big buck down

[betteroffishing]

Isnt it a rare occurance indeed when the stars align and we get a chance to show we've learned a lesson from a mistake made earlier in the same season.

in mid october on our anual family hunt/camping trip in 8/6 a freind and i were on our way in the early morning to a spot we figured might hold game { we were seeing nothing } when a GIANT of a buck went bounding accross the dirt road not 20 feet from the land cruiser---STOP THE TRUCK--- we both scramble out and ready our rifles in time to see the buck of our dreams disapeer into a jack pine filled depression in the land leading to a 50 foot high sparsely treed hillside. now hears wear buck fever got in the way of better judgement and sent me ,after barely a minuits wait, into the jack pines to " head him off at the pass ".needless to say he vanished like a ghost and my bud and i were left to investigate the area , but as you well would immagine he was well gone by then , us having chased him from the area . so we tracked him and got to a couple spots on the above mentioned hillside were we could clearly see the truck and the spot we would have been standing with rifle in hand had we not chosen to persue him so quickly after the initial spotting.http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/thumbs/580.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=21132&limit=recent)

lesson ---deer , big deer especially will run away when chased ---

SHOCKER

fast forward to mid november , im fortunate enough to get the thurs through sat of the 11-14th off so i hatch a plan to head up to my dads in princeton to give our moose one last effort , with 3 days and nothing but a cow and calf for our viewing pleasure , my brother { who flew up sat am to meet us } and i decided 8/6 was done , moose was done for us and it was time to go up to region 3 and try our hand at a 4 point in an area he had seen a couple the weekend prior. we had barely started our hunt when off on the side of the fsr i saw a GIANT buck -- 4 points no doubt-- in fact the largest deer i had ever laid eyes on , larger in fact than the big guy i had missed on earlier in the season---STOP THE TRUCK. as we are getting out of the truck and loading up our rifles i see the buck disapeer into a heavilly timbered ravine . instead of chasing down the game i recalled my lesson from less than a month ago and took aim at the far side of the ravine and searched out windows within what i figured to be trails , constantly changing my aim from one such window to another to another and back again , never was there a doubt that i would see him in one of those windows if i were patient enough. after what felt like an eternity , but was actually more like a couple minuits of this he saunters out into one of my windows and i get on him and BOOM. my 30-06 double lunged him with a 165 grain load from only about 40 yards, but he didnt drop rather he hopped forward and was gone. we gave him a couple mins and went up the hill in pursuit and found him about 25 feet from where i shot him , there was no doubt he was still in the area as the smell off his tarsels was intoxicating. the drag to the truck and then the heavy lifting was almost enough to make me puke , but we got her done.


easily my biggest buck to date couldnt have come to hand without the knowledge passed down to me from my dad , thanks dad, or the assistance of my brother , thanks bro , or the hard knox lesson from the other deer , you know the one that lived , thanks deer. pics to followhttp://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/580.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=21132&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/570.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=21134&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=5146)http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/571.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=21133&size=big&cat=recent&limit=recent)

[kennyj]

Good story and good lesson learned. Looking forward to photos. Sounds like a whopper.
kenny

[Kid Hunter]

Awesome story! And way to learn from your other mistake!! Sounds like a fun hunt, I'm glad you got your deer!

[cavebear]

thats what i love about hunting, you never stoplearning as long as you are still paying attention. :-D

great story can't wait for the pics!!!!

[Caveman]

Looking forward to pictures, great story

[betteroffishing]

martyonthewater has some field pics on his camera , not sure if hes able to add them to this thread , or if i need to borrow his camera and add them from here.

[Phreddy]

Way to go son. Congratulations on a nice buck. Good to see you've learned to take your time and think ahead of the animal.
I spoke to a friend in town who had the same experience with a big rutting buck a few years back, and he tells me that he boned the animal out, put it in the freezer for about 3 months, then butchered it into roasts, etc. Apparently this took all the toughness and game flavour, as well as the smell out of the meat and it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable eating he and his wife have had from a deer. You might want to try this trick.

[spear]

looks like there's a few more than four points there. Nice work

[Steeleco]

Well done, BOF. That's a great buck, means there's hope for the rest of us yet!!

[kennyj]

Thats a great buck. Nice to get him by the road eh?
kenny

[martyonthewater]

i have some Great photos to share Dave, I just need to find the proper USB cable for my camera. Funny how when the wife borrows my stuff it comes back incomplete. Congrats on a great buck now get over here and get it out of my shop lol

[porcupine]

Good story and a good buck. It proves that you're never too old to learn!

[betteroffishing]

ok marty , i got you the patch cord for your camera , now post the glorry shots dang nabbit.

[betteroffishing]

oh yeah and as an aside i recall a thread on here where proper methods of game care and transport were being discussed , and as this was a stinky bad rutting buck that stunk to high heaven i thaught id share the end results with the group. first off , in the field we did as little as possible to the carcase . we gutted him and then loaded him up into the truck with a log jammed into his cavity to keep air flow possible. we hunted the rest of the day from the truck and then returned home and hung him as he was from his antlers in the shop. there he rested for about a week , after a week of hanging with nothing done to the carcase , we removed his lower legs { being very mindfull of the stink glands and washing /changing our blades often} removed his upper legs and skinned him. gave him another 2 days of hanging then butchered. as we cut off roast ? steak pieces for vac packing we gave each piece adilluted red wine vinegar bath to beat up any residual enzymes, patted each piece dry and sealed em up. into the freezer and after having eaten 2 steaks and 2 roasts { 1 of witch was served to extended family at christmas dinner } i can say with absolute certainty that the taste of a rutted out old mulie lies not within the limits of the game but within the limits of the games handlers/ butchers and leaving the skin on did no harm to my meat, nor did leaving the glands attached. cheers

[deer nut]

Nice buck, but you hung him upside-down! :) (Sorry, pet peeve of mine). Congrats on a great deer.

[betteroffishing]

whats your reasoning behind hanging the ass up , ? my thaughts on head up was gravity cant pull all the worst stink ie ass hole and tarsals uphill , not that it would make all that much diff in my opinion.