It has taken me some time to finally get around to downloading my pictures from Weasel and my second attempt to fill his archery tag.  We decided to go up on Thursday afternoon and come home Saturday afternoon.  Time was pressing to get it done and of course we have our home obligations.  The mountains this time of year are really spectacular and this time was not exception.  We did have a full moon to deal with and the animals were behaving oddly, at least to us they were.

We chose to hunt lower than we did with the boys as we felt the deer might have moved down.  Every hunter has his choice and this was ours.

Some of you will recognize this spot, right across the road from Monkey Dink camp.  High and dry, no shade, but still a great central location.  From here we can hunt up or down and there is always a chance of spotting something right from camp.

There was a slight chance for some moisture and there had been a storm move through there the past couple of days.  Lots of trees were downed and we had some concern that there might be trees across the road here and there and we didn’t bring our chain saw.  But as things worked out we didn’t need it.

We didn’t see as many deer on this trip as we did when the boys were with us but we did manage to see a few pretty nice ones.  On this trip we had an evening hunt, a full day and a morning hunt.  With only that many hours to work with we had to make the best of every minute.  The morning sun came up through a partly cloudy sky and it was a pretty one at that.  We had to get an early start.

As it got lighter and lighter we found ourselves in a spot we wanted to be when it was light enough to be able to see the sights on the bow and shoot.  A very nice day was in store for us.  Down the road a ways we ran into a guy and his six year old son standing next to the road.  We stopped to offer assistance and he said he had just shot a buck and was looking for it.  We moved our rig off to the side of the road so as not to block it and offered our services to help him.

I know a lot of guys would have just gone on down the road but there seems to be a camaraderie among archers and helping out is always a thing that needs to be done.  As we got to know this guy we found out he had only taken his hunter safety course 3 years prior.  This was his second big game hunt and his first archery hunt ever.  A man in his late 30’s with a six year old son out for a little father-son bonding.  He said it himself….Who would have ever thought I would be shooting at a deer, yet alone hit it?

Well, we went in search for the blood trail.  He did find his arrow and it was fully loaded with blood.  He said he made a perfect shot on the heart and the deer bounded across the road and into the forest.  With a perfectly placed shot the deer should be laying right on the other side of the road.  After about 15 minutes we finally found a small speck of blood on the tip of a tall grass clump in the trail.  Blood that high off the ground can only mean the shot was high and probably didn’t hit any vitals.  Perhaps a shot that passed through the top of the back just over the spine.

We looked for over an hour and only found a few specks of blood.  The last blood we found was heading up hill.  Our enthusiasm tanked and we made the decision to call off the search.  Back at the truck we talked at length about the shot placement and that the deer would probably be hurting for a few days but should survive unless infection set in.  At any rate his first hit was a lost and wounded buck, a sad thing to admit too but it happens.  We said our goodbyes and he and his boy headed down the road in their side by side rig.

Weasel and I were just unloading our backpacks into the truck when we here him yelling from down the road!  He was waiving and coming toward us.  I told Weasel to get his bow, something is up and it might be a deer or elk coming our way.  Weasel jumped on the suggestion and I walked down toward the guy.

Now you can call this B.S. or fate or divine intervention or maybe just plain beginners luck but that wounded buck was laying next to the road and unable to get up!  It’s spine had been damaged and the deer was down but not dead.  I would venture to guess the buck was trying to get back to the rest of the herd and when it bounded onto the road from up above the wound was just enough that the shock of the animals front end hitting the road caused it to sever and down the animal went.  Whatever the cause the man had his animal and after a fatal shot to the heart it was over in a minute.

Well, luckily for him we were there to talk him through the gutting process and helped load the animal on his rig.

I think he learned a thing or two about big game hunting and about the fact that you must be prepared to handle every situation that comes your way.  A quick study of “how to” would have been a good thing for him on this hunt.  But I guess that is why the Divine One put us in his life when He did.

We took a bit of time and did some reconnoitering and then found ourselves near where Weasel wanted to spend the evening hunt.  He has an elk tag and his trail camera has shown some coming into a water hole right at dark.  So, he had to get himself smoked up before he went into the blind.

A small fire is all that is needed and when the flames are reduced and only the hot ashes remain, on go the pine bows.

Big game animals are used to the smell of smoke and they are not afraid of that smell.  It is the smell of danger they avoid and human odors are the worst!  If you ever doubt that just enter our hunting camp trailer after the 5th day!

When Weasel finally came out of the smoke he was all teary eyed and coughing, but he didn’t smell like a human anymore.  Well, he headed off into the woods and I stayed back, put out the fire and then went for a little hike.  There were deer all over the place and I attributed the numbers to the fact that they couldn’t smell any humans 😉 in the area.  Up top I took a panoramic picture of the area.  The boys from last week that were clear cutting things really had done a number on the forest.

Kind of a tough picture to see because of the sun’s angle and the long shadows.

As I was sitting on top of the world I kept hoping I would hear my radio go off announcing that Weasel had dropped a big old elk and needed my help.  But as the light of the day progressively dimmed I knew the elk were still safe wherever they were.  I made my way back to the truck just as it was too dark to see and I was about to head off to pick up Weasel, when here he came over the rise.

I had Weasel stop in the trail for this time lapse picture.  Kind of a cool shot with the full moon in the background.

Back at the camp we talked about the day and what we wanted to do tomorrow.  Again our plans required an early rise and get out of camp before it was light enough to see to shoot.  With that we were going to have to “outen the lights” and get to sleep.  Here is the light inside the trailer with only “Luci” lights burning brightly.

The alarm clock bear signaled a very short nights sleep and we were up and had our coffee in our hands when we headed out the door.  A long way to go before daylight…let’s go….It’s our last morning to hunt!

Before long it was plenty light enough to see to shoot and we were seeing some deer.  Skittish as all get out and we didn’t figure that one out.  We couldn’t get within 200 yards of any of them.  They ran off almost as quickly as we saw them, some even half a mile away.  Someone tell me what was going on…I know Weasel smelled like smoke….does that mean I was the culprit!  At any rate we knew we were running out of time and soon would have to turn back toward camp.  That is never a good feeling…the end of the hunt.  It comes oh so quickly.

We made a last minute decision to head up a road we went on when the boys were with us last week and immediately spotted a doe and two fawns.  They were not skittish.  But then again they weren’t bucks either.  Up the road we went and as we neared the end of it my mind was on where to turn the truck around.  Weasel called out…”BUCK”!  Turning quickly to his side of the truck sure enough there stood a spike on the horizon, not 30 yards away.  I stopped the truck and the buck ran down out of sight.  Weasel was on it quickly…out of the truck…arrow nocked and sneaking toward the ridge.

I had to stay with the truck and Weasel got a good view of the buck just over the ridge.  A couple of does were keeping him protected but because of the smoke smell wafting off Weasel’s clothes they were not alarmed in any way and continued to feed without fear.  When a big doe moved away from the small buck, Weasel had a clear shot.

Weasel’s practice came through and the buck only went a few yards before it piled up.  We did have a short tracking job, but there was plenty of blood to follow.

Not the biggest buck on the mountain but it sure was the biggest buck to this hunter!

Congratulations to Weasel!  A first buck with a bow and no ground shrinkage to the antlers!  What we both thought was a spike, turned out to be a two point with an extra kicker point!  What a fun hunt!  Thanks for allowing me to tag along!

Bears Butt

September 13, 2015