2013: Quest for "The One"
ridgetop
8/2/13 7:55pm
You guys probably thought i wasn't going to give any reports this year. I've been working a ton of overtime and have been feeling more than burned out.
But I did finally get out and look around in our new area.
July 20th, Tom and I planned on hiking up into a basin that has caught our eye for a few years now. At first, things weren't going to well. My atv had a dead battery and then we got lost in the dark and couldn't find the trail. By time we started to hike, it was already getting light. For the first 1/2 mile , the hike was fairly easy and I was doing just fine but then we needed to head straight up a steep ridge to get on the ridgeline to look into the basin. That's when I told Tom (Mr. Ironman) that I would meet him at the top. When I caught up with him about a 1/2 hour later. He had spotted a couple nice bucks. Then I spotted another boxey 26" wide buck. A few minutes later Tom spotted two more good bucks, a 7x6 and a 6x5. We also, saw 5 or 6 smaller bucks. In all, we saw 6 mature bucks. Not a bad first day into a new area.
Here's a picture of the 6x5. The others were about a mile away and a little camera shy.
But I did finally get out and look around in our new area.
July 20th, Tom and I planned on hiking up into a basin that has caught our eye for a few years now. At first, things weren't going to well. My atv had a dead battery and then we got lost in the dark and couldn't find the trail. By time we started to hike, it was already getting light. For the first 1/2 mile , the hike was fairly easy and I was doing just fine but then we needed to head straight up a steep ridge to get on the ridgeline to look into the basin. That's when I told Tom (Mr. Ironman) that I would meet him at the top. When I caught up with him about a 1/2 hour later. He had spotted a couple nice bucks. Then I spotted another boxey 26" wide buck. A few minutes later Tom spotted two more good bucks, a 7x6 and a 6x5. We also, saw 5 or 6 smaller bucks. In all, we saw 6 mature bucks. Not a bad first day into a new area.
Here's a picture of the 6x5. The others were about a mile away and a little camera shy.
30,322
As Mr. Madness said Phew.
Thank you for another years worth of adventure. :thumb
I met my cousin John at the trailhead at 5:30 am. We both only had a few hours to look around and would need to be off the mountain by 10:00am to get to our families. By 7:00 am, we were glassing a really good looking mountain that should hold some good bucks but after looking for about 30 to 45 minutes and not seeing a single deer of any kind. We decided to move on. The plan was for John to go check on a couple trail cameras he had set up a few weeks earlier and I would cross over to the other side of the canyon that we were on , so I could look back at the country we couldn't see from our current location. As I got further around the canyon and slowly worked my way down slope, The mountain started to really "open up". I've mensioned to people before about how important it is the "glass with the grain" of the mountain, instead of against it. It's like opening up the blinds of a window all the way instead of only looking through them half opened. Anyway, once I finally got to that special glassing spot, I sat down and started looking across the huge canyon. Instantly I was able to spot a group of 4 good bucks, then further down canyon another group of 3 bucks with one of them having great forks but I could not tell how wide it was before they disappeared into the trees. Then a few minutes later I spotted another great buck even further down canyon, near the bottom. I knew it was getting late and the bucks would be bedding soon and I was running out of time but I had to get a better look at this last buck.
As I found a good spot to re-set up my spotting scope in the little bit of shade I could find. Once I was back at looking at the tall, heavy buck lower in the canyon. I could not believe my eyes. He had a droptine and a big one at that. His antlers looked really goofy. They looked more like a raghorn 4 or 5 point elk that your standard Mule Deer. After a few minutes, he turned his head. Are you kidding me? Did I just see a second droptine on the other side? Now the heatwaves were getting really strong through my scope and the air was getting more hazy, I just could not tell for sure how many points this buck had. I would need to get a better look at him another time. It was also time for me to go and meet up with John and see if he had anything good on the trail cams and head back home.
I meet up with John and told him about the bucks I saw. He hadn't seen anything and he only had one nice looking 24-25" 3x4 on the cameras.
I think I may have found the one.
On my way back home, I called my other hunting partners to let them know what I had found. Tom wanted to know if I wanted to go back out and get video of the raghorn buck. Since we did know exactly where he was at the time, this might be the best chance. After several meetings that afternoon that I had committed to, we were off. We frankly ran out of daylight before we could get to the raghorn buck. We did end up seeing him from a distance but because he was in very thick brush and we were looking at him from below. We just couldn't get a good look at him. So I still didn't know how many points he had or if he did indeed have two droptines. I could tell he was a very heavy and tall buck but that's about it.
We did come across this nice buck in the bottom of the canyon as we were hiking in. He just let us walk right on by him until we were out of sight.
I've always wanted at least one 180" main frame buck and one 30" wide buck to hang on the wall. Although I've passed on a few or missed the shot. I'm still without one. I believe I have found such the bucks in the last two weeks.
Here's a picture of one of them right before dark at about a mile away.
How big is he? (???)
Sounds big though.
You really have to slowly pick apart each area you are glassing. This picture was taken right at dark last Friday night. We were able to get right on him the next morning but he was in a tough spot to make a stalk on. So we are going to wait for the muzzy hunt and see what happens.
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Sorry I haven't been able to keep up on this post. Due to my heavy work schedule and the many chores around the house, I just haven't had time. During my free time, I have been scouting my but off the past six weeks.
I have had a goal for the past 20 years to get at least one 30" wide buck and one 180" main frame buck before I hang it up. This year I have found two bucks that will qualify.
Here are the top three biggest bucks that we have found this year.
The first, I found in mid-July but haven't seen it in six weeks now. His antlers look more like a raghorn elk than a mule deer but I love how crazy he looks. Which buck do you guys like best?
So for me #2, then #1, then #3 and I'd be smiling after any of them.
Ridge any of those bucks I would take. can not wait to hear more about your trips
Awesome Ridge!!
It was probably the 4th or 5th best buck I saw this year but I just couldn't pass up the chance at such a nice buck. I thought his main beamer were a little longer than they really are but he did end up having more mass than I thought.
You may have hit both of your goals with that buck.
Congrats!