Introspect and Imagery: Hunting 2013 Nice Buck, Nice Shot, Very difficult retrieval

This year we all drew a tag to hunt Albion area which takes in from about Declo south to the border of Utah and includes the City of Rocks. Its bordered to the East by Interstate 84 and to the West by the town of Oakley. Those that were on the same tag were me, my dad, Morgan, and Hugh. I went only two weekends, the second and the last. The hunt lasted for the whole month of October. The first weekend both my dad and Morgan each got a two point. I went with Hugh the second weekend but we did not get a shot, although we did see a few does and a few smallish bucks. They just weren't in the greatest conditions to shoot. One time there were two little spikes on top of a ridge as it was getting dark, with their little horns perfectly silhouetted against the sky. We could have shot both but it was practically dark.

The first hunt encompasses the photos from the wasp nest down to the last moose picture. After the moose picture all the pictures were from the last hunt which was the last weekend in October. Hugh did not get a shot. I was really mad the second trip because I forgot my nice binoculars and my range finder, which would have been very useful. Fortunately my dad had some decent Leupold 6 power which were not too bad.

A wasp or hornets nest. Hiking along the Skyline trail.

Looking out toward Oakley from a part of the Skyline Trail where it meets this ridge.

Hugh

Hugh not trying very hard. Just kidding we were both tired and snored for awhile. I just woke up first is all.

Looking toward Mt. Harrison and the lookout tower. Clyde and New Canyon just below it. The Skyline Trail basically follows the ridge in the far distance

Same as last view except it has Hugh's head in it and its slightly left.

A small moose coming down to drink just about at dusk. We saw it and stopped before it heard us and watched it for awhile.

Last pic of first trip

I wrote the next couple paragraphs to Hal where he is in Ghana. I thought it would be easier just to copy and paste it here rather than write the whole story again.

Hal's letter

Hi Hal, Hope things are going well. I just got back from a hunting trip that was brutal on my body but ended up being worth it as I was able to shoot a pretty big buck. I will enclose a couple photos. We had seen a group of bucks early in the morning, one of which was huge. We did a stalk but by the time we got to where they were they were gone. We thought maybe they had gone up into some trees so we brushed through them and nothing came out. We hunted in other areas and ate lunch, took a nap and then went back to the same place where we saw the deer that morning. We decided to glass the hillsides. My dad went one way and me and Hugh went another. Before too long my dad was waving to us and we went over to him. Way way down on a ridge probably a 3/4 mile away were some deer. We could see that a couple had some decent horns, but one in particular was way bigger than the rest. It was difficult to tell because they were so far but every time the one turned its head it was like a tree moving. I didn't think we could get down where they were to make a shot, and even if I could get a shot, it would be a long shot. I figured they would see or hear us and run before we got down there. My dad thought otherwise and urged us on. Me and Hugh trotted along a sidehill down toward the deer. We got as close as I dared and I looked around for a place to get a rest. There was a large rock on the side of the hill and I laid down on that to study the deer. The rock was like laying across a parapet and it gave me an excellent view and angle. We could see one really big one but was not sure it was the same one we had seen prior. It looked like an ant in the scope and I didn't think I could hit it. I looked around and couldn't see anywhere where I would be able to get closer. I cranked the scope up to 9 and the deer looked a little better. Because of the rock I was laying on I had a pretty solid hold and the scope was not wavering. I had no idea how far it was so figured if I aimed a little high that I could error either way and still hit it. Still I hesitated but then the deer laid down. It was getting dark but both me and Hugh were sure it was the big one. There was another buck behind him that could have been it too, but we think it was smaller. Also I had my new gun and did not have any confidence in it as I had not shot it much even though I had it sighted in dead on. I finally talked myself into taking the shot. I squeezed the trigger and flinched big time. Fortunately I had forgotten to take the safety off and my flinch, which would have been disastrous, was of no effect. I took the safety off and got my breathing under control. I aimed at the top of his back so it would drop into his heart if he was as far away as I thought he was. I squeezed the trigger without flinching, only to hear Hugh say I had shot high. I had forgotten to compensate for downhill trajectory and I forgot my new gun shot a lot flatter than my old gun, and should have aimed right on. Realizing my mistake, I looked for the buck and Hugh said it was moving downhill behind some does. He was confused which way to run because the bullet had hit behind him while he was laying down and was coming closer to us. He stopped for a half second and I lined the crosshairs dead on his chest and could tell, that time, that I let the trigger off perfectly. Hugh said he saw it flinch and then we both saw him take a couple steps and then crumple to the ground. When we got to him we found that he wasn't as big as we thought but still pretty respectable. The horns are really tall which gives the impression of him being larger than what he was. The first shot I took was around 360 yards and he was quite a bit downhill. The second shot that hit was around 310 yards. I found this out later from using my GPS on my phone to track him and then later used Google Earth to measure the distance. I'd like to go back there again with my range finder and find out for sure.

We got to him just before it was getting dark and I started to clean him out. It was getting dark and so I was trying to hurry as we were a long way from a trail. In the meantime I lost my knife after setting it down. I couldn't find it because our flashlights were poor so borrowed Hugh's knife which was really sharp. I got him all cleaned out but still could not find my knife so I decided to leave it. I was pretty bummed as it is a really good knife. We started to drag the deer down the mountain but it was fully dark by then and we got tangled in the brush. It felt like we had dragged him forever but it ended up we had only dragged him about 250 yards. We ended up leaving him over night which made me nervous as I had seen quite a few wolf tracks. I imagined coming up to the deer in the morning and having wolves growl at us like they did you that one time we went hunting with the Driggs'. We came back in the morning to get him and it was a lot of work dragging this big deer through sagebrush and over logs. I went back up to where we cleaned him and found my knife luckily as it had slipped down under some sagebrush. I'm pretty happy we got him as he will have about the same amount of meat as almost two of the smaller deer we have shot the last few years. It will save us around $500 in food bills. I think that is a blessing that comes from you being on your mission.

And here was Hal's reply:

that sounds like a really intense hunting experience. if you want to get in shape come to ghana. it looks like a 5x5 deer is that right? its difficult to tell in the picture but tahts good. i hope you had fun. the thing i hated most about hunting was hauling the deer through the sage brush when it was only a doe, you actually had something to be proud of there.

Looking toward the basin where Independence Lakes are and Cache Peak. First pic of second hunt.

Dad and Hugh

Looking toward Malta and Connor Creek

Dad on the trusty mule

This is the rock I laid on to make my shot. That is Hugh heading down to the deer after shooting. I had a really solid rest here. There are 3 pine trees below the ridgetop to the left of Hugh and above his head which are in a jagged line all the way to the left of the main body of bushes. The deer is by the middle tree. I remembered to pick up my brass then took this shot and also hit my GPS on my phone.

I'm now down in the bottom of the canyon and the 3 pine trees are more apparent. Hugh is standing by the deer by the middle pine tree. It was a long shot as I am about halfway from my rest to the deer and Hugh still looks tiny.

Looking back up to the rock I shot from as we are standing by the deer. I wish I could draw an arrow to point to it.

First look at the buck. Nice rack. We cleaned it and it was really hard to drag down and it got dark so we left it overnight.

Again looking back at the shooting spot. Its up there really high and is left of center in the photo. This is coming back in the morning and looking for my knife which we did find.