Magical was a good word for the Kaibab. First, thank you all to those who gave me advice of where to go and how to approach it. VERY valuable and the boys and I are very appreciteive.
We got up to the Kaibab bout 10:30pm Wed night. It was our first time and I had a good idea where I was going. I was hoping cell service was a little more available but we did without data. What I did use for navigation was an app for the iPhone called topomaps- it uses GPS signal and doesn't need any cell coverage as long as you download in advance.
We took a right on the 212 and went about 5 miles in, drove through some roads and finally set up the Big Horn just north of the 282 and 758 intersection. We bumped 6 deer who had been in our site. I guess we chose well! Saw about 20 deer on the way in. We had a feeling we were in the right area.
Thursday we drove around to Tom's Hole, the lakes, tons of clearings and made notes on everything we came across. We settled on a few spots within 5 miles of camp. We hit the sack early because 4am comes quick.
And it did! We're out- hopped in the truck and drove to the first spot by 4:30. Just prior to getting there on the 282, a huge herd of deer with 2 of the largest- and I mean monster- bucks I've ever seen practically jumped over the hood of the F250. They were with lots of doe. Good sign! Our spot turnoff was 400 yards away. So we turn down, There's a truck already there. A white silverado.. So yeah, a bit disappointed but I get it. And we backed out and went with plan B. On our way down to Plan B (A clearing we saw Wed night) we must have seen 30 trucks parked on the side of the road.. I knew we'd have pressure but this was ridiculous! We drove around trying to find something even remotely isolated and were hard pressed to do so. We eventually found some breathing room around East Lake. Saw a few does but they lost us in the field. It wasn't elevated, it was thick and we didn't like it so we did some more driving. Found some nice areas a little more south, no people, quiet and had some water, (There was water all over the roads, and hunting a water hole just wasn't an ideal strategy at that time. But water and clearing with cover doesn't suck, right?)
We parked and started along a ridge. Bumped 3 does and tried to intersect. Lost em. Walked over to another ridge and had a doe come in 15 mins later. She bolted fast, and the wind was with us so I'm not sure what caused it.
Went back to the first ridge and waited for 45 mins. I had left the PB&J's in the truck, so I went to go and fetch lunch. I walked down 50 yards and saw the first 3 does we had bumped earlier. I was standing still, and they were looking at me.. and we're looking like this for a few minutes before I realized I'm the only thing NOT swaying with the wind. So I rocked a little with the little trees near me. That seemed to do the trick, and they went back to eating. I backed out to get the boys.
Having told them, we got set up for position. By the time we returned, they were on the other side of the clearing, at about 200 yards. The 2 does were leaving (jumping really) over the ridge, and he had a shot but it was on the horizon. No go. The tripod helped steady him out. He was shooting an R25 .308 (Fusion 150 grain) on a Primos Tripod.
The third deer came up. I told him to get ready for the shot after the pine tree he hd to pass. (Isn't that when time stands still??)
First shot - missed. Second shot- perfect double lung at 207 yards. The doe dropped on the spot. The fusion did its job and was a clear pass through. (If you ever need to know what kind of round to buy for deer/elk, my god those Fusion rounds are efficient!!)
We gave her 30 mins- she didn't twitch. So we tagged her and brought her back to the truck. Back at camp she was gutted, quartered and processed. (I could have gutted her at the spot but we wanted to come back for round 2).
And that's exactly what happened. Oldest tagged out at 10am, and then it was his younger brother's turn. We went back at 3, chose a pine tree blind on the ridge, and 45 mins later, a doe appeared. I could see it in the dead trees, but my youngest couldn't. The camo was so perfect I lost her twice with the bino's. She ran off eventually and he saw her butt as she raced away. He looked up at me with the "Now what" look.. and I told him to get the other one that just came in. He got all excited. I setup the tripod, he leveled the R25 took a breath, let half out. *click*. My jaw dropped. I loaded that myself. Apprently it had a feeding issue with certain Mags. So the deer looks over and I give it a "MEH!" and it stops. I'm working the action and checking the mag. (It's not a quiet process). I hand the weapon back to him and he levels it out on the tripod. The deer starts to bail. I gave it another "MEH!" and she stops. I tell him this isn't going to last forever. It doesn't click this time, it booms. She takes three steps and falls over a log. He got a lung at 154 yards. We got her to the truck and headed back to camp. Find out I'm out of gloves, out of trash bags,out of game bags.. Kinda low on ice, but Im ok with that situation. So we headed to Jacobs Lake store at 4pm Friday and the lady that runs the inn was SO nice!! She didn't sell trash bag so she gave me like 10, and I bought 4 more bags of ice. Of course, they didn't carry game bags, So we made it back to camp, gutted the deer, cleaned it out real well and then packed her in ice. I knew I'd catch heck later for leaving the skin on but it was dark and cold and I was thoroughly exhausted. We made it home Saturday and I'm STILL doing jerky. I bought a knife sharpener at Sportsman's Warehouse (The ken onion one - motorized. If you need a knife sharpener THAT ONE ROCKS)
I'm about to hit Cabelas for another dehydrator. I'm used to doing Coues... these Mulies are a different animal. And that's it! This is my youngest's first deer. Oldest got his second. First Mulies for this family.
It's my turn in Unit 22 Oct 30th.
I've attached some photos. Thanks for reading.
