Many years ago, a friend asked me if I would take him hunting. I readily agreed, and told him to take his hunter safety course and buy a license. Years passed, and he didn't say anything more about it. But then a few years ago, he brought it up again, and finally got his license. So in 2013, we started hunting together. The first night, the night before the 2013 deer rifle season, I called in what I think was a bobcat that put a nice stalk on us. That was fun. The next morning, we saw nothing. We had a good vantage point, in an area with lots of tracks, but we only saw other hunters. I had been hunting with archery equipment for so long, that I didn't really have any good rifle areas scouted out, and all my old rifle areas are overrun with hunters. I asked a friend, who recommended a couple spots that he's not using any more. But he didn't get to even see a deer in daylight. Did I mention that I'm not a very good hunter? It took me 10 years to get my first legal deer!
The next season, I scouted out an area that looked promising on the trail cams, but again, all we saw were hunters, and a doe as it crossed the road on the way out one day. He was getting a little frustrated with the lack of seeing anything, and asked about doing a trip out of state to hunt somewhere that offers a higher success rate. We're going to Wyoming next month!
This season, I tried to do more scouting, but with limited success in finding areas that are more promising. He drew a G13 tag and also bought a D16 tag, so his chances were looking better. Last week, he wanted to go scout out an area that we hunted last year. I knew that the area was still being used by deer, and that we probably shouldn't tromp through it 2 days before the season opened, but it's a good thing we did (he wouldn't have found it on his own on opening morning, and I was going to be in another area). We spooked a doe and 3 fawns out of it. I was busy looking at the tracks, when he said "there's a deer!" We backed out, and checked out a high spot with a nice view of the area.
Opening morning rolled around, and he got up on the mountain early. Nothing showed up. He had to leave by 9:30, but he was watching on the way out, and near the road, he saw a buck with antlers so big he thought it was fake! He described a white face that didn't seem right to him (I'm thinking OLD buck!), but when it moved, he knew it was real. But then it was too late, because the deer was leaving the area.
The next day, we went back in the afternoon and found the spot, looked at the tracks, and tried to spot him. We didn't expect to find him there, and he wasn't, so we went down to the high spot overlooking the meadow he had hunted the previous day. The distances were long, but we had good views of all the routes into the area except for 1 or 2. 20 minutes before the end of legal shooting time, a doe and some fawns walked by at 100 yards. I told him to grab his rifle. But in the fading light, he had trouble acquiring the deer. Then, he tried to take a shot at one of them, but his safety was on! They moved into the brush and I couldn't pick them up again. But then he spotted them moving toward the meadow. A few minutes later, I spotted the doe browsing on the edge of the meadow. He got a nice rest laying against the boulder, with his rifle on his pack, took aim, and at 230 yards, took down the doe with a single shot from his .308 Tikka T3 Lite Stainless from Fine Firearms in La Mesa!
We hurried down and around to the meadow, and couldn't find her. I thought he might have missed high, based on his description of where he aimed. But then we found a copious blood trail (see the picture below), and followed it 30 yards right to her! It was so awesome, and we praised and thanked the Lord for answering our prayers.
Now we just need to put him on a buck, and then it's on to Wyoming!
The next season, I scouted out an area that looked promising on the trail cams, but again, all we saw were hunters, and a doe as it crossed the road on the way out one day. He was getting a little frustrated with the lack of seeing anything, and asked about doing a trip out of state to hunt somewhere that offers a higher success rate. We're going to Wyoming next month!
This season, I tried to do more scouting, but with limited success in finding areas that are more promising. He drew a G13 tag and also bought a D16 tag, so his chances were looking better. Last week, he wanted to go scout out an area that we hunted last year. I knew that the area was still being used by deer, and that we probably shouldn't tromp through it 2 days before the season opened, but it's a good thing we did (he wouldn't have found it on his own on opening morning, and I was going to be in another area). We spooked a doe and 3 fawns out of it. I was busy looking at the tracks, when he said "there's a deer!" We backed out, and checked out a high spot with a nice view of the area.
Opening morning rolled around, and he got up on the mountain early. Nothing showed up. He had to leave by 9:30, but he was watching on the way out, and near the road, he saw a buck with antlers so big he thought it was fake! He described a white face that didn't seem right to him (I'm thinking OLD buck!), but when it moved, he knew it was real. But then it was too late, because the deer was leaving the area.
The next day, we went back in the afternoon and found the spot, looked at the tracks, and tried to spot him. We didn't expect to find him there, and he wasn't, so we went down to the high spot overlooking the meadow he had hunted the previous day. The distances were long, but we had good views of all the routes into the area except for 1 or 2. 20 minutes before the end of legal shooting time, a doe and some fawns walked by at 100 yards. I told him to grab his rifle. But in the fading light, he had trouble acquiring the deer. Then, he tried to take a shot at one of them, but his safety was on! They moved into the brush and I couldn't pick them up again. But then he spotted them moving toward the meadow. A few minutes later, I spotted the doe browsing on the edge of the meadow. He got a nice rest laying against the boulder, with his rifle on his pack, took aim, and at 230 yards, took down the doe with a single shot from his .308 Tikka T3 Lite Stainless from Fine Firearms in La Mesa!
We hurried down and around to the meadow, and couldn't find her. I thought he might have missed high, based on his description of where he aimed. But then we found a copious blood trail (see the picture below), and followed it 30 yards right to her! It was so awesome, and we praised and thanked the Lord for answering our prayers.
Now we just need to put him on a buck, and then it's on to Wyoming!
