Eagle Eye Report post Posted November 2, 2008 It was an interesting hunt for us. We had a total of 7 people in our camp but my brother and I had a base camp a couple miles up the hill. We went up there Thursday morning for our first backpack trip. We wake up early in the morning ready to go and very excited. We get up to a glassing point and we spot a single doe and a bear with in a hundred yards of the doe. So we move on to even higher ground and stayed there throughout the morning listening to shots all around us towards our other hunting area that we usually hunt. We left those spots to the others in camp, we wanted to try and experience something different this year. My brother decideds to stay where he was at and i went on around the other side of the mountain to do some glassing there. I end up spotting a couple bucks probably about a mile away, so off i went to get closer because one looked pretty good from that distance through my spotting scope. I get to where i wanted to be but i couldn't relocate them right away, I ended up spotting the bigger one which was a nice 3x3. As i am waiting for him to get up, i spot 2 more bears! a cub and a mama. I was a long ways from our base camp and it was starting to get dark on me. I look to where the buck was and he was gone! I thought he went up and over because he was bedded on top of the ridge. So i get ready to go back to camp and i take one last look and there he is. So i get setup and shoot and i shot over his back. I try to relocate him and he is gone! Then i get ready to leave again and i take one last look again and there he is! in the same spot again. By the time i get setup on him he is walking up the hill and i shoot and i must of went over his back again! I was guessing him to be close to 600 yards aways but i guess he was closer than that. So i head back to camp and the next morning my brother and I go back to the same area. We get to a glassing point and right away I spot a buck. Its a decent 3x3 but he keeps looking up the hill and more bucks just keep popping out. We spotted a very nice 4x3 and my brother wanted to take him and then we watch the 4x3 walk right into this big 3x3. We decided right away that is the buck we came for. The first shot goes off and he shots high, he cant relocate him again so i get setup on him and i shot but my brother was getting ready for another shot and he shoots. We both shoot a couple more times. The buck gets hit but not sure who hit it. The buck eventually beds down. The buck gets back up and i let my brother shoot at him while i sit behind the spotting scope. We are shotting at about close to 550 yards away and there is a slight wind so its some tough shooting. My brother ends up dropping the buck but he gets right back up and heads down the hill and beds down. My brother decides to go down the hill to try and get closer and maybe spook him back my way. When he gets down there the buck gets back up and goes about 30 yards and beds back down. At this point we are very low on water and dont want to push the buck so we decided to head back to the main camp to get some more water. We had hiked up lots of water throughout the scouting season but the bears decided to destroy our water. We had not seen anybody back there so we figured we would be ok. The next morning we go back and i get setup to watch while my brother walks to where we last seen him. He finds the spot where he last bedded down and starts to blood trail him up the hill. About 40 yards away he sees him in some bushes to only find out that the horns are cut off and the bears had gotten to him and there was a gatorade bottle on top of his head. I hearts just sunk and we couldn't believe it. We hadn't seen nobody back there and we were far back in there. If anyone knows anything about this, please let us know. We had worked hard all summer for this hunt and that buck. The buck is probably over 100 inches. But my buddy did take a little 3 point opening morning and i ended up shooting a little 2 point on tuesday afternoon. I dont have the picture of the little 2 point yet. We ended up seeing a total of 5 bears on the trip. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elkaddict Report post Posted November 2, 2008 Sounds like someone was watching you guys shoot, to be able to get the horns that quick..Bummer Congrats on the ones you got. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flagpknmule Report post Posted November 3, 2008 thats some very poor sportsmanship.thats plain out wrong. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basser15 Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Terrible to hear that someone snagged the horns on your buck, but I can't help but feel just as sick after reading about you guys peppering the hillside from 600 yards away just in hopes of hitting a deer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues Sniper Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Insert zipper-mouthed smiley here... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COOSEFAN Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Insert zipper-mouthed smiley here... ditto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Well said basser. If you are going to take shots that far, you really owe it to the deer, not to mention our sport that is already under fire to get a range finder and know the distance and try to make a clean, quick kill not throwin lead at the deer. Thats not right. So you saw the buck bed, but you left him there because you needed more water? Some times a few details are best left out of the story. Oh, too bad someone cut the deers antlers off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TAM Report post Posted November 3, 2008 "We had worked hard all summer for this hunt and that buck." Apparently you didn't work hard enough on your range estimation and shooting skills? At least the bear got a free meal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle Eye Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Everytime we went out we practiced at 600 yards, and we do have range finders. The furthest we could pick up on our range finders was a rock below them with the way the sun was at the time and it read 450. So we guessed him just over a 500. The wind just got the best of my brother. We left the buck because we did not want to push him and we couldn't get any closer for a shot because they were in some steep thick country. I didn't want to leave at the time but my brother was running really low at the time. We would have been good on water if the bears didn't destory the 4 gallons of water that we had up there. We had to keep enough water for a trip back and we were a good 5 miles from the other camp. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cjw2222 Report post Posted November 3, 2008 If i were to backpack in i have to imagine i would camp near a tank or spring and carry tablets or a water bottle filtration system in an emergency. Im sorry to hear the antler were cut off but i am also sorry to hear all the lead flung. It was hard to focus on the story with all the lead flying around in my head. I dont know how i could shoot all those times let alone bed the buck and leave... Just my .02 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Im sorry to hear the antler were cut off but i am also sorry to hear all the lead flung. It was hard to focus on the story with all the lead flying around in my head. I dont know how i could shoot all those times let alone bed the buck and leave... Just my .02 Well said, Cory... Insert zipper-mouthed smiley here... ditto Ditto... er....go I might say thing I really mean.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZcoues_addict Report post Posted November 3, 2008 Thanks for the pics and story! That's a nice buck, congratulations. It sucks that the antlers were taken, but someone else obviously heard all the shots and they were probably even watching. Maybe they just thought that you didn't know you'd killed the deer or even hit it? They might've thought, that you thought you missed completely? That's what I'd be thinking if I didn't see you guys even look for the buck or blood. Who knows though, but I'd have taken a nap and watched the buck's area, then gone looking for the blood instead of leaving the area. Sounds like you couldn't properly range the distance but had a very good estimation, but if you shoot that far then you have to know that 50 yards in error can mean as much as 16 inches difference depending on the load. That can mean the difference between missing high or low, even with diligent practice. It also sounds like you had packed water, but I'm guessing you hadn't checked on it in a while ? But the water wouldn't have played a part in my leaving the area. I'd have sent my buddy back for water for the both of you. Sorry you had to find out the hard way that maybe you didn't make the same choices others on this board might have, but I guess hindsight is always 20-20. We all do things a little different, so I'm not trying to criticize but just give you a different constructive perspective. A little bad luck too, and everything just went wrong, but that's how we learn. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle Eye Report post Posted November 3, 2008 I agree with must of you guys are saying. I for one didn't want to leave. I wanted that buck right then and there. My brother tried to get closer but the buck would just get up and move. We just didn't want to push him any further than he was. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
