This was one of the more exciting hunts i've had. First off my family somehow pleased the deer gods this year. My younger brother, brother-in-law and I all got drawn for an October coues deer hunt. My wife, sister, and sister-in-law got drawn for a mule deer. Then my two older brothers and brother-in-law got drawn for a December coues deer hunt(with no bonus points). I was drawn for an area we have hunted before and know it pretty well, but this year I wanted to get away from the people and backpack in. My brother and I decided to hike to a nice little valley and set up camp there.
Opening morning found us glassing some ridges and canyons, my brother found some does. About one that afternoon I spot a buck WAY up top the mountain and with our 10x40 we could tell he was a buck, we watched him for a while then he went over and sniffed a rock, to our surprise the rock stood up! We now had two bucks, depending on how they were standing each one would look bigger then the other. We knew one was a fork horn and the other looked like it could be bigger and seemed to have mass. We knew if we didn't start soon we could never get up the mountain, shoot one and get back to camp by dark. We watched the two bucks bed and started our ascent.
We got to the top of an opposite canyon and could see the little guy, he was small, but in the open bedding under a tree. We couldn't find the bigger one. Being taught my whole life that you cant eat the antlers, I decided to shoot the little one. We determined him to be 300 yards away so I set up for the shot. One thing is I get buck fever bad, I mean I shake, so after calming down a little I squeeze the trigger just to see dirt fly under the deer, he jumps up and runs to the bigger deer who also jumps up and runs about twenty yards. Both deer are looking down their mountain not at us.
Knowing you cant eat the antlers is one thing when there is only one deer but now we have two and one is bigger, so I decided to go after the bigger one. My brother stayed put while I went farther up our mountain. I was completely level with the deer, we ranged him to be just about 400 yards from my brother so from me he would have been just under. I could see his head and his whole body was behind brush. I sat there for about 5 mins just watching him. It turned out good because it gave me a lot of time to calm down. He finally took a step forward so I could see his body. Thinking I held two low the first time I leveled the cross hairs about head/neck level and shot. Nothing, not a sound or noise from the opposite side, both deer are just looking back down the mountain. He turns around walks back through the brush and exposes himself on the other side. This time I aim at his spine and squeeze. All I see are his feet as he flips over. We waited about 10 mins and then it took us about another 20 or more just to get to him. He never took another step.
We proceeded to quarter him out and get him down the mountain. This is the biggest deer I've gotten and the first time backpacking in. I may do it more often. He is a dark 3x3 with one eye guard having a fork. We debated about getting him mounted but I decided not to. Since then people have seen him and said I should have gotten him mounted. I know I could always do it later. But that brings up a big question, how big is he? Anybody in the Mesa area that would be willing to measure him for me. I am around Stapley and University.
Sean
