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Utah Success

JC HUNTER

Junior Member
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With it being the last week of the hunt I decided to take a few days off work and really get serious about killing a buck. I usually hunt with my dad, but due to a double knee replacement in May, he hasn't been able to get around as well as he use to. He was still determined to hunt but that meant we would stick closer to the roads and well established trails. He can still hike uphill like a mountain goat, it's the coming down that kills him. Well since I took the day off work and I would be hunting solo, I decided to hike into this alpine basin where I've seen good bucks in the past. It was the 1st time I had been in there this year and I didn't know what to expect. I left my house at 3am and got to the trail head just after 4am. The hike really isn't that far, only a mile and a half or so, but it's fairly steep and all up hill. The trail wraps around the back of the mountain and drops into the basin from the top. I took my time hiking in, making sure I didn't bump any deer on my way in. once I got to the top and found a good place to set up, I laid down and tried to catch a few minutes of sleep before the woods came alive.

The basin sits at the top of 2 large drainages with big ridge that runs down the middle of it. Due to this ridge, half of the basin isn't visible from where I was sitting. Just as it was starting to get light, I caught a glimpse of 10 deer feeding over this ridge about 100 yards to my left. They were all does except one buck. I didn't get a great look at him but he looked like an okay 3 point (remember we only count one side of the antlers). I knew there were some steep cliffs over the ridge and they would either have to feed back towards me or drop down through the bottom. There were about 30 or so cattle in the bottom so I didn't think the deer would drop down. Once they fed out of sight, I quickly gathered my things and cut the distance in half from me to the ridge. It was only about 50 yards but I had to side hill it over a small cliff and a rock slide. The hill side was exposed with no trees or bushes. I laid down in the grass and tried to blend in the best I could. I knew if I had a shot opportunity it would be a quick one, so I laid with my bow on my chest and my release attached to my string. One by one every doe fed back over the hill and below me at about 50 yards. Just like I knew they would! The buck should be coming over any minute now! one minute turned into 5 then into 10 then into 20. I never had a lot of patience, so just as I was about to move closer to the ridge, a young bull elk thunders out a bugle 300 yards below me in the bottom of the basin. just as I sit up to get a closer look, a satellite bull comes from the other side of the ridge and chases him off down the far drainage. I decide to keep still for a few more minutes. Then 5 cow elk sneak out from the far side of the ridge down through the bottom. 5 minutes later another 8 cows and a 3rd satellite bull sneak out through the bottom. Just as I was about to stand up, the herd bull came out pushing 5 more cows down the bottom. I couldn't believe it! I was obviously on the wrong side of the basin. At this point I had to get to the ridge and look over the other side to see what else was in there. Once I reached the ridge I started to glass trying to pick up the buck. After 15 minutes of no luck...I caught movement at the bottom of the basin. It's the buck! He ended up ditching the does and heading down the bottom. He was 300 yards away right on the edge of the tree line. There was no cover between me or him so I knew I could never close the distance without busting him out. I sat and watched rake a small bush and strip the velvet off his antlers. That was the 1st time I've seen one do that and it really cool to see! after 10 or 15 minutes he disappeared down the bottom. I decided to hike out a different way than I came in and scouted some new areas. It was a very productive morning. In all I seen about 20 does, 1 buck, 18 cow elk, 5 bulls and 1 bear.

My dad got pretty excited hearing about my morning and decided to get off early and head up with me for the evening hunt. I decided to head back to town and meet up with my wife and boys for lunch and catching a quick nap before my dad got home. I re-searched a new area on Google maps and decided it would be an area that my dad could hunt. The canyon was what extremely thick with pines with a few drainages emptying into it. One drainage in particular had a small clearing in the middle of it that was surrounded by thick pines and brush. We decided to hike to the top of the ridge and work our way down to the head of the drainage and approach it from the top. I took one side and my dad took the other. we slowly picked our way down the drainage trying to stay as quiet as possible. We drainage got wider and wider and we eventually lost sight of each other. Just as I was approaching the clearing, a small doe ran across the bottom heading directly towards me. She slowed down once she hit the tree line and walked by me at 10 yards. All I could think of was how much I wanted her to be a buck. After she moved up the drainage and out of sight, I decided to work my way down to the edge of the clearing. I assumed the doe was spooked by me dad, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I walked out in the open to get a better view of the opposite ridge line when I spotted a buck about 130 yards away. He was standing on a trail that led to the clearing and he was staring right at me. I knew he had me pegged so knelt down in the tall grass and tried not move or make any sound. I ranged a tree at the edge of the clearing and it was 55 yards away. I adjust my single pin sight, knocked an arrow and got the release on the string. It was getting dark fast and I knew I only had a few minutes left of legal shooting light. Just as my hope was fading fast, the buck looked over his back shoulder and then bolted down the trail directly at me. Once he hit the bottom of the hill, he took a hard left and ran directly below me. I stood and drew my bow in one motion. I grunted once the buck came into my shooting lane but it took him a few steps to stop his momentum. Dang it! There was a bush in-between him and I. I looked at the tree I ranged earlier and back at the buck and determined that it was about the same distance. I then ran a few feet to my right, while still at full draw, to get another shooting lane on the buck. I had one! Without hesitation I let my arrow fly. The deer bolted at the sound of my bow and my heart sank when my lighted nock disappeared in the brush below him. I heard a loud crack and was certain that I hit a hollow log that was hidden by the brush. I thought the shot would be close to 55 yds but it must've been a little farther. With my shoulders slumped I made my way to where the buck was standing. I heard some rustling back up the hill and saw my dad making his way down to me. He saw the buck earlier and was trying to sneak around him for a shot of his own. He was unaware that I was there or that I had even gotten a shot on his buck. He was the one that spooked the buck down to me when he was trying to circle around to get above him. My dad found my arrow in a near by pine tree, and it was covered in green slime. It was nothing like we'd seen before and it stunk awful bad. My 1st thought was that I must've gut shot him when he jumped at the sound of my bow. I was really kicking myself. It was a rushed shot, I didn't have a great shooting lane, it was at last light. I was replaying the shot over and over in my head and really beating myself..... then came the crash. My dad and I both looked at each other almost making sure the other one heard it too. There was something moving in the pines below us. We decided that it was probably the buck but we debated working our way out and leaving the deer or trying to get another arrow in him. We decided that it was getting dark fast and we needed to get to the bottom of the drainage so we could hike back up the canyon to the truck. We only made it about 30 yards down the drainage and there laid my buck. He was still breathing so I put another arrow in him to kill him as quickly as possible. We quickly gutted him and stashed him under a tree and hiked out. The next day, we went in with the packs, quartered him up and packed him out.

After further inspection, my 1st shot hit him just above the pecker and it was a clean pass through shot. We are still scratching our heads and wondering how in the world did he only go 30 yards before piling up. I can't explain it but I couldn't be more grateful that it did. A really bad situation turned out for the best, and I learned a hell of a lesson from it. That's one mistake that I won't make again.

My view from 10K feet at 6am.
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I thought he was a younger buck, but when I pried his mouth open to stick his tongue back in, most of his teeth were worn down to nothing.
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The hike back to the truck was a lot longer with 50lbs of meat on my back.
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