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The way the youth hunt went this year, my older boys had unit 27 mule deer tags and unit 1 cow tags for the same time so we camped just on the 27 side of Buffalo Crossing and hunted deer mostly around Middle Mountain. The plan was to find deer fast in 27 then head over to the other side of the creek to get their elk. Neither had killed a deer yet despite elk, turkey and javis, so the emphasis was on deer. Friday - opening day was cold and windy. We saw a few does early and drove our butts off but no bucks. Saturday morning, we found a TON of deer but all does. We probably saw 30 does and got stalked by a Mt. Lion. By the time I had identified it and pointed it out to the boys, it turned and ran, about 50 yards away. Saturday night, Matt shot a small buck off Middle Mtn. Sunday, we couldn’t find squat. Sat water in the morning with Nick and then bumped into some road hunters and talked with them for a bit. They hadn’t seen much. We drove around a while and bumped into them again a couple hours later and they killed a nice 3x4 with trash about 20 minutes after we talked to them – just in the right place at the right time. Monday morning we tried to go way down South. We left camp at around 5 AM and headed toward Eagle Creek. I was thinking if we could get somewhere we could glass we could find a buck for Nick. I had forgotten how far down there it is, and by the time we got where we could do any glassing, it was already way too warm and we found nothing so we headed back to camp. Matt was ready to go after elk so I showed him some places in 1 I thought he could kill, but he’d have to do it solo since I was still trying to find a deer for Nick. When Nick and I left to look for deer, Matt took the Ranger over to one of the tanks I showed him and got set up. Nick and I still couldn’t find any deer around Middle Mtn. so with about an hour of daylight left he decided he wanted to go to Unit 1 and look for an elk. About 15 minutes after we crossed into Unit 1, we found a couple of fighting bulls so I dropped Nick off for a stalk. I moved off so I wouldn’t disturb them then hiked toward the bulls. The clashing of horns and bugling was intense, and I just kept thinking, if Nick can just keep working toward the fighting bulls there should be some cows close by. I resisted calling him on the radio as daylight was running out for fear I’d mess up his stalk. All I could do is sit back and listen to bugles and clashing horns, hoping he was closing in. Then I hear the BOOM of the .270 WSM and I knew he had sealed the deal. I called him on the radio and he told me he had one down. We quartered up his elk in the dark with headlamps and hiked the meat back to the truck and headed for camp, both sweaty and bloody. At that point I thought the hunt was done – a deer for Matt and an elk for Nick. I was looking forward to a nice shower and campfire. When we arrived at camp, Matt gave Nick a big high-5 for his elk and then informed me he had one down too. I kinda figured this might happen – the spot I had him sit is at least 50/50 any given day at sundown for a cow. Turns out it was an awesome evening. He got to the tank about an hour and a half before sundown, and started hearing bugles in the distance. I had told him earlier, the best way to find cows is to find bugling bulls, so he headed after the bugles. He wasn’t able to close in on them so he headed back to the tank, but by the time he got there, the elk had already arrived. There were at least 3 bulls going nuts at the tank and who knows how many cows. He snuck in as best he could, but they were alert to his presence. He had several cows to choose from but only one offered a broadside shot. One squeeze on the 300 WSM and he had his cow down. Now Matt is just 15 and he left camp on his own, did his hunt following the advice he has learned and got his cow all by himself. By the time I got there, he had already almost quartered this cow, but when it got dark he went back to camp so his mom wouldn’t be worried. He’s going to be one heck of a hunter – already is, in my opinion. Not a great pic, but he took it with his ipod since he was all alone. So Nick and I help him finish the field dressing and get the meat back to camp. It’s getting late now, but I insist that they hang all their meat on their own – they’re 13 and 15 and this is just part of the hunt they have to learn. Tuesday morning, we have the “Jones Boys” meat pole with a deer and two elk hanging. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these boys, and the way they conducted themselves throughout the hunt. Nick was all about hiking, learning trails and bedding areas, finding water sources and trying to really learn how the deer and elk move. By the third day or so, he was feeling frustrated about not being able to find a buck, but he fought through that, kept a positive attitude and just had fun with it. Matt was able to go out completely on his own and get things done. Many times we would see deer in unit 1 or elk in 27 (both illegal to take with their tags) – but they didn’t even think about breaking the rules. They stood fast to the rules and recognized that hunting lawfully and sticking to their ethics is the only way to hunt.