(Note: This story was written down by me (Jack) in the 1st person, but this really The Wife(tm)’s story, and I wrote it based on what she told me about how it all went down)
A couple times this year before the start of hunting season, we had seen a really, really nice buck hanging around at different spots near an area we frequently hunt. I tried not to get my hopes up too high, but when you know a big one is hanging around, you know you’ve always got a chance you might get him.
We got distracted, and spent the whole month of September focused on elk. By this time, I didn’t have any idea if the big whitetail was still around or not. Then, in early October, we had a chance encounter with a friend of ours, who said he had seen what we’re sure was the same buck, just a few days before, still in the same general area. So, with that news, I thought I might start getting out to look for that whitetail some while The Husband™ kept working on his elk tag.
On an evening drive, we ran into the same friend on the logging road. He said he wasn’t sure, but he thought he had seen a decent buck hanging around up on a high ridgeline, but couldn’t tell exactly because he had forgotten his binoculars that evening. So, we took a drive up to the area and started glassing. There were some elk out in the clear cut, so we forgot all about the whitetail as we glassed them looking for a six point for The Husband™ to shoot. There was only a spike bull to be seen in amongst the cows, but as I was looking around through the binoculars, I spotted the head and antlers of a very decent looking buck sticking up over a ridge. He had antlers out past his ears, and was definitely a shooter buck, but he was about 350 yards away, and rapidly ducked back out of sight. It was late evening, but we took a quick run up the hill in the fading light to see if we could spot him on the other side of the ridge. No such luck.
We went back the following evening, but I think we got there too late. There was only an hour or so of daylight left after we got in position, and while we did see a couple of cow elk, there was not much moving around. I went back again the following morning, but didn’t see anything but squirrels. So, Thursday evening, I took off work an hour early at 4:00 pm, and left The Husband™ at home working and went out to see if I could improve my luck by showing up earlier.
I drove in, parked the truck, and got out. However, I noticed the wind was predominantly from the opposite direction from what it had been on previous hunts, so I knew I couldn’t setup in the same spot we had been using. So, I got back in the truck and drove a bit farther down the road, and parked behind a slash pile. I then made my way about 300 yards up into the clear cut. I setup in the branches of a big tree that had blown down in the wild windstorm we had earlier this year, and spritzed myself liberally with scent control spray. From this position, I had an excellent view of the bowl on the backside of the ridge where we had originally seen the deer. There were several good trails that came out into the bowl, and it was an area that couldn’t be seen from the road, so it made sense the critters might hide out there and feed. Plus the day before I had seen a lot of fresh sign on the trails.
I sat there watching the grass blow in the wind for about 15 or 20 minutes. The wind was swirling just enough to make me nervous, so I lightly re-spritzed myself with the scent control spray about every 5 minutes. About that time, a doe came out of the timber about 150 yards away, and then came down into the little bowl I was overlooking to about 80 yards away. Then she settled down, and fed around in the clearing for about half an hour. From the spot I was sitting, I had a gorgeous view of the mountains. I was just soaking it up, and enjoying the experience while I watched the doe wander around in the clearing. I wanted to watch her and the treeline through the binoculars, but the sun was right on me and I was concerned about glint off the lens.
During this time, I had noticed that the doe kept glancing back into the tree line towards the same spot every time. I tried off and on to see what it might be, but I never spotted anything. Finally, after about 30 minutes, just inside the edge of the trees about 120 yards away, the buck came into sight. Even with the naked eye, it was obvious he was a pretty good buck, at least a good heavy 4 point I thought. While he was busily thrashing a tree, trying to impress the doe, I dialed the zoom up on the rifle scope and got the crosshairs pointing his direction. I was just sure, that it was the decent looking buck we had seen a few nights earlier from 350 yards away. But this time, he was close enough to shoot!
Finally deciding the tree had had enough, the buck stepped out into the clearing a few steps and stood there looking around. With my heart pounding in my chest so hard I could see the cross hairs twitch, I steadied the rifle carefully across my knees and breathed deep a few times to steady myself. I took careful aim, visualizing in my mind the exit hole I was trying to put in his off side shoulder, given the angle I was shooting him from. I finally got the cross hairs steady enough I felt good about the shot, and squeezed the trigger. He dropped in his tracks at the shot. The doe looked back dumbfounded, as if confused by why her boyfriend had just laid down.
He lay there for what I think was a few minutes (it’s really hard to tell time at a moment like that!), but his head was still up and moving slightly. His head stayed up for what seemed like far too long, so I decided to risk loosing a bit more meat and shot him again. The second time, I shot him in the neck in order to minimize good meat loss, which turned out his lights instantly.
Even after all that, the doe didn’t run off. She kept looking back at the buck and twitching her ears, as if to say “are you coming? I’m ready to head on down to the creek for a drink now. Aren’t you coming? Come on. Let’s go. What’s wrong with you?”
I sat there for about 10 minutes, thanking God over and over again, watching the doe wonder what was going on, and just soaking up the moment for all it was worth. Eventually, I picked up the cell phone and called The Husband™, and told him in what he says was a very shaky voice, that I thought I had shot a pretty decent buck. After he said he was on his way to help with the hard work, I finally got up and made my way the 120 or so yards to where the buck was laying at the edge of the timber. I had to chase the doe off as I moved in, as even then, she was still hanging around. She was obviously not one of the brighter deer in the forest.
The closer I got, the bigger he looked. It’s usually the other way around! As I walked up to him and started looking him over, I realized I had shot a buck that was way better than just ‘decent’. The huge antlers were easily as big as any I have ever seen around here, and his body size made me very happy The Husband™ was coming to help haul him out! After looking him over, I think this may have been the same buck that we’d seen back in the pre-season, but maybe not. If not, there may be a bigger one still out there, and maybe I’ll get him next year!
This guy deserves some more pics put up here.
