cramerhunts

Dang nice bucks Keven. Congrats to you on what sounds like a great trip. It looks like some beautiful country. I am assuming that this was a do it yourself hunt, if so how was the border crossing? Phil

Bill you can e-mail them to me at pcramer@boartlongyear.com and I will post them up for you. Phil

Well I would like to have a very long winded story about how rut and I chased this buck all over the mountains for three days and I ended up arrowing him.....but that isn't how it happened. What did happen is Jim (rut) and I crawled around in the snow for three days seeing some awesome bucks and having a few chances at harvesting them. Jim did a great job taking photos of everything that we experienced and got even remotely close to. Jim decided to pack his camera gear and let me pack my bow which was good for me but he was a lot better at taking pictures then I was at hitting what I shot at. Jim is an awesome photographer and his patience for getting great shots was unbelievable for how cold it was. The first day we snuck up on a three point to the close quarters of 28 yards and I decided to pass not yet wanting to end my 08 deer hunt. After we had some fun with this buck and his girl we worked back to the truck and had a quick bite to eat. That afternoon we spotted a nice buck working some does and spent the evening trying to close the gap but we ran out of light. The next day we were easing up the draw headed to where we left the group the night before when we spotted this group working their way to the top. Anyway we let them feed over the top and we made a mad dash up the other side to try and keep tabs on them when Jim spots this buck and his doe milling around and they finally bed. We plan a stock and everything works out great. We close the distance to a little over 100 yards and I sneak on in while Jim snaps photos. I knew that I would be looking at about a 60-80 yard shot but I am confident out to 80 so I wasn't too worried about it. I unfortunately miss calculated where I needed to come out of the trees and onto the rim so I ended up with a 79 yard shot instead of the 59 yard shot that I should of have. The whole time that I was stalking him I kept telling myself that I would have to hold down on him to compensate for the downhill angle but as I snuck out onto the rim the buck heard me crunch in the snow and he stood up. In the heat of the moment and with buck fever setting in I forgot all about the angle and settled my 80 yard pin right behind his shoulder. I watched as the arrow sailed helplessly over the buck's back. We hunted the rest of the day and finally got back into the deer but no shots were to happen. The next day we relocated the does but the buck couldn't be found so we started the long muddy drive off the mountain. I can't say enough about Jim's ability with the optics and camera equipment and I always love getting into the woods with him. It was a great hunt and I can't wait to get back in the hills. Phil

Way to go Troy! That's Awesome. I remember the feeling of sitting in school waiting for that bell to ring to get back out in the hills with my ol'e man like it was yesterday. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us. Phil

Man what a toad of a buck! Congrats on a great big ole muley. Phil

Happy Birthday Doug! Have a great day. Phil

Great buck! A huge congrats to you on a sweet deer. Phil

Holy smokes sweet buck! A huge congrats! Phil

Beautiful buck and great story Josh! A huge congrats to you and Andy for such an awesome accomplishment and to get it all on film too! I'll throw out there 116". Sweet! Phil

That buck is a toad! I agree that you should forget about the quail and concentrate your efforts on whacking that buck. Phil

Great archery buck! Congrats to you on your second bow coues, he is a beauty. Phil

Awesome buck! Great write up and way to get er done! Phil

Sweet buck and welcome to the forum. Phil

Sweet! Gotta love a day away from work that you get to spend hunting. Looks aweful cold though. Phil

Congrats on a great looking buck. Can't wait to hear the story. Get everything taken care of and get it posted for all of us junkies. Phil

SWEEEET shed man. That things a pig for sure. Don't forget to post the other side when you find it. Phil

Happy Birthday Jim! I hope it goes well and may you have many more just like it. Phil

Jim as you know I have cingular with the new razor2 phone and its pretty good except for where we hunt up north and down south. Other then those two areas I have never had problems. Dad and Jim S. both have Verizon and they get service right at camp down south and in most areas up north. If they bought a higher quality phone they would get even better service. The phone we just got for Coach is with Verizon for these very reasons. If it wasn't for the fact that my work pays for mine I would switch to Verizon with out hesitation. See ya soon. Phil

HOLY SMOKES, awesome set of sheds that you found there....and the exact unit is...? Great find and thanks for sharing the pics with us. Phil

Wow I have two daughters that are six and four and I am just now starting the oldest out with a b.b. gun. I couldn't imagine her shooting anything larger at this point. She loves to go with me but I still can't imagine her being ready to actually pull the trigger herself. Phil

Congrats to B.J. and great write up Shortpants. Thanks for posting the pics and story. Always a pleasure to see somebody get his first one down. Phil

Wow those are some beautiful bucks. Congrats to all the hunters! Do you happen to have any scores on any of them? Phil

Well I was finally able to close the deal the day after Christmas with my trusty bowtech. I actually got a little bit of a late start due to some issues with a land owner so I had to take the long way into where I wanted to hunt but it turned out for the best. I left the truck and made a mad dash to the top of the mountain and before I could even get set up to start glassing I started spotting does and my hopes soared. I was thinking that the rut might be kicking in and any minute I would spot a buck with the two different groups of does but I was wrong for two reasons....1. the bucks didn't show up with the does and 2. there was no sign of a rut going on. I put my binos down for a quick moment and happened to catch some movement off to my left and only a little over a hundred yards away, I thru my binos up and instantly knew that I was looking at a really good buck. I made a quick check of the wind, grabbed my range finder out of my pack and started crawling towards the buck using what cover I had available. It was slow going but the buck didn't seem to be in any hurry as he was just feeding up the slope towards me and I didn't want to rush anything so I took my time in stalking the bruiser buck. Everything was going great when out of a small draw between the big buck and I another buck showed up. He caught me right as I had came out from behind a small yucca and I was nailed down. We stared at each other for a while and then he started feeding quartering towards me, I quickly ranged him at 52 yards and made the decision that he was good enough for me. I let the arrow fly and it hit its mark and I got to watch the buck go about 40 yards and pile up. The big buck just stood where he was and watched all of this happen, he was joined by yet another buck and they just worked their way down the mountain. It was a great day for me and I couldn't be happier with the buck that I took especially knowing that the big buck is still out there waiting for another day. Here is a picture of the big buck after I had made the shot on mine. Sorry its not the best picture but at this point I was pretty excited. Thanks, Phil

Sweet sheds man! Great finds for sure. I think I might have a hard time not killing an afternoon or morning looking for the matches even if I had tags in my pocket. Not too often you come across something like that. Phil

Got to second this one since he is my grandpa and one of the toughest hunters I know. He still can out walk me and slap me a round when needed. As Jim said he knows unit 10 better then any other person alive. He just happened to have gone through lung surgery this past week and already talking about getting back out in the hills. I can only hope to be going half as strong as he is when or if I reach his age. Phil