kootenayelkslayer
12-08-2011, 07:55 PM
1000th post...yikes.
A great hunting season came to an end yesterday. Sure was nice having so much free time this fall, spent many days in the bush and got to see a lot of new country in BC, but still feel like I've only scratched the surface.
After trying for mulies for a week or so and not being able to find a buck that was quite what I was looking for, I took a break to go up to the Halfway River to help my buddy on his bison draw. Not too much of a story, but was nice country and a new experience as far as hunting goes. We ran into a herd on our second day and were able to put the biggest one in the group on the ground.
Here I am posing with my buddy's ol' cow:
As soon as I got home, it was time to head back down to Reg 3 in search of a mulie to top off my season. I'd been seeing lots of deer, lots of small bucks, small 4pts, and a couple bucks that were decent but not quite tag-worthy. Yesterday I spotted a good looking buck in the morning and watched him as he climbed the mountain before fog rolled in and he disappeared. I didn't think I'd see this buck again, but decided to hike to the top of the mountain to see what was up there. It took me about an hour and a half to reach the top. On the way up, I followed the bucks fresh tracks for as long as I could until they were engulfed in fresh tracks from other deer. When I reached the timber at the ridge top, it seemed like a perfect situation to make my way north with the sun at my back and wind in my face. I started walking, but for some reason my gut was telling me to go the other direction...with the sun in my eyes and wind at my back. It seemed stupid, but I turned around and headed south. Not 2 minutes later I see the face of a mature buck looking at my thru the thick timber, maybe 50 yards away. He was on to me, so I raised my rifle and identified him as the same 4pt I'd seen earlier. The only shot I had thru the tangle of trees and branches was for the neck. I tried to squeeze a shot off but the bullet hit a tree before reaching the buck. I jerked at the trigger and knew it. I worked the action real quick and the buck stayed put, this time I slowly squeezed and...click. The bullet was seated too low in the magazine and the bolt had failed to catch it. I work the bullet into the chamber with my fingers, but now the buck was off to the races. I could see him weaving thru the trees so I ran up the hill slightly hoping to get another crack. I grunted and the buck came to a broadside stop, but with only a small patch of shoulder showing. That's where I held the crosshairs and touched one off. This time the buck dropped and one more shot was needed to finish the job quickly.
He wasn't the monster I had been hoping for, but was a respectable, old buck. It was getting late in the season, and time and money was fading fast, so I was pretty happy with taking this buck. I managed to cut every tag in my booklet this fall (and all in the same order in which they were placed in the booklet...strange). Truly was an amazing fall. Now time to catch up on some rest and put some weight back on!
Here he is...I had to drag him out of the timber into the open because the sunlight was playing havoc with my pics:
I forgot how big bodied these mature bucks were.
A great hunting season came to an end yesterday. Sure was nice having so much free time this fall, spent many days in the bush and got to see a lot of new country in BC, but still feel like I've only scratched the surface.
After trying for mulies for a week or so and not being able to find a buck that was quite what I was looking for, I took a break to go up to the Halfway River to help my buddy on his bison draw. Not too much of a story, but was nice country and a new experience as far as hunting goes. We ran into a herd on our second day and were able to put the biggest one in the group on the ground.
Here I am posing with my buddy's ol' cow:
As soon as I got home, it was time to head back down to Reg 3 in search of a mulie to top off my season. I'd been seeing lots of deer, lots of small bucks, small 4pts, and a couple bucks that were decent but not quite tag-worthy. Yesterday I spotted a good looking buck in the morning and watched him as he climbed the mountain before fog rolled in and he disappeared. I didn't think I'd see this buck again, but decided to hike to the top of the mountain to see what was up there. It took me about an hour and a half to reach the top. On the way up, I followed the bucks fresh tracks for as long as I could until they were engulfed in fresh tracks from other deer. When I reached the timber at the ridge top, it seemed like a perfect situation to make my way north with the sun at my back and wind in my face. I started walking, but for some reason my gut was telling me to go the other direction...with the sun in my eyes and wind at my back. It seemed stupid, but I turned around and headed south. Not 2 minutes later I see the face of a mature buck looking at my thru the thick timber, maybe 50 yards away. He was on to me, so I raised my rifle and identified him as the same 4pt I'd seen earlier. The only shot I had thru the tangle of trees and branches was for the neck. I tried to squeeze a shot off but the bullet hit a tree before reaching the buck. I jerked at the trigger and knew it. I worked the action real quick and the buck stayed put, this time I slowly squeezed and...click. The bullet was seated too low in the magazine and the bolt had failed to catch it. I work the bullet into the chamber with my fingers, but now the buck was off to the races. I could see him weaving thru the trees so I ran up the hill slightly hoping to get another crack. I grunted and the buck came to a broadside stop, but with only a small patch of shoulder showing. That's where I held the crosshairs and touched one off. This time the buck dropped and one more shot was needed to finish the job quickly.
He wasn't the monster I had been hoping for, but was a respectable, old buck. It was getting late in the season, and time and money was fading fast, so I was pretty happy with taking this buck. I managed to cut every tag in my booklet this fall (and all in the same order in which they were placed in the booklet...strange). Truly was an amazing fall. Now time to catch up on some rest and put some weight back on!
Here he is...I had to drag him out of the timber into the open because the sunlight was playing havoc with my pics:
I forgot how big bodied these mature bucks were.