandering slowly along the lay of the land, trying to keep more or less along the same elevation line, as I checked out each little draw in front of me. Real slow, move and look a lot. It was an interesting walk anyways, as I found an old midden site, old tin cans and the like, pretty much in an area that we had no idea that there 'should' be a midden or home site near, so that was a bonus. Anyone know how long it has been since they stopped using a dot of lead to seal canned food? Most of these tins seemed to have the dot.
Anyways, I cleared a little ridge, and had a pretty wide draw ahead of me, and it was getting fairly dark in there, so I decided that I was gonna park my arse there and wait out the last light of day. As I looked about for a decent position to stand, and started towards it, I caught a flash of movement above me,to my left. Awright! Any deer seen, while out in the woods, is a good thing, close is even better, no worries about legality or otherwise, as I was pretty sure I'd be seeing a doe or several, if I saw anything.
So, up goes the rangefinder, and I start making out the lines of a deer body, slowly working it's way across above me, from my left to my right. 71 yards, and slightly above me. Truth told, by this time I figure I got busted by some does (me without a doe tag) and they are heading to parts elsewhere to laugh at me. Then I see some antler. Heart rate goes up a wee bit. Cool! So I figure I got that close to a buck, and he busted me. Still a pretty good hunting trip, esp. for a short night out, eh! Can't see through the trees well enough to get a clear view of the points, as I needed four or better. Then I can't see, or hear, the buck moving. Remember all that damp grass? A very short few minutes later, I catch him moving across the next ridge of the draw, from left to right, but very near level with me now. He had covered the ground pretty much in silence, and was now in front of me, rather than above me on the slope. I got a good look at two decent forks on his antlers, just as he was stepping behind a group of pine trees. Where he proceeded to start snort-wheezing in alarm. Ah yes. Wind. From behind me, towards him. Figured I was boogered, right there, but then what's he do? He lets out a noise that is probably best described as a roar. Very loud, ripping roaring noise. So I let out a grunt of my own, not near as loud as his, to see what he would do.
About 15 seconds go by, it's getting pretty dark in the woods by now, but I still have a few minutes of shooting time, and I see him with his head up, walking straight in on me, from about 40 yards. Another nice clear view of his forks, and I planted the cross hairs on pretty much the center of his chest, and cracked him, and he dropped. About 3 seconds later, I had a foot on one of his antlers, cutting his throat while he went through his final twitches and convulsions. Dunno if it was necessary, but it was cheap insurance against a runner, I figured.
A time check showed that I had about 8 minutes of legal shooting time left. Man, was it dark in there.
I was uphill from the road, pretty much 300 yards or so, and almost that much in elevation, too. Of course, when I patted down the usual locations that I keep a hank of cord handy in, they all come up empty. DoH! Time was passing, though, and I figured the buck would slide OK on the grass, which he did, so I was able to start hauling him down (OK, guiding his sleigh ride descent) towards the road, while my brother was getting back to the truck and getting somewhat aligned with me on the road below.
Once he got set up, he joined me on the hill, as did my stepfather, and the two of us hauled the guy through a last little draw, and out above the road. Usual story there, I did a quick open and gut, got the liver and heart sorted out and bagged and we made hasty to get the buck the rest of the way out to the road.
Meanwhile, one of the neighbors drives by, sees the parked vehicles, and stops...Good thing, too, as it was a pretty good lift with the four of us, getting him into the back of the pickup. I did say he was a decent size boy, didn't I? Ayup. He was!
Sooo... It was a real quick run to town, where I got him hung on the gambrel at my stepfathers place, then a similarly quick trip back out to my place again to get showered, changed, and dressed (muy rapido) so that we would not be too much later for a dinner invite.
Dinner was good, too!
Anyhoo, the pictures that were taken out in the field didn't turn out so well. Gonna have to be happy with the self timer pose that I took before I skinned him.
And the close up, of the antlers.
All in all, an excellent Saturday night!
Tomorrow the cutting begins!
Post script to the dealio. My brother is pretty certain that this guy was the smaller of the two legal bucks he had seen that morning. As he described it, the larger fella had a set of bone on him that would have fit the smaller ones, inside. This guy is a bit over 20 inches spread across his beams. The bigger one? Still out spreading the blood around...
Cheers
Trev
My brother and I spent the day hauling firewood or family members, then went out and caught the 'late show', up the road. Usual story, hay field, a dozen or more does, and, now that the snow is starting to hit the higher country, several bucks making the rounds. The mulie rut is started here, and the usual show is going on, with different actors showing up in different areas around here, on a rotation basis, it seems, as the bucks wander from doe group to doe group looking for one that will stand.
He went low, to watch the field, where he had seen two very legal bucks that morning. I went high, up into a stand of timber that has series of very well traveled game trails through it, in hopes that I would either see a deer or at least push one out towards my brothers position.
Weather has been crap most of the week, rainy, wet, and generally not worth being out in if you didn't have to, but that made all the twigs and grasses out there pretty soft too.
That was to work in my favor, to be sure.
So, anyway, I went wandering about, on the high ground. We only had a half hour to go until sunset, so we were pretty much out hunting just to stave off the feeling that we 'should have', after the days work. I hoofed it up the sidehill and when I got about as high up as I figured I felt like (not very) I started wandering slowly along the lay of the land, trying to keep more or less along the same elevation line, as I checked out each little draw in front of me. Real slow, move and look a lot. It was an interesting walk anyways, as I found an old midden site, old tin cans and the like, pretty much in an area that we had no idea that there 'should' be a midden or home site near, so that was a bonus. Anyone know how long it has been since they stopped using a dot of lead to seal canned food? Most of these tins seemed to have the dot.
Anyways, I cleared a little ridge, and had a pretty wide draw ahead of me, and it was getting fairly dark in there, so I decided that I was gonna park my arse there and wait out the last light of day. As I looked about for a decent position to stand, and started towards it, I caught a flash of movement above me,to my left. Awright! Any deer seen, while out in the woods, is a good thing, close is even better, no worries about legality or otherwise, as I was pretty sure I'd be seeing a doe or several, if I saw anything.
So, up goes the rangefinder, and I start making out the lines of a deer body, slowly working it's way across above me, from my left to my right. 71 yards, and slightly above me. Truth told, by this time I figure I got busted by some does (me without a doe tag) and they are heading to parts elsewhere to laugh at me. Then I see some antler. Heart rate goes up a wee bit. Cool! So I figure I got that close to a buck, and he busted me. Still a pretty good hunting trip, esp. for a short night out, eh! Can't see through the trees well enough to get a clear view of the points, as I needed four or better. Then I can't see, or hear, the buck moving. Remember all that damp grass? A very short few minutes later, I catch him moving across the next ridge of the draw, from left to right, but very near level with me now. He had covered the ground pretty much in silence, and was now in front of me, rather than above me on the slope. I got a good look at two decent forks on his antlers, just as he was stepping behind a group of pine trees. Where he proceeded to start snort-wheezing in alarm. Ah yes. Wind. From behind me, towards him. Figured I was boogered, right there, but then what's he do? He lets out a noise that is probably best described as a roar. Very loud, ripping roaring noise. So I let out a grunt of my own, not near as loud as his, to see what he would do.
About 15 seconds go by, it's getting pretty dark in the woods by now, but I still have a few minutes of shooting time, and I see him with his head up, walking straight in on me, from about 40 yards. Another nice clear view of his forks, and I planted the cross hairs on pretty much the center of his chest, and cracked him, and he dropped. About 3 seconds later, I had a foot on one of his antlers, cutting his throat while he went through his final twitches and convulsions. Dunno if it was necessary, but it was cheap insurance against a runner, I figured.
A time check showed that I had about 8 minutes of legal shooting time left. Man, was it dark in there.
I was uphill from the road, pretty much 300 yards or so, and almost that much in elevation, too. Of course, when I patted down the usual locations that I keep a hank of cord handy in, they all come up empty. DoH! Time was passing, though, and I figured the buck would slide OK on the grass, which he did, so I was able to start hauling him down (OK, guiding his sleigh ride descent) towards the road, while my brother was getting back to the truck and getting somewhat aligned with me on the road below.
Once he got set up, he joined me on the hill, as did my stepfather, and the two of us hauled the guy through a last little draw, and out above the road. Usual story there, I did a quick open and gut, got the liver and heart sorted out and bagged and we made hasty to get the buck the rest of the way out to the road.
Meanwhile, one of the neighbors drives by, sees the parked vehicles, and stops...Good thing, too, as it was a pretty good lift with the four of us, getting him into the back of the pickup. I did say he was a decent size boy, didn't I? Ayup. He was!
Sooo... It was a real quick run to town, where I got him hung on the gambrel at my stepfathers place, then a similarly quick trip back out to my place again to get showered, changed, and dressed (muy rapido) so that we would not be too much later for a dinner invite.
Dinner was good, too!
Anyhoo, the pictures that were taken out in the field didn't turn out so well. Gonna have to be happy with the self timer pose that I took before I skinned him.
And the close up, of the antlers.
All in all, an excellent Saturday night!
Tomorrow the cutting begins!
Post script to the dealio. My brother is pretty certain that this guy was the smaller of the two legal bucks he had seen that morning. As he described it, the larger fella had a set of bone on him that would have fit the smaller ones, inside. This guy is a bit over 20 inches spread across his beams. The bigger one? Still out spreading the blood around...
Cheers
Trev
