Cuban Lunch Luck

[C.S.Davis]

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. 

 

 

[AZBIG10]

Solid bucks! Great job. Archery January is right around the corner.

[PRDATR]

Great Story!

[Will K]

Good job.

[pwrguy]

Nice

[C.S.Davis]

15 hours ago, AZBIG10 said:

Solid bucks! Great job. Archery January is right around the corner.

Counting down the days!

[RackTracker]

Congrats again to you and your dad Cole! You guys get it done year in and year out. You better save a Cuban Lunch for January!!

[C.S.Davis]

On 12/16/2019 at 9:15 PM, RackTracker said:

Congrats again to you and your dad Cole! You guys get it done year in and year out. You better save a Cuban Lunch for January!!

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