My 2012 Review..
ColoradoV
1/19/13 8:48am
As we all look to next year I thought I would post a report of my 2012 season. I know it has been awhile but I figured better late than never and a good way to introduce my self.
The starts early for me and I try to get out and scout as much as I can. The pics will start in Mid july and through my archery season. Hope you all enjoy.
This set was from the first time that I went out scouting with my father. He still gets around real well for a 68 year old!
We found a group of bucks that should have some potential.
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They had a long way to go or grow but it was fun to see some on the 1st night of scouting!
The next time I was able to make it out my wife and 13 mo old daughter joined. While we did not see too many bucks the fun meter was off the charts!
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I will add some more pics as I get the time.
The starts early for me and I try to get out and scout as much as I can. The pics will start in Mid july and through my archery season. Hope you all enjoy.
This set was from the first time that I went out scouting with my father. He still gets around real well for a 68 year old!
We found a group of bucks that should have some potential.
They had a long way to go or grow but it was fun to see some on the 1st night of scouting!
The next time I was able to make it out my wife and 13 mo old daughter joined. While we did not see too many bucks the fun meter was off the charts!
I will add some more pics as I get the time.
22,372
The first time I was able to go out for a long overnight hike I found a bachelor herd that I knew I would have to come back and look at..
These pics were taken in mid to late July.
If you look closely both of his brow tines split. I knew this guy had a good chance of getting real close to the 30" wide mark by the time the season started.
Is that last buck pregnant?
Once it gets to August it is time to get a bit more serious. I spent over 30 days total scouting every year and this year would be no different.
Now that I had a #1 buck to hunt we have called the one above splits due to the split brow tine and he was #1 going into August so it was time to bump him from the top!! Time to find a bigger buck and in the first week of August turned up a buck that would bump old split down to #2...
He was always with this guy.
The pics do not do this buck justice he was a true 190 class typical by the season with great mass!
Now after looking at the pics again I think this guy may be pregnant as well :).. I had also had a couple of hunters who were scouting elk say they ran into a huge buck in another part of the unit that I should spend time looking for. You boys pry know stories of big bucks are a dime a dozen but I decided to spend the next few days I had looking for the new buck and give the #1 and #2 buck on my list time to chill with no pressure.
Maybe it was the double neck patch or the great cape but this buck I promised myself I would hunt this year!
Not bad for a 3x3.
Then I got a text message with some pics from the elk hunters........
Yea as soon as I saw the text I knew I had some driving and lookin around ahead of me here in the next month. Not too often you run into a buck like this! The pics are small because they are the actual text message pics. Also the pics were taken in the 3rd week of July so trust me this guy is not done growing at this point!
I had no problem getting out the door at 3:30 am the next day...
Thanks for sharing and welcome to the site
Yea that dropper is just what it looks like. Also he has 4 kickers one that splits off the left and 3 off the right. Also hard to make out in this pic as the curve away but pry 3" brow tines! You cant see the gnarly bases this guy sports as well. Kicker to kicker he would go over 30" wide...
Well I saw him for the 1st time right away and trust me he looks bigger in person - a true jaw dropping once in a lifetime buck - it was 2 -3 weeks after this pic was taken and by then he was working his way into a 180 class frame and my estimation was close to 210" gross w extras and by the time he was done growing. I was able to watch him feed through the timber for about 10 min.
So now the list was.
#1 Dropper
#2 The big typical
#3 Big 3 (I just like big 3's #-o )
#4 Splits
If someone would have told me that splits - or a great typical that would go 28" - 30" wide with split brow tines would be #4 on my list before the season I would not have believed it.
It is nice to have a list but I knew the season would really only be about 1 buck. As there is always a catch dropper was hanging out not in the summer range but in a giant stand of black timber at 10k ft. He was so easy to see that first time - I thought I could pattern him. Well the next 8 days proved me wrong as the next time I was even able to catch a glimpse of him was over 4 miles from where I saw him the first time. Now with less than 10 days til season opener it seemed I was chasing a ghost in black timber. I did not get any pics in this time as when I saw him it would be inside of 100yds as that is what the terrain dictated. Also with him moving around miles at a time I knew this would not be easy.. I spent the next week looking for him and found him again 2 days before the opener 3 miles from the first spot and 7 from where I saw him the first time. The last couple of days before the season started I had not seen him but I was sure excited to have my bow in hand as I headed out on August 25!
That dropper buck is more than just a once in a life time buck, that is the type of buck your grand kids would still be talking about!
Now all I can ask is "what happens next?"
Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for sharing. 10sign:
The way archery season works for me is that I am fortunate enough to have my job slow down due to lack of work in the fall so I can spend quite a bit of time in the hills. I like to dedicate as much time over the first 10 days to deer. Then work for 4-5 solid days. Mid Sept I join my father and some friends at a otc elk camp for a week or so and then spend that last week hunting for either elk or deer if I have not filled my tag. I either hunt alone or with my 68 yr old father.
Also once I start hunting I do not carry the set up I use to take the pics as caring around a 85mm zeiss spotter has its drawbacks. I know the bucks I am going to hunt on sight so I switch to a small nikon ed that is great. Anyway I do not get as many pics once the season starts as hunting is the first priority.
So knew I had a week solid to dedicate to this drop tine buck. Once I found him I pulled all the "favors" I could and my wife/family was supper supportive helping watch my 14 month old while I made the plan to put in the time to chase dropper!
The last sighting I had of dropper he was in a basin/area with a trail and how I hate basins with trails. Friday night there was no one at the trailhead but as I was glassing I looked down about 8 am on the opener and up came 4 elk hunters with 6 horses. Public land hunting is what it is and as I listened to the rocks roll off the hill and watched them set up a camp in the basin dropper was in I knew that he would be on the move again.
So I headed out and tried to figure out what way he would head. Next 2 days I had no luck locating him in the surrounding area so I decided to go back to where I had first seen him on the 3rd day of the season. This was about 5 or more miles away and I saw nothing not even a doe on day 3...
Ok right about now I am chasing a ghost that was pressured and the thoughts of that big typical are starting to mess with me.. So on day 4 I had a decision to make. Chase a ghost or go to a basin where I have a good chance at a actual stalk. Easy decision as I go back to the original sighting area of dropper!
The area I hunted on day 4 is thick timber with a creek so my plan was to still hunt the creek and hope I get lucky, see a big track, anything. I work 2 miles of this creek slowly with the wind perfect and nothing. On my way back it was about 11 am and I am in thick willows when I hear something move. Then I see the rack stand up 30 yds in front of me no doubt dropper I walked up on him in his bed. I get the arrow nocked and the damn willows are so thick all I can see is the top of his head and that rack!! For what had to be 5 min but could have been 30 seconds - he stood there at attention starting in my direction the he started to move.. Then I drew. Come on walk to your right, your right, just take 2 steps he started to walk into the opening and stopped again. I was at full draw when I felt the wind blow ever so slightly on the back of my neck and that giant rack spun around..... BOOM BLAM SLAM.. Shit....
As I walked back to the camp I knew I was chasing a ghost that had been bumped 2x and one time bad by me...
For the rest of day 4. I decided to pack up, walk out, and drive across the unit to hunt the other bucks on the list as I knew that maybe I could see dropper again or I could spend 2 days and not see a deer. By the time I got packed up, drove over a hr on dirt roads and got re set up it was after dark so I would have to wait to see if the big typical would be there when the sun came up.
For as hard as it was to leave dropper I just love to be up in the high country. As the sun came up I knew I had made the right decision!
Also as soon as I can see I start to see deer. Several bucks but not the big typical. That is when I see this guy alone in the perfect spot.
And here is a video of him.
He beds down in a perfect spot for a stalk and the wind was perfect. I spent the next 30 min watching the and not turning up the big typical - when he got the best of me and I started my first stalk of the season! He was only 300 yds away when I came over the rise and I had a rise that would put my 30 - 40 yds from him if he did not move.
I had decided to carry the big spotter as I was not far from camp I was able to get this last pic before I started my stalk.
I am heading out the door but here is a video of the week or so and snowmachines are the perfect way to scout new area's! Since Sat these area's have gotten over 40" of snow. Time to get out there!
I promise to update soon when I get the chance.
Well I dropped my large pack and got ready for the stalk. One thing I have learned is to carry a bit of marking tape and mark where you leave your boots and pack. It makes them much easier to find! It was a blind stalk until I came over a rise by a little tree what from my est would be 30 ish yards from this buck. The first 200 is fast and easy then I leave my boots and get ready for the last bit. The wind was perfect and as I looked slowly over the rise there he was facing down hill in his bed. 28 yds. When I got closer and after about 30 min of standing there. The wind swirled he stood up and looked down hill with a perfect broad side shot. Honestly all I could think about was dropper or the other bucks but realistically this buck is barley over 26" wide and is younger or needs another year. I did not even draw my bow and he worked his way off to the other side of the basin.
On the hike back I decided that if you are not going to take a shot like then I needed to find the big typical in this area. The next day turned up some great scenery and many good bucks..
Hard to tell as these were a long way off but that top left buck is a flat stud!
As I could not locate the big typical I headed out and off to hunt elk w my father I had a great season so far and would be back to give it another go in a week or so.
The country is not that bad either. We have no real chance at a trophy elk as we hunt OTC unit where the top end bulls are 300ish. Great thing is that there is a lot of smaller bulls to chase around!
Also check out this elk.. He was chasing cows and bugling.
Some other random elk pics.
As I got to camp a good friend had already found a great bull for the area.
Well we spent a week chasing the wiley elk and came up empty handed. My father shoots a long bow and we were sooo close a couple of times to small bulls inside of 20 yds as that is his limit - but it just did not work out.
I know he isn't that big, but I can tell you that piebald Raghorn bull would be at the top of my hit list if i would have seen him!
That is one off the coolest looking bulls I've ever seen :thumb
That piebald is cool. He would be on my hit list also.
Once I was back from elk camp I had to work but moved my day back so I could hunt in the AM. Needless to say I spent every morning I could or about a week looking for dropper. The bad news is that I did not see hide nor hair of him. I went everywhere I thought he would go but saw nothing. Pry in total I spent another week with 0 sightings of anything bigger than a small 3 pt.
I planed to spend the last weekend or so elk hunting but before I headed out back to elk camp I went back up high and hoped to get lucky. By this point in the season elk and deer hunters have pushed the bucks around and once they go hard horned they end up wandering all over.
Again locating many good bucks some days the wind was not right for a stalk but many days the large groups of 5-8 bucks made stalks hard. Here are some of the bucks from the last few sessions. The stalks all ended up the same way with me getting busted.
Another good 3 point. He never gave me the chance for a stalk.
Called this guy tall but not wide
Also saw the first scraped off buck of the year..
I could not turn up the big typical or splits and I spent so much time looking for them that time ran out on my season. I had a great season and as I headed out to elk camp I felt fortunate to have such a great season even though I did not tag out. That is the way it goes and with a bow any buck you can get is special. I was disappointed with not getting a shot at dropper and spending so much time looking for him but over all it was a great season.
I got up to elk camp on the last Thursday of the season looking to get pretty much any legal bull to fill the freezer. On Friday am pops and I were into the elk but just did not get a shot on our way back to camp we saw smoke. As we got back to camp it was clear that a forest fire had broken out in the area and soon the sheriff was there telling us to evacuate. We spent the rest of day breaking down camp and getting out just before the fire closed the road out.
It was not until after midnight that I got back home but I knew that I had been given 2 more days the last 2 days of the season to chase muleys!!
Sat you know I put my best plan together and went back for dropper I spent all day and did not see him. So now we are down to the last sunrise of the season..
So as I sat at my kitchen table on the last morning of the season I knew I either would spent the last day looking again for dropper or go look for the big typical. I decided to let chance decide and I flipped a coin to decide. Heads = dropper, Tails = typical. I was honestly relived when it came up tails. My quest of dropper had officially ended and I was off to see if I could locate the typical.
As soon as I sat down in the basin I noticed the wind steady and out of the North it would make for a great stalk if I saw anything. I was getting disappointed as a basin that usually holds 5+ bucks held nothing. It was looking like the deer had moved down. Just then I saw the big typical he was hard horned and by himself! I shot this last pic before I headed out across the basin.
He bedded down early and in a spot where I could only see 1 antler. Getting inside of 150 yds would be easy and then it would be hard. At 150 yds I dropped my pack and at 100 I took off my boots. There was a small creek between us and it looked like I could get to 40 or so yards pretty easy. Well my feet got wet and the 3 pairs of wool socks only warm wet feet so well when there is frost on the ground. When I got to the last possible spot I was 49 yards from where he was bedded and the waiting game began. I could not sit down and had to stand or I could not see him and after the first hour my feet were cold... After the second hour it became a challenge. By the 3rd hour I was wondering about frostbite but the buck was still comfy in his bed and not moving at all. In this time I knew I had a great chance. I shoot to 60 yds all day long and must have ranged him 50 times it came up 49 yds every time. Also I could not believe that I ended up 49 yds from the big typical all on getting evacuated by a forest fire and on a coin flip at my house no less.
Finally the buck started to move! My feet were frozen but I did not care at this point! He stood up and fed away for a step or two. Thats when I drew. Then he took another step and turned perfectly broad side shot. I settled the pin and released. The shot looked good and he blasted out of there.
As I sat and attempted to rub the feeling back into my frozen feet I could not believe it. What chance put me here! This is why I hunt things do work out. I gave the buck some time gathered my pack and boots as quietly as I could then went to look for the arrow. As I got to where I shot there was my arrow with not a speck of blood or otherwise on it. When the buck turned he went from 49 to 57 yards and I shot right under him.....
still a fantastic read!
In 2011 I stalked a big typical until another hunter got it in muzzy season but ended up with this buck. It is right at 29" wide..
Oh well best part is that it was 100% user error or not sure if it was the cold or what but I should have changed over to my 60 yd pin and this story has a different ending.
I usually get a cow elk to fill the freezer and this year I got a young cow close to the road on Nov 9th and it is tasty. All the left over cow elk tags make it easy to hold out for a big buck or bull then get a cow late to eat.
Thanks for all the comments and good luck to all in your draws for 2013.