October Success- 5 for 5, PICS ADDED.

[Arizonahunter]

Once again, this year proves to be a fun and successfull hunt. I hunted for 6 days, passing up bucks I wished I hadn't now... But, thats how hunting these Grey Ghosts go...

As mentioned, 6 days of hunting proved to be tons of fun, great stories and memories for years to come. The 5 people at my camp, including myself, all tagged out. All decent bucks ranging from 75" - 103".

Day 1- Withing the first hour, we had 6 bucks glassed up, none of which any of us had wanted to go after. Mid day, 3 of us had our crosshairs on one buck, egging eachother on to take the shot, great times... Well, none of us pulled the trigger.

Day 2- One of the hunters ended up shooting the buck from the day before, that we all had our crosshairs on. Still glad I didn't pull the trigger. I glassed up a few bucks, one that I now wished I would have gone after, but chose to pass on, knowing I had seen bigger ones in weeks prior.

Day 3- Only hunted a half day, as I had to be back to the house for my Mother in laws Birthday party. Many brownie points for that one :-)

Day 4- A few of the hunters had glassed up a few bucks, let the lead fly but missed. No dead deer.

Day 5- Another Half day of hunting. Work came first. Had to get out and show some houses to some out of state buyers...

Day 6- After spending the evening with my family, getting a great nights sleep and a shower at home the night before, I was ready to get the job done. I met a buddy of mine early in the the AM to hunt a different spot before heading back to camp to break it down. Well, this morning turned out to be uneventfull, only glassing up a few small bucks. At this point, I decided to head back to camp and start breaking it down. Arriving back at camp, I see 2 deer hanging in the tree, thinking to myself, man, I should have come back last night, lol... 2 great bucks on the ground from the AM hunt. Both that had killed, had just killed their first Coues deer, as they were all from out of state... After all of the high fives and how it happened stories, I started breaking camp down. At 2:30, the truck and quad were loaded, ready to head home after the evening hunt. Well, I headed out from camp, around 2:45pm, knowing I had an hour+ hike to get to my glassing spot. Once arriving, I did my normal routine, taking my hat off and saying a prayer before starting my glassing. Within 10 minutes of glassing, I had glassed up a bedded buck!!! At over 1000 yards away, I could tell he was a decent buck. Knowing it was my last evening at camp, I figured I would give it a shot and go after him. After packing up all my gear, I headed out after him. I closed the distance to 600 yards, still not close enough for me to shoot. 10 minutes later I was as close as I was going to get, without him seeing or hearing me, as he had 2 does with him and no cover between me and them. I pulled the range finder out and ranged him at 428 yards. I got all set up, put him in my cross hairs and gently squeezed the trigger. Whack/thump...I knew I had hit him, hooray...... Being over 2 miles from camp, 4:45pm and by myself, I knew had a long evening a head of me. I headed over and found my deer 15 feet from where he was standing when I shot him, lying in the deepest part of the cut, between 2 trees and on some rocks, where he had broke off the tip of his eyeguard, ughhhh. I got him puled out, took some pictures and let the fun begin. After field dressing him, loading him on my packframe, I pulled out the GPS, trying to figure out my best plan of attack to get back to camp. Being it was 5:30p and I only had an hour of light left, Straight up was an option, but seemed like too much work, lol. I decided to take the river bed back, zig zagging back and forth for over 3 and a half hours. This was the hardest pack out I had EVER done. It would not have been so bad if I had'nt been tripping and slipping all the way. Tons of water made for a hard and long hike out, over big boulders and wet grass. Falling in 2 pools of water up to my thighs did not help...What an experience... If only I had someone videoing me, I might have won some money, hahaha...

During my breaks, which were many, I would turn my headlamp off and GPS off, to conserve the batteries. Being a grown man, it was a bit unsettling, sitting in complete darkness, hearing noises and branches breaking where I had not come from, makes your mind start racing, Knowing I was in bear & lion country..lol... Was I becoming the prey..

At 8:25pm, the GPS finally read .25 miles away, thank God, is all I could tell myself. I started hooting and hollaring for the guys back at camp and they came to my rescue, lol. Taking my packframe off my back and carrying it the rest of the way along with my pack and gun.

That was the best feeling, knowing I was back at camp and a hot meal was waiting. 3 deer down in one day. What a great day of hunting.

That was the longest and hardest hunts I had had in years, though MANY great memories and friends were gained.

Day 7- The 5th hunter killed a 103" early in the AM.

 

Hope you enjoyed the write up, a little long winded, but tons of fun.

Here is my 80 1/8" 2x2,

This is the deer we all had our crosshairs on, opening morning.

This deer was taken on the 6th Morning,

This deer also taken on the 6th morning,

This deer was taken on the 7th morning,

 

Take care,

Mike

[echo co.]

Congrats to you and the other hunters, nice deer thx fr sharing

[CouesWhitetail]

Congratulations and thanks for posting the story and all the pics! Great bucks!

[Couzer]

Nice job!

[Arizonahunter]

Thanks everyone. Had a great hunt

[tjhunt2]

You guys definitely know how to get the job done. Congratulations to all the hunters and thanks for sharing.

 

TJ

[buckmaster21]

thoes are all nice congrats