lancetkenyon

Rope the antlers and tie it off to the truck. I did this with a cow before. Not pleasant, but got it out.

Sorry, I have to call BS on this statement. But you probably just forgot the "not" in that sentence.

Well, we had big plans for Taylor's first ever mule deer hunt, but you know what they say about the best laid plans... Here is a short synopsis of her hunt, and I just want to say how proud I am of her patience, stamina, ethics, will power and determination. We got out of town later than I thought we would on Wednesday prior to the hunt, and that put us up in 12AE about 9:00PM. It rained the entire way from Black Canyon City until we got to Jacob's Lake and found our camp site. We actually got snow when we were pulling into our spot. What does it mean??? When we got to the camp spot, I really didn't want to spend 3 hours in the freezing rain and snow to set up camp, so we crawled into a couple sleeping bags in the front seat and tried to get some uncomfortable shuteye. I am sure a lot of you have done this. Anyway, we scouted in the rain all day Thursday, and saw a total of 18 bucks. Nothing Taylor was interested in shooting, but a great start. A few smaller 4x4s and some 3x4s. Some early morning photo ops on our way to scout. Camp, sweet camp. Opening morning had us at our spot we wanted to hunt about 30 minutes before legal shooting light, just enough time to lad up, and hike into our vantage point to glass. Well......we started out from the truck, and I figured I better glass the closer hillsides just in case. Spotted a buck at 430 yards when we were only 30 yards from the truck. Couldn't tell how big he was yet, so we got set up just in case. Taylor decided to pass, as it was a 3x4, about 20-22" wide. Not what she was after on opening day. So we grabbed our stuff and headed to the glassing spot. We were about 400 yards from the point I wanted to get to when a couple does came busting over the ridge and headed down into the canyons. Looked back, and some other hunters were walking the other ridgeline. What they didn't see will still haunt my memories. A great 4x4 buck with a couple small bucks and about 6 does, that had already crossed our ridge an headed down into the canyons. I quickly ranged them at 550 yards as they moved across our canyon. Taylor quickly got set up for a shot and we got her as steady as possible, as this was a definite opening day shooter buck. A wide, tall, deep forked 4x4. They continued to move and finally slowed at 790 yards, easily makeable for Taylor...if the opportunity presents itself. Shooting to the far row of dead trees 3 ridges over. It went something like this, for the next 30 minutes. "OK, he is moving." "When he stops, squeeze slowly" "Wait, there is a doe behind him" "Wait, there is a doe in front of him" "Wait, he is moving" "OK, Now....wait, he is moving" "He is behind the tree now" "He is the one on the left, you can see his head" "He is coming out....please stop" "Wait, he has a doe in front of him" "Wait for him to clear that bush" "OK, get ready, he is coming out....please stop!" "Wait, he is moving" "When he stops, put one in him" "OK, he is stopping, wait, there is a doe in front of him now" And so on and so on for 30 minutes. He finally slowly walked over the ridge. We could see his does for another 10 minutes, so we know he wasn't far. We waited hi out for 5 hours with no reappearance. We headed back to the truck to drive around and get on the other side of the burn to get the sun behind us and maybe get another chance at him. To no avail. We passed up bucks like this on the way over. About 100 yards. Saw 18 bucks opening day. Day #2 started out with us getting to our spot right at legal shooting light, and I glassed up 5 bucks at 340 yards on a hillside. They were feeding along, and never stopped. One was a good 4x5, about 24" wide, pretty tall, with a unique rack. A basic 3x4 main frame, with the left G3 split, and the right main beam having a 6" kicker straight in for the 4th. Again, no shots were taken, but Taylor seriously considered taking him for the next 20 minutes anywhere between 440 yards to 719 when he topped over the ridge finally. Shooting to the top of the opposite ridge if the desire presented itself. Anyway, we wound up passing on him, and passing up a few bucks of this caliber too. Saw 18 bucks. Day 3: (The day that is going to cost me a couple thousand $$$) Hiked a bunch, glassed a bunch. Saw 10 bucks in the morning. We went back to camp at 1:00PM, took a shower, ate a big hot lunch, and decided to just stay around camp for the last 2 hours of light. 5 minutes behind camp, I spot a herd of deer with a whopper buck in t at 75 yards. A 26"ish wide, freakishly crazy tall, heavy, deep forked 4x5. Probably 190"+? Well, he is just over the edge, so we jump out of the truck, grab my .25-06 Ackley, and Taylor can only see his antlers over the grass. I had a clear view of his vitals but she is quite a bit shorter than me. The buck takes off, circling us. I get Taylor set up on a stump for a shot through an opening if he passes through at 100 or so yards. The buck cuts towards us, in the bottom of a small depression, an heads down into a canyon. We beat it over looking for him. He gave us 3 other opportunities of about 3 seconds each. Sounds like plenty to most of us, but not quite enough time for Taylor to get the tripod set up and find him in the scope. After about 10 minutes of cat and mouse, he vanished. Saw a total of 12 bucks. I am now in the planning stages for a lightweight mountain rifle that Taylor will be able to shoot offhand if the needs presents itself. Day 4-7 goes on with more of the same. Seeing an average of 12-18 bucks, a few worth shooting. Another big 4x5 with a cool big 14"+ inline between his left G3 & G4. Probably 28" wide, deep forks, fairly heavy, a 180"+ buck for sure. A few more mature 4x4s, too. Day 8, Thursday. We have hiked a total of 41 straight line miles according to my GPS (also the day I broke my GPS). Not including up/down, zig-zag miles. We are beat. Taylor has been sleeping on the ride out now for the past 2 days. She hates when I take these photos.... We jumped our last monster while hiking/glassing. A 32"+ deep forked 4x4. Watched him for 3 minutes as Taylor tried getting set up in the thick, nasty stickery bushes to no avail. From 350 to 456 yards until he topped a ridge and disappeared from our lives forever. We decided at that point Taylor was done, and called it a very successful hunt. Headed back to camp, ate a hot lunch, and packed up. I ad an absolutely fantastic time on this most frustrating hunt I have ever been a part of. I also learned more from Taylor than I probably taught her. She is tougher than I ever imagined, game for whatever I threw at her. Hiked countless miles through stickers, bushes, canyons, ridges, and downed trees. Her patience, endurance, and tenacity is beyond every one of my hunting buddies except possibly one. Her ability to rebound after a missed opportunity is awe-inspiring and heart-lifting. She also reminded me this trip that a successful hunt does not have to end in the harvesting of a game animal. Seeing God's beauty, His wonderful creatures other than the game we are pursuing, and enjoying time and fellowship spent with loved ones is a great reward. I might have to start hunting with my friends and family more often......sometimes. We shared a lot of laughs, a lot of frustration, and even a few tears by both of us last week. 9 days with my youngest daughter was a true treat. A few photos of the things I learned. I tease Taylor that she has a big mouth....but not quite big enough to stuff a whole mini donut in. No matter what the ads might tell you...."Zoomies" suck and are no replacement for good 15X binos. Even on a tripod. Enjoy all of God's creatures when the opportunity presents itself, even while just driving down the road.

I know a few guys shooting a .257 Weatherby, and I think all of them are using either RL22 or H1000.

Any friend who has reloading equipment that you can buy some instruction time from? Good load development can take a lot of time.

If this was in August, this thing would be gone to an antelope or fall deer hunter. Now a Dec. Coues tag holder is going to snatch this up and pound a good buck with it. Great cartridge, great accurate rifle, good price. Good luck with the sale. Wish I had the cash.

www.huntdata.com

Are you doing your own load work up or do you want the smith to do that for you as well? The rest is easy for any competent smith.

Good cuz as i was just sitting here using my 12's looking for deer i was wondering if yours would find them. They would have. You missed out.

Awesome thread. Makes me want to go duck hunting now......hint hint.

I have to disagree.I have shot deer that went 2', straight down, without a drop of blood loss. Took out both lungs and top of heart with entrance and exit wounds. I also took an elk through both lungs without a drop of blood spilt. And this year, I watched a guy spine shot a buck, too far back and high, and watched the deer flop around for 3-4 minutes, then flop over, start downhill using front legs, then get his rear legs working again as he hit the bottom of the canyon. I stayed to help him find it. We went to where the buck was hit and found hair, fresh drag marks going downhill where the buck was heading until he got his back legs under him. Not even the hint of blood anywhere. I am sure that buck survived, and had a serious back ache for a few weeks. I have helped find a lot more deer and elk that were shot very well, with both an arrow and a bullet, that had tiny droplets of blood to follow, that were almost impossible to see unless you were on your hands and knees. I have also seen blood trails that looked like they were dumped from a 5 gallon bucket that the animal was not recovered.

I probably have a 300+ hours behind my Meopta Euro HD 10x42 & 15x 56 this year so far. I can honestly say I am still extremely happy with them, especially for the prices I paid for them. Love them. Never get eye fatigue, headaches, etc. A huge benefit when sitting behind binos for 8-10 hours per day over a 10 day hunt. But everyone needs to go and LOOK through the binos they plan on buying. Everyone's eyes and facial features are different. The Swaro SLR & EL hold their value like no other, and are top tier glass. The Leica are good too, but I can't use them. Some of the Zeiss line are amazing, others are average. Vortex binos are not in the same league as the others mentioned here. The Meopta fill the niche in the top tier glass line at a price that makes top tier obtainable. To me, at less than half the price of Searo, for glass that is 98%, made perfect sense. It also takes a LOT of practice to glass up game that are not just standing in the open or moving. Better glass will allow you the time behind them without strain to get better and therefore see more game than cheap glass will allow. Don't just look for deer, look for antler tips, ears, a tail flick, shapes, colors, etc.

I would pay big money to have seen the looks on your faces. L.O.L. Here you go.....it went something like this. First, I was like this.... And my buddy was like.... Then I was like.... And my buddy was like.... We thought about doing this.... But I just did this... And my buddy did this....

Awesome. Good thread.

Cowtown. A little pricey, but fun and easy. Www.cowtownrange.com Or the desert.

No photos of the two good deer you took? Don't tell me your phone was in there too!!! Sucks to hear Miles. I hope someone finds it and you get it back. Did you have anything in there with some identification?

I had a similar experience in 12AE during the Archery season 15+ years ago. My buddy and I were driving and saw a G&F truck duck off on a very overgrown 2 track. As we passed, my buddy said, "I bet G&F has a decoy up!" We drove about 1/4 mile and see a decent 3x3 with the head in some bushes. We decided to go ahead and shoot it for fun. We got out of the truck and made sure we got off the road. Then I realized my wallet with my license was in my pack, so I told my buddy to hold up. Went back, grabbed my wallet and put it in my pocket. We stepped off the road and we're just drawing back for a simultaneous shot when.....you guessed it... the deer ran off!!! We decoy-blocked ourselves!

Those are not T-bones. They are Porterhouses. Porterhouses have a much bigger "filet" side. For beef, the determining factor is less than a 1.25" filet side, it is a T-bone. For a filet side bigger than 1.25", it is a Porterhouse. And those are some SERIOUS Porterhouses from that moose!!!

Transfer departments? Having no clue what industry you are in, and what the company is like, best advice I can offer right now. I am shocked HR would let this happen with the history between you two. He might make your life heck, but there are laws against retaliation by him. Not that they will help unless he is a moron and gets caught (which sounds totally possible with the previous incident).

I would love to, but it always seems like a daunting task to attempt. How hard is it really to do, both apply and go hunt if you get drawn?

That would be left, left, left.But maybe he was just unwinding after watching a race....

What the heck is wrong with some people???

Carhartt jeans in tan, brown or green.

Mildred Peak huh? I did the upgrades to the radio site on top up there. We saw deer almost everyday in the canyons to the north, east and west of the radio site.

Sounds like he is "all right" to me.