Day two of this years muzz deer hunt found us waking to some snow on the ground.  Not an unwelcome sight, but colder than some expected and for sure wetter than some would have liked.  One thing it did do was force some of us (me) into a warmer rig than yesterdays.  I just could not see an empty seat in a warm outfit going out of camp empty.  Gattlin had a chance at it, as well as the others in The Rack, but all declined.  A decision I’m sure some of them had wished they could “re-do”.

So, here I am in the company of Wapiti (driving), Edjukateer (shotgun) and Softball.

Wapiti was driving his Yukon and he didn’t want to scratch it up any more than possible and so we pretty much stayed on the main traveled roads.  The sighting of deer from these roads was not what it was the day before.  Perhaps the weather had them held up in their beds, or maybe just back into the trees farther than we could see.

Our morning ride didn’t produce much more than good conversation and a lot of laughs.  We decided we should go across the valley and see what the Crawford range had to offer.  I have always been convinced there are deer in that area all year long, especially in an area we call “Hidden Valley”!  The valley where Bo shot his big buck several years ago during his dream hunt.  So, this was our goal, get over to Hidden Valley and scope things out.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures on this outing as we were pretty concerned about the roads being slippery and rocky in a few places, but we covered the area around the face pretty good.  And of course there was a trace of snow.

Going up Rocky Dugway, which is always a treat, especially for the driver, we decided it was time for a short break.  We all piled out and suddenly spotted some deer a ways away.  The binoculars suddenly showed that at least 4 of the 5 deer were bucks and so, back into the truck with zippers still down and off we go in pursuit!

Needless to say, those bucks are still up there somewhere, but our zippers are zipped! (insert smiley face)

We continued up and around and over and down when suddenly two more deer appeared in the valley below.  Binoculars again showed that both of them were bucks!  They were as skittish as the 5 we had seen earlier and so off they went across the valley and up and over the next ridge.  At least they were heading toward our goal of Hidden Valley.  Perhaps we will see them again.

As we went down into this draw, all the water from the rain and melting snow had created quite a large puddle of deep water which made for an interesting “go through” to get on the other side…a bit slippery I might add.  But Wapiti maintained and kept the foot print of the rig pretty much in the existing roadway.  Good job Wapiti!  I’m sure he thought about the return trip all the while we were on this side of the puddle.

As we climbed up the ridge, which is one ridge North of our goal, we stopped to glass a deep draw filled with cedar trees.  Edjukateer spotted the two bucks that had headed in that direction!  They were nearly 300 yards up the draw and would require a very good plan to get close enough for a shot.  We made a plan for Softball and Wapiti to stay where they could keep tabs on the two bucks and to keep Edjukateer and I informed through radio contact on the bucks activities, while we hiked around the hill and make an approach above and closer to the two bucks.

We traveled as fast and quietly as we could and as we approached a lone cedar (our goal) Softball radioed the bucks were moving away and up the draw.  I guess we weren’t as quiet as we should have been.  We put the hustle on and crested the hill and could see the bucks standing down near the bottom about 150 yards out.  Edjukateer took the time to range them and then sat down for a shot.  I placed my cross sticks out in front of me and prepared for my shot.  It’s way out of my range, but with the type of conical bullets we were shooting, still a very do-able shot and a solid hit would put the buck down for the count.  Edjukateers shot went high, a clean miss and the two bucks broke into a fast exit.  No chance for a shot from me.  They continued to travel until they crested the ridge some 500 yards away from us.  Dang!  Another dollar in the big buck bag and a name on the Boobin Baby Board for Edjukateer.

Soon we found ourselves up on the ridge looking over the Hidden Valley, but no deer could be found through our spotting efforts.  Let’s get out of here and see if we can find more bucks!

Again we had the slippery roads and rocky dugway to traverse in order to get down and out of the Crawford Range and at the last stop before leaving I realized I had lost my Great Grandfathers powder horn.  I was sick!

The crew wanted to reverse our course and backtrack to try and find it, but since it was as late as it was in the day, I decided that perhaps we could come back in the morning and look for it.  They agreed.

We talked about where I could have lost it and decided the best and most likely place would be where Edjukateer and I made our sneak to get closer to those two bucks.  That night I dreamed about finding it in that area.

Meanwhile, back at camp, the others had made their road trips here and there and some had seen bucks…some even got shots at bucks…ALL missed, and so, names were placed on the Boobin Baby Board and more dollars were put into the pot for the biggest buck.

I’m not sure why it works this way, but Dry Dog seems to always get several shots each year.  And I think he needs to work on finding a bullet that will fly where he wants it to fly instead of flying where “it” wants to fly.  I’m calling his choice of bullets “Missing bullets”.

Dry Dog is putting his name on the board as the first one of us to miss his shot this year.

And so ends the second day of the 2013 muzz deer season in our camp!  Good night everyone, I have to get up early and head over to the Crawfords and find my lost powder horn.

Bears Butt

Oct. 4, 2013