Hello all,
I have had a few questions on my Avatar some want to know when and where and all the details. Well, I am sorry to say it is not a California buck. It was shot in Nevada in October of 2015, Unit 221-223 on public land.
I mostly hunt bigger stuff in Utah and Arizona. I put in for the draw every year. Nevada is a good state to put in for but you must buy a license every year or you will lose your points. A lot will not go in for the draw because of that. I was astonished when I drew the tag with only 2 points. I am from Nevada and my family still is there. My uncle has cabin in Pioche Nevada which is right in the middle of the unit. After calming down, I called Greg Krogh, owner of Mogollon Rim Outfitters and booked his outfit to guide. If you are into Mule Deer you know who he is. He is really almost a legend in the Mule Deer world. See his website and look at the gallery. So now I wait for the season to begin. There are only 15 NR tags in that unit so I felt pretty good. My cousin has 9 points and did not draw as a resident so for once I could rub it in. Then the unbelievable happened, two weeks before the hunt, my son gets an alternate tag for the same unit with ZERO points! He had to choose Nevada or Arizona which we hunt every year. He wisely chose Nevada after speaking to Greg.
We left Corona on the way Nevada Saturday morning at 6am. My 2002 F250 (yes, 7.3) pulling my toy hauler to Patterson Pass in Nevada. While fueling in Baker I noticed a bulge in the front right tire….it was separating. Luckily I carry a full size take off tire in the bed. We went down the street and had the tire mounted. That was a 20-minute delay but only $21. We stopped in Vegas and got food at a Walmart after dealing with crazy traffic. Won’t do that again, bad planning on my part. On the road again. We hit Pioche about 3pm and met my Uncle at the range and sighted in. I am OCD on sighting in at the elevation and conditions I am hunting at, things happen. My Sako A7 Tecomate 300WSM was on, the 700 was shooting the 162 AMAX in 7mm awesome and the Tikka Superlite in 308 was also on. On the road again.
Clay Campbell is the guide assigned to us for this hunt. He was already in camp, had our spot reserved. We were unpacked and unloaded in an hour. We spent the evening planning and mostly just listening to Clay. That week, he guided an archery hunter and got a 404 bull and Greg guided and nailed a 238 buck. I was jazzed. In the morning we departed and went to a high area and started glassing. When the sun came and it was clear this was not Utah, Arizona or for sure not California. This country is big, immense, huge and daunting. You stop thinking in yards….it’s now miles. I rented some Swarovski 15x56 and also used my Kowa 664. We spent the entire day out glassing. We spotted over a hundred deer, some forkys, 3x3s and small 4x4s, cow elk and one 370 class bull. I am 50 and at this point I wanted something I could be proud of and justify the cost. No shooters today but an amazing day.
Tuesday were out at dark, glassing in the dark. The day before we talked to some hunters that were there for the week and only got two smaller 3x3s. Please don’t take me as a snob when I say this, I noticed their lack of optics. They all has 10x42s of brand x. My guide noted it as well. In this big country, big good optics are a must. Only until recently could I afford the best stuff. But there are firms that you can rent Swaro’s from, do it if you ever are doing a premium hunt, please. As the sun rose over the horizon these two hunters showed up on their ranger. One already had beer in his hand and literally put his stool next to my son. I was less than pleased. Everywhere we would glass, they would. Clay and I went down the hill and glassed out of sight. My son, being the knucklehead that all sons can be sometimes, began glassing trees and then would excitingly range a bush in the distance, just to mess with the other two guys. They figured it after about an hour. They said something under their breath and left. Good Son. If your new to this, when your glassing, especially with a tripod, and other hunters show up stop glassing and point your scope down or up until they leave. We all are friendly, but on a premium tag what you are looking at is for you and only for you. It’s not rude, its hunting and why give someone else your glassing zone and potential buck. About 9am we were getting discouraged, we knew the bucks we already or beginning to bed. I was tired and put the Kowa down. I lifted my 8x42 and glassed the bottom of the hill we were on. I think I said Holy Sh!!...I put the binos up and this one buck was moving fast north to south, as all the deer were. Clay and my son were on it. Clay sized it up at about a 160 to 170. We really wanted a 180 plus. The deer went to a tree 1514 yards away and bedded, looking right at us it seemed. We watched, and watched and watched. He got up and moved about 25 yards east and all we could see was his tail…. but he was bedded. We discussed it and it was my sons turn on choice and he decided to go after it. Clay and my son loaded up, I stayed on the 15x binos and radios were working well (allowed in Nevada). My son grabbed to Tikka SL they started the short hike. The ground is flat, rolling and grassy but underneath very rocky. Looks easy but it is not. They were headed to one bush that they could maybe make a shot. The deer was 1514 yards from me and the bush was just under 1400 yards. So should be under a 200 yard shot. They finally got into position, I could not see the deer at this point. My son seemed like he was on the sticks standing forever, it was only about 30 seconds. Then I saw the recoil of the rifle and heard the report…then I heard another. My heart sank, that’s my boy (although 22) and want him to be successful. I figured he missed and was trying to hit it. I could not see anything. Then the radio cracked “buck down, lock up optics, bring your pack”. When I got there, my son was beaming. It measured a 165. It spotted them and he shot it moving quartering away. The 168 grain AMAX from the 308 went in behind the right rib cage and grenaded the lungs but he was still walking, the second shot broke his rear leg…DOA. We capped and dressed the deer and we went back to camp. My uncle showed up and was waiting, not knowing anything that happened. He was very happy. It was a good family moment.
The rest of the day and Wednesday nothing was seen that was a shooter. Lots of driving, glassing, driving, glassing. Again, if your new to this, you spend more time glassing than actually stalking. This hunt total was about a 25 to 1 ratio. So we glassed 25 hours and were stalking 1 hour. Thursday AM the same damn thing happened. This time on large buck was walking north to south with 3 smaller bucks. Clay said it was about the same as my sons. I dwelled, dwelled and dwelled. “Don’t pass on the first day what you would shoot on the last day”. I hate that, but it’s true. Clay and I went after it. Son stayed on the hill with the glass. We got about 600 yards out and my son said he lost them. We knew the general location. We decided to come back in the evening. We did not want to bump them and we knew there were hunters further south of us. The plan was to drop me off on the road and hike in to a small rise about 2000 yards from the road and 2000 yards from where Clay and my son would be spotting. I got there about 4pm. Nothing. Nothing, nothing. Dark at about 8pm. It is 7pm, damn, if I get packed 1st thing in the AM I can be home by 2pm. Hunt is over. Then the radio cracked, “we see them, you need to get 1500 yards north”. Are you kidding I thought, losing light, crappy footing, I want a cigarette! I set out, any faster I would have been jogging. I am not an athlete, I’m 50, a smoker…this sucks. About 500 yards away… it was too dark and not legal anymore either. Clay radioed, “Nick, good effort, sit down and rest, get to the truck when you can”. Dark, 2000 yards back to truck. I’m finding a new hobby. I am paying for this? Really?
Friday morning. Last day. Need to be home, 450 miles away tonight. So I need to leave by 2pm. Same plan as the day before, just a little further north. 1500 yards or so in the dark on the same crappy terrain. Hunkered down behind a tree. It is but cold today, about 17 degrees when we left camp. There I sat. Two bucks decided to play about 200 yards in front of me. One was a small 3x3. We named him Sixer, we saw him every day. That was it, 8:30am, hunt pretty much over. Their bedded now. Clay and I radioed and discussed. About a mile away, south from me, there was small valley with some aspens. We decided I would just walk there, see or find what I can see. The terrain is mostly high sage. I would walk 50 yards and glass, over and over again. I was getting close to the aspens. I accepted it was a good effort but not in the cards this time. At least my son got one. Then I saw fast movement.
They bedded in the middle of the sage, right out in the open. I saw 4 deer, including the one I was after. They jumped and started moving fast. I began to run along them about 125 yards west of them as they ran south. They were busted but were not doing the mule deer “hop”. I could see them the whole time and then they slowed. No shot. I got on the sticks and was focused on about a 10 foot opening 127 yards from me. There were two large trees (bushes, Chaparral I think) and they were heading just beyond them. I put the rifle up on the sticks. One buck passed, stopped, moved on. Second buck passed, stopped, and moved on. I could see the rack of the third buck, my buck. I was sighted in on the spot where the other two stopped. Please god make him stop like the others. There he was passing the opening, I was on him, he stopped. The 300WSM sounded like a cannon in the crisp air. The recoil caused me to lose him. The other bucks ran full now towards and aspens. I ran too. I stopped and kneeled on a rock. The sage was too high; all I could see glimpses. Clay radioed what was going on because all this was out of his sight. I asked how many bucks can he running in the aspens. He said 4. Crap. I was exhausted. It was 9:30. I missed at 127 yards? I shoot and practice a lot, even on sticks. I suck. I slowly walked back to where I shot, got my casing. Looked at the opening and reflected on my loss. I decided I better look, it felt like a good shot, I was calm, dead on, thought I heard a thud. Maybe, just maybe. As I walked to the spot and looked I saw nothing…. nothing…. blood, more blood, massive blood. Buck. About 15 yards from where I hit him. Yes, I like AMAXs and the 168 grain 300WSM went in right where it was supposed to. I radioed like a big geek “big buck down”. My heart was pounding. There was 5th deer I never saw, so I thought I missed.
Pics taken, capped, dressed, 2 mile walk to truck, get to camp, measure, talked to Greg, packed and load trailer. On the road at 1:30pm. It was and is my proudest hunt. Although I had a guide, I saw the deer, hiked for it on my own, decided on the live tactics and got it. He measures right at 186, 28 inches wide. Both are with Keith at Trophy Room Taxidermy in Riverside.
I have had a few questions on my Avatar some want to know when and where and all the details. Well, I am sorry to say it is not a California buck. It was shot in Nevada in October of 2015, Unit 221-223 on public land.
I mostly hunt bigger stuff in Utah and Arizona. I put in for the draw every year. Nevada is a good state to put in for but you must buy a license every year or you will lose your points. A lot will not go in for the draw because of that. I was astonished when I drew the tag with only 2 points. I am from Nevada and my family still is there. My uncle has cabin in Pioche Nevada which is right in the middle of the unit. After calming down, I called Greg Krogh, owner of Mogollon Rim Outfitters and booked his outfit to guide. If you are into Mule Deer you know who he is. He is really almost a legend in the Mule Deer world. See his website and look at the gallery. So now I wait for the season to begin. There are only 15 NR tags in that unit so I felt pretty good. My cousin has 9 points and did not draw as a resident so for once I could rub it in. Then the unbelievable happened, two weeks before the hunt, my son gets an alternate tag for the same unit with ZERO points! He had to choose Nevada or Arizona which we hunt every year. He wisely chose Nevada after speaking to Greg.
We left Corona on the way Nevada Saturday morning at 6am. My 2002 F250 (yes, 7.3) pulling my toy hauler to Patterson Pass in Nevada. While fueling in Baker I noticed a bulge in the front right tire….it was separating. Luckily I carry a full size take off tire in the bed. We went down the street and had the tire mounted. That was a 20-minute delay but only $21. We stopped in Vegas and got food at a Walmart after dealing with crazy traffic. Won’t do that again, bad planning on my part. On the road again. We hit Pioche about 3pm and met my Uncle at the range and sighted in. I am OCD on sighting in at the elevation and conditions I am hunting at, things happen. My Sako A7 Tecomate 300WSM was on, the 700 was shooting the 162 AMAX in 7mm awesome and the Tikka Superlite in 308 was also on. On the road again.
Clay Campbell is the guide assigned to us for this hunt. He was already in camp, had our spot reserved. We were unpacked and unloaded in an hour. We spent the evening planning and mostly just listening to Clay. That week, he guided an archery hunter and got a 404 bull and Greg guided and nailed a 238 buck. I was jazzed. In the morning we departed and went to a high area and started glassing. When the sun came and it was clear this was not Utah, Arizona or for sure not California. This country is big, immense, huge and daunting. You stop thinking in yards….it’s now miles. I rented some Swarovski 15x56 and also used my Kowa 664. We spent the entire day out glassing. We spotted over a hundred deer, some forkys, 3x3s and small 4x4s, cow elk and one 370 class bull. I am 50 and at this point I wanted something I could be proud of and justify the cost. No shooters today but an amazing day.
Tuesday were out at dark, glassing in the dark. The day before we talked to some hunters that were there for the week and only got two smaller 3x3s. Please don’t take me as a snob when I say this, I noticed their lack of optics. They all has 10x42s of brand x. My guide noted it as well. In this big country, big good optics are a must. Only until recently could I afford the best stuff. But there are firms that you can rent Swaro’s from, do it if you ever are doing a premium hunt, please. As the sun rose over the horizon these two hunters showed up on their ranger. One already had beer in his hand and literally put his stool next to my son. I was less than pleased. Everywhere we would glass, they would. Clay and I went down the hill and glassed out of sight. My son, being the knucklehead that all sons can be sometimes, began glassing trees and then would excitingly range a bush in the distance, just to mess with the other two guys. They figured it after about an hour. They said something under their breath and left. Good Son. If your new to this, when your glassing, especially with a tripod, and other hunters show up stop glassing and point your scope down or up until they leave. We all are friendly, but on a premium tag what you are looking at is for you and only for you. It’s not rude, its hunting and why give someone else your glassing zone and potential buck. About 9am we were getting discouraged, we knew the bucks we already or beginning to bed. I was tired and put the Kowa down. I lifted my 8x42 and glassed the bottom of the hill we were on. I think I said Holy Sh!!...I put the binos up and this one buck was moving fast north to south, as all the deer were. Clay and my son were on it. Clay sized it up at about a 160 to 170. We really wanted a 180 plus. The deer went to a tree 1514 yards away and bedded, looking right at us it seemed. We watched, and watched and watched. He got up and moved about 25 yards east and all we could see was his tail…. but he was bedded. We discussed it and it was my sons turn on choice and he decided to go after it. Clay and my son loaded up, I stayed on the 15x binos and radios were working well (allowed in Nevada). My son grabbed to Tikka SL they started the short hike. The ground is flat, rolling and grassy but underneath very rocky. Looks easy but it is not. They were headed to one bush that they could maybe make a shot. The deer was 1514 yards from me and the bush was just under 1400 yards. So should be under a 200 yard shot. They finally got into position, I could not see the deer at this point. My son seemed like he was on the sticks standing forever, it was only about 30 seconds. Then I saw the recoil of the rifle and heard the report…then I heard another. My heart sank, that’s my boy (although 22) and want him to be successful. I figured he missed and was trying to hit it. I could not see anything. Then the radio cracked “buck down, lock up optics, bring your pack”. When I got there, my son was beaming. It measured a 165. It spotted them and he shot it moving quartering away. The 168 grain AMAX from the 308 went in behind the right rib cage and grenaded the lungs but he was still walking, the second shot broke his rear leg…DOA. We capped and dressed the deer and we went back to camp. My uncle showed up and was waiting, not knowing anything that happened. He was very happy. It was a good family moment.
The rest of the day and Wednesday nothing was seen that was a shooter. Lots of driving, glassing, driving, glassing. Again, if your new to this, you spend more time glassing than actually stalking. This hunt total was about a 25 to 1 ratio. So we glassed 25 hours and were stalking 1 hour. Thursday AM the same damn thing happened. This time on large buck was walking north to south with 3 smaller bucks. Clay said it was about the same as my sons. I dwelled, dwelled and dwelled. “Don’t pass on the first day what you would shoot on the last day”. I hate that, but it’s true. Clay and I went after it. Son stayed on the hill with the glass. We got about 600 yards out and my son said he lost them. We knew the general location. We decided to come back in the evening. We did not want to bump them and we knew there were hunters further south of us. The plan was to drop me off on the road and hike in to a small rise about 2000 yards from the road and 2000 yards from where Clay and my son would be spotting. I got there about 4pm. Nothing. Nothing, nothing. Dark at about 8pm. It is 7pm, damn, if I get packed 1st thing in the AM I can be home by 2pm. Hunt is over. Then the radio cracked, “we see them, you need to get 1500 yards north”. Are you kidding I thought, losing light, crappy footing, I want a cigarette! I set out, any faster I would have been jogging. I am not an athlete, I’m 50, a smoker…this sucks. About 500 yards away… it was too dark and not legal anymore either. Clay radioed, “Nick, good effort, sit down and rest, get to the truck when you can”. Dark, 2000 yards back to truck. I’m finding a new hobby. I am paying for this? Really?
Friday morning. Last day. Need to be home, 450 miles away tonight. So I need to leave by 2pm. Same plan as the day before, just a little further north. 1500 yards or so in the dark on the same crappy terrain. Hunkered down behind a tree. It is but cold today, about 17 degrees when we left camp. There I sat. Two bucks decided to play about 200 yards in front of me. One was a small 3x3. We named him Sixer, we saw him every day. That was it, 8:30am, hunt pretty much over. Their bedded now. Clay and I radioed and discussed. About a mile away, south from me, there was small valley with some aspens. We decided I would just walk there, see or find what I can see. The terrain is mostly high sage. I would walk 50 yards and glass, over and over again. I was getting close to the aspens. I accepted it was a good effort but not in the cards this time. At least my son got one. Then I saw fast movement.
They bedded in the middle of the sage, right out in the open. I saw 4 deer, including the one I was after. They jumped and started moving fast. I began to run along them about 125 yards west of them as they ran south. They were busted but were not doing the mule deer “hop”. I could see them the whole time and then they slowed. No shot. I got on the sticks and was focused on about a 10 foot opening 127 yards from me. There were two large trees (bushes, Chaparral I think) and they were heading just beyond them. I put the rifle up on the sticks. One buck passed, stopped, moved on. Second buck passed, stopped, and moved on. I could see the rack of the third buck, my buck. I was sighted in on the spot where the other two stopped. Please god make him stop like the others. There he was passing the opening, I was on him, he stopped. The 300WSM sounded like a cannon in the crisp air. The recoil caused me to lose him. The other bucks ran full now towards and aspens. I ran too. I stopped and kneeled on a rock. The sage was too high; all I could see glimpses. Clay radioed what was going on because all this was out of his sight. I asked how many bucks can he running in the aspens. He said 4. Crap. I was exhausted. It was 9:30. I missed at 127 yards? I shoot and practice a lot, even on sticks. I suck. I slowly walked back to where I shot, got my casing. Looked at the opening and reflected on my loss. I decided I better look, it felt like a good shot, I was calm, dead on, thought I heard a thud. Maybe, just maybe. As I walked to the spot and looked I saw nothing…. nothing…. blood, more blood, massive blood. Buck. About 15 yards from where I hit him. Yes, I like AMAXs and the 168 grain 300WSM went in right where it was supposed to. I radioed like a big geek “big buck down”. My heart was pounding. There was 5th deer I never saw, so I thought I missed.
Pics taken, capped, dressed, 2 mile walk to truck, get to camp, measure, talked to Greg, packed and load trailer. On the road at 1:30pm. It was and is my proudest hunt. Although I had a guide, I saw the deer, hiked for it on my own, decided on the live tactics and got it. He measures right at 186, 28 inches wide. Both are with Keith at Trophy Room Taxidermy in Riverside.
