Search the Community

After not getting anything in the general draw my cousin John and I decided to pick up some left overs for a unit that we know pretty well. With the scouting we had done and the bucks we were getting on trail camera we had some high hopes of tagging a couple of bruisers. After the first couple of hunts though we quickly noticed our bigger bucks had turned nocturnal and the sightings were becoming few and far between. Oh well that's part of hunting and the challenge we love so much. We headed down on Thanksgiving day to be greeted with snow and cold temperatures which was a pleasant change from our earlier trips. My father, uncle, and other cousin were going to join us in camp for part of the hunt and it was great spending time around the fire with everyone. After a short night sleep John and I were set up on our glassing point awaiting daylight. It wasn't long into the morning glassing session and we had spotted several does and what appeared to be a pretty nice buck. After a quick discussion it was decided that John would cut the distance in half to try and get a better look at the now bedded buck. John was able to get to 447yds when the buck got up and started heading over the top to the shady side of the ridge. It wasn't long before I saw the impact through my spotter and then heard the report of John's 300 RUM. Opening day and one down. John shot the buck at 8:58 and we got back to the rzr at 3:20 in the afternoon. It was a long first day. Over the next four days we looked over some nice bucks and beautiful country and even some bears out roaming around but I just wasn't seeing anything that I wanted to shoot. After finally spotting a great buck and spending the day waiting for him to reappear I happened to get enough service to pull up the weather forecast and saw that the wind was fixing to scream and the snow level was going to drop well below our elevation. The next morning I told everyone that the next good buck I saw in a decent spot to pack out was going to be in trouble. As luck would have it right out of the gate John and I spotted a nice buck headed up the opposite ridge as we were climbing up to our glassing knob. John hurried to the knob to keep an eye on him as I hurried up to the closest spot I thought I could shoot from. Before I could get there and get set up John let me know the buck was just about to drop into the next canyon. I dropped my pack and quickly ranged the buck at 458 yards. I hit the buck a little too far back but it gave me some time to get set up and allow John to come to my location to spot for me. As soon as the buck stood up I was able to anchor him for good. Even though this isn't the buck I set out to get I am still really happy with him and had an absolute blast hunting with John and my family. Times like these spent in the great outdoors have a way of bringing me back to what it is really about.