Well, just because we broke our camp and everyone went home does not mean the hunt is over!  Come on folks get with the program!

After six days in the mountains a guy just has to have a day or two to recover from all that fun!  A long hot shower is always in order as is a sleep in day to try and catch up.  It’s funny how the body reacts and should you stay in the mountains you probably wouldn’t even notice how fatigued you really are, but once you get home the clock begins to wind down quickly and there you are, a big pile of jello, in need of a shower and some sleep.

After the sleep in, I had Edjukateers deer to cut up and get into the freezer.  He just wanted a few steaks from it and he gave me the rest.  And so I spent a few hours in the garage taking care of that.  Thanks for all the meat Edjukateer, it will not go to waste!

Toward the end of the day, Weasel called and asked if I wanted to go hunting in the morning (Tuesday)…sure I said!  What time?  Well if we go back to where we were camped we would have to leave about 4:30 a.m.  Let’s do it!

Then it wasn’t very long after that my phone rings and it’s Tracker, asking if we were going to go hunting in the morning and could he and Bones tag along (neither of them have a tag, they just wanted to get out and see some animals).  Of course!  And so the plan was made to pick them up and the four of us would head into the hills for the day!

The next morning we headed up over Monte Cristo mountain toward New Canyon and points beyond!  On our drive up and over we saw numerous animals in and near the road.  It was actually a very white knuckle type of trip for me, the driver, trying to watch the road and the sides of the road for animals.  Deer seemed to be everywhere!  We didn’t count them but I’m guessing over 20 deer were scattered along the road.  We also saw two elk running along the roadside as well and a couple of raccoons and something that was small and black!

Reaching our destination at a perfect time of morning to begin our drive around, we immediately began seeing deer.  Why so many deer were out is a mystery to me, but before the day was over we counted 114 deer!

The day was a beauty, partly cloudy, wind still and just the right temperature.

In our travels it was quite obvious that the area had been witness to some very strong winds since we had broken our camp on Sunday.  There were downed trees all over the place and some had even gone down across the roadways.  Of course other hunters had pulled them out of the road but left a bunch of the smaller branches as evidence.  I’m rather glad we broke our camp when we did.

Well, as usual on a road day we have to eat and so we found ourselves up at the spring on the backside of Long Ridge, time for hot dogs!

Bones had to start the fire and she insisted on a flint and steel one and she got it going really quick!

I was in charge of the condiments this day and sure enough, they were left sitting on the upper shelf of my fridge, back at home!  So we decided we were celebrating Dry Dog’s naming and since we were using the little wire devises he had given me to cook the dogs, what more of a celebration could it have been.  Actually, the hot dogs were provided by Weasel and company, and they were “all beef” ones made by Kirkland (Cosco) and even without mustard and ketchup they were very good!  I’ll have to look for them next time I’m in the market for hot dogs.

Tracker had to take a moment for a photo-op while we were stopped and so pictures were taken.

Back on the road we immediately began seeing more deer.  The count for the day was adding up quickly.

We did manage to see three bucks running together but we just could not get close enough for a shot.  Our hopes were high, however, for them to be closer to the main road when it got later in the day.  We made sure we were in that area before dark.

On our way down from near the top of the main road, we came around a bend and there were two bucks feeding just off the side.  Weasel and I bailed out and prepared to shoot (of course making sure we were off the road and not shooting across it…legal like).  Since I was driving I had to make sure the vehicle was in park and everything was good before I baled out.  By the time I got my cap on the nipple, I looked up just in time to see Weasels well placed shot, go right over the top of one of the bucks!  Miss!

I aimed at the one on the right and tightened up on the trigger, SNAP!  The hammer fell on the cap and drove it hard onto the nipple without going off!  Damn!  Now I had to fumble for my pocket knife in order to pry it off the nipple.  Meanwhile the two bucks ran about 40 yards and stopped.  I was flustered by now and finally when the old cap came off I was able to re-cap and ready for another shot.

As in all my muzzleload kills of the past, I can tell you exactly what my sight picture looked like, this time I can not!  And so, when the gun fired, the two bucks ran off without a scratch!  A clean miss.  I figure I must have just pointed the gun in the general direction and pulled the trigger.  I am getting too old for this!

I have my excuses, but still a miss is a miss and more will be told about this in a future posting…stand by!

Well, there we had our chances at a two buck day and we had been talking about doing just that all day long.  Find two bucks and put them both on top of the rig for the ride home, with blood dripping down the windows…but NOOO!  We both had to miss and they were easy shots too.

That was the excitement for this day and so when it got dark we were well on our way for home.  Discussions were had about hunting the next day as well, but this old body of mine knew I could not get it out of bed, not when it was going to get into bed after 10:30 and would have to get out of bed by 3:30…no way.  So I opted out of going that next day.

Not to be discouraged, Weasel, Tracker and Bones, tried their best to get me to go, they even didn’t leave until about 6:30 to head to the hills.  They even went up past Hardware Ranch to get into the hunting area…still I did not go.  Thanks for trying guys, but I need my beauty rest. (We have seen that picture already)

Well, they went on their way and the sighting of deer was not even close to what it was “yesterday” (114), I think they said they only saw about 30 deer all day and all but one were does and fawns.

It was around 4 p.m. and they had been talking to Crock and his gang about the deer they had been seeing and Crock told them that as they proceeded up the road about a quarter mile, they might see a nice two point.  He told them that they had seen it a couple of times and it was running with a doe and a fawn.  So be on the look out.  They said their goodbyes and left them cleaning up their camp for their trip home…their hunt was over…no deer, but lots of chances (more on this story coming in another post).

Just as Crock had said, about a quarter mile up the road, there stood a nice two point!  Weasel didn’t even hesitate, baled out, put the bead on the buck and let the lead fly!  BLAM!  Deer Down!!!!!

Congratulations Weasel!  That is a fine young buck and will make for some mighty good eat’in!

None of the guys went out on the last day of the season and Weasel and I spent most of the day taking care of his buck.  So, there you have the full story of the Willow Creek Free Trappers 2013 deer hunt!  A successful hunt in all respects!  Everyone was safe!  Everyone had a great time!  Four bucks were taken off the mountain and there were a lot of bucks seen.  Most of them small, but we did see a couple of really big ones as well.

Good luck to those of you hunting the Utah General Season deer hunt and I hope your hunt is safe and successful like ours was!

Bears Butt

Oct. 8, 2013