C.S.Davis

Thanks Colton! You're always welcome to come help out

Thank you. I was having a great time so I wouldn't say it was stressful but there was an inner sense of urgency that grew as time passed. Kind of a fine line type of deal for me.

I was at work on a Thursday when I got a call from game and fish saying someone gave their early archery bull tag back and I was next in line if I wanted it. The issue and in my opinion the part that makes the story better was that the hunt started the next day! I made some phone calls and talked it over with my dad and a few other people that knew the area pretty well and decided I'd take the tag. Due to work and the short notice, I was going to have three days the first week and four days the second to make it happen. Seven days total to kill a screaming bull sounds easy right? I was wrong. The rest of the day and the following two at work were the longest most anticipating days I've ever had. With my schedule I was zero help with getting the camping equipment together and buying last minute groceries and supplies. Not to mention I had to learn how to cow call on the clock as well. My dad took care of it all. I'm just glad I shoot my bow regularly so that was just about the only part of this hunt I had confidence in. Luckily my dad was able to get every day we needed off and he was just as motivated as I was. Finally after clocking out at 9pm Saturday I raced home, showered, grabbed any last minute supplies and my dad and I headed north to chase some elk. We were meeting my friend Colton (RackTracker) who had camp picked out. He went out the evening before and said the rutting activity was incredible and the this was going to be an epic hunt. The morning of my opening day came and we made a plan to climb a hill and glass and see what was out there and possibly hunt them the same way we hunt deer. The hill didn't offer the glassing opportunities we expected, luckily there were plenty of bugles to chase. The morning was great I just couldn't make it happen. I had already seen a few bulls that would make me more than happy to wrap my tag around. I specifically remember one bull that we snuck into with a heard of cows with him that winded us at 78 yards. When we watched him run away I turned and looked at Colton and he looked at me and said "shoot that one." I agreed. The evening presented a lot of distant bugles where the bulls were across the road in the neighboring unit, leaving us with no options. Day two started way different. There were minimal bugles in the same spot and we found ourselves wandering around praying for one to sound off. At one point a small bull came in at about 80 yards but I wasn't interested at the time. That was about all the action we got for the morning. Colton went home after the morning hunt and it was my dad I for the rest of week one. That evening my dad and I tried a different spot after assuming the elk felt pressured with lots of hunters in the same spot. This spot was in an area where I guessed elk might be getting out of bed and wandering around. We jumped a lone bull close to dark but that was about it. We were going into day three without a plan. I texted a friend who had killed his bull in the same unit earlier in the week and asked if he wouldn't mind sharing some spots. He sent me a pin and we had our spot for the following morning. Day three started off much better. My dad and I walked in just to turn right back around after hearing a bugle that sounded like the bull was standing in the bed of our truck. Next thing we know, this bull had us crossing the road three times before catching up with him. I walked into a small opening and caught a glimpse of a leg about 200 yards out. As i was looking at this elk my dad gets my attention and there was a small bull staring at us broadside. I nock an arrow and I'm convinced this bull is in range. My rangefinder reads 125 yards. My thought was cool I'll let him walk since he'll run as soon as I move closer anyway. We refocused on the other elk and at this point we could tell it was a bull. We sneak in closer and he responded but he wasn't completely bought in and wandered off without presenting a shot. We circled around and thought he was going to walk into our lap until the bull stopped bugling and disappeared. That was the end of our first week. Next I had 4 long days of work ahead of me but it gave my dad and I enough time to become YouTube experts and and convince ourselves we can kill a bull. My friend texted me saying his buddy had tagged out and he had some great spots for me to hunt the four days I had available. I couldn't be more thankful for his help. Day four started with me getting held over at work and being late to get home. We met Colton again in camp and went straight to a completely new morning spot. The forrest was silent. Late in the morning we spotted a bull on the opposite hillside but couldn't get close enough to make it matter. The evening hunt would set the tone for the rest of the hunt. We walked into a tank and decided to sit it for the last hour and a half of the day. We heard distant bugles and knew the elk were getting closer but by the time they came in it was too dark. At this point we knew the full moon was going to make the hunt tough. We had to stay at the tank for nearly an hour because we were covered in bulls and didn't want to spook anything. Day five started with nothing. Not a single sound in the forrest. We basically went on a nice little walk and that was it. Colton had to go back home and it was my dad and I again for the rest of the hunt. We could not wait for the evening hunt so we could go to the tank. We made a plan for my dad to sit where we did the day before and I would go to the far side so the elk would get to me faster= and maybe I would get a shot. The elk were a little late to the party that evening so I decided to chase the bugles while my dad stayed at the tank and called. I got about 100 yards from a big bull we later named Big Boy without being able to get closer for a shot. Day six had another uneventful morning. Never in my life had I looked forward more to evening hunts than this elk hunt. My dad and I had the same plan as the day before. Around 5:15 hits and my dad started with cow calls and bugles later and all we heard were distant chuckles and nothing else. We assumed the elk knew something was up. Maybe our calls were too distinct at this point or I pushed too hard the day before but the elk didn't want to come in for a drink. I now had one day left to get it done. That night we listened to bugles from a ton of elk in a field less than 200 yards from camp. We decided we'd chase them in the morning. Day seven came and after keeping us up all night the bulls went silent about an hour before light. We went to a spot hoping they'd be traveling to us with no luck. We bumped a small bull but that was all the action for the morning. We went back to camp, took a nap and packed up camp in anticipation for the last few hours of my elk hunt. My hunting history has shown that I'm no stranger to waiting till last minute to fill my tags and this hunt would be no different. My dad and I went in with the same plan except this time I brought my stalking shoes in case I had to sneak in on the chuckling bull from the day before that we cleverly named Chuckles. At 4:15 we hear a bugle go off close to me and shortly after my dad texted me saying well that was fast. On went my stalking shoes and I began inching closer to the sound of the bull. It felt like multiple times I was within range. I could hear his distinct chuckles and he was raking trees in response to another distant bull. I could never get close enough until about a quarter mile later I stepped into an opening to where I could finally put a face to a name. Chuckles had me pegged. I ranged him broadside. 128 yards. I backed out and tried to come around while my dad texted me saying a big bull had come into his view at the tank. I found myself in a standoff about 70 yards away from chuckles. I thought I needed him to walk out of either side of a tree and I'd have a shot. Next thing I hear is him bugling around 200 yards away with about 10 minutes left of shooting light. I left the cat and mouse game to try my hand at the bull back at the tank. I ran in my socks and thin shoes a few hundred yards in hopes of beating the dark. I get back to the general area and slowed down to sneak in. I see the bull that my dad confirmed was Big Boy go into the field toward the tank. I knew if i could get to a certain tree I'd have a shot. On the way there I discovered he had about 15 cows with him. I was sneaking through openings looking like one of the cartoons on their tippy toes going from tree to tree trying not to be seen. At this point I saw a different bull eating off a juniper and he looked like a great bull not that it mattered with 5 minutes left of light on my last day. I ranged him, 91 yards. I was in the open and drew. I decided I could get closer so I stayed at full draw trying to get to a tree for a 70 yard shot. Four steps later every elk in the unit except for my bull was staring at me. I took aim at 87 yards and let it fly. I didn't see or hear a hit and all I knew was elk scattered and I didn't see my bull leave with the rest of them. I go to where he was standing and there was zero blood and no arrow. I decided to go to my pack and get my dad and as I walked around a tree I saw my bull laying in the field taking his last breaths. What a sigh of relief. My dad saw me at full draw and walking looking like Elmer Fudd but he had no idea I shot. He got to me a minute later and gave me a giant hug after I told him there's a dead bull laying about 50 yards away from us. We snapped our pictures, started cutting him up and had the bull back to the truck and ready to go home by midnight. Just like we wrote it up.

Thanks Colton! 15 more days till we get to do it again!

Counting down the days!

This hunt started before my dad and I were even drawn. A friend of mine and I went scouting what seemed like every chance we could get once I got back home for good from college. We visited a couple different units until I found out what unit I was drawn in. Because of the availability of one of my friends and having family in town during another hunt, my options were to get lucky enough to draw the late December hunt again or draw the early November hunt, which is what ended up happening. I was very familiar with the unit from before and after visiting the unit many times checking new and old spots all I could turn up were a lot of "next year's bucks". This is fine though because I had a friend that I played college baseball with that was coming in for the thanksgiving hunt that could take one of those bucks. The offseason seemed to fast forward and I had completely forgot about my dad's friend that had the same hunt as us. He is 70 years old and cannot walk very far so we were limited to spots that he could get to but I was confident we could get it done. Opening day arrived and my dad only had Sunday and Monday to hunt so it was just me and his friend. Around 9 am I glassed up a pair of small bucks that were working their way towards us. I knew we had a good opportunity here and was getting him set up for a shot. Our hillside was great for shooting in any direction except for the one the deer were in. While I spent the next 15 minutes looking for a shooting bench to lay down, John kept an eye on them. I finally was able to find something that would work for him. I got the deer in the scope for him and had him lay down for the shot. Just as he was getting comfortable the deer never seemed to want to stop walking and crested over the ridge out of sight. Our morning ended with no more excitement and John needed to go home. I switched spots in the afternoon and glassed up two decent bucks but I was willing to holdout. Day two found John and I on the same hill and I brought another friend for another set of eyes but no bucks in the morning. The full moon shut down the movement in the morning but the cloud cover had them moving a lot around 2 pm. After John went home we switched spots and exactly at around 2 pm I glassed up three bucks with a possible shooter in the group. I found them about a mile out so we needed to get closer. We closed the distance to about 1000 yards and I could see them better now but I couldn't get eyes on the bigger buck. We had noticed another group of hunters that weren't there before that appeared like they had no idea the deer were there. A few minutes later we heard a shot and looked at the other group as they were giving high fives. They ended up shooting the bigger buck that I couldn't find. Congrats to them and I kept hunting. Day three had my dad out finally. We went to a spot I had scouted before but not a lot. I went off a gut feeling. I ended up glassing three bucks but there was no way John could get to them. The rest of the morning was dead but I was more excited about the evening anyway. Before John left to go home he gave us these chocolate bars that he gets when he goes to his home in Canada called a Cuban Lunch. We ate them on our way to a new spot and something told us to climb up a hill that easily could be an overlooked area. Sure enough a minute into glassing my dad found a buck and knew it was a good one. We watched it and debated plans and ultimately made a move that needed to be perfect if it was going to work because of the angles of the hills and the location of the deer. On our way to the hill we were going to shoot the deer from I was debating shooting another smaller 3x3 to have the opportunity to double up with my dad. However, luckily enough I realized I had forgot my tag! I had actually forgot it the last two days so good thing I didn't shoot the deer the day before as well. We got to the hill and got set up. After what felt like forever everything worked out and the deer came into a clearing long enough for my dad to dial the rifle and make a perfect 400 yard shot. Of course one of the other bucks stuck around to rub it in my face but we were excited to tag this buck. After day 4 yielded nothing I was alone on day 5, which was also my last day. I finally was was able to go to an area I had high hopes for and could hunt all day. The morning only presented does but there was no shortage. They were everywhere. I switched spots around noon and ate lunch before I started glassing again. I made sure to save the Cuban Lunch for last and despite it being completely melted I enjoyed every bit of it. I finally laid eyes on my first buck at 2:30. He was extremely tempting but I thought I could find better in the last couple hours. 4 o'clock came around and I was regretting not shooting the buck but was reassuring myself knowing I still had December archery. A few minutes passed and I found another buck that got my heart pounding. I got excited and was all alone deep into the country and I knew he was the buck for me. I found a shooting bench, got set up and dialed in and although I was confident I could stay in the scope to see the impact I videoed the shot just in case. I settled the crosshairs and watched the buck drop at 434 yards. After calling my dad to let him know it was going to be a long night for me it took almost an hour to find it because I had confused myself. For those of you who hunt solo, buying a bluetooth clicker to sync up to your phone and putting it on a phone scope for your binoculars to hold is a great way to take pictures alone. After quartering the deer and doing the 2 mile pack out in the dark I was finally back at the truck to end a successful hunt.

Ever since starting college in 2015 in Illinois I knew my time to hunt would be limited to hunting during December and January. Because of this it was either get drawn for the late December rifle hunt or do archery. With this being my senior year and the last time I am limited with time I was getting used to being an archery hunter until we got the news this summer that my dad and I had drawn late December tags we have been waiting for. The preparation and wait began and we couldn't wait till December 14th. After finishing up the semester at school and getting back home my dad let me know he was able to hunt everyday of the hunt except opening day so we knew we could be selective and find great deer. Luckily my dad was able to get out and help a friend of his who had the early December hunt and located a couple good bucks that were in a spot that his friend wasn't able to walk to. Although they were unable to connect on that hunt my dad and I knew where we would be on our first morning. Our opening morning comes around and we're sitting on the mountain at first light when we begin looking for the deer my dad had seen the weekend before. Not 15 minutes after the search began my dad lets me know that he's got a good buck found and he sounded excited. After guiding me in through the binoculars I actually found the bigger buck while he was trying to get me on the other. This is what we saw. After looking over the two deer my dad decided the bigger buck was a great deer for opening day and he'd be happy to take him. This buck had a big body and a small kicker on the left side that fit the bill for what my dad was looking for. Along with his impressive antlers came his smarts and as soon as the sun began to shine he got up and walked over the ridge never to be seen again. With it being opening day we weren't too concerned with finding him again but we were wrong. Despite sitting on the same mountain for all but one day that we went out we were never able to find him again. December 19th came around and we had seen a good amount of bucks at that point but could not find one that got our hearts going quite yet. I remember the day before when my dad glassed off a side of the mountain that very rarely produces deer and he walked back to me and said "I don't know why I even look that direction." That day was pretty slow and my dad goes to glass the same direction as the day before and I went with him this time. After some time my dad finds a buck and says he looks pretty decent. After I pulled up the spotter I confirmed that he was more than decent. Walking in the sunlight I could tell that he had a goofy right side that looked like what I thought was a double main beam. After watching him till he bedded it was time to cut the distance. We snuck to our desired shooting spot only to find out that the hill was the worst shooting bench and we were unable to find where the deer was supposed to be. While my dad stayed put I snuck closer on the near side of the hill and was pleased to glass up the deer and find a shooting bench. After getting set up and ready for the shot I would have but the buck would have stood any minute because he was out in the sun and it was a warm day. Good thing I'm not a gambling man. After and hour of staring at the same ear and antler the deer finally stood and after a 475 yard shot my dad had his buck. With one buck down we took the next day off to reorganize our gear and make a plan for the day after. Our next morning out my good friend Colton showed up to help glass. We're always racing to see who can find the first deer. I believe he found the first deer but I found the one that mattered. A beautiful 3x3 was standing on top of a hill less than 200 yards away and was very tempting but i was not ready to fill my tag knowing I had a Mountain Lion tag in my pocket and 10 days left in the hunt. I mention the lion tag because we had seen three in the last two days without being able to get an opportunity. At 9:30 that same day I was reassured with my decision to pass that buck when I spotted the very reason I passed him in the first place. I let my dad and Colton know I found the same two lions that we saw the day before. Our deer hunt quickly turned into a lion hunt and I was able to take my first lion on December 21st. We took the next day off and began looking for a buck I'd be happy with. I didn't have any specific requirements for my buck, just something that got me excited at first glance. The next few days were slow with small buck sightings but nothing big. I was looking for the opening day buck for the most part but I was confused where he went. On Christmas Eve we made a deal with my mom that let us hunt the morning. We agreed that if we weren't on a deer by 10 am that we'd pack up and leave. At roughly 9:45 i found a solid buck that I initially thought was a shooter. I even texted Colton and let him know I had found a good one. After watching it out of range we think the deer bedded down on the back side of a hill and we didn't have the time to wait him out or make a move so it was that deer's lucky day. December 26th and 27th had a lot of wind in the forecast. The wind held the deer down and we were freezing on the mountain but I did manage to find the buck that was with the opening morning buck. My heart began to race as I got my dad and Colton on him to search for the bigger buck. With the rut beginning to kick in and seeing rutting activity on Christmas eve it would make sense for him to split off. After not being able to turn up the big buck Colton began to plea his case for me to shoot the smaller buck. He was the biggest, most unique fork we had ever seen so while Colton may have had a case I was not ready to fill my tag on him. Here he is. He laid in the same spot all day and while I knew I'd be really happy to take him I just wasn't ready to be done hunting. The next day began in the same spot and while Colton and I were racing to find the first deer I found a buck two minutes into glassing and he looked like a great buck but it was too dark to tell. After getting the spotter up and letting it get a little lighter outside we were surprised to find out it was the same buck from the day before on the completely opposite side of the valley we'd looking in. I got excited when we found him so I knew I was ready to take him. After looking at another buck and watching him go behind a ridge I committed to shoot the fork only to have an airplane scare him and the does he was with out of the country and I began to regret not shooting him the day before. The rest of the day yielded zero bucks and I began questioning where I wanted to start the next day. I had realized that because of the 10 day deadline to check in the mountain lion and the Game and Fish department being closed on Saturdays and Sundays that Friday the 28th had to be the day that we had to go check in the lion. We decided that we would hunt the morning and check in the lion in the afternoon. We begin glassing the morning of the 28th and the wind had finally died down and it rained a lot the night before all paired with a cold morning so we expected a great morning of deer movement. I'm not sure if the sun hadn't warmed up the valley enough yet or what but by 9 am we had only seen six does and I was getting impatient. Mostly because we had spoiled ourselves with early, frequent buck sightings in the past. At around 9:15 I had spotted a back that instantly had my heart beating. It appeared to be the buck I found on Christmas Eve and I was ready to shoot him. He was slightly out of range and we didn't know where he'd be if my dad and I both cut the distance so I made it to the hill between us and the buck while my dad stayed back. I made it to my shooting bench and the buck had bedded where my dad could see him but I couldn't. I had the range and the gun dialed up and ready to go while I started to glass to find where my dad said he bedded. While waiting the deer out we had to decide that if the deer didn't present a shot by noon we had to leave because game and fish closes at 5. We needed the buck to get up and walk about 20 yards for me to be able to see him. As I sat there looking at the same hill for an hour and watched videos of monster mule deer Colton was finding I got a call from my dad that the deer was up at 11 am. The deer actually did what we needed it to do for once and I found it in the binoculars then got set up behind the gun. The deer stopped broadside and I made the 400 yard shot to fill my tag. We quartered the deer out and got it home and was able to get the lion to game and fish by 4. I'd say we cut it close. Thanks to my dad and Colton for the memories on the mountain. Thanks for reading

Sure is! Treated it like it was his day job

Thanks Colton! Only 320 more days!

Three years ago I became an archery hunter. Not by choice but because I was starting college and was home only during late December and early January. I was excited to give it a try but wasn’t excited to give up long range coues deer hunting. My first year I used my dad’s old Matthews that was older than I was and was pretty much maxed out at 50 yards and still lacked confidence at that distance. I decided that I needed nice binoculars since I already had a bow despite the circumstances. I was unsuccessful that year but I still learned a lot. Before the next season I purchased a Matthews No Cam and was much more confident with it. I had many opportunities at bucks but could not seal the deal including a situation where I sailed an arrow over a monster deer while hunting alone. That deer still gives me nightmares to this day. This year I went into with more confidence than I ever had. The first day I went with my dad to our honey hole that has always produced big bucks, coues and muley, in the past. We turned up plenty of deer and although my standards were extremely low because I didn’t want tag soup again, I just wasn’t ready to end my hunt on the first day. The next day I was hunting with my friend Colton (RackTracker) in a different spot. We glassed up a big buck within three minutes of glassing and watched it until it crested over the ridge. We mad our way around the ridge and discovered this deer had picked out the perfect place to bed and my stalk attempt failed when I ended up crawling up the wrong finger to within 10 yards without knowing until the deer had busted. We regrouped and found a group of four bucks almost immediately. I gave myself a minute and began my next stalk. When I got in range the deer knew that something was up but couldn’t exactly figure it out. I got to 44 yards of a small fork that had me pinned. I drew my bow and settled my pin on the shoulder of the buck that was slightly quartering to me and released the arrow. The arrow was good left and right but I found out the hard way that four yards makes a bigger difference than I had thought and hit low on the deer’s front leg but still high enough to get into the body cavity a bit. We waited about 90 minutes and I began tracking while Colton glassed. I began getting excited because eventually the blood looked like it was coming out of both sides of the deer. About 150 yards later I realized I had bumped the deer and there was no more blood after the bed. Luckily Colton’s dad who had showed up glassed it and directed me into get another shot. This time I had a 50 yard shot and the arrow hit the shoulder and didn’t get much penetration but by the looks of the blood I knew I had gotten one of its lungs. After trailing till dark we decided to come back in the morning and get back on the trail with better light. We resumed where we had left off and got to where we the deer looked to have bedded for the night but that’s where the blood trail ended. After looking around for about an hour Colton and I decided to hike up a hill to see if we couldn’t glass up my deer. Before getting to the hill we stumbled upon my deer but something was wrong. We weren’t the first ones to find it. This is what we found… I was worried that the coyotes might find it but I didn’t think it would actually happen. Unfortunately I was wrong and I won’t get to enjoy a single ounce of meat of my first deer but I was still excited to tag my first archery deer and I managed to take this cool picture from one of my favorite glassing spots. About a week later my dad decided that he wanted to get into the archery game. He told me that he wanted to wait till I got my first archery deer before he bought a bow. That day we went a bought my dad a bow and only had enough time to site it in at 20 yards before losing light. The next day I went out with Colton in hopes of doubling up on some javelina while my dad sighted his bow in at home. Colton upheld his part of the plan and bagged a javelina while I proceeded to scare the rest of them away. While Colton was packing out his Javelina I stayed back to look for deer and kept in touch with my dad just in case he decided to come out. My dad told me he was sighted in out to 60 yards and wanted to come out. While he was making his way out I glassed up a spike and tried to talk him into going after it knowing he would pass. By then Colton was back and glassed up a small four point and we got my dad on it. We planned a stalk and off my dad went on his first archery stalk since before I started hunting. He got to about 60 yards but the terrain wasn’t allowing him to see the deer and eventually the deer made him out before my dad could see the deer. It trotted of and met up with three other bucks. I was having a really tough time keeping track of my dad and the deer at the same time and eventually just told my dad to come back. Almost as soon as I told my dad to come back I realized that I could put my dad and the deer in the same point of view in my binoculars. After lining my dad up and realizing that this situation could actually work out, I set my dad up on an opening that the deer were going to walk through. The deer caught his movement and switched directions but made the mistake my dad needed. The first buck walked through an opening 40 yards away and stopped for my dad to get a shot. My dad put a perfect shot on the deer and 15 minutes later had his first archery deer as well only 24 hours after he had bought his new bow. Once again my dad showed me how it’s done. Due to school I didn’t get much time to hunt in January but we can’t wait till next archery season. I owe a big thank you to Colton for hunting with me and helping my dad and I get our deer. Here’s my dad’s buck.

Sorry I'm late to the party! Been using a custom 7mm WSM, 168gr. Bergers, with a Leopold Mark 4 6.5-20x50

Very nice!

When i hunted antelope in 1999 it started on September 23. I was done that day aswell. I have no idea why i still remember that

Very nice again rack tracker! Good job

Very nice mje1! What a toad!