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Follow up on the 'Once-in-a-lifetime' Trophy Deer Hunt
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<blockquote data-quote="Rymart" data-source="post: 125684" data-attributes="member: 3688"><p><strong>Re: Follow up on the \'Once-in-a-lifetime\' Trophy Deer Hunt</strong></p><p></p><p>Part 3:</p><p></p><p>I eventually decided to check out another part of my hunt area, Pine Mountain (an area that I had not scouted and that did not have a reputation for producing as many deer as the other parts of my hunt area). True to it's reputation, after a half a day I had not seen a single deer. I was just about to give up when I thought I saw some antlers sticking up out of some tall sage brush. I stopped and backed the truck up a few hundred yards, and sure enough, there were three nice bucks and a doe about 300 yards off of the road. I put the spotting scope on them and got really excited when I saw that the largest buck was about 29 inches wide. I was reaching for the rifle when he turned his head and I saw then he was only a 2-point on one side. I watched him for a few minutes, trying to talk myself into taking him (he was a 4x2 with average mass, the other two were around 26 inches). I decided to hold out for something better. I also decided to go for a short walk to see if there were anyother deer in the group that were below the three that I had seen on the hillside. I grabbed my rifle, my backpack, and my shooting sticks. I left the GPS, the water, and my shooting rest. I walked around the point above where the bucks were and came out behind them. When I came out from behind the point, the three bucks and the doe were about 250 yards away moving up the opposite hillside. They looked big. I set up on the sticks and watched them through my rifle scope. I put the crosshairs on the larger buck and thought "man he looks good, if ony he weren't a two-point on the other side". I almost pulled the trigger anyway. When he hit the skyline he turned his head and I realized that he was a completely different deer, a larger, heavier, 4x4! He dissappeared before I could do anything about it. About that time the three bucks that I had spotted from the truck trotted out right where the first three had been and went off in a different direction. They were definitely smaller than the three I had just watched go over the hill. I put the 4x2 in the scope. I know I could have easily made the shot, but couldn't do it knowing that the big 4x4 was somewhere over the ridge. I was suffering from a very serious case of buck fever at this point and went after the bigger buck. I carefully approached the ridge where they had crossed. I waited just below the ridge line to get my wind then slowly inched my way over the ridge, trying to spot the bucks before they saw me. Unfortunately, they left the doe on my side of the ridge, just over the top, while they waited about 20 yards below the top of the opposite ridge. The doe busted me and huffed, warning the bucks. They crossed the ridge at a leisurely pace while I tried to get steady for a shot. The largest buck stopped just over the ridge line for a minute where I could only see his antlers against the skyline. The buck fever intensified. The next three ridges we nearly an exact repeat of the first ridge. They were definitely using the doe as a lookout. The fourth ridge was a little bit lower and I could see the top of the fifth ridge behind it. I ranged the fifth ridge where I though they would cross it. It was 554 yards. I set up the shooting sticks and dialed the elevation knob on the scope. Just as I was setting up on the sticks they appeared on the far end of the ridge quite a ways from where I had expected them to be. I quickly grabbed for the Swaro 8x30 laserguide range finder to re-range them and I dropped it (symptom of the advanced stages of buck fever). I picked it up, got them in the optics, and pushed the button. NO familiar orange aiming circle!! Tried it a couple more times with the same outcome. I gave up and got back behind the rifle. I had the big buck in the crosshairs, but there were a few problems: First I was not as steady as I would have liked to have been… we can either blame the shooting sticks or the buck fever for that, next the doe was on his left practically touching him, one of the smaller bucks was on his right, just as close as the does was. Additionally, I was not sure of the exact distance. They proceded down the ridge line, getting further away. As they crossed over, the big buck stopped just over the ridge line again, while the doe and smaller buck went over. This time I could see the top half of his silouette. Out of a pure buck fever induced lack of judgement I held high and let one fly (note that he was not skylined as there was another ridge behind him). I now think of it as my way of waving good by to him. I recovered my sight picture in time to see dirt fly a few inches low. I sat there shaking, trying to collect myself. I used a dime to remove the battery cover from the rangefinder and saw that the battery looked like it had been bumped slightly out of position. I removed the battery, put it back in, and screwed the cover back on. It worked fine. Has this happened to anyone else with a Swaro Laserguide??? I went over to where he was when I shot to check for for blood, just in case. When I rounded the ridge, much to my surprise, they were on the other side, just below the top. As I got them in the scope, they crossed over, except for one of them that stopped right on the skyline. I think he was the second biggest buck in the group. He looked like he was about 27" to 28" wide. I wanted to shoot him, but I was off hand and very unsteady, and he was aways out (probably 400 yards, but no time to range him). I tried to get on the sticks, but they were not tall enough for the brush that I was in. He crossed the ridge. I went after them again, but it was the last time that I would see them. They had completely dissappeared. I went back to where they were when I shot and tracked them in the snow for a few hundred yards to ensure that there was no blood. They were fine, I was not. By this time it was nearly dark. I was thirsty, tired, dissappionted, several miles from the truck, and without my GPS. I had not paid much attention to where I was going (another symptom of the buck fever). Luckily I was able to track myself back to the truck.</p><p></p><p>More to come later...Unless everyone is already bored with this post.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rymart, post: 125684, member: 3688"] [b]Re: Follow up on the \'Once-in-a-lifetime\' Trophy Deer Hunt[/b] Part 3: I eventually decided to check out another part of my hunt area, Pine Mountain (an area that I had not scouted and that did not have a reputation for producing as many deer as the other parts of my hunt area). True to it’s reputation, after a half a day I had not seen a single deer. I was just about to give up when I thought I saw some antlers sticking up out of some tall sage brush. I stopped and backed the truck up a few hundred yards, and sure enough, there were three nice bucks and a doe about 300 yards off of the road. I put the spotting scope on them and got really excited when I saw that the largest buck was about 29 inches wide. I was reaching for the rifle when he turned his head and I saw then he was only a 2-point on one side. I watched him for a few minutes, trying to talk myself into taking him (he was a 4x2 with average mass, the other two were around 26 inches). I decided to hold out for something better. I also decided to go for a short walk to see if there were anyother deer in the group that were below the three that I had seen on the hillside. I grabbed my rifle, my backpack, and my shooting sticks. I left the GPS, the water, and my shooting rest. I walked around the point above where the bucks were and came out behind them. When I came out from behind the point, the three bucks and the doe were about 250 yards away moving up the opposite hillside. They looked big. I set up on the sticks and watched them through my rifle scope. I put the crosshairs on the larger buck and thought "man he looks good, if ony he weren’t a two-point on the other side". I almost pulled the trigger anyway. When he hit the skyline he turned his head and I realized that he was a completely different deer, a larger, heavier, 4x4! He dissappeared before I could do anything about it. About that time the three bucks that I had spotted from the truck trotted out right where the first three had been and went off in a different direction. They were definitely smaller than the three I had just watched go over the hill. I put the 4x2 in the scope. I know I could have easily made the shot, but couldn’t do it knowing that the big 4x4 was somewhere over the ridge. I was suffering from a very serious case of buck fever at this point and went after the bigger buck. I carefully approached the ridge where they had crossed. I waited just below the ridge line to get my wind then slowly inched my way over the ridge, trying to spot the bucks before they saw me. Unfortunately, they left the doe on my side of the ridge, just over the top, while they waited about 20 yards below the top of the opposite ridge. The doe busted me and huffed, warning the bucks. They crossed the ridge at a leisurely pace while I tried to get steady for a shot. The largest buck stopped just over the ridge line for a minute where I could only see his antlers against the skyline. The buck fever intensified. The next three ridges we nearly an exact repeat of the first ridge. They were definitely using the doe as a lookout. The fourth ridge was a little bit lower and I could see the top of the fifth ridge behind it. I ranged the fifth ridge where I though they would cross it. It was 554 yards. I set up the shooting sticks and dialed the elevation knob on the scope. Just as I was setting up on the sticks they appeared on the far end of the ridge quite a ways from where I had expected them to be. I quickly grabbed for the Swaro 8x30 laserguide range finder to re-range them and I dropped it (symptom of the advanced stages of buck fever). I picked it up, got them in the optics, and pushed the button. NO familiar orange aiming circle!! Tried it a couple more times with the same outcome. I gave up and got back behind the rifle. I had the big buck in the crosshairs, but there were a few problems: First I was not as steady as I would have liked to have been… we can either blame the shooting sticks or the buck fever for that, next the doe was on his left practically touching him, one of the smaller bucks was on his right, just as close as the does was. Additionally, I was not sure of the exact distance. They proceded down the ridge line, getting further away. As they crossed over, the big buck stopped just over the ridge line again, while the doe and smaller buck went over. This time I could see the top half of his silouette. Out of a pure buck fever induced lack of judgement I held high and let one fly (note that he was not skylined as there was another ridge behind him). I now think of it as my way of waving good by to him. I recovered my sight picture in time to see dirt fly a few inches low. I sat there shaking, trying to collect myself. I used a dime to remove the battery cover from the rangefinder and saw that the battery looked like it had been bumped slightly out of position. I removed the battery, put it back in, and screwed the cover back on. It worked fine. Has this happened to anyone else with a Swaro Laserguide??? I went over to where he was when I shot to check for for blood, just in case. When I rounded the ridge, much to my surprise, they were on the other side, just below the top. As I got them in the scope, they crossed over, except for one of them that stopped right on the skyline. I think he was the second biggest buck in the group. He looked like he was about 27" to 28" wide. I wanted to shoot him, but I was off hand and very unsteady, and he was aways out (probably 400 yards, but no time to range him). I tried to get on the sticks, but they were not tall enough for the brush that I was in. He crossed the ridge. I went after them again, but it was the last time that I would see them. They had completely dissappeared. I went back to where they were when I shot and tracked them in the snow for a few hundred yards to ensure that there was no blood. They were fine, I was not. By this time it was nearly dark. I was thirsty, tired, dissappionted, several miles from the truck, and without my GPS. I had not paid much attention to where I was going (another symptom of the buck fever). Luckily I was able to track myself back to the truck. More to come later...Unless everyone is already bored with this post. [/QUOTE]
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Follow up on the 'Once-in-a-lifetime' Trophy Deer Hunt
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