JACK Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Where do I begin...This adventure started last year while scouting for my December coues deer hunt...In November I decided to hike in and check out an area that google earth said was only 5 miles...Ha! Objects on google earth may be bigger than they appear! I quickly realized that I may have been bitten off more than I could chew...10-12 miles up and down in rough nasty country was too much for one day...I was whipped...but I loved the country I did manage to see a few decent bucks... However, I was not prepared to do a pack in hunt in December. So I began planning a solo back pack hunt for October 2015 and with nearly 100% draw odds I liked my chances of getting drawn. With a little help from folks on here I started gathering up the essentials tent, bag, pad, jet boil, water filter, solar charger etc...When all was done my camp weighed a little over 12 pounds... Then two weeks ago I suffered a case of amnesia...I thought it would be a good idea to go scout and take some of my camp and water up the mountain and check out the natural water situation...again I did it in one day...It was brutal...What are you doing? No way am I going back up there! Are you stupid? I thought...I actually talked myself out of my backpacking idea...Then after a few days of licking my wounds and healing up I decided I couldn't give up on my plan...It wasn't an option for many reasons but if i didn't do it I would always wonder... So 2 a.m. Friday my alarm goes off...at 3:30 I start hiking...I can see my breath with each exhale...This is a nice change in the weather I thought to myself...Resting occasionally I hike for three hours...crazy how many eyes are out in the night...deer, ringtail cats, foxes all were curious what I was...one fox shadowed me for a couple hundred yards running circles around me. I stopped to rest and he runs right up to me...when he gets about 3 feet away I bark at him...thats close enough little fella...he disappears into the dark. As day light is starting to break I head up out of the canyon to the nearest vantage point to start glassing as I work my way up the mountain...I start glassing and the mountain is crawling with deer. Within an hour I've seen over 20 deer...3 little whitetail bucks...3 mule deer bucks and a bunch of does... I keep making my way up the mountain glassing and resting every couple hundred yards...I finally get to my intended camping spot around 11a.m. I take off my pack and stretch. I look across the canyon and I see a deer shining in the sun with my naked eye...I put the glasses on him he looks pretty good... Ugh I knew this was going to happen....I had seen a lot of deer already and I had enough stuff to stay for four days...I was excited and wanted to hunt...I watched him for a little while, took a few pictures and I decided to pass on him...He bedded down as I eased up the mountain out of site...I was pyshically feeling pretty good and it was still early so I decided I would head over and set up camp in the next basin where I was planning to hunt on Saturday...and ultimately where I wanted to be...I made it there around 1 and I was glad to get my gear off my back I got camp set up ate lunch and took a quick nap...I started glassing again around 3...and it seemed like there where deer everywhere I looked...It has been along time since I've seen this many deer in one spot...They had me surrounded...as the sun is starts setting I see couple more good bucks...but was only able to get a picture of this one... I got a little excited at first but after looking him over a few minutes...I decided he wasn't what I was after either...as the sun set I made my way back to camp it was a long 100 foot walk...Pretty good day I thought to myself...Ended up seeing 52 deer total and 12 being whitetail bucks...I eagerly awaited the next morning. However soon after the sun went down the wind picked up...and blew...and blew...and blew all night gusting what felt like 30 to 40 mph while trying to sleep in my little wanna be tent...It was a long night...and when my alarm went off...the wind was still blowing...Great...I sat in the wind most of the morning to little avail...all I saw 3 does...I decide to head up the mountain to try to get cell service to let people know I was still alive...after sending a few texts I glasses up a shed across the canyon...what the heck I'll go get it and glass off the other side where the wind wasn't blowing... I Ended up finding two more little sheds on my way over to pick up one...I like this spot...I glassed for a few more hours not seeing a thing except for a little 3" spike that walk by 10 yards away...man they are small...I headed back to camp for lunch and a nap...Finally the wind died down and the deer started moving a little and I ended up seeing 15 does that evening...back to camp I went for some delicious dinner...You can live on it but... Saturday night I slept great...Sunday morning I woke up feeling good...You know that feeling when it's going to be a good day yeah I had that feeling...Chills ran down my spine as I hiked up to my perch. I was going to go glass a canyon where I thought the deer may have gone to get out of the wind the day before...It was windy again but not like the day before...I'm almost to my to my spot and I trip over another shed...crazy...I make it to the top I'm staggering around trying to find a good spot to sit...I hear rocks rolling...look down and see a buck leaving the country in a hurry...he looks like has a good frame but I decide not to take a shot...Mother dang it!...thats what I said...I was mad at myself for being so clumsy...I glassed around a little bit and it was pretty slow morning...figuring I blew every deer out of the country I worked my way down the ridge seeing a doe here and a doe or two over there...I get to the end of the ridge have a snack and take a little nap...I wake up and it is noon and now over cast and the wind had stopped...crap i better get to glassing...I decide to head out onto a little point in the direction the buck went earlier...and I jump another buck...are you kidding me I thought to myself...so I get set up and start glassing...nothing...and then I look two ridges over... Bingo...two bucks...one laying down looks kinda interesting...Just hard to tell I can't get a real good look at him...tried zooming in with my phone...then I put my 10s up to my 15s...my hillbilly spotting scope...oh he has good eye guards...those look like horns up there...he turns his head yeah! those are horns up there...gotta go...pack my stuff and bail off into that nasty canyon and up the other side...and 45 minutes later I range the top of the opposite ridge 187 yards...I creep up so I can see the tree he was laying was under...gone nada no buck...I start to get a little anxious as I frantically scan the hillside...I take a step forward...there he is...feeding in a pile of rocks...is he a shooter? he picks his head up...no doubt he's a shooter...and what happened next is somewhat of a blur...I do believe I got a pretty good case of the buck fever...I do remember the gun going off a few times..maybe 4...I do remember having to go back and get more bullets out of my pack...what a mess...I haven't had the shakes like that for a long time...kinda fun to know it can still happen...but when the lead slinging was over and smoke and dust cleared this is how it looked... Holy cow what just happened I thought...last year you make a one shot kill at 750 and you can't hit this deer less than 200 yards...Unbelievable...that was definitely not your best shooting...good thing nobody was here to watch! It took me a few minutes to gather the thing I had scattered out moments earlier...Then I made my way over to my buck and I was on cloud nine. My first solo backpack hunt and one of the coolest bucks I've killed...buck was on the ground at 1 and I didn't get to the truck till 8...it was a brutal pack out and hike once again...but didn't seem to hurt so bad this time...Have to admit...I did miss camaraderie and beers around the campfire...but this by far one of the most amazing and toughest hunts I've ever done in many ways...I'm hurting today but still on cloud nine... Tonights dinner...bacon wrapped backstrap just went in the smoker... 32 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
olmos1010 Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Well done, very nice buck. Congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arizona Griz Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Great write up and pictures. Congratulations on a hard earned buck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
4Falls Report post Posted October 27, 2015 great buck and great write up. Thanks for sharing and congratulations Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muledeerarea33? Report post Posted October 27, 2015 I'm jealous. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevlar46 Report post Posted October 27, 2015 What a great story. Loved the pics too and I will have to try your spotting scope trick! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Browns Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Awesome, you da man!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
singleshot Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Best write up I have read in quite awhile. Cool pictures and a nice buck. Thanks for sharing your adventure. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tines Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Great story and awesome buck! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trphyhntr Report post Posted October 27, 2015 You're my new hero. That's getting it done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZwest16 Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Badass write up man! Best way to take a big ol buck in my opinion! That's an accomplishment that will stick with you forever! Congrats!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azbow Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Great write up and very nice buck! Brought back memories from years ago when I loved doing it that way. Good job! 12 lb camp? Technology has changed things I guess. I do have a Jet Boil and they are amazing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Camofreak Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Heck yeah Jack! Way to get it done. Is that the shirt I traded you? If so, must be a lucky shirt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutzos16 Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Congratulations! Awesome story! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZkiller Report post Posted October 27, 2015 Always the bad azz! Congrats again! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
