Thread: Hunters and Outdoorsmen

Let me start by saying Hi my name is Adam and along with being addicted to the fine art of wet shaving I am an Avid outdoorsman. I don’t know if there is a thread already for hunting/fishing/camping pics though I know I have seen a few people in the past post and to be honest I am at work and don’t have all the time in the world to search!! My bad. Yesterday I returned from a successful Mule deer hunt in the high desert north of Phoenix and I wanted to share it with everyone.
So here it goes:Thursday after work My buddy Derek and my father in-law Bill left for the high desert of Arizona to set up our hunting camp. We left way later than we wanted and had to set up in the middle of the night. The next morning the wind was blowing gusts of 35mph which made our 6 mile hike that day extremely uncomfortable to say the least. About 11am we decided that we had enough and went to camp to warm up and get out of the wind. While at camp we decided to drive up the road and do a little Glassing of the valleys below. I decided to take the southwest hill and Derek (the newbie at hunting) stayed with Bill (not hunting, just guiding). After walking 1/2 mile to my perch I texted Bill to see what was up. He replied that Derek had a Buck in his sights at 200 yards. Excitedly I sat waiting for the tell tale boom from his .30-06....it didn’t come. I texted again 'where’s the boom' Bill said 'dunno...2 bucks now, 250 and 140. get over here'. After reading that I grabbed my gear and damn near ran the half mile through the most unforgiving volcanic left over’s and cactus that you could imagine. Arriving at their perch I crept closer to see my buddy still trying to get a sight picture on the deer. Bill pointed to the deer and I put my 760 game master to my shoulder to see if I could grab a follow up shot. As I got the deer centered BOOM my buddy shot....and missed. So being the experienced hunter I am I promptly shot and missed!!! WTF I thought 245 is cake how did I miss? The buck stayed standing broad side as my buddy decided to go for now 114 yard 2x2 buck. Well he missed that and both got away. That night we drank beer and laughed about it knowing that we would likely not get another chance that easy....boy were we right!

The next day I was back in my perch in the morning. Nothing doing but a doe and fawn so I headed back to camp. The wind was dead that day and it was about 78 degrees so I decided to take a nap during the doldrums. I got back to my shooting perch around 330p and Derek decided to join me. At 4p I saw the small 2x2 Derek had shot at the day prior. I used the range finder to get all my distances on the hill and decided at 325 I would take the shot. As I steadied myself for the shot a doe took off running and about 7 other deer jumped out of the junipers to follow suit. The buck I was on was still standing there when a much larger buck jumped through my sight picture. Instantly I was on the larger obviously Alpha male. He ran to 350 yards and stopped broad side. I squeezed the trigger. Miss, just under the belly. The buck ran further and I thought all was lost, but then he stopped at 470 yards and turned broad side again. It was the last thing he ever did. My 165 grain .30-06 hit him in the ribs just behind the shoulder instantly destroying his heart and lungs. The Buck didn’t take another step and died instantly, something for which I am proud of since I cannot stand to cause an animal to suffer.
When the buck hit the ground the sun dipped below the horizon leaving me precious little time to cover the ground and find him. With guidance from Derek (on his cell phone standing on a cliff) I was able to retrieve my deer. The next few hours were spent skinning and quartering the deer. Derek finally showed up after dropping the truck off at camp and humping through the hills to find us (where we were it was easier to hike back to camp than back to the truck). We loaded up and covered the 1.5 miles back to camp.
The next day nothing was moving in the morning and the evening didn’t seem much better. Finally at last light 11 deer came out on another hillside, but we could not verify sex on any so away they walked. Monday was our last day to hunt due to work schedules and family back home. Derek was blue all morning feeling that he had missed his only chance. The morning hunt ended with no buck in sight. Bill suggested that I guide him over the ridge and to the table mesa about 3 miles away where he would pick us up on the road side. I was not a fan of the idea as I was still sore as hell from Saturday night, but I wanted Derek to get his buck. I sucked it up and led Derek up onto the ridges. We walked for a mile or two on either side of the ridge without seeing more than a cotton tail. Finally I gave Derek my Leupold binoculars and told him to glass his side as I do better with the naked eye anyway. 10 minutes later while taking a bathroom break I saw a deer 375 yards away in a valley. I Called Derek frantically for him to get his ass over to my side without success for a few minutes before finally reaching him and telling him what I saw. By the time he got to me I had noticed several more deer on the opposite hillside bedded down. I grabbed the binoculars from him and glassed the hillside. Just then a Spike got up from under the Junipers. We moved forward around 50 yards. I had Derek place his pack on the ground and told him to use a prone shooting position. I let him know it was 325 yards with no wind and to aim 1inch high on the shoulder. He pulled the trigger and connected.
We came up to the deer after the 25 minute hike down the mountain. The deer appeared to have gone the way of the ghost, but as I got within 10 feet of it, it woke up. I couldn’t believe it. The deer got up and ran 75 yards while Derek fired frantically at it. Finally Derek connected again and the little spike was down.
I called my father in-law Bill to jokingly let him know that Derek had ruined our plans to leave on time.1 hour later the buck was skinned quartered and packed away.
Derek was practically floating on the air for the 3 mile hike to the truck. I was not....I was out of water and sweating balls cussing him for being so energetic!
In the end we both redeemed ourselves for the folly’s of the first days hunt. Derek is happy with his spike and my 4x3 is at the taxidermist thanks to my father in-law. So all in all it was an amazing hunt.

There is some good eating there.
Thanks for sharing.

No kidding! I will be butchering the boned out quarters tonight after work.

Thanks for reading

Oh a couple more pics for good measure!

nice one as you can tell from my name im a big time hunter, a real hunter not canned hunts i like the chalange of finding the animal and making a shot. small game included, end of rant congrands nice deer and for future referance get some more pracitce in at the ranges u described a clean miss is one thing but when firing multiple times you risk a injury and that leads to a long track or the possiblilty of losing the animal.

Originally Posted by Deerhunter1995

nice one as you can tell from my name im a big time hunter, a real hunter not canned hunts i like the chalange of finding the animal and making a shot. small game included, end of rant congrands nice deer and for future referance get some more pracitce in at the ranges u described a clean miss is one thing but when firing multiple times you risk a injury and that leads to a long track or the possiblilty of losing the animal.

I couldn't agree more, but alas I am stuck with a 200 yard range (i know why i missed both shots i missed durring the hunt and both were nerves) I miss having the space back in PA for 300+ target practice. I also don't do canned hunts, everything we do is free chase. No side by sides, quads or horses just the shoe leather express and our packs. We do 5-10 miles a day depending on what we are hunting. thanks for taking the time to read my story!

oh and please add your stories and pics!

please dont take it as me saying your hunt was canned i surly did not mean that i just ment im not into canned hunts, and for the missing ive done it to but i strive in amking sure that i never not make a good hit and if i cant get a good shot then i dont shoot, sometimes misses happen

here is a buck i killed here in pa a while back http://straightrazorpalace.com/finer...ail-12-pt.html