Steve Speck of S and S Archery outfitted a my new test bow!

All that it took was one phone call to Steve Speck of S and S archery and I was headed his way with the new Martin Rytera Alien XT in hand.  You see Martin Archery, via Jason Erdmann, sent me a new bow to test out and write about on muledeercountry.com and Archerytalk.com.  Not a bad deal, get a free bow and write what I think about it.

The boy and I love the UPS man.  Here we admire the new bow that Martin Archery sent our way!

The unfortunate problem is that Martin’s lack of accessories left me wondering how I was going to set this bow up to shoot.  Thats when Steve stepped in and said” bring it over I’ll help you out. No problem!”  I was taken back a bit.  There wasn’t the ackward silence on the other end of the line or the what are you going to do for me response that you get so many times when looking for help, just “bring it over, I’ll help you out.”  What a pleasant surprise, you see, I have never had so much as a conversation with Steve in the past and for him to do this for me was huge!  These are the Kind of companies I like to do business with.  I’ll refer all of my friends and acquaintances to S and S Archery from here on out.  You need something for back country hunting give Steve a call or go to his site he can hook you up.

Steve Speck with S and S Archery finishing up with some of his handy work!

So lets see what S and S archery hooked me up with?  First he hooked me up with one bad ass site. it’s a  Montana black gold Ascent archery site, This is the site that I had in my head that I should design.  Looks like I’m to late, once again my life story.  Then he added a Vaportrail limb driver arrow rest.  Which I have to say is very different than any I have used in the past, but seems to be working fine.  Then to help balance and take some of the shock from the shot away he added a B-Stinger sport hunter Xtreme 6″ stabilizer.  Then to finish the bow off he tied  in a peep sight and a loop.

The finished bow!  Still needs a few more accessories, so I’ll be heading back to S and S archery to finish it off!

So to say I was a little taken back by Steve’s generosity would be an understatement.  When I looked at my bow I was very grateful, but I still wondered if the stuff he outfitted me with was worth a darn and when asked he said “rest assured it’s exactly what I have on my bow setting right over there.”  Sure enough, he didn’t go cheap, he went with the same great accessories that he uses on his own hunting bow.  Shocker number two!  I know two times in one day and from the same guy, unheard of right?  Not from Steve Speck and Sand S archery, it’s just how they do Business.

Check out some of Steve’s and Pure Elevations other handy work at pure-elevation.com

Well its getting pretty late need to head to the gym and prepare for the Bogus Challenge 3D shoot and the Train to Hunt Challenge Course!  See you on the hill June 23 and 24. A Special thanks goes out to Steve Speck for  his gracious sponsorship of Creekside Productions.  Thanks Steve…..

Watson Air Lock Bags! Bags for the concerned sportsman.

Outback large Fire pit and barbecue

Outback tailgater, portable fire pit and barbecue

Outback Microwave Oven

Outbacks gravity flow protein feeder.  Wildlife feeders for the concerned outdoorsman.

MB Ranch Kings Shooters Bench. This is a dream bench for people who shoot a ton.

MB Ranch Kings ground to bench shooters rest! For those of us who like to shoot prone.

Paxrite’s UTV cargo carrier!  organize your gear.

Wasatch Precision Arms Carbon Rifle! Is Carbon your new barrel?

Being successful chasing mature mule deer is never a two week adventure.  To be successful you need to make it a year round pursuit!  You need to work so you can afford to hunt. Thats a bummer, I know. The fun part is being in the hills and experiencing the sights and sounds that only the vast openness of the hills can provide.  That’s right, the peace and quite, the sound of the whippoorwill singing his little lungs out, the bugle of an elk breaking the evening silence, and most importantly the call of the majestic mule deer.  The call of the majestic mule deer?  Yea, thats right,  the call of the majestic mule deer!

MB Ranch Kings awesome new shooting bench, one of the many new products I have been given the task of trying out! A new Wasatch rifle with Thompson’s long range scope, adorns the shooting bench

As we all know, mule deer aren’t very vocal except for the occasional grunt of a buck or the mew of the fawns or does trying to locate one another.  Most people have never heard a mule deer and probably will never hear one.  This call that I refer to is our internal call, calling on our souls to do what our ancestors have done for years!  Hunt and eat that wonderful protein. Hunting has evolved from a must to survive to an outdoor recreation needed to

Prototype of MB Ranch Kings new table to ground shooters rest!

help control the herds from disease and overpopulation. A sport, family vacation, sustinence , or just plan enjoying the great outdoors,  whatever your reason is, to be successful year in and year out you need to take it seriously.  You need to up your game!  If your are hunting just to enjoy the great outdoors and spend time with your friends and family and you don’t care if you harvest an animal, my hats off to you.  I think that is the major reason why we all hunt! However for me, its the challenge of harvesting a mature buck on his turf that drives me.  I’m talking about a buck that is at least a four to five years smart.

I was lucky enough to attend the grand opening of Kuiu. Extreme clothing and packs for the hard core hunter.

To kill or be involved in the harvesting of big mature bucks year in and year out, you need to eat sleep and drink mule deer! Sometimes that means restructuring your whole life!  Finding a new job, making less money, spending less time with your family, early morning and late nights.  You need to treat it as if it is your job and you want to be the best at it.

Hanging with our neighbors at one of the shows, Pat and Nichole from Driven TV

When the economy took a down turn, I was forced into making a life change decision. I couldn’t afford to go back to school and a I wasn’t willing to move out of State and make less than half of what I was used to breaking my back setting tile.  So, I decided to focus my efforts on something I was good at and enjoyed, filming mule deer and creatively sharing it with others.  We are still living pay period to pay period, but at least I love what I’m doing and hopefully in the long run we won’t have to rely on my wife’s income to help support us.  Needless to say, the last year of my life has been an adventure.

Selling Outback Wildlife feeders at many of the largest sportsmans shows around the country.

It all started last year at this time when a good friend of mine was in a pinch.  He called me to ask me if I could fly down to Texas and help him out for a few weeks driving around the southern part of the United States delivering feeders.

Outback Wildlife Feeders headed to Colorado.

I agreed and little did I know it would turn out to be the smartest thing I have done in years. Over that three week period we talked about turning our passion for mule deer into a productive job for me. Filming all of our hunts and trying to make it on the big screen would be my new job! Outbacks microwave oven and barbecue/fire pits are a couple items I’m trying out! (pictured is the microwave)

A dream come true!  Little did I know over the next seventeen days I would work 16 hours days  with one day off driving from Florida to Colorado and everywhere in between. My idea for the show was to portray how hard we had to work at our everyday jobs to get this done. I knew I worked my butt off doing tile, putting in 60 to 70 hours a week and I knew Rick work hard, but I had know Idea how hard he actually pushed himself. Wearing many hats, Rick puts in easily over a hundred hours a week so he can support his family and chase mule deer four months out of the year.

Mr. Whitetail (Larry Weishuhm), Rick Meritt, and myself discussing the new show ideas over dinner.

Over the next month I will write on the awesome experiences, people, products, and opportunities I have been involved in over the last year. What a year it has been!

Yesterday, the commission approved the killing of 500 doe from the Bennett hills winter range.  The  two hunts of 275 tags each will start in December and run through the end of the month.  This hunt was concocted after a fire tore through the winter range in August of this year.  The first proposal was to kill 2000 head.  The local and the state biologist feel that the lack of feed will stress the deer into having a poor fawn crop or even the possibility of starvation.  These are both possibilities, I agree.  Were I disagree is with the solution.

Killing 500 does is not going to take the stress away from the other deer looking for food!  It is going to stress the deer even more with the thousand plus hunters driving around flinging bullets into the herds. The deer will be on their winter reserves as it is and now  you’re going to chase them for 30 days and through some lead at them.  Makes total since to me.  Yea right!  There will be some deer die, they do every year.  Maybe even a few more, but I’m willing to take my chances that it won’t be 500 more.  It’s not like the winter range was even close to carrying capacity as it was.

Sure 60,000 acres is a ton of habitat, but deer aren’t stupid they will find food.  The deer only need to move a couple miles one way or the other to find suitable food.  Most of them will gather in the fields to forage on left overs.  It might cause a huge increase in depredation claims but that is part of the game.  It’s nothing new. The fish and Game  can have my tag fees and put it towards a depredation claim.  I will be buying a tag along with hundreds of other concerned hunters just to turn them back in at the next commissioners meeting!

Killing 500 does this year is truly  harvesting 1,500 deer this year because they will be already bread and carrying twins.  Over the next six years that is 26,000 deer that could have been born. Sure you need to factor in that all deer don’t have twins and some deer die ever year due to harvest, winter, predation and other causes.  But, even if you take half that number its 13,000 deer that they are taking away from the sportsmen and women of this great state.

Just my two cents.  I would love to hear yours.

For more info on cost of application and how to apply, check out the post on the forum page under Idaho. Lets make a statement and let them know we are done supporting this kind of nonsense.

Steve Alderman

Robb Wiley and Bryan Ingram Team to harvest one of the Largest bucks to ever come out of Wyoming!  When I say largest, I mean largest!  I have held this buck and it is flat out amazing!  I would like to first congratulate Robb Wiley for his dedication to stay with this mule deer for the whole season and then let Bryan harvest him!  You have to hear Bryan tell the story, you actual feel like you are there.  Bryan gets so excited telling the story, it’s awesome to see a guy get this excited over his deer.  He will be on cloud nine for the rest of his life!  This couldn’t happen to two better guys!  Bryan thanks for bringing that giant by the camp!  It was good seeing you again.  I can’t help but chuckle when I think of you telling your once in a lifetime experience with Robb, the horses, and one tremendous buck.  Thanks for the permission to use the pics.  Take care and I look forward to sharing stories again!

Steve Alderman

Bryan Ingram and his giant Wyoming mule deer! It grosses over 260 inches.

Robb Wiley owner of Nontypical Outfitters with Bryan and his giant!

The mass of this buck rivals the Buck of Justice!  Congrats Robb….Couldn’t happen to a better guy.

Yours truly with  the lucky hunter!  I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to hold this buck!

And a kiss for luck!

Talk about goose bumps.  This picture gives them to me!  Thanks Bryan…..

After hunting for seven days I finally saw the one. It snowed a skiff the night before, which resulted in Jeff and me not getting out of our sleeping bags as early as we should have. We were hiking to our destination and it was already getting light and we still had half a mile to go. As we were heading to our destination, we were moving pretty swiftly and I was pretty irritated at myself for not getting out of bed a half hour earlier. That was until we spooked some deer over a ridge and I saw a buck that I knew was the “one.” If we would have left camp when we intended it would have still been dark and would have never seen that buck.

We immediately ran to the top of the ridge expecting to see it from the top, since it was open sage brush country on the other side. We saw several deer, but not the buck. I knew he had to be there somewhere and continued to look for about 15 minutes. I finally decided to go back down the hill to retrieve my pack from where I had left it and see if I could find the buck’s tracks. His tracks were pretty obvious compared to other deer and I followed them to where we had previously been on top of the ridge. The snow had melted on the other side and we sat there wondering how far away he was by now. We were looking into a really big, open drainage and we kept saying to each other that we should be able to spot him. After standing there for another 10 minutes we heard rustling about 150 yards below us in a patch of 3 to 4 foot tall brush. I was then shocked to see “my buck” run out of that small patch of brush at full speed.

I immediately put my gun up to start blasting, but Jeff pulled the barrel of my gun down saying, “where’s he going to go?” It was wide open country and he was right in the fact that it would have been a tough shot with the buck at full speed and me having a serious case of buck fever. The deer ran until he was about 800 yards out and then just stopped and started to browse all by himself. It was an amazing experience to watch that buck in our binoculars and spotting scope for 30 minutes. As soon as he crested a small ridge and was out of sight about a quarter mile away, I hurried as swiftly and quietly as possible to hopefully catch him just on the other side and within range.
Once near the crest of the ridge, I paused to catch my breath, got on my belly and crawled to the top. He was not where I expected him to be, but was 200 yards to my left with several does. I was able to shift to the left without being noticed and bring the buck down in his tracks with one shot from my Remington model 700 30-06. Jeff watched the whole ordeal unfold through the spotting scope and was worried I might not be able to see the buck since he didn’t go where we expected him to. Jeff was watching the buck when all of a sudden he just disappeared and 3 seconds later Jeff heard a shot.

After we admired the beauty of the magnificent animal, we took care of him and were able to head out for an evening hunt in hope of finding another one. We spotted another really nice buck and watched him in the spotting scope for quite a while before we made a plan to stalk him. Jeff tried to close the gap, but there were too many does to make that possible and he got away. Over the next couple of days we continued to look, but none of the bucks were as nice so we eventually decided to go back to where we’d seen that buck two days before. To our surprise we were able to spot him near the same spot. However, this time we decided to just watch him until he lay down before making a game plan. I didn’t think he would ever lie down, and he never did. We watched him and a 3-point go up into a small finger at the top of his mountain until they were out of our site. There was no chance to make a stalk from where we were, we’d already tried that. So, we decided to drop off the backside of the mountain, get on the other side of the deer’s mountain and climb up from the backside to come up the finger we’d last seen him in.

From the backside it was tough to determine which finger was the right one. After an hour of hiking we crested the top of the mountain and five minutes later I thought we were busted when I saw the 3-point running away from us. After another 10 minutes of walking we found the finger we thought he should be in. All of a sudden Jeff just froze and signaled for me to get down, whispering that the buck was about 200 yards away lying down. I never saw the deer and Jeff could only see him when standing up. I was carrying the spotting scope tripod, so I quietly extended the legs as far as possible and Jeff used it to balance his 300 ultra mag on. It took one shot. The deer was lying underneath a cliff and never got up from his bed. By the time we got him off the mountain we just made it home in time to go trick-or-treating.

Paxrite a local UTV cargo rack builder is the latest to join the Mule Deer Country team.  Located in New Plymouth, Idaho this innovative new company is soon to be a leader in the UTV cargo rack business. A full review of this company and its great line of products will be here on mule deer country in the next few weeks.  Until then, here are few pictures to show you some of their awesome work!

This rack carries everything you will need for an extended stay in the hills

Built at Bear Mountain Manufacturing in New Plymouth this racks are as professional as you will see.  Spectacular welding, innovative designs and with a durable powder coat finish will take  years of abuse .

Fold in and out tables on either side for the things you want to keep off the ground come in very handy for coolers and water jugs!

The cooler rack folds down to complete the enclosure for a dog cage.  Perfect for those hound hunters.

I can’t wait to hit the hills and really try this thing out during the scouting season!

As I peaked over the rim and settled down behind the rifle and scope I had to take a deep breath to calm my nerves. The scope had a B&C reticule with crosshairs at 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards. The gun had a picture of a deer and the reticules with each distance next to it laminated to the stock, I could look at it for a quick reference. All my practice led up to this moment. When the buck was at 250 yards I felt confident, but Bryce clicked on the rangefinder again when it finally stopped and it was now at 310 yards.  It was following a couple of Doe’s and the closest one was just to his right and I knew the second he turned to follow her it was time to squeeze the trigger.

When I drew this particular tag, my dad and all his buddies told me I’d get a good buck. I didn’t know I was going to get a great buck. The season was long and I didn’t expect to tag out early on. My dad and I talked long about this hunt and had planned to take all the necessary time off in order to get a great buck. Opening day was a Monday and we didn’t want to miss out. I had no issue choosing hunting over school for this great of a tag. Actually I would have no problem choosing hunting over school for a general season tag.

We had done a few scouting trips prior to the season and we arrived in this particular spot the day before opening. In the area we went there were a few bucks that were already spotted. They included a 36” 3 point and several big 4 points with kickers, all of those I would have happily shot. I was looking for a buck that was either really wide or a non-typical. Fortunately for it being a draw tag we had more than enough help from friends for locations to try. Being 13 also probably helped.

Opening morning had us overlooking a good 4 point right at daybreak. He was about 25” wide with long front forks but weak backs, one of the better bucks we had seen up until that point. Our buddy Bryce told us it would score about 170”, but that didn’t mean much to me because I knew that wasn’t the buck that I wanted. Through the spotter I could barely see its rack at first because the sun was just peeking over the ridge behind us. I was in awe as he walked around the Doe’s like the king of the hill. Although a good buck, I was told if you shoot a good buck you’ll never shoot a great buck. So we took a last look at this magnificent animal and continued on my hunt. As the day went on we found ourselves far from camp and looking over a lot of country.

Mid day after we stopped seeing as many deer we split up from the other 2 guys to cover more ground. As we cautiously crested a saddle we saw a nice 4 point and some Doe’s. All of a sudden a 20” 2 point bolted out of a tree with a great buck pushing it out. I looked at my dad and both our mouths were dropped open. We knew that was the buck. As we crept down the hill several Doe’s bolted off with him chasing them. We stopped moving and just watched, hoping desperately that they hadn’t noticed us. He soon came up on the other side of the ridge a lot longer away. Worried that he might leave the country we tried to get farther over, but despite trying to keep track, he left the valley and we couldn’t see him anymore. We opted to slowly back out and come back in from the other side in the evening, hoping the buck didn’t continue on out.

Back in the evening we had high hopes to see him right there. We looked over a large basin and spotted a couple little bucks and more does, but the big buck was no where to be found. We glassed for what seemed like hours until the sun started to set, and nothing. We talked about the options and decided to try one canyon over. As we started to hike out, we looked one last time over our shoulders and saw a new group of deer just becoming sky lined. As the binoculars were pulled out we saw him again, barely over the rim in the far canyon what seemed 1 mile off.

Everything was wrong. The wind was to our backs, there were deer between us and the buck, and we were running out of daylight. We dropped off to the canyon bottom and had to pray that as we crossed a short open section no other deer would bust us. After safely getting across it we raced the sunset to the 10’ rock shelf we wanted to be at. As we walked beneath it and got to the end we peaked around. The deer had shifted directions and were walking right towards us!!! We set a backpack on the rock ledge over looking the plateau; the deer were crossing and I laid the gun down for a steady rest.

I never did look at the rack closely because my dad always told me that if you looked at the rack you won’t focus on the right spot to shoot. If I could close the deal I knew I could look at it for the rest of my life. With one final exhale as it turned broadside, I squeezed the trigger. I can’t remember the next 5-10 minutes real clearly but there was a lot of high fives and congratulations on everyone’s part, especially by my dad. I was happy that my dad and 2 of his friends, Bryce and Matt, came along to share this experience and help me find a buck of a life time.

Was I crazy? The anxiety was killing me! What was I doing passing on a 200” deer even on this hunt? However, 3 weeks before while out scouting with my good friend Jason Sandusky, we found the buck I was looking for.
This particular buck had been the topic of conversation between me and most of my close friends since I found out of my good fortune of drawing the tag I had put in for, for so long. Over the 4th of July weekend, my wife, kids and I were staying with our friends the Mooseman’s. Brian was re-telling a story told the previous October, about a buck that his stepdad had missed in my unit last year. As he was giving me every last detail about the bucks’ antler configuration, it dawned on me that he was talking about the same monster that my brother, was lucky enough to find a shed off of later that winter. After a quick look at the pictures Brian had snapped of the buck it was confirmed it was the same buck. So now all I had to do was go find that deer. We all know how easy that is!

After three or four scouting trips with my 10 year old son Gavin, and buddies Jason and Brent, we had found some great bucks. A few from 180-190”, but not what I wanted yet. Hunting stories filled the air in Brent’s pickup all the way down on Friday. We made our way in the heat of the day to the spot where Brent had shot his buck a couple of years prior. As we turned up the rocky road, it was a spot I was very familiar with. Brent showed me where he got his 200 incher and we continued to another location that we wanted to check. Just before dark we found an upper 180’s buck that topped off a great day. The next morning started off early, as we covered a lot of new country, trying to learn a new part of the unit. At noon we stopped to have lunch in the middle of a two-track road. I unloaded my pack off of the cooler in the back seat and made our sandwiches. An hour later, and 30 dirt road miles away, as I reached back to my pack to get some chap stick on my wind burnt lips. I said, “Oh crap!” “You’ve got to be kidding me!” My backpack with all of my gear, including my Swarovski spotting scope and anything else you need to hunt with was gone. I was freaking out!
Just minutes before neither of us could stop talking about the hunt and all of the possible hot spots, but now hardly a word was spoken. Brent flew down the dirt roads to get me back to my gear, and I wondered if my pack might still be there. As we pulled up to the spot where we had ate lunch just an hour before, the pack was gone! We searched the area off either side of the road, in hopes someone had come along, saw it and hid it just in case the owner came back. But the intense reality set in that someone else had my gear.
The next few days were a wreck. Picturing someone else fondling all my stuff and looking through the digital camera photos of our family memories was almost too much to bear. My wife and I decided to spend all day Monday hanging posters all over the unit, that just a few days before meant so much to me for the fact I held such a great tag. Now it felt like this whole experience was a disaster.
Two weeks later after returning home from an evening archery elk hunt, my sister in law called and said a man called saying he had my pack! A short minute later I was on the phone with a man, I had never met or heard of, making plans to meet up so I could recover my gear. Thanks Dale! I honestly never thought I would see all my stuff again. You are an honest and refreshing individual.
On the dark drive down, with Sandusky, three weeks after the recovery of my pack, I once again found myself thinking of the buck that consumed my thoughts. As we began glassing I knew it was possible the buck could be living in this area. Within a few minutes Jason said, “I got some bucks, get your scope!” In an excited panic, as I dialed my Swarovski in on the bachelor group, I immediately confirmed what I was hoping. It was my buck, and he was awesome! He had taken full advantage of the mild winter, and exceptional water year. He had lost the four in character point off of the back of his right G2, but make up for it with a ton of mass, better looking frame, and even a split eye-guard. Jason and I decided he would score between 200 and 210 as an 8×6! We snuck out of the area knowing the obsession of keeping tabs on him and his five buddies for the next few weeks, would now kick in. I honestly didn’t even want to leave.

Three unsuccessful scouting trips later, with my brother and buddy Adam, since locating the buck, we had yet to turn him up. On each trip we found all of his buddies, but not him. What the heck! He had disappeared. I knew he had to be here under one of these rocks, but I didn’t want to tromp all over his home and run him out. In the back of my mind I wondered if he had been harvested by a muzzleloader hunter. I figured if someone had known about him I should have at least seen them on the opener. Two days later I would return with the camper, and spend my last couple days trying to locate my buck.
Once the camper was unhooked and somewhat leveled, I headed to another part of the unit looking for a mid 190’s typical; I had only heard of. What in the heck was I thinking? On the drive to look for this new buck, all I could think about was my buck. I can’t find my buck if I’m looking for some new buck! Too late now! It would be dark before I got back. Tomorrow morning and evening would be devoted to relocating the 8 by 6.
The alarm went off and I thought…”In 24 hours the hunt of my life starts.” “It would be nice to find my buck today”. I picked the hillside apart over and over from a mile away, looking at all of the country my buck could be hiding in. Just as I was getting ready to move a half mile to the north, there he was. Thank God! A doe and fawn had passed by his bed and he couldn’t resist checking her out. Thankfully, that’s what gave him away. After just a couple minutes, he hurried his way around to the west slope to put himself back in the shade. I immediately called my brother to let him know the good news! At two o’clock he moved only 100 yards from the spot he had been all morning. He tucked himself between some sage and rim rock, and although I stayed until dark with my brother now by my side. We did not see him again.
Sandusky and I made our way up the mountain in the dark and I couldn’t help but wonder what this day held. Darkness gave way to opening morning as we glassed the country below. A handful of small bucks and does filtered up the mountain while we gradually made our way towards my buck’s hideout from the day before. Our glasses went to serious work for the next couple of hours, but we couldn’t turn him up. A while later we talked to Cliff and he had seen a group of bucks around the corner from us with one really good buck in the group. Once we got him spotted, we agreed, it was a great buck, probably right at 200”! Was I crazy? What was I doing passing a 200” deer? I have never killed a 200” deer. I knew what buck I wanted and it was only opening day. I couldn’t give up on my buck already. As I was having a close heart to heart with myself, it was interrupted by Sandusky, hissing, “Tivon get over here, I got a good buck!” With my tripod legs still fully extended I ran, jumping over rocks trying to get to where I could get a look at the buck. When the pistol grip settled, I was happy to see my buck lying underneath a pile of rocks, surrounded by thick sage brush. I quickly realized why I passed the other buck. If all the years of general season had taught me anything, it was to never give up on your goals. We spent the next few minutes videoing the buck and we quickly devised a plan on how to get within range of him.
All the way back down the mountain, I prayed the buck would stay put. We occasionally peeked over rocks ever so slowly to keep him landmarked. An hour later and 167 yards away, I could see his right antler poking out from his bed in the thick sage. I had so many different scenarios playing out in my mind. At one point, during the wait I even considered walking in the thick sage brush and jump shooting him like a jack rabbit, but I knew that was the wrong thing to do. As I was taking pictures of the antler we could see from our vantage point, all of the sudden he was up. Immediately I was on my belly, behind my rifle scope, and as he made his way out of the brush I could see his antler tips and flashes of his grey hide. I looked for a small opening he might step into. There he was! My Kimber 7mm 08 put him down just as fast as he showed up, and the hunt was over!
The short wind sprint over to my buck that I had been thinking about all summer was the best feeling of my hunting career. I couldn’t help but feel some remorse for the fallen buck. I thought of how many times he might have used this bedding area to avoid danger. I have been very fortunate to harvest some very nice general season bucks, and this was the icing on the cake! Every detail about my buck will be forever etched in my mind. The mass was awesome! As I picked his head up off the ground I noticed he had broken a couple of inches off two of his extras on the left side in the fall. Between pictures and video we would be able to get his antlers back to their original state. He had a mid 190’s frame with a unique fishhook like right main beam. The extra on the left side took me back in time to the winter range, when my brother picked up the left antler. He is a 27 inch wide 8 by 6 that ended up scoring 211 once the points were fixed by Dan Morrow at High Country Taxidermy!
Sharing that hunt with my brother and Sandusky on that afternoon, taking photos and video of the whole experience is something I will never forget. Thanks you guys! And thanks to all my other good friends who helped me on my quest. After both my pack and my buck ended up being lost and found, I feel very fortunate to have relocated both.

Here is today’s teaser video. To view full video become a Subscriber at Traintohunt.com

WA-ID Scout Teaser from Train To Hunt on Vimeo.

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