cramerhunts Report post Posted January 7, 2016 After drawing late tags last year I didn't have very high hopes going into the 2015 draw but was pleasantly surprised when the results came out as my cousin and I drew our second choice for another late hunt. Fortunately it was for a unit that I know pretty good and have spent a lot of time in over the years. Without waisting any time we got out to some of my old favorite spots and got cameras hung. I was a little disappointed in the lack of sign we found but wasn't to concerned as it was a late hunt! We had some pretty cool bucks on camera but nothing that got me really fired up, we had 21 days to hunt after all. Fast forward to the end of November and our plans changed significantly. My other hunting partner had drawn a unit 22 desert tag so I committed to helping him and the company we worked for picked up a job in Missouri so I sent my cousin to run it. We both thought no problem, get the sheep hunt over with quick and knock the job out in a hurry and we'd be in camp before opening day. As these things normally go neither happened and we got to hunt a total of 1.5 days before Christmas. We did pass up a mid nineties buck during that time though but we had both agreed to hold out for a giant until the last couple days of the hunt. While we were home for Christmas I spent some time discussing areas and strategies with another forum member (thank you by the way) and I had high hopes heading to camp at 3:00 am the next morning. I met up with John and we hiked into an area I had been wanting to look at for a while. It was perfect, snow on the ground and the air was still. Unfortunately that didn't last long and we got hammered with a blizzard. Another day lost. That evening John came down with the crud and headed home as he was in bad shape. That left me solo during the days and my dad in camp at night as he was hunting muley's in the flats with his bow. The next couple days were uneventful with a few bucks spotted and passed in some gorgeous country. The next morning I woke up to some fresh snow and decided I'd load up in the side by side and head over to retrieve our last camera we had out. As I was pulling out of camp John rolled in. I asked how he was feeling and he replied good enough since there were only three days left. We bundled up and headed out. After glassing our way in we finally made it to where we'd hike in to get the camera. John glassed the ridge above our camera and spots a buck rutting a doe. We look him over and recognize him from our pictures as a buck we named the barrel buck due to his large body. I told John to pack his gear and go kill the buck, he however was still felling under the weather and didn't think he could make it up the ridge so off I went. The rest was pretty uneventful. After a long cold ride back to camp that night we looked at our pictures and knew where we would hunt the last two days of the year. After a pretty uncomfortable trip back to where we were a few short hours previously we set up our glass and got to work. Not long after John says those magic words, "I've got a buck, a big buck". He was buried in a jungle chasing a doe hard and I knew this would be a little bit tricky to make happen. We set up some landmarks and agreed on some distinguishing names and off John went to stalk the giant. The next 4.5 hours were some of the longest of my life. The snow would move in and I'd lose all visibility, it would clear and I'd get lucky and re-spot the buck, I'd walk John into him and sometimes he'd get a shot and sometimes it would be so thick he couldn't see the buck which was less than 20 yards from him. We some how kept it all together and John was able to seal the deal on the buck we named Yeti. It was an incredible hunt and got even better when my dad was able to seal the deal with only minutes to spare on this nice archery muley! In tense situations emotions can get pretty hot but having good hunting partners like I do we always come away smiling. Most of these pictures are in this video but I had some live footage as well that I wanted to share. Hope you all enjoy. https://vimeo.com/150602643 26 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trphyhntr Report post Posted January 7, 2016 You make great hunting reports 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattys281 Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Congrats to you guys, those are some real nice bucks! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
singleshot Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Great job on a couple of really nice bucks. That wind and low temps the last week were no joke but persistence pays off. Dig the music you chose for your video. Overall just awesome! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
creed_az_88 Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Doesn't get any better than that. Congrats again Phil. Killing deer like that in that area ain't easy. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eagle#eyes Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Nice write up, pictures and deer. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SO I HUNT Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Way to go Phil and tell your Dad congrats on great buck. We all know where you get your great hunting skills.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PelaPapas Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Dang all of you scored on that hunt! Big congrats to all! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MULEPACKHUNTER Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Nice work, great write up thanks for sharing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
couespatrol Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Congrats to all involved. Thanks for sharing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
8OWHUNT247 Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Awesome! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EagleEye Report post Posted January 7, 2016 Great looking deer thanks for sharing 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
standman Report post Posted January 8, 2016 Great deer and great story Phil. Brian 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted January 8, 2016 Congrats again guys! That's a heck of a buck you two were able to find and put on the ground. Making dreams come true. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trophyspike Report post Posted January 8, 2016 You make a great historian. Nice work on the deer and the post. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
