20B last day success!

[mp_moody]

 

I headed out this morning for my old hail mary spot. I set up my trail cam in this area and got nothing but pigs and burros. It worked out for me back in February when I shot my pig on the last day of the season.

 

I hiked about 1/4 mile down the wash before I ran out of darkness. Within five minutes of glassing, I found six does on the opposite hillside. Great success considering I hadn't seen anything in this area for the past few months. After twenty minutes, I set on down the wash to where I shot my pig. Along the way I noticed a lot more deer sign than previously. Found an old three point shed on the hillside. Jumped six pigs and messed with them for a bit. I will be back in February to tag another.

 

Around 930 I sat down to have a snack and glass. I set up my tripod, dropped the binoculars on top, and panned to my left. The first thing I saw was a doe looking right at me not a hundred yards away. I turned my glass away, then came back to have another look. Her ears seemed longer than usual. All of a sudden it dawned on me: those aren't ears, those are antlers!!!!

 

I tossed my binoculars aside and got my rifle set up on my pack. The next few minutes I laid there paralyzed by buck fever. In the four years I've been deer hunting I've never had a shot at a buck!!! The buck was still looking directly at me. Not the most ideal shot, but I figured at a hundred yards if I put my crosshairs on his chest the game is over. I squeezed the trigger, the rifle went off, and nothing happened. He turned around, took a few steps, then looked back at me and vanished.

 

I gathered all my gear and sprinted over to where he was. Somewhere along the way I threw everything under a bush and ejected my brass. I crept up to where he had been standing and saw nothing. No blood, no dead deer. Further down the hillside movement caught my eye: another buck! This one was a fork. I knelt down to take a shot but the brush was too thick. He reappeared with yet another buck a hundred yards away. The fork took one look at me and bolted, the other buck stopped for a perfect broadside shot. I brought my rifle up, found him in the scope, and "click." My rifle had failed to chamber the next round from the magazine. This isn't the first time this has happened and one of my biggest complaints about the Remington 700 platform. I poked my sausage fingers into the action and got another round to feed. The next shot went just under him and kicked up a cloud of dust. Two shots and two misses.

 

I wandered around for the next half hour looking for my gear. A coyote brown pack does a dang good job blending into the desert! I found my pack and crept to where I had last seen the bucks run off. Where I had seen them last was a huge pool of blood. That first shot had connected afterall! My worst fears were realized in the next three hours as I tracked my wounded deer for at least a mile and a half. I had failed to make a clean shot and this poor thing was suffering. It was a long process going from drop to drop. I used my water bottle to mark where the last blood was as I scouted ahead to find newer blood. It got to the point where there was blood only every dozen steps or so. I was quickly losing hope.

 

I made my way down a steep hillside, through a small drainage, and under a tree lay my buck. He was still breathing. I had gut shot him.

 

I put the poor guy out of his misery and got to work. It took me a few hours but I eventually got the legs in one pile and the torso in another. The first trip back to my truck was to offload my rifle and everything in my pack. I moved my truck a half mile closer. Next the torso was crammed into my tiny Kelty pack and I made the painful mile treck back down the rocky wash/canyon nightmare. I made another trip for the legs and then another for the head. This took absolutely everything I had and pushed me to my physical limit. I didn't make it back to my truck with everything until 700pm.

 

Tomorrow I have to figure out where I'm taking the meat to be processed. For now it is sitting on ice in my garage.

 

This is my first deer. It didn't go exactly as planned but I made sure I followed through to the end.

 

Quick synopsis of the week: Fri-Sun in the Bumblebee/Cleator area. Saw thirty does. If there are bucks out there they are pretty well hidden. Cold.

Mon: Cleator/Crown King. Cold.

Tues: Humbug Creek area of Lake Pleasant. Lots of sign, some pigs, but no deer.

Wed: Cleator again. Six does and three hunters.

Thurs: Secret spot. Six pigs and two bucks. Success!

[mp_moody]

Bumped to top with first report. There weren't too many hunters out there, not nearly as bad as the rifle javelina hunts.

[ultramag]

Don't know the area so I can't help. But if I were you I would focus on the areas that you at least see deer, they live there for a reason. The bucks will most likely be somewhere around this area. Might check the nastiest country around where you are seeing does. The bucks could all be together in batchlor herds.

[mp_moody]

Don't know the area so I can't help. But if I were you I would focus on the areas that you at least see deer, they live there for a reason. The bucks will most likely be somewhere around this area. Might check the nastiest country around where you are seeing does. The bucks could all be together in batchlor herds.

 

You were right.

 

Bump for story.

[Flatlander]

Congrats on your first deer. A good lesson learned here, once you have fired a round at an animal, only shoot at that animal until it is dead or you have checked for blood. This scenario could have been a real bummer if you had shot more than one buck. A lesson I have learned the hard way.

[trophyhnter]

Congrats on your first buck! What kind of scope do you have on your rifle?

[kennyazman]

Congrats on your first buck!! That is a really tough hunt. Way to stick with it.

[Joe Kauffman]

mp_moody, persistence definitely paid off for you this year, congrats! I've hunted or helped in 20B for 20+ years and it's been tougher the last few years, I'm glad to hear of some success coming from there, especially for a first buck. Way to go on spotting him wounded and getting the kill over with quickly, sounds like you have a nice pig/deer honey hole now!

 

If you archery pig hunt in the areas you saw all the does, you'll probably be shocked at the bucks you would see in there early January. Crazy how the come out of the woodwork when their reproductive senses kick in .

[mp_moody]

Congrats on your first deer. A good lesson learned here, once you have fired a round at an animal, only shoot at that animal until it is dead or you have checked for blood. This scenario could have been a real bummer if you had shot more than one buck. A lesson I have learned the hard way.

 

I realized this once I found blood. I'd hate to have to call Operation Game Thief on myself.

 

Congrats on your first buck! What kind of scope do you have on your rifle?

 

It's a 10 power Super Sniper from SWFA (swfa.com). This rifle is my tactical paper puncher that also pulls double duty as a hunting rifle. I will most likely be going towards a lightweight sporter type in the near future. Perhaps a 4-12x scope and get the barrel turned down to a lightweight profile or fluted.