36c opening day buck

[rclouse79]

I had hiked up and down a couple of good climbs opening day and ended up at a spot I had never been with an hour of light left. It was a rock outcropping on a ridge that had close to a 100 ft vertical drop before hitting a steep slope. I found a nice little flat spot to sit and watch. I was tired of hiking and sweating and decided to stay put until dark. I was watching some does on the other side of the hill 600 yards away. I was just thinking that I didn’t really like the spot when I looked straight down and saw 2 does coming out of some cover. Something in front of them caused them to be on alert. I glassed the area they were looking towards and instantly saw a buck 200 yards away. It is always a magical feeling to see one when you have been looking at does all day and have convinced yourself there are no bucks in the area. I went to grab my gun and bumped my tripod which made a metal clinking noise. When I relocated the deer they were booking it up the other side of the draw. I saw where they were headed and decided to hike along the rim of the big bowl until I was above the draw. I was kicking myself the whole walk over for getting too excited and not being careful.

It probably took me 20 minutes to hike over there. I raised my binoculars and instantly saw a buck frozen and staring in my direction. The sight shocked me as I was not actually expecting to locate them again before dark. I ranged him at 300 yards. The spot I was on was pretty steep, and not an ideal setup for a shot. I probably fiddled around for a couple of minutes, and ended up in a semi-prone position. I had to have my feet almost pointing towards the barrel because it was too steep to lay behind the rifle. It felt awkward, but the crosshairs were nice and steady. I put the 300 yard mark on my rapid z recticle a touch low to account for the downhill angle and let her rip. I saw the buck jump in the air right after I shot.

I knew daylight was running out so I hurried down to the spot where the buck stood with high hopes. I used my rangefinder back up the hill to where I shot from to make sure I was at 300 yards. I looked down and found blood almost instantly. It was a relief to see him piled up a few yards away. The shot went through his left shoulder and exited his belly right between his rear legs. He is not a monster but he is my best one yet and I was happy with him. I might think twice again before shooting a deer on top of a mountain 2 miles from my truck at dusk. It took me an hour to take care of the deer and get it on my pack and 2 ½ more hours to waddle back to my truck. Although it kicked my butt it was worth it.

[SO I HUNT]

Great buck and some great eating! Thanks for sharing

[Mikea81]

Awesome thanks for sharing

[JLW]

great job!

thanks for sharing!

 

james

[lucky2hunt]

Congrats! Had to work for it... good job and a great memory, it'll make him taste that much better

[bigorange]

Nice buck and a great story! Good work!

[bonecollector]

Congrats on your buck. Nice write up, thanks for sharing

[justinspe25]

Congrats!

[double lunger14]

Congrats Mr Clouse!! I had the same tag and yesterday was the only day i could go out and i saw a few deer one nice 3x3 but i came in early due to running into some drug smugglers! i hate them

[mitchel]

What an awesome memory. Congrats on your success and sharing your story.

[Ernesto C]

You did an excellent Job, congratulations!!

 

Ernesto C