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At 5:30 we headed home and glassed as we went. The sad part… The biggest buck we saw all weekend was in the Town of Wamsetter, rubbing a sage brush next to a junk yard….

Oh and the beauty of WY is season overlap. I found this mule deer buck earlier this year and I am trying to keep tabs on him. Main frame 3 with matching kickers and a one extra... I hope I cross path with him after Sept. 1st...

We have been using this little Eureka back packing tent without the rain fly. It is awesome, you can see the stars get good fresh air and it takes seconds to set up and take down. Just like sleeping on the ground minus the chance that you might wake up snuggling with a buzz worm…

Just before 5:30 am I swore I heard a bugle. Followed by a bunch of coyotes etc. Needless to say sunrise was great and from camp I was able to glass several bucks. After taking a quick look around, there were no bucks around that I was really interested in. As we glassed we ended up seeing the source of the bugle. A solid 6x6 bull was feeding. Not the best pic, but my phone scope is on its way…

The first weekend we were out we found a freaky looking buck. In our travels we went back through his area and found him. Not a ½ mile away we found a little better typical as well.

We watched both from a nearby knob. For several hours. Finally the freak buck decided to get out of his bed and head to water (same water hole we sat last time out). To get to the hole he went through a few humics (dunes with taller plants and different soil structure). I snuck into the humics and assumed he would take the same path from water to his home range. It worked really well, but just no well enough. When he went into the pond I ran 200 yards to the closest humic to his trail I was 20 yards short of my goal when he came back out of the water hole. I was in the open and sat down and held still. After a 20 minute stare down he decided I was nothing and started back on the trail. Remember how I was 20 yards short of my goal. Well he ended up walking past me at 54 yards. I never really drew on him but I was able to get my bow up and had he came through in better range it would have been great.

That evening we looked over some different country as the bigger buck laid in the wide open all day. Saturday afternoon the rain came in. Luckily it missed out little area but both north and south it got pretty crazy. Hail wind, lightning etc. While it was crazy we decided to run into town and get an ice cream and refuel. Not really needed but it was a nice break from glassing…

The rocks have been carved by many over the years. Some names are long gone, come are newer. The earliest names are most likely from sheep herders that started in the area around the very end of the 1800s and early 1900s. These rocks are about a mile north of the Cherokee Trail crossing in blue notch. The Cherokee trail came through in 1849. The trail was named and pioneered by Cherokee Indians who saw great income potential by hauling stock and supplies to miners. Many also sold everything they had on the reservation to strike it rich in the 49 gold rush. They initially started following John Fremonts Trail until they were just south of Elk mountain. They ditched the Fremont trail and eventually the Oregon trail and blazed tier own trail across the red desert. The group was not all Indians, they teamed up with a group led by Evans who were also heading to California. For the next year several members of the Cherokee Nation would sell everything and leave the reservation, prompting the tribal leaders to run a smear campaign against California.

1850 would see the trail pick up traffic and it was somewhat popular until 1858 when the railroad went through.

Fun history… There are a few places where modern roads follow the trail and several places where you can see the ruts from the wagons. After our little history visit, I decided that 10 years old is old enough to start working a clutch and my boy got the keys and the wheel for a section of 2 track. He will get better as the fall progresses. He was more than excited and the 20 minutes behind the wheel made his week.

After an hour plus Freddie got up and moved a bit. He milled around and eventually made his way to a sage patch that provided an almost perfect stalk set up. So we jumped in the blazer and drove a mile closer and parked out of sight. I closed the distance and eventually found him at 20 yards. Sadly the little rise between he and I block his vitals as we stared at each other. He eventually made haste. My second close encounters with him.

We drove back to the point and looked around. To get from Freddie to the point we drove right past Mondo who was still in the same bed as he started in that morning. As we passed he stood up and milled around. As soon as we got back to the point he started making a path into some humics and opened a door for a stalk so we hauled butt to a location and I started to run across the plain I made it a whole 30 yards before he stepped out into the open and nailed 200 yards out. I tucked my head and headed back to the blazer he spooked a bit but not bad. So we drove back up to out lookout and set up the tripod and scope again. I glass and can’t find Mondo. Find Freddie way out in the flat.

Then as I scan I can just see the horn tops of Mondo in the sage. After I busted him he bedded down in the perfect spot. I mean literally if I could pick any bed within 5 miles tis would have been it. So as soon as we got the spotter and chairs out we loaded back up and drove back around and hid the blazer and I made the stalk. It was maybe 10 minutes from when we found him to when I knocked my arrow and peeked over to where he was…

But he was gone, 100 yards out he was with a doe and fawn. The buck that spent 8 hours in bed and watched lopes around him all day suddenly felt social. With the wind pounding and the buck paired up I felt it was over for the day, but decided to try any ways. As the fed I slowly started to make progress in the little cover I had. I managed to knock off about 20 yards when the buck decided to bed again and in his new bed I could barely see his horn tops. So when the doe was head down I would move. Did this for a few minutes before she disappeared??? Must have bedded also??? Not sure but with her out of sight I move again and make the distance to 60 before she steps out. She was in a small cut wash. She is 45 yards out with her fawn feeding he is bedded at 60. I move a touch here and there when her head is down. Then he stands up. She eventually makes out that I am not right.

She circles me with her fawn at 30 yards trying to figure out what I am. All I need is for him to follow, but he never does. The doe eventually vacates the areas and he sees another buck a mile away and decides to go chase it off. I was so close and yet so far away. That ended out hopes. Both our target bucks in the wide open and the wind howling… It was a great weekend…. Probably our last Lope weekend until rifle since Elk opens tomorrow…

You better show us some more pics of your rig.

Alarm sounds at 5 am and we get up and moving. Things were going great until I noticed my boots were absent. Asked my wife, she swore she put them in, but they did not make it up the mountain at all. So opening morning was to be hunted in a $10 pair of Walmart clearance sneaker. As a side note, I am now carrying said sneakers as stalking shoes in my pack, they have a soft foam sole and are quiet as anything I have wore for stalking.

At first light we are leaving camp a little late, but luckily it was only 10 minutes in the blazer to our spot for the morning.

We left the blazer in good spirits and then fought the "suck". The area is a mess with boulders, cliffs, blow-down etc. You have to chose path very carefully to get around with any sense of stealth. With 3 of us and one being a 10 year old, stealth was lost due to the extremely dry conditions. We worked out way to a trail camera I set back in July.

This summer got away from me and I only made 2 scouting trips and only set one trail camera in the unit. Kind of old school hunting and in someway I really like its simplicity.

That moring we found good sign, a few rubs, and the trail cam produced signs of both deer and elk. It also had Photos of a huge cow moose. We called and worked a loop. Having hunted the area I have since decided that we need to do everything in the exact opposite direction. At noon we finally found elk and bumped 2 groups one with a very decent 5 point but the ground was just to dry to have any chance at contact.

At lunch time we loaded up in the truck and ran back to town for my boots. We covered 4.5 miles in the "suck" my ankles and balls of my feet were sore but not horrible. My boots made it so much better. Also visiting home meant we could shower... Bonus!!!

That after noon we got back to camp late and immediately headed to another spot I wanted to hunt. The drive took a little too lang and we arrived at the spot about 1 hour before dark. We got out and were trying to make a plan with swirling winds, and no real idea what to do... My son was getting squirelly and could stand it so he grabbed the bugle and let it rip as we were unpacking bow and backpacks. He got an immediate response that way too close. The chaos erupted as the bull bugled back hard. The wind on the point was swirling and we were at the blazer in the wide open. We dropped down 60 yards off the top and set up. Another bugle and second bull answered across the way. The wind was bad and in our attempt to get around the wind we ran square into a small herd. They blew up and took both bulls and everything else with them.

Lesson learned by my son... DO not bugle until everyone is ready. AS it got dork we heard 2 more bulls bugle one small ridge over. A good start, nothing absolutely amazing but good...

The sunrise was crazy due to all the smoke. I have a feeling the last of them for 2020 since we have 6" of snow and it is still falling...

We did end up seeing 7 bulls and 27 cows/calves in the desert... Good morning of scouting (not really hunting)

For Sunday night we had a better plan to hunt where we blew up all the elk the night before. We of course needed to mix it up a little so it was make up time for the family... The son does not understand that face paint can go on light...

The plan was awesome, but the elk had decided to change things up. Early in our evening we had a spike show up. It was lucky that my wife gave it a pass. We found some great feed areas, water and trails to bedding despite an early lack of elk action the afternoon hunt was a blast. We made a loop in the area and headed towards the little canyon where we heard 2 bugles late the night before...

I am going to break for a bit and share some back story... My wife was a city girl through and through until she met me. She was born and raised in the Denver area and her outdoor activities were capped at occasional fishing trips to cherry creek, a horse back ride where she found out she was allergic and a camping trip where they got flooded out and her brother dropped his oakleys in a forest service outhouse.

For the last 17 years she has grown and became an amazing outdoors woman. Every year she takes on something new. Despite all she has accomplished, she carries with her a burden that I can't get her to shake. She is always trying to conquer an unseen enemy. She works hard to impress me and does not want to disappoint me or have me disappointed in her. It has been hard on both of us at times, but also an amazing gift. It provides her with drive and motivation... She started actually archery hunting about 5 years ago, and in all those years we have had many close and amazing encounters, but something always goes wrong. All I want for her is success and to have fun, but she seems to put extra pressure on herself... Over the years she has taken several animals with her rifle and called in tons of elk for my archery. She has one archery kill, which was a doe antelope from a blind.

As the sun was setting we stood atop a small rock outcropping. The evening was silent wind was perfect for what we did. But again the elk had all disappeared. In a last ditch effort I decided to let out a last bugle before heading back to the vehicle... We got the low groan of a bull from below. I let out a few cow calls as she picked a spot to set up and my son and I went up the hill 100 yards to call. I never hear her shot and only an elk crashing through the trees followed her calling.

We gathered and replay the situation. It was literally the first time she has ever had a bull in range. She was a mess but was confident in her shot. We sit a 1/2 hour. We get out our flashlights and start to trail. The bull ran away from her in an absolute crap hole of down timber. She described the shot as very good and in the ribs up and down was just below mid body. The arrow buried to the fetching. We went on his trail for about 40 yards before first sign of blood. She kept explaining what should have been a great lung kill shot. So I was hopeful that we would find him in the dead fall where we heard all the crashing.

The blood was not heavy at all and in the 100 yards of dead fall there was only light drops, no heavy blood and no bubbles from lungs etc. After the bull made it through the dead fall we followed his trail up hill another 60 yards to a ridge top where he lost the arrow. The arrow was covered in clean blood tip to tip. No bubbles and again not heavy blood, no clots etc.

After the arrow fell out we lost the blood trail in the dark entirely. It had been almost 2 hours since the shot and the trail was just not visible at all. We marked the location and backed out for the night to return the next day.

She was upset of course. She was afraid that I was disappointed in her, and worse she felt as if she had let her son down. After all he was calling it in for her etc. We returned to camp and after a few tears and reassurance we got a little sleep.

We left the blazer with the packs and optimism.

We went back to last blood and looked and could not find any thing at all. Tracks alone were impossible to follow simply because it was so dry and had been so long since it rained. There were tracks everywhere...

From where the arrow fell out it was nearly 80 yards before we found any blood, and even then it was 3 little drops as he crested a ridge into a new drainage. Again we followed the trail and lost all blood and in the sage park his track got mixed in with a bunch more.

Again no blood for over 80 yards until I found just a spot on a rock as he left the sage park. He entered another set of dead fall where the blood was again minimal. In my years I have shot 2 bulls I have not recovered. Both were in the brisket and both bled more than this and both had bedded at least once in the first 600 yard of blood trail. We were over 600 yards on this trail with less blood and the tracks did not appear to break stride. I have also hit one bull in the liver and the blood from that shot was significantly heavier and the bull only went 80 yards before he bedded the first time (it took 14 hours for him to die but never ran, and only went 230 yards total).

At about 600 yards the blood stopped entirely, the area where is stopped was covered in tracks fro the night before. We spent the next 4 hours looking griding and searching. Te storm was starting to build so I ran my wife and son back to camp so they could eat clean up and pack for heading home. I returned to the search for another couple hours until the winds was breaking trees off and the snow and lightning began. Never found another drop of blood, never found a bed where he laid. He covered 600 yards with out breaking stride and I have had bloody noses that bled more...

After reviewing everything and having my wife point exactly where she hit I am convinced she was behind the lung and did not hit the liver very hard if at all. I can explain it, just crazy that he never once slowed down, and never bedded and the arrow went through etc.

So our opening weekend was a mix of good and bad. I feel for her, and this is truly the very first animal she has ever hit and lost. She is normally very lethal, she is patient and takes a good shot every time. I just think she pick a spot too far back, and despite not have any guts and clean blood, she just missed anything extremely vital. Since it has snowed and the wind is blowing etc. I will o back up this weekend and look again hard to find the bull.

So this weekend (Second Archery weekend my wife was on call and could not hunt. Friday night I went to camp solo. The storm that blew in on Monday messed things up. In many ways. Had caught 5 mice in traps over the week and then caught 4 more over the weekend.

Friday night I hit up a willow creek bottom, no elk or deer.

Saturday morning I went up to a small chunk of BLM surrounded by private, no elk anywhere just "Cross Bow" Hunters Driving ATVs, smoking cigarettes and yelling over the machine noise. Good thing I had low expectations. Saturday morning back into town, Son had a football game. Playing safety he had a few tackles and 1 interception. Spent the midday working on the yard and then headed to hunt that evening.

Satirday night we decided to head south into a new area that has lots of mixed ownership. 2 hours before dark I spot a group of bulls a long ways off and between us was mixed ownership. So we take off in the blazer hoping to get close before dark. With 45 minutes left of light we got on a small 2 track that would allow us to get within 600 yards of the feeding bulls. Things were going great, blazer was busting drifts and working hard, then bam a drift that was way deeper than the rest. Took us just over an hour to dig out using the last of the light and the flashlight to get out. No elk, nothing but cold and wet. This caused us to retreat to the house and not go up to camp. Dang storm.... My blazer does not get stuck often but when it does it is stuck stuck...

That morning the sunrise was pleasant and despite lots of elk tracks no luck before sunrise. As the morning went on we would run into 3 groups of elk, seeing a total of 20 cows+ cows calves and 2 spike bulls and a small rag horn. It was a great morning as my son called in a calf elk to 3 yards from me and only 8 from himself.

I seriously can not explain ow destructive that storm was... There are thousands of down tress in the area now. Not little trees either. We saw entire stands that were 80 yards wide 100+ long there were all snapped off 6 foot from the ground. There are places where we were hiking before that are now 6 foot deep with dead fall.

In the pics. The one is of a root from a fallen tree. The largest on I have ever saw. On the one wallow we had 4 trees fall on top of it. Just creazy.

We got with in 100 yards of the big bull and his cows and they were heading out way until the got stuck in the dead fall. So we watched them for the last 20 minutes of light trying to figure out how to get out to our meadow area. All the while the bulls were screaming and just trying to join our cow party and bugle fest.

They never made it out... As we headed out in the dark with our flashlights we could still hear the group on the ridge calling and working. We will be heading back for that bull for sure...

Friday evening rolled around, I am really struggling with family vs hunting activities. My wife opted out of the evening hunt leaving the afternoon to just my son and myself. By the time we got showered, loaded etc. it was 5:00 pm. Luckily, I always have a few random spots for after work or short hours. an hour after we left the house we were a 1/4 mile into the woods with some decent daylight left in a totally new area. Since it was going to get dark and the wind was blowing pretty steady we opted to go straight up to a little peak and glass and listen for the evening. The view was very good when we arrived on top. Sadly just as we topped out, I realized that the glass was back home... So much for glassing all the parks we could see. To the west where we just came from was a long open ridge, to the north was series of sage flats that ran a ridge/saddle line between 2 drainages. To the east was steep nasty cut that dropped quickly into timber and some aspen. The wind was dumping hard into this cut.

We sat for a few minutes and of course in the distance we start seeing elk, but without glass that is all we can tell. From out point there is a rocky ridge heading east on the north side of the deep cut.

As we sit my son get restless pretty fast and starts bugling and par-coring on the rocks. About his 3rd bugle we get a response about 800 yards down the cut in the aspens. He gets excited and comes running over. The problem is to make a move we will need to drop in a 1000 yards and loose 1400 feet in elevation. Not the end of the world but we were trying to decide if we could make it before dark.

I slide down about 10 yards and knock and arrow and range what I can see. I sneak up a little more and cant see the bull.

My son still calling, and I see the bull starting to circle wind. When he first appeared he was right at 60 yards out, definitely too far out considering the stiff wind we had. By the time I relocate him he had came another 20 yards and was trying to figure out how to get across the rocks to us.

At this point I could tell his sides did not match up but he was a solid 6 on one side...

He circles to our left downhill and into a small patch of stunted growth pines. I whistle/chip and he stops perfectly broadside at 40 yards. with his vital in a perfect V of the trees.

I replay what happened as he slips off out of sight. The arrow was on a perfect flight until the last foot.

We wait 30 minutes and it is just getting dark. We slip down from the ridge and to where the bull was standing. I look back and replay the event and find a small twig that was freshly cut. We go about 10 feet in the direction of the bulls travel and see my arrow. Obvious that it was a passthrough. But I do not like the sign... Not lung or heart for sure, but did not stink like guts, but looked like guts.

We follow the track to where the bull stood for a split second no blood at all... As we whisper I look up and 80 yards in the trees I see the bull stand from a bed and slowly slip away...

We pull out in the dark. In over 20 years I have only twice hit an animal and not recovered it. One was a brisket shot and last year I hit a bull on the last day squarely in the shoulder then on the bottom of the brisket. Last year has haunted me in the worst way...

We reach the peak as the sun rises and sit and listen and watch. We glass everything we can see hoping to see him from a distance instead of walking up on him. Nothing. The time comes to face my fears.

About 80 yards downhill from where we last saw him is a small meadow, it is the easiest and quickest route for a bull to escape. I send my son and wife to the bottom of the park and set them up opening they might get a shot at the bull if he exits the stands of trees he was last in. I take up the track going extra, extra, extra slow. 2 step and glass everything 3 times, then 2 more steps and glass everything... Blood on the track was very sparse, and in the bed we bumped him out of there was one little clot the size of a silver dollar. Not good at all...

I ease up in the general direction he was last seen. By now I am just 60 yards from the park where I sent my wife and son. Again stop glass, and look, listens and move another 2 steps. It is then the emotions got to me. I look up and see the bull.

Total distance traveled was less than 200 yards from shot.

First trip out my son and wife split all out equipment and I carried a hind quarter on my shoulder.

Second trip our I took both front quarters, both back straps, both tenderloins and all the neck, rib and burger scraps... It was way heavy. My wife took a hind quarter and my son took the head...

Just a note, my wife does not allow me to take the lower leg off until we are out of the woods. She needs the extra length for leverage. With it attached she can handle and move the hind quarter. If it was just me the legs would be gone.

The entire elk was back to the blazer by noon.

https://youtu.be/gHEIaPIgYbk

There was almost no blood at all, maybe 10 gumball drop sized splats total plus the small clot in the bed.

Also I always take a pic of the blazer we affectionately call gut pile. On the back gut pile showed that we had a lot of close encounters that the elk won, but finally we got on the board..,

From my feelings and how we hunted when I was younger, I made a promise to myself to never be the limiting factor on a hunt for my kids. So far I have made it work, and someday I will be more baggage than help but when my son is old enough to hunt I want him to be able to hunt he wants and where he wants. I don't want to be the limiting factor.

I am sure others can relate, I still love hunting with my dad, but I really really really love hunting with my kids and wife.

This weekend I am heading to look for a mule deer and a lope. Wish me luck...

This is one of my favorite pics. My best friend from high school and son on the look..

I guess the point is don’t worry about limiting him just enjoy the next few years they will fly by. You can always start shifting the weight to his pack if you are having trouble keeping up! Your way of doing might not be your dads way but he obviously started the passion for you. Sound like you have done the same with your kid.

Living in WY we have the somewhat unique ability to hunt archery first then switch to rifle. So as this story progresses forward all hunting will be mainly Rifle Based. However I have sprinkled in several archery attempts while wearing my orange.

Just to comment on your earlier post I have had similar feeling and can honestly say hunting is the number one reason I'm in decent shape. 8-10 years ago I was NOT. I walked into a gym and told the owner I can't hunt the way I used to and I want to be able to do a lot more hunts with my son. My wife and I go to the gym 5 days a week. At 52 I'm in better shape than I was at 30. My 26 year old son and I have a LOT of hunts ahead of us! Work at getting and staying in shape now, you won't regret it.

So my wife had one more day to archery hunt the Sunday after we packed out my bull. She however woke up sore and said parts of her body hurt that she was not aware even existed. So the last Sunday of archery we stayed home, cut some meat, took care of house stuff and had a good family dinner. Just before dark I loaded the truck and headed 3.5 hours south to look for a general deer.

Typically I have 20 days of scouting into my deer tags and by the time I tag out I have well over 30 days of scouting and hunting into my bucks. This year since I have a really good lope tag and a good elk tag, I had only spent 1 morning pseudo scouting while chasing lopes.

So as I left the house the plan was simple drive to one of my favorite ridges that typically has a few deer and sleep in the truck bed until the next morning. The night was breezy, but very comfortable. By the way I ended up buying a Thermarest Mondo-king air pad. This was a great in between pad for my use. I have a queen sized air mattress that I like, but it is big and bulky and requires an inflator. This pad is great for just me… The next morning I get out of bed and get dressed. From my camp sight I go about a ½ mile to a really good pinch point and glassing spot. In a typical year I can find several deer from this spot. The trail here leads up a little finger ridge that the deer use to access the river bottom. Usually packed with tracks and a trail cameras show 10-15 deer using it nightly. This morning no fresh tracks, and after a ½ hour no deer. Not good. So I make a plane to circle in the pinon juniper back to my truck and see if I can find anything.

About 20 minutes into my circle I discover why the lack of deer… 5 vehicles drive through and go about 600 yards past my location and start working. They have a couple trailers and equipment to rework a pipeline. Dang, luckily my circle takes me away from the hustle and bustle. About 8:00 am I am glassing the shady sides of tress and spot antler tips. A decent buck and a forky bedded down on a point. But unable to really see the situation I opt to circle the bucks at 800 yards trying to sort out how they were laying etc. As I circle I am also to see the bigger buck and considering that deer were a complete after thought this year he was a dandy 4x4. I move into a spot about 200 yards out to get one final look before making a stalk. The wind meant I needed to approach the bucks from behind them and with the trees between us. From my current location I could range the buck’s bed likely escape route and most importantly my last cover. Everything was under 50 yards are very doable. I can’t believe my luck a good buck in one of the best stalking locations I have ever had…

Then stupidity struck. I sneak back out from my spy point and make a huge error and pay dearly for it. I had a tree between myself and the deer and had to go around a large rock. Not paying attention on the way in I went around the north side, on the way out I went south side. End result was my big fat head was skylined and in view of the buck. They blew out… So I short cut to the beds and check the tracks. Easy to follow fresh tracks hauling balls away. I pick up the track and start to follow. Sort out where they went and start still hunting the track. A couple hours pass and several hundred yards. I felt as if I lost the tracks, but still had an idea where they are headed. About the time I give up and get sloppy they bust out at 40 yards and no shot. Damn screwed up again.

I know now my chances are horrible and abandon hope as they run away. So I revert back to original plan and push forward. One thing about this country is I find some amazing sheds and lots of them. This morning in particular I find over 20 sheds and a few worth keeping. In fact the entire morning I was jumping from shed to shed that I glassed up. When I found the 2 bucks I was headed to a shed I glassed.

Around 10 am the sun is up high it is hot and dry. I am ready to short cut back to the truck when once again I jump the 2 bucks completely on accident. They haul but away, but as they go they kick up some other deer that have no idea I was around. One of which was a mature 3x3 around 28” wide. A great buck. I play cat and mouse with him and another 22” 4x4 for about an hour in the trees until the winds switch and blow them out. What started a pretty slow and disappointing morning became a pretty darn good experience.

For that evening I back out of the area and hit few more spots I really like. At last light in a little honey hole I find 3 bucks, one was a 25’ 4x4 still full velvet and the other 2 were dinks. With light fading and crazy wind I have no real option but to sit and watch. Reflecting on the day the 3x3 was by far the best buck and he was in a pretty good area. So the next morning I was going to look for him. When the other bucks ran I had a good idea where they kicked the 3x3 out of his bed. Sunday night the wind was raging. I opted for sleeping in the back seat and skipping the truck bed as the low was supposed 31 degrees and a constant wind of 20 mph. So I slept in the back seat warm and comfy.

The next morning I dive back into where the 3x3 had been. I am slipping through the junipers and slowly working towards the area I thought he would bed. As I am walking down a little sand wash, I realize and start to think that the best bed in the area is in the wash I am walking. So I slow way down. About 20 yards later I round a little cut and the buck is bedded 12 yards away. As soon as I see him he sees me. And blows up. I knock and arrow as he runs out hoping he will stop. At 51 yards he stops and look back… All I can see is head and rump… Darn no shot. I freeze for a long time while he sorts out what to do. He decides to slip away into another canyon, I run about 800 yards to get above him on a trail where I think he might head. I sit and wait with the wind right it could work out. Wait longer and despite being able to see a bunch of country from where I am at, I do not see him. So I figure he was long gone. I try to still hunt my way back to the bed just in case he was between me and it. About 100 yards later I blow him out for the final time. He was actually walking up the trail I was sitting on but ran out of patience. As I looked at his tracks it was obvious that he was taking the opportunity to feed his way up the trail.

That would conclude my archery deer hunt. Lots of action for 2 short days. That night on the way home I tried a few antelope spot and stalks but the wind was raging.

Thursday morning we opted for a 1 mile hike in the dark and to hit a good area. No bugles no calls nothing. We slowly start making our way across country. About an hour into day light we are maneuvering through a blow down thick patch of aspens. I let out a couple cow calls to help cover our noise. A few seconds later we look up and there is a great bull 20 yards away in the trees. As soon as we know he is there he knows we were there… He blows out and despite our efforts we do not get my wife a shot. She was shaking and my son was amped up. I never saw his antlers but both said he was really big… We continue our hunt calling and hunting in and out of little parks. At 10 am we hit the end of our travels on the south slope. We sit on the ridge above a small canyon and bugle and cow call for 20 minutes. No answer. Nothing. So I decide to let the 10 year old have a go. On his first bugle he gets an answer. No way! Lucky little turd! We move up the ridge towards the call. For next 20 minutes we call back and forth to this bull. The wind starts getting really bad and we back out 200 yards cow calling as we go. We set up looking over a little sage flat and make a few more cow calls and wait. Seconds later a bull comes running to the edge of the flat. I had assumed my wife would have had her gun up and on sticks and ready for this exact situation. But no she was caught with her gun in her lap. As she struggles to get into shooting position the bull locks up at 90 yards. Right as she raises her gun the bull spins and is gone. So opening morning 2 close calls already.

We leave the south slope and slip into the timber on the north slope… What a mess and huge mistake. The storm in early September made the timber an absolute mess. It takes us 5 hours to make it back to the vehicle. The only reason why we went in was to get a trail camera. Climbing over tree after trees, making tons of noise was horrible. We did call in a cow elk and a spike. But it was definitely not worth the effort. The only reason we pushed through taking 5 hours to get out, was to retrieve my one trail camera…

That evening we headed up to our north ridge. An area that is covered with tracks every single time we go. We work up to the last open areas we can before we run into the massive dead fall. We sit until dark listening. As the sun sets we have a cow show up in the timber about 90 yards out. First of October cows have bulls. We get excited call a bit. The one Cow turns into 3, then in 5. This small group feeds out in front of us at 80 yards. We wait until dark and never see a bull. They were all alone. Still really cool to watch.

Friday The next morning we get up even earlier than the day before with goals to try can catch the 2 bulls we encountered in the open before… That doesn’t work as planned, at first light we run into 2 spikes. Both looked very tasty and both gave us multiple shot opportunities as they followed our cow calls around like lost puppies. We saw a couple deer and nothing else. No bugles, no calls, no cows nothing… By this time I had pushed both my son and wife to the breaking points. Over 14 miles in a day and half and 5 of those were the absolute worst blow down I have seen.

To add to our barriers we had a huge bright full moon and balmy temps. Lows in the upper 40s and highs in the 70s. It was shaping up to be a huge grind. A long afternoon nap turned into an afternoon of driving roads and checking holes no elk found but a few deer...

So we make a plan and close the distance. 1 mile of hell to get into a better position. By now we were over 4 miles from the truck and had crossed 3 miserable blow down. We get above the area where the bull was bugling from with the wind right and let out a few calls. Nothing. A few minutes late we hear the bull call from a ways above us again. Another mile in at least. We were spent. It was nearing 11 am the sun was up, it was hot and miserable. We sat and cold called a bit and ate our snacks. Just about the time we are giving up we catch movement in the trees below us. A good 5x5 walks out at 200 yards. I am doing the math in my head and I can’t let my wife shoot. We were a long ways in. We knew we had several blow downs to cross. It was hard but I told my wife we had to pass. If it was a monster bull or her best bull yet I would have let her shoot. But since it was just a normal solid 5 we could find anywhere in any OTC unit I made her pass. That did not make her or my son happy at the time. By the time we got back to the vehicle, both realized just how far the pack would have been and just how much crap we would have to crawl over. That day we get back to camp. My son had been packing his pellet gun all season for grouse. Never seen a grouse. He had been itching to kill. He had been bugging me all month about shoot a pine squirrel and eating it. I told him he had to eat it if he killed. His mother was not so approving. So when we get back to camp I head over to the neighbor camp. They were great guys from Oregon and had been hunting hard. They never got an elk. 4 of them spent an average of 9 points. They were in elk but like us the blow down and the heat and full moon was brutal. I was visiting with them and about 5 minutes later my son comes into camp packing a head shot squirrel. Since he shot he cleaned it, and he cooked it. He ever kept and ate the heart. He used Montreal steak seasoning and grilled the little thing. I ate pine squirrel one time in high school, just to prove I could if I needed too… It tasted like, pine. My son picked his pretty clean. I snuck a bite as did my wife. We both agreed, we could eat it if needed but will not o out of our way. My son as soon as the one was done wanted to shoot more and eat more.

That evening was our last. We decided to go the easy route and walk up to the lookout point over the water and feeding areas. We sat for most of the evening. Nothing came out, then suddenly my son got excited said bull…. Then repeated Bull moose. We sat and watched as this young bull fed past us at 10 yards. He never really paid us any attention for over 20 minutes we glassed and watched as he fed. No elk just a cool story about the moose. Monday The next morning we got up did a small hike/hunt and then returned to camp to take it home. I got a chance to say good bye to the Oregon boys and visit with them before heading down the mountain. We had a good 4 ½ day hunt.

I thought about going down into the cut bank, but I had no idea where he would end up at in the 6’ tall sage, the 2-3 layers of cuts, etc. Added to it I knew there were several other deer that fed into the cuts and who knows where they would end up at. So I decided to wait him out. I perched my blazer at the end of the road overlooking as much of the bottom as I could. I was a little over 1000 yards from where he was last seen. I sat all day from about 8:00am on. 9:00 just sitting, 10:00 sitting, 11:00 dosing off I had a second vehicle and hunters show up. They proceeded to hunt the ridges above me and the buck hard. This made me nervous and as a result I shifted my position over and into the cut back draw. Thinking that if they bumped the deer they would end up using the cover of the bottom to escape. Luckily after an intense hour or so the other hunters gave up and headed out of the area. Then during the midday I changed my hunting clothes, took a spit bath, cooked some brauts, brushed my teeth. All while watching the bottom. I called my wife to give her an update…… She asked if I was hunting or planning to go on a date… 1:00 sitting watching, 2:00 watching and dosing off, 3, 4, 5, just making sure nothing happens. At 5:30 I get my pack and get loaded up. I sneak back down towards the cut banks and start glassing. At 6 I start seeing a few doe and fawns up moving, keep glassing. Soon I see the buck about 800 yards down the creek. The Creek runs mostly North to South. I was on the east side looking SW. The buck is up feeding. Since I had his location I dropped into the cuts and moved fast to close the distance. I pop up on the perfect little hump that should have the buck about 300 yards away. I am just sticking my head over and glassing… He was not there. Soon I look over right towards the setting sun and 80 yards out the buck is looking right at me. In all honesty I could have easily made the off-hand shot. But out of habit I throw my pack down and get into prone. At that the buck decides it was time to leave. I am watching in my scope as he runs and counting yards. Hoping he will make a mistake. At 300 yards and after I shifted he stops. I steady in and squeeze the trigger, again into the sun… As I squeeze my gun or elbow or something rolled. The shot goes but in the chaos I fall off my pack. My gun rolls hard etc. It sucked I had no idea what happened, usually with my shooting I watch the bullet hit through the scope. In this case the scope was nowhere close to where it was. By the time I recover I can’t see the buck at all, but I am positive I heard a solid thwack. I keep looking and see nothing. To complicate matters since I was following in the scope as the buck ran I had no real land marks at all and only my guessed range of 320 yards. I gather my things and put together a plan. Again, after the shot I saw nothing, only hear the thwack… I walk over in the general direction make 1 zig zag and see him laying there. It is a great buck and I am really happy given my season. I snap a quick picture or 2 with my phone as the sun sets. Call my wife and kids as I am hiking back to my blazer. About a 2 mile hike to the blazer then I have a 20 miles drive to get to the buck. I get the buck loaded up and head for home pulling into the drive way just after 1:00 am. The ride was cold, windows down and all vents open to help the buck cool off.

It was fun having my entire family with me. They all took turns cutting and skinning. We loaded the doe into the cooler and let me daughter age 14 practice driving. We listen to 80s music and look around the country. It was a good night.

I was tempted to just eat this tag, but I would have had a small uprising on my hands. Lope meat is the families favorite meat. They devour the stuff like it is going out of style. In fact it is only early December and one entire lope is already gone.

Only thing left is a MT deer hunt for my son…

We checked a chunk of BLM, only 1 doe mule deer there no bucks, checked another chunk and there were 2 really nice 150 class bucks just off the public on the private. But they were content with 10-15 doe each. Then just before dark we found a section of state land that bordered a creek bottom. On the state land we found 30 doe… As we were glassing we spotted a buck. Not huge but big enough for a 10 years olds first hunt. We get out of the truck and the wind is howling and the clouds above are spitting a light sleet. It is cold and we are not the best dressed. We try twice to get a good shot before the buck give us the slip in the last little light we had. Pretty cool…

The next morning up early and start the search again. Cant hunt without licenses and since it was Thanksgiving, there is no way to get reprints etc. So we go back and look where we chased the buck. No luck. So we drive all the way back up to Miles city. And retrace steps. Eventually one spot where we stopped to glass at we walked both sides of the highway. About 80 yards down the highway on the opposite side from where we stopped I finally find the licenses. Huge relief. We haul back to the AirBNB. My wife was eager to get started on Thanksgiving dinner and help my mom and daughter. It was 11:30ish when we got to the BNB so we grabbed a little lunch then packed for an afternoon hunt. My son carried a load out then came back in all upset and unable to talk clearly. So I went out to find our guns, gear and the truck keys all locked in the truck. Crap Thanksgiving day, small town, no chance of a locksmith for another day etc.

Luckily the bnb had 1 wire hanger in the closet. Some hard prying on the door corner and about 40 minutes later I fished the keys out and unlocked the door.

The best part, the wife, daughter and my mom all went to billings to shop for black Friday and to get away. We were able to beat them home that night and hide the buck. When my wife called and asked how it went, I simply said poor William… He will have to tell you when he gets here…. He will be alright, at least we have tomorrow… So the girls were set up for a good surprise… It was a great day and my son was pumped.

Looking at ONX the section crosses the river a good distance and to our south on the same side of the river there is one better patch of trees to check out. So just afternoon we slip down the river edge towards the other set of trees on our side of the river. As we do so we hit a cut bank and look across from out location 80 yards into the trees and see a doe up feeding. We drop down and glass hard into the thick trees. Spot a little buck then I see a really good buck with her. However there is a ½ frozen river between us. I look at the buck and since I have never shot a whitetail I knew he was a great first whitetail. I tell my son I can’t shoot unless I know I can get across the river. I have never been in the area before and know nothing about the river. I tell William “If only I knew how deep it was.”

Right after I said that a mule deer buck comes walking out of the trees 80 yard from the whitetail. It goes directly at the river and crosses it right in front of us. Just over knee deep at the middle. Yes I can cross if needed. So now we had to get a shot. We crawl around on our side of the river maneuvering for a shot. The brush and trees were thick but after 10 minutes I find a small opening that gives a pretty clear shot. I settle in and squeeze the trigger. At the shot the buck explodes out of its bed and is last seen running dead away in the trees. The doe stands but does not spook. A few seconds go by and the doe is joined by 2 more little bucks. No view of my buck. So it then dawns on me, the river is going to be damn cold. SO we call the local stores, no waders or rafts etc. So we load into the truck and haul butt as fast as we could to Miles city. We grab a pair of waders and despite the long haul we get back just as the sun sets. We drive out to the river’s edge on a little road. I leave my son with the phone in the truck while I slip across the river and look for my buck. As soon as I crossed I was able to find the bed easily. I follow the tracks about 15 yards and find the buck piled up and stiff. I yell to let me son know I found the buck. By 6:30 I have the buck loaded into the truck and have crossed the river 3 times and were headed to the BNB to celebrate my success and the wife’s birthday.

Looking at ONX the section crosses the river a good distance and to our south on the same side of the river there is one better patch of trees to check out. So just afternoon we slip down the river edge towards the other set of trees on our side of the river. As we do so we hit a cut bank and look across from out location 80 yards into the trees and see a doe up feeding. We drop down and glass hard into the thick trees. Spot a little buck then I see a really good buck with her. However there is a ½ frozen river between us. I look at the buck and since I have never shot a whitetail I knew he was a great first whitetail. I tell my son I can’t shoot unless I know I can get across the river. I have never been in the area before and know nothing about the river. I tell William “If only I knew how deep it was.”

Right after I said that a mule deer buck comes walking out of the trees 80 yard from the whitetail. It goes directly at the river and crosses it right in front of us. Just over knee deep at the middle. Yes I can cross if needed. So now we had to get a shot. We crawl around on our side of the river maneuvering for a shot. The brush and trees were thick but after 10 minutes I find a small opening that gives a pretty clear shot. I settle in and squeeze the trigger. At the shot the buck explodes out of its bed and is last seen running dead away in the trees. The doe stands but does not spook. A few seconds go by and the doe is joined by 2 more little bucks. No view of my buck. So it then dawns on me, the river is going to be damn cold. SO we call the local stores, no waders or rafts etc. So we load into the truck and haul butt as fast as we could to Miles city. We grab a pair of waders and despite the long haul we get back just as the sun sets. We drive out to the river’s edge on a little road. I leave my son with the phone in the truck while I slip across the river and look for my buck. As soon as I crossed I was able to find the bed easily. I follow the tracks about 15 yards and find the buck piled up and stiff. I yell to let me son know I found the buck. By 6:30 I have the buck loaded into the truck and have crossed the river 3 times and were headed to the BNB to celebrate my success and the wife’s birthday.

I did manage to also slip down to Colorado to help my Cousin from Missouri get his first ever mule deer. Not the buck I wanted but he was happy with his first buck and considering how the CPW is managing the deer it might be a long time before guys see a buck of that size on a regular basis...