I posted my D19 buck a few weeks ago but thought I'd post up the story and how D16 has been going so far.
After my opening day success in D19 last year I was looking forward to hunting it again this year, although I wanted to hunt at higher elevation. My buddy Daryl and I scouted quite a bit, spending the night a few times in order to get up early and hike up the mountain in the dark. It's a solid 2 hour hike to get to our glassing spot. We also had a glassing spot at lower elevation in the same area that we could use if we couldn't drive up the night before. We scouted from both locations and saw deer every time we went out, with the occasional buck. We also found a spring and as of early October there was still water running out of it and for several hundred yards downstream before it went underground again.
D19 opened on the 5th of October this year. I had a wedding I couldn't miss on the 4th so we were forced to drive out late on the 4th. There were 5 or 6 trucks at the trailhead when we rolled in around 1130, this was disappointing but honestly not real surprising after my experience last year. More trucks rolled in as we tried to sleep and one rudely idled past midnight. After about 90 minutes of poor sleep the alarm went off and we packed up and started hiking. We didn't run into anyone on the trail which was surprising but we did watch from above as many more trucks drove up the truck trail to the trailhead. Amazingly, there was no one at our spot and no one else glassing the bowl we were sitting on, I couldn't believe it. As gray light came on we started glassing and had a slow start. We heard a few shots early over a ridge and then around 730 we heard a shot close over one of the ridges. I watched the ridgeline and sure enough a buck came bounding over it into the bowl we were sitting. He was a good 600 yards away and I could see he had not been hit. The buck was a shooter, a good fork, but he never stopped moving as he contoured away from us and eventually popped over another ridge about a mile away. We never had a play. We moved a short distance down the ridge to another glassing point and we were able to pick up some does in the bowl we were glassing but we found no more bucks. The day ended uneventfully and with us slightly discouraged.
Daryl has two young kids at home and can only hunt one weekend day per week at the moment, so we had to go home on Saturday night after the opener. I took Sunday off and hunted Monday morning from lower on the mountain. I found some does but no bucks that day and headed home after everything bedded in the morning. I ran into the Game Warden on my way out to the pavement and we chatted for a few minutes, he was a really nice guy. He said he hadn't heard of any deer taken on the opener. I worked on Tuesday and then headed out to hunt again on Wednesday morning, the 9th. I hunted from low on the mountain again and started the morning finding a few small groups of does. As I scanned the mountain sides around the does I spotted a deer and instantly muttered to myself "that's a big buck!" It was game on. Going into this season I was aware that we had a good rain year and that there was potential to have some bigger than usual deer out there. I was hoping to get an opportunity at a bigger three or four point but I also know that many of our deer never become anything better than a giant fork. When I saw this deer I took one look at his frame and knew I'd be stupid to pass him, especially given the low deer numbers we had been seeing. I continued to watch him as he fed along the hill. I took lots of photos and video through my 15's and a short while after I found him he made his first bed. I knew he would move his bed as the sun got higher and I patiently watched and waited. He was about 1,000 yards from my position. When he had been bedded for about an hour I started to question my decision and wonder whether I should have made my move. But then, he finally got up. He fed for a few minutes and then made his second bed about ten yards from his first. **In my experience this is very typical, if you find a buck in the morning I strongly encourage you to wait until he makes his second bed (this may not happen during the rut, if the buck is with a doe, the buck will do whatever the doe does), he will likely remain in his second bed for many hours giving you time to make your move.**
I packed my things and started the semi-circular route I would take to get to the buck. He was above me and the plan was basically to gain elevation using the folds in the hill and then side-hill over to him at his approximate elevation. I took note of some landmarks that I wanted to hit on my way to him and I also took special note of some unique features immediately around the bush he bedded under, things always look very different when you get over there. I moved quickly at first, closing the distance to the hill and then began to slow down as I got within 500 yards. I was really glad I hadn't rushed my stalk when he first bedded, the hill was steep and noisy and I had to move really carefully to not make too much noise. Several times I felt the wind swirl and I felt the wind on the back of my neck. I cursed and wondered if he was gone. But I had hours invested in this stalk already and there was only one way to find out if he was still there. When I got to about 300 yards I chambered a round, put my rifle cover away, and extended my shooting sticks to standing height. I continued to make my way and finally could see the bush he was bedded under. I glassed with my 10's but could not see him. I put my rifle on my sticks and searched for any movement but found nothing. I ranged the bush at 165 yards, and I looked around and decided maybe I'd side hill and angle down a bit to get a different view. I put my 10's back up to my eyes one more time as I thought about what to do and all I saw was his antlers above the bush and then his body stepping out. I just about had a heart attack and put my binoculars in their harness and got my rifle back up. My heart rate was jacked and I could not get the reticle to stop bouncing. The deer was totally calm and had no idea I was there. He gave me several opportunities to shoot him but I couldn't get calm and didn't want to screw this up. Then he was on the skyline and I couldn't shoot. When he walked over the skyline my heart sank and I kicked myself for not being ready. I couldn't believe I had squandered the opportunity. I kept glassing the ridge hoping to see some movement but in my heart knowing he was gone.... then I saw does.... bounding over the hill! It was a doe and fawn and all of a sudden he was right behind them! The buck was in full pursuit chasing this doe, lip curling and giving me the full show. I was now very calm, I took my pack off, leaned into my rifle on my sticks and waited for my shot. I watched through the scope as he stuck his neck out and lip curled, then trotted after her and did it again. He presented me with a quartering-to shot and I squeezed a round off and saw him get hit hard. I got back in the scope quickly and watched him turn in a circle and go down right where I shot him.
I knew the deer was dead but I stayed on the gun and made myself glass where he went down for 20 minutes. I then made the 165 yard hike to him and was ecstatic at what I saw, a big-bodied giant fork, a great socal buck in my opinion. I started my stalk at about 11 and killed him at 2. I took lots of pictures and sent out some messages and I then went to work taking him apart and putting the meat in my game bags. Although I could see the truck, only about a mile away and all downhill, the steep hill and shale made for a slow packout that took a little over an hour (pretty tame compared to last year's D19 hunt). The sun set as I walked and the moon was so bright I didn't need my headlamp. I stopped at the closest calfire station and they said it was the first buck they had checked.
After my hunt I went back to scouting D16 and helping Daryl with his D19 tag, we weren't able to get him a buck. D16 started off very slow. I hunted Sat, Sun and Mon. I didn't see a single deer on Saturday or Sunday, both in places that has never happened. Monday I broke the Sh*t streak and found a couple of bucks. They weren't what I was looking for. One buck was glued to a doe. Hunted Wednesday morning in the wind and obviously saw nothing. Today I went out with Daryl and found a buck that was glued to a doe also. They got spooked onto private land before we had an opportunity to make a play. I hope you all are having a great season. Post-up what you're seeing! We are off to Arizona on Thursday for our Coues hunt.... Stay tuned.
After my opening day success in D19 last year I was looking forward to hunting it again this year, although I wanted to hunt at higher elevation. My buddy Daryl and I scouted quite a bit, spending the night a few times in order to get up early and hike up the mountain in the dark. It's a solid 2 hour hike to get to our glassing spot. We also had a glassing spot at lower elevation in the same area that we could use if we couldn't drive up the night before. We scouted from both locations and saw deer every time we went out, with the occasional buck. We also found a spring and as of early October there was still water running out of it and for several hundred yards downstream before it went underground again.
D19 opened on the 5th of October this year. I had a wedding I couldn't miss on the 4th so we were forced to drive out late on the 4th. There were 5 or 6 trucks at the trailhead when we rolled in around 1130, this was disappointing but honestly not real surprising after my experience last year. More trucks rolled in as we tried to sleep and one rudely idled past midnight. After about 90 minutes of poor sleep the alarm went off and we packed up and started hiking. We didn't run into anyone on the trail which was surprising but we did watch from above as many more trucks drove up the truck trail to the trailhead. Amazingly, there was no one at our spot and no one else glassing the bowl we were sitting on, I couldn't believe it. As gray light came on we started glassing and had a slow start. We heard a few shots early over a ridge and then around 730 we heard a shot close over one of the ridges. I watched the ridgeline and sure enough a buck came bounding over it into the bowl we were sitting. He was a good 600 yards away and I could see he had not been hit. The buck was a shooter, a good fork, but he never stopped moving as he contoured away from us and eventually popped over another ridge about a mile away. We never had a play. We moved a short distance down the ridge to another glassing point and we were able to pick up some does in the bowl we were glassing but we found no more bucks. The day ended uneventfully and with us slightly discouraged.
Daryl has two young kids at home and can only hunt one weekend day per week at the moment, so we had to go home on Saturday night after the opener. I took Sunday off and hunted Monday morning from lower on the mountain. I found some does but no bucks that day and headed home after everything bedded in the morning. I ran into the Game Warden on my way out to the pavement and we chatted for a few minutes, he was a really nice guy. He said he hadn't heard of any deer taken on the opener. I worked on Tuesday and then headed out to hunt again on Wednesday morning, the 9th. I hunted from low on the mountain again and started the morning finding a few small groups of does. As I scanned the mountain sides around the does I spotted a deer and instantly muttered to myself "that's a big buck!" It was game on. Going into this season I was aware that we had a good rain year and that there was potential to have some bigger than usual deer out there. I was hoping to get an opportunity at a bigger three or four point but I also know that many of our deer never become anything better than a giant fork. When I saw this deer I took one look at his frame and knew I'd be stupid to pass him, especially given the low deer numbers we had been seeing. I continued to watch him as he fed along the hill. I took lots of photos and video through my 15's and a short while after I found him he made his first bed. I knew he would move his bed as the sun got higher and I patiently watched and waited. He was about 1,000 yards from my position. When he had been bedded for about an hour I started to question my decision and wonder whether I should have made my move. But then, he finally got up. He fed for a few minutes and then made his second bed about ten yards from his first. **In my experience this is very typical, if you find a buck in the morning I strongly encourage you to wait until he makes his second bed (this may not happen during the rut, if the buck is with a doe, the buck will do whatever the doe does), he will likely remain in his second bed for many hours giving you time to make your move.**
I packed my things and started the semi-circular route I would take to get to the buck. He was above me and the plan was basically to gain elevation using the folds in the hill and then side-hill over to him at his approximate elevation. I took note of some landmarks that I wanted to hit on my way to him and I also took special note of some unique features immediately around the bush he bedded under, things always look very different when you get over there. I moved quickly at first, closing the distance to the hill and then began to slow down as I got within 500 yards. I was really glad I hadn't rushed my stalk when he first bedded, the hill was steep and noisy and I had to move really carefully to not make too much noise. Several times I felt the wind swirl and I felt the wind on the back of my neck. I cursed and wondered if he was gone. But I had hours invested in this stalk already and there was only one way to find out if he was still there. When I got to about 300 yards I chambered a round, put my rifle cover away, and extended my shooting sticks to standing height. I continued to make my way and finally could see the bush he was bedded under. I glassed with my 10's but could not see him. I put my rifle on my sticks and searched for any movement but found nothing. I ranged the bush at 165 yards, and I looked around and decided maybe I'd side hill and angle down a bit to get a different view. I put my 10's back up to my eyes one more time as I thought about what to do and all I saw was his antlers above the bush and then his body stepping out. I just about had a heart attack and put my binoculars in their harness and got my rifle back up. My heart rate was jacked and I could not get the reticle to stop bouncing. The deer was totally calm and had no idea I was there. He gave me several opportunities to shoot him but I couldn't get calm and didn't want to screw this up. Then he was on the skyline and I couldn't shoot. When he walked over the skyline my heart sank and I kicked myself for not being ready. I couldn't believe I had squandered the opportunity. I kept glassing the ridge hoping to see some movement but in my heart knowing he was gone.... then I saw does.... bounding over the hill! It was a doe and fawn and all of a sudden he was right behind them! The buck was in full pursuit chasing this doe, lip curling and giving me the full show. I was now very calm, I took my pack off, leaned into my rifle on my sticks and waited for my shot. I watched through the scope as he stuck his neck out and lip curled, then trotted after her and did it again. He presented me with a quartering-to shot and I squeezed a round off and saw him get hit hard. I got back in the scope quickly and watched him turn in a circle and go down right where I shot him.
I knew the deer was dead but I stayed on the gun and made myself glass where he went down for 20 minutes. I then made the 165 yard hike to him and was ecstatic at what I saw, a big-bodied giant fork, a great socal buck in my opinion. I started my stalk at about 11 and killed him at 2. I took lots of pictures and sent out some messages and I then went to work taking him apart and putting the meat in my game bags. Although I could see the truck, only about a mile away and all downhill, the steep hill and shale made for a slow packout that took a little over an hour (pretty tame compared to last year's D19 hunt). The sun set as I walked and the moon was so bright I didn't need my headlamp. I stopped at the closest calfire station and they said it was the first buck they had checked.
After my hunt I went back to scouting D16 and helping Daryl with his D19 tag, we weren't able to get him a buck. D16 started off very slow. I hunted Sat, Sun and Mon. I didn't see a single deer on Saturday or Sunday, both in places that has never happened. Monday I broke the Sh*t streak and found a couple of bucks. They weren't what I was looking for. One buck was glued to a doe. Hunted Wednesday morning in the wind and obviously saw nothing. Today I went out with Daryl and found a buck that was glued to a doe also. They got spooked onto private land before we had an opportunity to make a play. I hope you all are having a great season. Post-up what you're seeing! We are off to Arizona on Thursday for our Coues hunt.... Stay tuned.
