Last Junior Deer Hunt-Backcountry coues

[PatrickJr]

Since the summer, John and I have been looking for bucks for his daughters deer hunt. We found one buck early in the season that sort of took all of our attention. So we didnt get to cover as much ground, and when that buck tapped out and disappeared, we didnt have much. After his daughters deer hunt we began scouting for my hunt which was roughly a month later. Checking all sorts of areas trying to find a big buck. Nothing really got our attention. We ruled out some areas that we would not come to unless we got really desperate.

 

We thought about it and decided that we would backpack a couple miles into a good area and see what we could find. I had never backpacked in and camped, John hadnt done so in over 15 years. we started getting all of our gear ready. We planned to backpack in past an area where I have hunted and into some new country. Thursday evening around 5pm, we started our hike in. both with very heavy loads, we were actually making great time. Must have been the excitement or something. Got to a nice spot to camp around 6:45pm. Got camp set up quickly, and began making an easy dinner. Got into bed and waited for morning.

 

pack was loaded to the max

 

Camp

 

Being camped back in there was so nice because i only had to hike about 100 yards to where i wanted to glass from. Within the first 30 minutes, i had already seen 5 bucks or so, nothing good enough. I got a call over the radio from john and he said i should come take a look at some bucks he found. I take a look and the biggest buck is pretty cool. He has a great left side but his right is a little funky. I was going to hold myself to a 90" buck or a character buck. This buck definitely had character. He worked his way up the mountain and we tried to get to a shooting position. By the time we got setup, the buck was almost over the top. I turned the turret to 550 and got ready. As he approached the top, i didnt even have the desire to shoot because if i made a bad shot, that would require us going over to the other side of the mountain and it would be a mess. We figured we could find him again that evening or the next morning, no big deal.

 

Pic we got of him that morning, his body is huge

 

We continued to glass throughout the day. NO matter what time it was, we were seeing deer, everywhere. But still no bucks of the caliber we wanted to hold ourselves to. Around 4pm, we moved back to where we were setup on the buck that morning. Within minutes, john was waving me over to him. He told me the buck from earlier, just came back over the mountain. I got all my stuff ready. The buck was 700 yards away but he was getting closer. I ranged where i figured he would walk and dialed my scope to 525. I had an awesome rest. He was within range and broadside. I would get a clear shot and begin my squeeze, then almost as soon as the trigger is going to break, my crosshairs would start going all over his body, then id let up. i went through this 4-5 times. There was no reason to rush the shot, we wasnt going anywhere and even if i didnt shoot, we would find him in the morning.

 

Him that afternoon, check out his body again

 

I finally touched it off, John quickly told me i hardly hit over his back and the buck ran 50 yards to the left. I quickly found him in the scope and without any hesitation, touched the 2nd round off. After the recoil, i looked through the scope to see the bucks legs in the air and he was rolling down the hill. At this point i realized just how steep that hill was and if he didnt stop soon, he wasnt going to stop until he hit the bottom. Luckily he caught on a rock, only rolled 100 yards or so. Unfortunately, we didnt get the killshot on video because i missed the first time and we didnt follow the deer with the camera. The shot ended up being 521 yards and i was using my 257 Weatherby once again.

 

 

 

We unloaded everything out of our packs except the rifle and water. Got to him, took pictures and boned him out. Only bone we carried out was the skull. Made it back to camp just after 7pm. We hung the meat, made a few mountain houses, and went to bed. Woke up the next morning at first light, packed up camp, loaded the packs and hiked out. Took over an hour of downhill hiking to get back to the truck. Scored the buck at 90 and change, an AZGFD biologist aged him at 7-8 years old.

 

 

 

Heading out (lmao my eyes are closed and i look special)

 

 

 

SPECIAL THANKS TO JOHN, THERE IS NO WAY I COULD HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT HIM

 

dang im cute

[DCS]

Congrats on a dandy buck,and thanks for the writeup,and nice pictures

[CouesPursuit]

Great job and buck, Patrick. I always enjoy reading your hunting stories!

[Shawn]

Great pics! Congrats on a nice buck

[CatfishKev]

You crack me up with your self comments. I like to think I'm pretty cute on my good days.

[Will K]

Nice.

[Green Bullet]

Great mass on that buck. Congrats.

[CATERPILLAR]

good job, nice deer

[Big Browns]

Great job! Congrats on a cool Buck!

[PRDATR]

Not sure how I missed reading your story but congrats on a great buck. That is some pretty rough looking stuff.

[218buck]

Nice buck congrats sounds like you had a great time

[StraightTequilaNight]

Congrats!

[PatrickJr]

Thanks everyone for the responses, i had an amazing time and am already looking forward to the next backpack hunt.

[cramerhunts]

Way to go Patrick! Looks like a blast and congratulations to you on a cool buck.

[cohntr6]

Impressive backpack hunt.

I thought mine was rough till

I read your story! Congrats!

Jeff